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  Former LDS Bishop Pleads Guilty to Molesting Girls

By Melinda Rogers
The Salt Lake Tribune

September 24, 2008

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_10548248

OGDEN - A former LDS bishop accused of molesting three girls - who he frequently visited at home while their parents were away - pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree felony sexual abuse of a child in 2nd District Court on Wednesday.

Timothy O'Sean McCleve of Harrisville, 53, could go to prison for up to 15 years on each count when he is sentenced Nov. 26 by Judge Ernie Jones.

Prior to sentencing, McCleve will undergo a pyscho-sexual evaluation, which the judge can use to determine McCleve's future risk to children and whether he may be eligible for probation rather than prison.

Harrisville police say McCleve used his influence as a one-time bishop for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to visit the three sisters and molest them, according to charging documents.

The girls were 6, 8 and 12 at the time of the abuse, which started in July 2006, Harrisville Police Chief Max Jackson previously told The Salt Lake Tribune. McCleve would stop by the girls' home when their parents were away. The children trusted him because he was their bishop, he said.

One of the girls reported the abuse to her parents when watching a news report about a Riverton teacher who was arrested on suspicion of child molestation. The other two girls then verified their sister's story, Jackson said.

 
 

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