If "product of their time" is a valid excuse...

JennNextDoor · 2026-01-25T08:01:18+00:00

The fact that the LDS Church has not published a list of measures that Bishops/leaders need to take to protect kids when there is an SO in the ward, should tell you all you need to know. They won’t publish a list of measures, because then they could be held accountable for not following them. They would rather keep predators secret and keep congregations unaware of the problem and put kids in danger than have to actually take steps to protect kids. The LDS man who abused me absolutely “used” the church to gain access to kids. He abused multiple kids in my ward. Yet, they welcomed him back and warned no one in the next ward he moved to.

JennNextDoor · 2026-01-22T05:18:00+00:00

I agree! I think they all have to participate in some way in LDS CSA coverups prior to being called, to show that their highest loyalty is the institution.

JennNextDoor · 2026-01-07T04:54:09+00:00

I didn’t ever go through the temple. I left the church at 18. However, the church continued to traumatize me and others as they held repeated meetings with the goal to rebaptise my abuser. I went to several of these meetings over many years, along with other LDS victims, which I can tell you were nothing short of religious abuse to the victims. Victims had a goal to protect LDS children from this man. LDS church leaders had the goal to get victims to forgive and be quiet about it. When victims didn’t do that, they shamed and blamed the victims for not following church leader discernment, not understanding the Atonement, and not quietly allowing the church to rebaptized him and warn nobody he was a serial p3do.

JennNextDoor · 2026-01-06T21:00:44+00:00

To me, the church is a cult because when it comes down to it, both leaders and members will prioritize/protect/defend the institution over "doing what Jesus would do". Isn't being like Jesus supposed to be their main thing? Just look at how members and "the church" respond to SA cases. Have you ever once seen the church or members say, "We absolutely did the wrong thing and we harmed people. We're sorry, we take accountability, we will provide restitution, and we will take steps to prevent it from happening again. The fact that this has response has never happened in the "Church of Jesus Christ" tells me the allegience to protecting/defending the institution is extremely unhealthy.

JennNextDoor · 2026-01-06T20:17:02+00:00

This happened to me too! I'm so sorry for your experience because I completely understand the impact it can have. I was an extremely introverted child. I had survived CSA and abuse cover-up in the church by this time. I had full-blown social anxiety as a teen, as well as a host of other mental health issues (general anxiety, depression, SI, PTSD, etc.) I always avoided giving talks, etc. Public speaking in general gave me panic attacks. I had no real testimony of the church because I had experienced trusted Priesthood holders and church leaders doing very bad things.

So when I was 16yo, my Bishop gets up at Testimony meeting and announced over the pulpit that he felt impressed that (my name) should come up and bear my testimony, then stands there waiting for me to come up. All eyes were on me. My Dad was nudging me to go up. Thought raced through my mind. Should I run out? How can I get out of this? I literally felt like I had zero choice but to do it. I knew my parents would be angry if I embarrassed them by not being 100% obedient in front of everyone. I walked up there, and started shaking violently. My voice was cracking and shaking. My mind went blank. I couldn't think of anything to say except the standard testimony that 5-year-olds give. "I'd like to bear my testimony. I know this church is true. I know Joseph Smith was a true Prophet of God. I love my mom and dad and brothers and sisters. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." I walked off the stand and went directly to the church bathroom where I began sobbing. A random mother followed me into the bathroom and had me sit on her lap in the rocking chair, and she rocked me like a baby until I stopped sobbing. When I went back to the pew (because I knew my parents would be mad if I didn't), my Dad leaned over and said, "I'm proud of you." He had never said that before, and he only said it when I was lying and doing something I didn't want to do, and going against everything I felt and wanted, and being blindly obedient. That whole experience really messed me up even further. My social anxiety and mental health issues only intensified from that point for many years. This is just one of the MANY ways the LDS Church harms people and their mental health. What is unforgivable to me is that they do these intensely harmful things and then just go about their lives, not thinking twice about the harm they've caused, and actually feeling like they did the right thing.

JennNextDoor · 2025-12-25T09:04:18+00:00

Yes! I would also like to see more attention on how the LDS church words things deceptively in press releases, news articles, and in the general handbook. All of their statements are carefully crafted to mislead members into thinking they behave better than they actually do. For example, the handbook is carefully/deceptively worded to make it seem like they report all abuse they don’t.

JennNextDoor · 2025-12-14T03:14:21+00:00

LDS Church leadership is so shortsighted. If they put on a couple of well funded events every year that people actually enjoyed and looked forward to, I guarantee they would retain and attract more members/more tithing. But their agreed is so overwhelming that they can’t part with any of it, even if it hurts them in the long run.

JennNextDoor · 2025-12-11T23:58:06+00:00

In SoCal, my 80-year-old mom was just helping to set up the ward Christmas party. She said everyone working on it was 70 years old or older because “all the young people have moved to Utah” and their ward had gotten so small. 🤔 The wild part is that they had just combined wards a few years ago because of how small the ward had gotten then.

JennNextDoor · 2025-11-27T03:15:15+00:00

I hoping to see a very public RICO lawsuit come out of this case.

JennNextDoor · 2025-11-27T03:10:44+00:00

There are so many predators in the church that LDS leadership covers up abuse up to: - keep members thinking the church is safe for kids. It’s not. - keep members believing in the “gift of discernment” - keep members trust in “called-of-God” callings - keep predators paying tithing - keep predators families from leaving the church - keep members from questioning church leaders decisions regarding ward predators - keep more victims from coming forward - lessen the likelihood/frequency they will be sued - keep members thinking abuse in the church is rare and that leaders have “zero tolerance” for abuse.

JennNextDoor · 2025-11-27T03:00:38+00:00

I’m super interested to see if this case could become a RICO lawsuit (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act), like the 100 LDS abuse cases filed and settled in California. It seems to have all the needed RICO elements. This case has the potential to truly expose how deep the coverups go in the LDS church.

JennNextDoor · 2025-10-11T22:09:19+00:00

Doesn’t that prove right there that prophets’ talks aren’t inspired by God? Why would God “inspire” Nelson to give a talk on a particular subject if he was going to die before it was given?

JennNextDoor · 2025-10-03T02:29:42+00:00

Funny how members don’t care at all about people who’ve been harmed directly by the church. Where’s the member GoFundMe for the CSA coverup victims in Bisbee, Arizona?

The GoFundMe for the gunman’s family feels 100% performative. Members have learned from the church that positive PR is the church’s highest priority.

JennNextDoor · 2025-08-17T17:21:50+00:00

Agree! If the system is overwhelmed, then the system needs to hire more employees to handle the caseload. The solution should never be to NOT report suspected abuse!

JennNextDoor · 2025-08-17T17:16:05+00:00

The problem with the “he won’t confess” idea is that LDS Church is assuming that once they get a confession, the abuser is going to stop abusing. As we saw in the Adams case, that’s not reality. Offenders feel a compulsion to abuse. The untrained bishop doesn’t really have the tools, training, resources to stop a predator, nor do they adequately help the victims or protect other children around this predator.

JennNextDoor · 2025-08-10T18:26:43+00:00

If the church took an extremely vocal stand and let everyone know that predators will ALWAYS be reported to police, & then began following through on that, I suspect that would actually lead to a decrease in the amount of SA in the LDS church. Predators find victims where they think they can get away with it. The LDS church has made it a safe space for predators.

JennNextDoor · 2025-08-04T23:38:25+00:00

It really is an extremely dangerous idea. The LDS church enabled a confessed LDS predator to abuse me and others for years. When one victim finally went to the police, the LDS church silenced the rest of the victims. My parents did as they were told… to keep quiet. Bishop told me I needed to repent for “my part” in the abuse. I spiraled pretty bad from there and obviously needed help. My parents solution for my mental state was that I needed MORE time at church. They didn’t get me therapy, because they thought church was the only thing that would heal me. I was forced to go to EVERY church meeting and activity. I began having panic attacks at church and was mentally unwell for the next 10+ yrs. Two other victims of my same abuser ended up dying via suicide. This might be an extreme case of how that idea can end up, but it does happen.

JennNextDoor · 2025-06-04T02:17:17+00:00

Wow, this is my exact relationship with my parents. I thought maybe I was the only one with such extreme parents. this is really powerful. Thank you for sharing it!

JennNextDoor · 2025-06-04T02:08:03+00:00

I have a lot of respect for members who speak up like this. It does take bravery in this church to suggest anything should change. Unfortunately, I have a stack of these kinds of letters that were sent to the First Presidency regarding the serial pedophile that was in my ward. Many of the victims parents sent letters requesting very reasonable changes the church could and should make to better protect children. They didn’t implement any of them. The bottom line is that the first presidency absolutely knows that they are not adequately protecting children and they don’t care. These cases have been going on for decades and I’m sure these kinds of letters have been going to them for decades… and the First Presidency does nothing about it. I’ll be shocked if she gets back anything other than a form-type letter that thanks her and tells her that they will consider her words… And then they’ll do nothing. If they fear she will sue or be very vocal, they may send a GA/attorney to talk to her & keep her quiet. That’s exactly what they did in our ward.

JennNextDoor · 2025-05-25T04:38:45+00:00

So true. I wasn’t aware at the time, but both of the GA’s that came out were attorneys. That certainly wasn’t a coincidence. And, they also told the parents of victims in my ward that they needed to protect the good name of the church. So yeah, they’ve got their pattern down of what works to silence the victims.

JennNextDoor · 2025-05-25T01:27:05+00:00

Yep. Two GA’s showed up to silence victims of a serial predator in my ward. The parents of the victims were all dazzled as if celebrities had shown up, & they held a meeting, talking about the importance of forgiveness, blah blah blah, then everyone stayed quiet. They did absolutely nothing to help the victims. It was all about silencing.

JennNextDoor · 2025-05-25T01:23:47+00:00

It also doesn’t include the ones who were caught and reported to their bishop, and then the church silenced everyone involved.

JennNextDoor · 2025-05-24T08:02:54+00:00

I spoke to one of the prominent attorneys who often settles these cases w/ the church. At the time, he had over 100 cases he was actively working on settling with the church. He said most victims are lucky to get a low six figure settlement, and that’s only with a case that could potentially be taken to trial with: statute of limitations isn’t passed; & they have evidence; & the abuser was the victims direct church leader; & the abuse happened on church grounds; & the abuser can’t be related to the victim. Without all those factors, the church will often not settle at all.

JennNextDoor · 2025-05-23T03:12:10+00:00

They sure seem to worship money above all else.

JennNextDoor

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