PHOENIX — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been hit with several lawsuits for allegedly covering up decades of sexual abuse among Boy Scout troops in Arizona, marking the latest litigation before the state’s end-of-year deadline for adult victims to sue.
Attorneys for Hurley McKenna and Mertz represent more than 4,500 victims of Boy Scout sexual abuse throughout the United States, including several hundred Mormon victims of abuse.
On Monday, the law firm filed law suits against the LDS church for seven victims and claimed that church officials never notified authorities about abuse allegations.
“They want acknowledgment of what happened to them. They want the ability to get their lives back on track,” said attorney and partner for Hurley McKenna and Mertz, Evan Smola.
The LDS Church sponsored at least seven Boy Scout Troops in Gilbert, Mesa, Paradise Valley and Tucson, Arizona. The seven suits allege that adult Scout leaders and volunteers for LDS Church-sponsored troops sexually abused numerous Boy Scouts between 1972 and 2009. At the time, the victims ranged in ages from nine to 15.
“The liability against the LDS church arises from their sponsorship of troops in Arizona,” said Smola.
These seven cases against the Mormon church are just some of the approximately 30 filed by Hurley McKenna & Mertz in Arizona’s Maricopa and Pima County Superior Courts against several Boy Scout local councils which include both the Grand Canyon Council and the Catalina Council.
In Arizona, there are seven temples and 926 congregations, which represent more than 436,000 members.
The seven suits against the Mormon church include as defendants the Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which functionally operates and advertises itself to the public as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, also known as the LDS Church or the Mormon Church, and the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which holds nominal title to the Church’s property, including temples and houses of worship in Arizona.
According to the suits, the church would supposedly conduct its own investigations but allow accused Scout leaders or volunteers to continue in their roles.
“The church itself is the eyes and ears on the ground in scouting. It is their responsibility to vet adult leaders,” said Smola.
In a statement provided to 12 News from LDS spokesperson Sam Penrod the church said they have "zero tolerance for abuse of any kind," and their "hearts go out to all survivors of abuse." Penrod also said claims the LDS church knew of Boy Scouts of American ineligible volunteer files for decades were false and they only learned of details the same time as the general public.
Full Statement below:
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has zero tolerance for abuse of any kind. Our hearts go out to all survivors of abuse. The allegations in these claims are serious in nature and require thorough investigation. To this point, the Church has not been given access to the information cited in this article and has not seen the “public records” that allegedly support the statements being made. The claim that the Church has had access to the BSA ineligible volunteer files for many decades is simply false, as the Church learned about the details of those files at the same time as the general public. These claims will be carefully evaluated and appropriately addressed.”
"Many ineligible volunteer files have been available for years," said Smola.
This latest round of lawsuits coming a week after more than a dozen were filed in Arizona, one of those alleged victims Donald Calmess.
“They didn’t protect us. I don’t want any other kids to have to go through that,” said Calmass.
His lawyer Michael Pfau calling this a systemic problem. “You cannot blame this on a few bad apples. There are just simply too many victims and too many tragic stories.”
In May of 2019 the Arizona legislature passed A.R.S. § 12-514, which opened a “window” into that state’s Statute of Limitations, the deadline for filing cases, for suits against entities that employed or enabled sexual abusers. Under Arizona’s law, individuals over the age of 30 who were victims of childhood sexual abuse have until Dec. 31, 2020, to file suit in the state against entities, such as the Mormon Church, that employed or enabled sexual abusers.
This is a developing story.