NOM

Two women are suing the church for failure to protect them from a child molester.

In 2009 Joseph Neipp was bishop. A women notified the church that he was stalking her and her children. He was then released as bishop, but no mention was made to the ward as to why. So he molested at-least 2 children after his release. They also claim that he groomed kids while he was bishop.

Mr. Neipp is currently being prosecuted for in Santa Clara County.

https://kutv.com/news/local/lawsuit-acc ... -by-bishop

So he was released as bishop and excommunicated but they didn’t tell the members why? So he continued to have the trust if the ward members?

At this point any bishop should be supervised when around children. When will they get it? Stupid church!

“In his actual or apparent authoritative capacity as the bishop of the Branham Ward, Neipp repeatedly engaged in inappropriate grooming behavior with children during Primary classes and on or around ward events including allowing small children to sit on his lap, and transporting plaintiffs and other young children alone in his vehicle to ward activities,” the lawsuit alleges.

If a bishop molests a child, should the church be responsible for ensuring the molesting bishop is not near children? Is the church responsible to ensure members know a person attending church is a child molester?

If the local leaders knew he was a predator then they needed to tell the parents of the children. I think the neighborhood ward model needs to be abolished and people go to the ward that is best suited for them. In this particular case, I believe this man should go to ward with other abusers and the clergy are trained mental health professionals specializing in abuse.

Parents also need to be taught to recognize grooming behavior and--more importantly not let the fact that someone is a) Mormon, b) has the priesthood and--worst of all--is c) a "worthy" temple recommend holder cloud their judgment.

Two anecdotes:

1) Sam Young's excommunication was one of the events that gave me the courage and--in my mind--sufficient reason to go into the bishop's office and tell the bishop I will no longer be attending church and Sam Young's excommunication is part of the reason why. The bishop then told me that, as a bishop, he hoped that the youth of the ward viewed him as a local representation of the Savior and that they could come talk to him about anything. I just about responded, "spoken like a pedophile". I didn't. I held my tongue, because I think the bishop is a good man and didn't realize that what he just said is exactly the kind of thing a pedophile would think and do.

2) Awhile back, I shared here a story about how I saw my son driving off with his Home Teaching companion. His HT Comp was an adult youth leader, not my son's father. I was a solo mom at the time. When I saw them drive off, it hit me that that situation was a perfect situation to groom a child for abuse. Not that I suspected the HT comp. I just didn't want my son in any situation where he would get comfortable being with a potential predator. Later that day, I called the HT comp, explained my views and told him I no longer wanted them to car pool to visits, but to meet at houses and do the visits that way. The man treated me like I was nuts. After I shared this story here, one of the posters responded that if this man were nothing to worry about, he would have agreed with me and not given me any pushback, whatsoever. I agree. A few years later, this man was now home regularly during the day and my son was going to college from home. This was after I had fully gone inactive and this former HT comp decided to come visit. He asked how my son was and then said my son had an open invitation to come over to his house and just hang out, any time. I ended the visit as quickly as I could. Luckily, my son wants nothing to do with the people in our ward, but I can definitely see someone who thinks that a person is good just because they're Mormon would not have been spooked by that invitation.

In short, folks. The possibility to gull and groom is in the Mormonism's water. Pedophiles know it and they use that water to mix and serve up the Kool-Aid.

Your anecdotes point out what is still wrong with the Church's policies. Thanks for sharing.