PHOENIX (AZ)
WPNX 12 News [Phoenix, AZ]
July 30, 2026
By Kevin Reagan
Arizona’s justices ruled the church wasn’t legally obligated to report a member’s confession of child abuse.
Churches are not obligated to report suspicions of child abuse if they’re found out through religious confessions or confidential communications, the Arizona Supreme Court has ruled.
In a unanimous ruling released Thursday, the high court sided with the defendants in a lawsuit brought against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Arizona.
Bishops of the church, as well as other defendants, were accused in a 2020 civil lawsuit of failing to report child abuse that had been disclosed to them by a church member. That member later died by suicide in jail after he was arrested by law enforcement.
The Cochise County Superior Court dismissed the lawsuit in 2023 against the church, concluding the church officials were not legally obligated to report the abuse allegations since they were disclosed during a confession and at a proceeding that led to the member’s excommunication.
Arizona’s duty-to-report law states a member of the clergy may withhold reporting a confession if the clergy member determines it “is reasonable and necessary within the concepts of the religion.”
An appellate court reversed the trial court’s decision, resulting in the case being brought to the state’s supreme court.
The justices determined that the defendants weren’t obligated to report the church member’s disclosure of abuse. Since there wasn’t evidence of the church engaging in fraud or collusion to avoid legal responsibilities, the justices ruled the court’s then required to respect the church’s application of their own religion.
“The Clergy Privilege precludes the state from compelling a clergy member to testify in circumstances which would violate his religious oath and duties,” the ruling states. “This aligns with the Reporting Statute’s deference to the clergy member embodied in the Clergy Exemption from reporting abuse of a minor if it is required by religious doctrine.”
First Amendment principles limit a court’s ability to question how a church interprets the church’s own religious doctrine, the high court noted.
The justices reversed the appellate court’s decision and affirmed the trial court’s dismissal.
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