Another Sexual Predator Mission President...

[Not Buying It]

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2018/04/26/ ... sionaries/

So - I'm upset by the Church making it sound as though they handled this appropriately. Apparently this happened back in 2014 or so - do any of you remember any warnings to sister missionaries that they need to beware because their mission presidents may commit unspecified sexual improprieties? They treated this as a one-time event they could hush up and keep quiet, when it is evidence of a systemic problem that allows men in positions of power to commit improprieties in relative security. Note that it ended because a sister made a phone call home she wasn't authorized to make - if she hadn't broken the rules, would this have come to light?

Teach your daughters to be wary of situations when they are alone with any man in a position of power - be he bishop, stake president, mission president, or MTC mission president. That is they lesson they need to learn - and the one the Church doesn't want them to think about.

[IT_Veteran]

I agree that our young people should not be put in this position. They don't specify what actual abuse took place, or if it was just inappropriate attention with clothes and jewelry (unless I missed that). If there was sexual misconduct involved, police should have been called. At the same time, the victims' wishes need to be respected as well. The victims always have a right not to report to law enforcement. I think it depends more on how they are counselled - they shouldn't be discouraged from police involvement. If they come to that decision on their own, I think we have to respect that.

I do appreciate that they were believed. That's a huge difference from how the Bishop case was handled. Especially proud of this young woman having the bravery to break the rules and call her stake president. I'm glad he believed her and followed up with action. I'm glad the church excommunicated this scumbag and sent him home. I hope this story empowers any other victims, possibly those outside the mission field, to come forward. I hope someone prosecutes him to whatever extent possible.

I don't have enough information right now though to know if he actually assaulted someone, or simply acted inappropriately. There's a pretty wide gulf between the two, but I don't think excommunication alone can be evidence that he actually assaulted someone. Harassment would be enough to take that step in this case, I think.

The church should absolutely have been more open about it, encouraged other victims to come forward, and encouraged anyone suffering at the hands of an abuser to take the steps necessary to protect themselves and others through reporting to law enforcement.

[wtfluff]

They don't specify what actual abuse took place, or if it was just inappropriate attention with clothes and jewelry (unless I missed that).

The "Mission President" was promptly excommunicated. My angry apostate confirmation bias tells me that there was more than just clothing and jewelry involved.




Does this whole thing sound like bait-and-switch to anyone else?

Look everybody! Here's an example of LDS-Inc. actually taking the right steps with a sexual predator mission president. Pay no attention to that sexual predator mission president named Bishop that we've been protecting/enabling for ~30 years

(Also: Don't think about (or pay attention to) the likelihood that there are many other instances of things like this where the victims were paid off and silenced. Oops, there's my confirmation bias showing through again. Or is that just Occam's Razor?)

[Red Ryder]

And here's the part where it's not their (the GA's) fault:

And trusted priesthood leaders play a key role in recommending “worthy and honorable” men to serve as Mormon mission presidents, he explained. Once these local leaders, who know them best, sign off, the nominees undergo “a searching interview with a general authority.”

[Red Ryder]

Here's some insight on his personal plane.

Philander Knox Smartt III is an attorney from Alabama. He is 43 years old, has two young daughters and lovely wife whom we have not yet met, and has enormous amounts of energy. He was so frustrated with trying to work with the LIAT airline dysfunctionality after trying for three weeks to get on a flight to St Kitts, that he has sent for his airplane. He said he will now be able to leave San Juan after breakfast, travel to any of the islands, and be back to the office for lunch. LIAT would win anybody’s contest for most dysfunctional airline on the planet. Even flying space-A with the military would be more predictable.

President Smartt has a very different philosophy about senior missionary couples and how we are to be treated and used in the mission. Before, we were just considered to be missionaries like the younger models, so the transfers would come with a day’s notice, and nobody ever asked what we would like to get out of this missionary experience. We were expected to do and report the things that the bean counters were asking from the YFTM (that means Young Full-Time Missionaries.) We have kids who want to come and visit us, which is not only allowed but encouraged by the Brethren, but we could not tell anybody where we will be at Christmas time or any time in the future, for that matter, because the moves were not planned out more than a day. So the kids can’t purchase their tickets when there might be a discount available because they might buy a ticket for Nevis and we might be on Dominica or anywhere else. Pres Smartt changed all that immediately. He asked us where we would like to serve and what we would like to do! We were amazed. We told him that we will serve wherever he wants us, but that we would like to let our kids know where we will be. He immediately said, “You need to be in St Thomas. You will go there in early October.” And presto! the uncertainty and panic and all those other negative emotions that we have been feeling for months all went away.

[Red Ryder]

President Smartt has brought in the elders who were serving in the islands and replaced them with sisters. That was an inspired move, but the vehicle that the elders had been driving was given to the old couple being sent to Nevis (us), which left the sisters without wheels. They tried to get the bikes the elders never rode fixed up, but when they tried to ride them they could not even reach the pedals! So they have been walking everywhere. Now they will have the RAV4 that Sister Mangum has been driving (Elder Mangum cannot drive), we will be over there with the Toyota Hilux 4WD, 4-door, turbo diesel truck that somebody decided was absolutely essential to the success of the missionary effort here. Thus, the elders on Nevis will be on bikes. But President said he has no pity for them, and they will be fine.

[Palerider]

And here's the part where it's not their (the GA's) fault:

And trusted priesthood leaders play a key role in recommending “worthy and honorable” men to serve as Mormon mission presidents, he explained. Once these local leaders, who know them best, sign off, the nominees undergo “a searching interview with a general authority.”

This goes back to and underscores my point regarding earthly men evaluating the righteousness of members for ANY reason.

The temple recommend interview is a sham. The only place a sacred temple and worthy attendees exists is as a fantasy in the minds of leadership. It's never been about worthiness....it's always been about a perverted system of loyalty.

If these men possessed true or real priesthood from God, this crap wouldn't be happening.

[Corsair]

I want to know about these situations so I can warn relatives and friends that go on a mission. Having a strong testimony of the church does not preclude this type of abuse. It's not just this level of abuse where criminal penalties might come into play. Mission presidents are entirely human and do not always put the health, safety, and welfare of missionaries as their first priority. I would want a fresh faced missionary to know that they are a legal adult who is an unpaid volunteer. Obedience will be drilled into them at a distressing level and they have to be in charge of their own health and welfare.

Instructions put in place by a mission president or excitable zone leader, district leader, or senior companion still need to pass through the "common sense" and "basic survival" filter of any missionary. If a request or rule looks sketchy, this is not a reason to treat it like some Abrahamic test where you can reliably expect God to pull you out of trouble. There are far too many instances of poorly implemented finances, improper medical care, and lack of physical safety inflicted on young missionaries.

Anyone in my circle of friends or family will be quietly told that they can contat me for any reason at any time and I will provide support for them flying home, visiting a doctor, or simply having enough safe food to eat.

[Not Buying It]

And here's the part where it's not their (the GA's) fault:

And trusted priesthood leaders play a key role in recommending “worthy and honorable” men to serve as Mormon mission presidents, he explained. Once these local leaders, who know them best, sign off, the nominees undergo “a searching interview with a general authority.”

This goes back to and underscores my point regarding earthly men evaluating the righteousness of members for ANY reason.

The temple recommend interview is a sham. The only place a sacred temple and worthy attendees exists is as a fantasy in the minds of leadership. It's never been about worthiness....it's always been about a perverted system of loyalty.

If these men possessed true or real priesthood from God, this crap wouldn't be happening.

Yep. Worthiness interviews NEVER worked. “Sham” is the appropriate word for it. Every day thousands of members enter temples having lied to get recommends, every week hundreds of missionaries enter the MTC who lied to go on their missions, it’s all an incredible farce. And the Church has the unmitigated gall to insist it needs grown men to meet alone with youth behind closed doors to ask sexual questions to assess their “worthiness”. It’s sickening that we tolerate this dangerous, invasive, oppressive practice that has never done what it is supposed to do.

[glass shelf]

This guy's dad was my SP when I was a teen. I knew his younger kids, but this guy was already off doing mission/school/whatever. The dad was as hard-ass and hard-nose as they come. We had a stake youth committee with monthly meetings, all-day long stake youth events with more rules than you can imagine, etc.

One time, one of his Phil Smartt's (my SP, not this guy who is called Lanny) counselors gave a talk in stake conf about the time he was cold at work so he decided to get a hot chocolate from the vending machine. Apparently, some people asked him if it was coffee or he was worried it was coffee or some such nonsense, so he threw it out. Cue avoiding the appearing of evil nonsense. My mom and I talked about how absurd that talk was many times over the years even when we were both fully TBM.

[consiglieri]

Philander Knox Smartt III is an attorney from Alabama. He is 43 years old, has two young daughters and lovely wife whom we have not yet met, and has enormous amounts of energy. He was so frustrated with trying to work with the LIAT airline dysfunctionality after trying for three weeks to get on a flight to St Kitts, that he has sent for his airplane. He said he will now be able to leave San Juan after breakfast, travel to any of the islands, and be back to the office for lunch. LIAT would win anybody’s contest for most dysfunctional airline on the planet. Even flying space-A with the military would be more predictable.

President Smartt has a very different philosophy about senior missionary couples and how we are to be treated and used in the mission. Before, we were just considered to be missionaries like the younger models, so the transfers would come with a day’s notice, and nobody ever asked what we would like to get out of this missionary experience. We were expected to do and report the things that the bean counters were asking from the YFTM (that means Young Full-Time Missionaries.) We have kids who want to come and visit us, which is not only allowed but encouraged by the Brethren, but we could not tell anybody where we will be at Christmas time or any time in the future, for that matter, because the moves were not planned out more than a day. So the kids can’t purchase their tickets when there might be a discount available because they might buy a ticket for Nevis and we might be on Dominica or anywhere else. Pres Smartt changed all that immediately. He asked us where we would like to serve and what we would like to do! We were amazed. We told him that we will serve wherever he wants us, but that we would like to let our kids know where we will be. He immediately said, “You need to be in St Thomas. You will go there in early October.” And presto! the uncertainty and panic and all those other negative emotions that we have been feeling for months all went away.

President Smartt has brought in the elders who were serving in the islands and replaced them with sisters. That was an inspired move, but the vehicle that the elders had been driving was given to the old couple being sent to Nevis (us), which left the sisters without wheels. They tried to get the bikes the elders never rode fixed up, but when they tried to ride them they could not even reach the pedals! So they have been walking everywhere. Now they will have the RAV4 that Sister Mangum has been driving (Elder Mangum cannot drive), we will be over there with the Toyota Hilux 4WD, 4-door, turbo diesel truck that somebody decided was absolutely essential to the success of the missionary effort here. Thus, the elders on Nevis will be on bikes. But President said he has no pity for them, and they will be fine.

This is very interesting, Red Ryder.

Looks like a blog from a senior missionary under President Smartt.

I note he got his private plane to Puerto Rico so he could fly to the islands in the morning and be back by lunch.

He then brought in the elders from the small islands and replaced them with sister missionaries.

That doesn't sound premeditated at all, does it?

[Red Ryder]

Premeditation. Pre-inspiration. Same thing.

Looks like he also got arrested in September 2016 for burglary and larceny. Mug shot is on the web.

Interestingly enough someone brought up this guy on Reddit a year ago with rumors that he was released for practicing some form of polygamy with sister missionaries.

People knew about this guy years ago.

[Stig]

This guy's dad was my SP when I was a teen. I knew his younger kids, but this guy was already off doing mission/school/whatever. The dad was as hard-ass and hard-nose as they come. We had a stake youth committee with monthly meetings, all-day long stake youth events with more rules than you can imagine, etc.

One time, one of his Phil Smartt's (my SP, not this guy who is called Lanny) counselors gave a talk in stake conf about the time he was cold at work so he decided to get a hot chocolate from the vending machine. Apparently, some people asked him if it was coffee or he was worried it was coffee or some such nonsense, so he threw it out. Cue avoiding the appearing of evil nonsense. My mom and I talked about how absurd that talk was many times over the years even when we were both fully TBM.

Pretty sure I served in the same Stake you lived in...PM sent.

[Thoughtful]

They don't specify what actual abuse took place, or if it was just inappropriate attention with clothes and jewelry (unless I missed that).

The "Mission President" was promptly excommunicated. My angry apostate confirmation bias tells me that there was more than just clothing and jewelry involved.




Does this whole thing sound like bait-and-switch to anyone else?

Look everybody! Here's an example of LDS-Inc. actually taking the right steps with a sexual predator mission president. Pay no attention to that sexual predator mission president named Bishop that we've been protecting/enabling for ~30 years

(Also: Don't think about (or pay attention to) the likelihood that there are many other instances of things like this where the victims were paid off and silenced. Oops, there's my confirmation bias showing through again. Or is that just Occam's Razor?)

It was obviously something the sisters could have chosen to file a police report about, but "chose" not to.

I'm thinking missionary applications will soon include non disclosure agreements.