child sex abuse

Bateman had pleaded guilty to claiming more than 20 spiritual “wives” including 10 underage girls. He acknowledged coercing girls as young as nine years old to submit to criminal sex acts with him and other adults.

Samuel Bateman pleaded guilty to conspiring to transport underage girls across state lines. But his deal hinged on whether others charged in the case would also plead guilty.

Authorities say Bateman took more than 20 wives, including 10 underage girls. They say he created a network spanning at least four states as he tried to start an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Authorities say the conspiracy between Moroni Johnson and the polygamous sect’s leader, self-proclaimed prophet Samuel Bateman, occurred over a three-year period ending in September 2022. Bateman has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

John Goodrich was the subject of an Associated Press investigation into how the church protects itself from allegations of sexual abuse.

The bill does not remove the legal loophole known as clergy-penitent privilege. But Rep. Anthony Loubet said it could incentivize clergy members to come forward.

This week is a pretty heavy topic — abuse. And specifically, child abuse.

Similar clergy-penitent privilege bills have failed in the past. However, Rep. Anthony Loubet’s proposal has one major difference, resulting in a lack of opposition from the state's dominant faith.

Patrick Kearon, the newest member of the body that governs The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has said he would like see the faith better care for sex abuse victims.

A former LDS bishop whom a top church official said committed “sexual transgression” with his own daughter was excommunicated after making a religious confession. Recordings obtained by The Associated Press show that instead of helping prosecutors, the church used a legal playbook that keeps sex abuse secret.

Cochise County Superior Court Judge Timothy Dickerson said the state’s clergy-penitent privilege excused two bishops and several other church officials from Arizona’s child sex abuse mandatory reporting law because Paul Adams initially disclosed that he was sexually abusing his daughter during a confession to his bishop.

Last week, a federal grand jury issued a superseding indictment that accuses Bateman of making child pornography and provides new details about how he took wives as young as 9 years old as he worked to win followers to start his own small offshoot group of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.