Trial set in Berkeley County on lawsuit claiming Mormon church covered up abuse

MARTINSBURG (WV)
Herald-Mail Media

January 8, 2018

By Matthew Umstead

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — A jury trial is slated to begin next week in Berkeley County (W.Va.) Circuit Court on a lawsuit that claims Mormon church leaders covered up the sexual abuse of several children by a member who since has been excommunicated and imprisoned.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has adamantly denied the claims, which are connected to criminal prosecutions of Christopher Michael Jensen dating to 2004 in Berkeley County and Provo, Utah.

Jensen, now 26, is serving a 35- to 75-year prison sentence for his conviction in Berkeley County on two counts of sexual abuse and one count of sexual assault.

Jensen was convicted in February, 2013 of sexually abusing two boys while babysitting them in 2007, but the children didn’t report what occurred until 2012, attorneys said.

A pool of 100 people is expected to be summoned to possibly serve as jurors in the civil trial, which is set to begin Jan. 16.

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