UTAH
Daily Herald
Jim Dalrymple – Daily Herald | Posted: Monday, March 12, 2012
PROVO — LDS bishop Amado Rojas stood silently beside his attorney Monday morning, then walked out only minutes later with a newly minted deal resolving allegations that he failed to report sexual abuse at a church activity.
Rojas, 32, was charged in September with failure to report child abuse, a class B misdemeanor, but Monday accepted a plea in abeyance agreement with prosecutors. The agreement requires Rojas to obey all laws for six months, after which he can file a motion to have his charge dismissed.
Rojas’s charge stems from allegations that a man sexually abused a 13-year-old girl at a church party in August. After a water fight at the party, the girl testified during a preliminary hearing, the man grabbed and groped her.
According to a police report, the girl then told Rojas about the incident. As an ecclesiastical leader, Rojas is legally required to notify authorities if an alleged victim tells him about abuse. However, police reported that Rojas did not contact authorities. The man was only arrested after his accuser later told a school counselor about the incident.
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