Three children who were sexually abused by their father are accusing a Utah state legislator and a Salt Lake City law firm of conspiring with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to cover it up.
In a court filing in Cochise County, Arizona, the children of the late Paul Adams asked for permission to add Republican state Rep. Merrill F. Nelson and law firm Kirton McConkie as defendants.
The Mormon church is accused of failing to report that Adams was abusing his daughter.
Adams admitted to his bishop that he had sexually abused his daughter. Sherod was told not to report the abuse to police or child welfare officials. Adams raped his older daughter and younger sister for a long time. The videos of the abuse were posted on the Internet.
According to church records, Herrod decided not to report after speaking with Nelson. Kirton McConkie has more than 160 attorneys and Nelson was a shareholder. Nelson was one of the lawyers at the firm who answered calls from the catholic church.
The Adams children say in their legal filing that new evidence from the church shows that a group of people knew about criminal misdeeds in the Adams family but never reported them to the police.
According to new testimony reviewed by The Associated Press, the Kirton McConkie attorney was consulted in the Adams case. According to legal documents, Schofield is one of the lawyers defending the church in the Adamses' suit, and he has been associated with the help line for a long time.
The lawyers for the Adams children didn't have anything to say about their latest filing. The spokesman for the church wouldn't say anything.
Nelson didn't return a message seeking comment from the AP. The help line was used by the church. Nelson said it seemed to him that it did operate as intended. Nelson had received a call from Herrod about the abuse.
It disagreed with the allegations and characterizations in the court filing. As a former help line attorney, our team members are dedicated to helping people comply with the law. He had no comment immediately.
In a recorded interview with Department of Homeland Security agents, Herrod said he called the help line and was told that he couldn't report Adams' abuse because of Arizona law. The child-sex-abuse reporting law in Arizona gives immunity to anyone who reports child sex abuse.
According to the AP, Adams told Herrod that he sexually abused his older daughter. Lawyers for the church said that Herrod and another bishop, Robert "Kim" Mauzy, were in violation of the state's "clergy-penitent privilege."
Arizona law requires clergy and other professionals to report child sex abuse and neglect, but it doesn't require them to tell you if you get the information during a spiritual confession. The clergy-penitent privilege loophole exempts clergy of all denominations from the requirement to report child abuse if they learn about it in a church setting.
The help line was used to screen for child sex abuse within the church before it was reported to civil authorities.
The records of calls to the help line were destroyed at the end of the day. All calls relating to serious instances of abuse, including those involving bishops or abuse on church property, are immediately referred to lawyers with Kirton McConkie, who insist the calls are confidential and out of reach of law enforcement.
Lawyers for the three Adams children argue in a court filing that the church's requirement to call the help line before notifying law enforcement about child sexual abuse reports is contrary to Arizona law.
William Maledon is a lawyer for the church in the Arizona suit. He asked who knew what "immediately" meant during a July AP interview. The argument can be made that it means you have an obligation to report. Any good lawyer would interpret it that way.
Lawyers for the Adams children are trying to get permission to add as additional co-conspirators Paul Adams, his wife, and a corporation associated with the church. The calls to the help line are answered by social workers with the church. According to the new filing, social workers are required to report information about child sex abuse to civil authorities in Utah.
All calls to the help line that were made by Herrod and Mauzy were taken by Kirton McConkie attorneys, according to church lawyers. Maledon said that all of those were with attorneys or para-professionals. In this case, none of them were with anyone other than an attorney or attorney staff.
Paul Adams took his own life while in custody of the Homeland Security agents. Adams was sentenced to more than two years in prison for child sex abuse. The Adams family took in three of their children. Three of the remaining three were adopted by Arizona families.
That's right.
You can follow both Dearen and Rezendes on the social networking site. You can contact the global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org or at the website.
That's right.
Lilly Endowment Inc. gives funding to the AP for religion coverage.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
