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Mormon Church Denies Lawsuit’s Claims of Sex Abuse Coverup

By Matthew Umstead
Herald Mail
October 30, 2013

http://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news/tri_state/west_virginia/mormon-church-denies-lawsuit-s-claims-of-sex-abuse-coverup/article_609acc52-41c4-11e3-9c5a-001a4bcf6878.html

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a statement released Wednesday adamantly denied claims made in a lawsuit that it covered up sexual abuse of 12 children in Berkeley County by a member who has since been excommunicated and imprisoned.

The lawsuit filed Sept. 16 names Mormon church officials and excommunicated member Christopher Michael Jensen and his parents as defendants. It was filed in Berkeley County Circuit Court on behalf of five families and 12 children among them.

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has zero tolerance for abuse of any kind,” the church said in its statement, which was released by Martinsburg attorney William J. Powell, who is representing the church in this case.

The church also said it had reached out to all known victim families and has offered to provide counseling. The families were members of various wards of the Martinsburg, W.Va., Stake of the Mormon church at the time of the abuse, according to the lawsuit.

“Our hearts go out to victims and their families,” the church said in the statement.

In July 2013, Jensen, 22, was ordered by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Christopher C. Wilkes to serve 35 to 75 years in prison for his conviction on two counts of sexual abuse and one count of sexual assault.

Jensen was convicted in February of sexually abusing two boys while baby-sitting them in 2007, but the children did not report what occurred until 2012, attorneys have said.

The boys are two of the 12 children who only were identified by their initials in the lawsuit. The boys were 3- and 4-years old at the time of the incidents, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit alleges the church was repeatedly put on notice and/or had knowledge of Jensen’s “predatory acts,” but actively covered up the abuse and assisted him “in committing further unspeakable acts, by enabling (Jensen) to babysit for and live with other church families with young children.”

The other alleged victims were between 3- and 12-years old at the time they were abused, the lawsuit said.

All but three of the children were boys and one of the children was allegedly forced to watch his younger brother be abused, the lawsuit said.

“The church, in short, thwarted the protections that would have been triggered by reporting the abuses and provided (Jensen) the opportunity to abuse more and more children, which he did. This pattern continued for over five years, until (Jensen) was finally indicted in 2012,” the lawsuit said.

Among 12 causes of action, the lawsuit alleges fraud, intentional infliction of emotional distress, battery, civil assault, conspiracy and multiple instances of negligence.

In its statement, the church said it did not act negligently or cover up abuse.

“To the contrary, local church leaders were instrumental in reporting this matter to law enforcement authorities, imposing church discipline on the perpetrator and trying to get needed assistance to the victim families,” the statement said.

The church said they encouraged the victims and their families to report the allegations of abuse to police when they became aware of them.

Local church leaders also reported the incident, the statement said.

The church noted that Jensen was immediately released from his mission when criminal charges were filed and sent home to face the legal process.

Jensen was excommunicated and is no longer a church member, the church said.

“Anyone who engages in abuse is rightfully subject to both legal prosecution and to formal church discipline,” the church said in the statement.

 

 

 

 

 




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