SALT LAKE CITY (UT)
Desesret News
May 3, 2019
By Tad Walch
In a rare action, a spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints denounced a news story reported by Vice News, saying Friday that the media outlet irresponsibly mischaracterized the faith’s response to sexual abuse.
“In short, Vice News chose to misreport this story,” said Eric Hawkins, the church’s director of media relations. “Abuse is a matter taken very seriously by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” he added. “It is not tolerated, and the church has invested heavily in resources and training, including the help line, to prevent, combat and address abuse.”
On Thursday night, HBO’s Vice News Tonight aired a story about the ongoing pain and suffering of Christopher Michael Jensen’s sexual abuse victims and their families in West Virginia. A print version was published Friday on the Vice News website. Both versions incorrectly reported the church’s name multiple times.
Jensen was sentenced in 2013 to 35 to 75 years in prison for sexually abusing two children while babysitting as a teenager. Vice News interviewed the attorney and two of five families who sued the church in 2013 regarding the Jensen cases, alleging the church acted improperly in its response to Jensen, a church member.
The families and church settled the suit last year. The church, which excommunicated Jensen in 2013, denied any wrongdoing and the settlement amount is confidential.
The Vice News story focused in part on the 24-hour abuse help line the church makes available to its approximately 30,000 bishops and 3,000 stake presidents. Those leaders, who are not professional clergy, are instructed to call the hotline promptly about every situation they believe includes abuse or neglect or risk for either, Hawkins said. The goal, he said, is to prevent abuse and advise bishops about compliance with local abuse reporting laws.
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