According to records in a lawsuit, a Utah lawmaker and prominent attorney for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints advised a church bishop not to report a confession of child sex abuse to authorities.
The records show that Merrill F. Nelson received a call from a bishop reporting that a church member had abused his daughters. Nelson had a number of conversations with two bishops who were aware of the abuse.
Nelson decided to retire earlier this year after being elected to the Utah House of Representatives. The church is represented by the Salt Lake City firm Kirton McConkie. He obtained his undergraduate and law degrees from a Mormon university.
The transcript of the deposition and excerpts of the call log were included in a legal filing in the Arizona Court of Appeals. Three of Adams's children are fighting the Mormon church for access to their records. The case was taken to the Court of Appeals after the judge ruled in favor of the victims.
Nelson told Herrod not to report the abuse and that he could be sued if he did so, according to the lawsuit. Legal immunity is granted to anyone who reports child sex abuse or neglect.
Adams confessed to Herrod in 2010 that he had sexually abused his daughter.
Under the state's clergy-penitent privilege, Herrod and later bishop Robert "Kim" Mauzy were accused of withholding information about MJ's abuses. Clergy members in Arizona are required to report child neglect and sexual abuse, but they can't.
According to the log of calls filed in the Arizona Court of Appeals, Nelson spoke with Herrod and Mauzy multiple times over the course of a year. Adams was kicked out of the church in a church discipline process.
The manager of the church's southeast region family services department said in a deposition that Nelson talked to Herrod about the case.
The church is accused of covering upAdam's sexual crimes. The former U.S. Border Patrol employee raped M.J. and posted videos of the abuse on the internet.
Nelson defended the church's actions in the Adams case during an interview with the AP. The church's abuse help line was set up to protect children.
He doesn't have all the facts, but it seems to him that it did work out. The bishop didn't have to report it to civil authorities. Nelson said that the clergy privilege prevented him from reporting.
Nelson said that it was intended to help victims get the help they needed through social services, professional counseling, medical help, legal help and law enforcement.
Nelson asked that his previous comments be off the record after he was contacted after the new records were public. He wouldn't comment on specific cases.
Nelson is a genteel but socially conservative lawmaker who spoke out against repeal of a law that banned sex outside of marriage. He opposed the removal of a marriage requirement for surrogate mothers.
Legislation that would remove the clergy-penitent privilege was opposed by him. Troubled people won't confide in their clergy without that assurance of secrecy. He said that confidentiality is important to the privilege. Full disclosure is encouraged without fear.
The spokesman for the church wouldn't say anything about the filing.
The help line was established in 1995 and requires church leaders to call it before deciding whether to report the abuse.
If the allegations of abuse are serious, callers to the help line are referred to church attorneys. Attorneys decide if the callers should report the abuse.
Nelson took Herrod's first call to the help line to report Adams's abuse. Nelson is still listed on the website as a member of the First Amendment and Religious Organizations section.
The help line is part of a system that can be used by church leaders to divert abuse accusations away from law enforcement and leave victims in harm's way.
There were 12,000 pages of sealed records in a child abuse suit against the church. The help line's operation is described in many of the documents.
Before referring calls to Kirton McConkie attorneys, those who answered the help line asked a list of questions. Nelson's phone number was listed in the so-called "protocol".
The church says that all communications between Herrod and the church attorneys are confidential. Nelson had conversations with the two bishop.
Nelson's initial case summary was written based on a conversation with Herrod. There is adescription of legal advice and additional communications with the bishop.
Four years after he was excommunicated, Adams was arrested by federal officials for abusing MJ and her sister.
Adams died in jail before he could be tried. His wife was sentenced to more than two years in prison for child sex abuse. Three of their children, including a boy who was allegedly abused, filed a lawsuit against the church for not reporting their abuse and for engaging in a wider conspiracy to cover up child sex abuse.
Attorneys for the three children wouldn't comment on the log. They accused the church of directing a system to protect the church against sexual abuse lawsuits in their lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, the Mormon Church implements the Helpline not for the protection and spiritual counseling of sexual abuse victims, as professed in Mormon church doctrine and literature, but to protect the Mormon church from costly lawsuits.
That's right.
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