SALT LAKE CITY (UT)
The Associated Press
April 6, 2018
A woman who says a former Mormon missionary leader raped her in the 1980s and that the church failed to take her allegations seriously has filed a lawsuit, saying Thursday she wants the church to change the way it handles sexual abuse reports. McKenna Denson, 55, said she opted to take legal action after becoming fed up that local church leaders failed to take disciplinary action despite reporting the allegations several times over three decades.
She said her experience illustrates systematic problems in the church with sexual abuse claims.
Eric Hawkins, a spokesman for The Church of Jesus of Christ of Latter-day Saints, said the institution has faith in the judicial system. The church has previously said it’s investigating Denson’s allegations and last week updated guidelines for how local leaders should deal with sexual abuse claims.
The church should encourage members to report abuse first to police, not local leaders, and require local leaders to call police when they hear of abuse, not a church hotline as currently directed, Denson’s attorney, Craig Vernon, said at a news conference.
“Nothing happened. McKenna wasn’t believed,” Vernon said. “McKenna was blamed, McKenna was shamed.”
The Associated Press doesn’t usually name alleged victims of sexual assault but Denson has decided to go public with her story.
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