Man arrested in undercover human trafficking investigation is an LDS bishop in Utah | KUTV

A man arrested as part of an undercover operation targeting human trafficking is currently the bishop of an LDS ward in Lehi, Utah.

On Tuesday, detectives arrested David N. Moss, 51, who is currently the bishop of a congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Lehi. Sgt. Spencer Cannon, with the Utah County Sheriff's Office, said they have no evidence, but are investigating the possibility of other victims because of his position of trust as a local church leader and a vice police officer as late as 2012.
Investigators are requesting anyone who may have had inappropriate involvement with Moss to contact Utah County Sheriff's Office at 801.851.4010.

Another man was arrested in the same undercover investigation. Richard Michael Martin, 29 of Riverton, Utah, was trying to arrange an encounter with underage girls.

Man arrested in undercover human trafficking investigation is an LDS bishop in Utah | KUTV

An ex-Utah County deputy’s confession to Mormon leaders led to his arrest for child molestation 10 years later - The Salt Lake Tribune

Two young women told investigators in Mesa, Ariz., that one of the department’s former officers had groped and sexually assaulted them 11 years earlier at sleepovers.

The handwritten report from 1995 doesn’t explain the steps detectives took next, but within months, the case went dormant. An investigator wrote that there was scant evidence and no likelihood that Officer Gerald Salcido would ever be convicted.

Years went by.

Salcido moved to Utah, where he worked as a Provo officer for 12 years and then another decade as a deputy with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.

While he was working for Provo, he allegedly confessed to his crimes — not to police, but to his wife and his Mormon bishop. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints excommunicated Salcido in 2006, but it appears church officials never told investigators about the confession.

Only a dozen years later, when the mother of one of the victims complained to police in Arizona, did Salcido end up arrested and charged with molestation. That happened this January.

A recently obtained police report sheds light on the role religious leaders played in this on-again, off-again investigation that has left the victims frustrated, yet hopeful the man they say molested them some 30 years ago may yet face a prison sentence.

An ex-Utah County deputy’s confession to Mormon leaders led to his arrest for child molestation 10 years later - The Salt Lake Tribune

UPDATED:: Instructor at Mormon church sexually abused children, Texas police say - The Washington Post

UPDATE::  McKinney church instructor gets 50 years for molesting children

A 23-year-old former church instructor has been sentenced to 50 years in prison without the possibility of parole after admitting that he sexually abused multiple children.

The Collin County Criminal District Attorney’s Office called Noel Anderson a serial child predator.

Anderson was an instructor for 7 and 8-year-olds at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He was arrested last March after a little girl told her mother that he had abused her.

He confessed to the abuse and admitted that he had sexually abused multiple children that he met through the church over a period of several years.

A young man who served as an instructor at a Mormon church in Texas admitted that he sexually assaulted children, authorities said.

Police said 22-year-old Noel Anderson, who was a primary instructor at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Dallas suburb of McKinney, Tex., abused four children between the ages of 2 and 6. The crimes happened over seven years, during which time Anderson met the children through church meetings and other activities, according to the McKinney Police Department.

Anderson has been charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child, a first-degree felony, and indecency with a child, a second-degree felony. He was arrested last month and is being held on a $200,000 bond, online records show. His attorney did not immediately return a call Monday.

Instructor at Mormon church sexually abused children, Texas police say - The Washington Post

'He took my innocence': Victims describe toll of ex-bishop's abuse | Deseret News

When they turned to their LDS bishop as vulnerable teenagers, two young men told a judge Tuesday that they instead became victims of a sly sexual predator who isolated them from their families and left them buried beneath guilt.

Erik Hughes, 51, was sentenced to at least one and up to 20 years in prison Tuesday, ordered to serve concurrent terms of one to 15 years for two counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony, followed by a consecutive term of up to five years for witnesses tampering, a third-degree felony.

'He took my innocence': Victims describe toll of ex-bishop's abuse | Deseret News

Ex-LDS bishop pleads guilty to sexually abusing two underage males | Crime and Courts | heraldextra.com

A former LDS bishop charged with sexually abusing two underage males in his ward pleaded guilty to his crimes Wednesday in Fourth District Court.

The defendant, Erik Hughes of Mapleton, entered guilty pleas to two second-degree felonies of forcible sexual abuse and one third-degree felony of tampering with a witness. Hughes, 51, pleaded to what he was originally charged with. No charges were reduced as a part of his plea arrangement.

Hughes’ attorney, John Allan, told Judge Thomas Low that as a part of the agreement, no other charges in relation to the allegations of abuse can be leveled against Hughes.

Ex-LDS bishop pleads guilty to sexually abusing two underage males | Crime and Courts | heraldextra.com

UPDATED::Utah proposal would protect LGBTQ people from hate crimes – LGBTQ Nation

UPDATE::  Utah lawmakers reject hate crimes proposal

Utah’s GOP-controlled Senate has rejected a proposal to beef up the state’s hate crimes law and add protections for gay and transgender people.

The proposal from Republican Sen. Steve Urquhart would give heavier punishments for crimes motivated by factors such as a victim’s race, gender, religion.

The measure failed by six votes in the 29-member Senate on Wednesday. Lawmakers say they’re concerned it could create special protections for some people and punish people for their thoughts.

UPDATE:  Lawmaker: Mormon church ‘snuffed out’ Utah hate crimes bill

A Mormon Utah senator working to pass a hate crimes bill protecting gay and transgender people criticized his church Thursday for thwarting the measure by urging legislators not to upset a balance between religious and LGBT rights.

Sen. Steve Urquhart, R-St. George, said The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “effectively snuffed out” discussion on his proposal with its statement.

Church spokesman Dale Jones said in the statement Wednesday that lawmakers struck a balance last year with an anti-discrimination law that protected religious rights and LGBT rights. Jones said that balance should be maintained despite efforts on both ends of the political spectrum to upset it.
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“Under current Utah law, there’s no legal distinction between painting a smiley face on a synagogue or painting a swastika on a synagogue. They’re both treated like mere graffiti,” Urquhart said.

UPDATE::  Utah Senate panel OKs bill adding LGBT protections to hate crime law

A proposal to add protections for gay and transgender people to the Utah‘s hate crime law cleared its first test Thursday when it was approved on a 5-1 vote by a Senate committee.

In addition to protections for LGBT people, supporters said the measure but also beefs up the state’s existing hate crimes law, which they argued is difficult to enforce and makes it tough to seriously punish crimes intended to target someone based on race or religion.

Several conservative and religious groups opposed to the measure say they worry it makes thoughts and beliefs a crime and carves out special protections for some classes of people.
,,,
 Urquhart is working on an accompanying proposal to make it clear that a person’s membership in a specific group or hate speech along[sic] cannot be evidence that something was a hate crime. The comments or actions must be specifically related to the crime — such as stating an intent to attack a specific person because of their race, not past statements against members of a race.

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A new proposal could make it a hate crime in Utah to harm someone because they are gay or transgender.

A bill unveiled by a Republican lawmaker Thursday would dole out stiffer penalties for crimes against people or their property that are motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation, gender identity, race, disability, gender or other protected traits.

Equality Utah Executive Director Troy Williams has said Utah’s current hate crimes law has no protections for gay or transgender residents and little protections for other groups.

Utah is one of 15 states with hate crime laws that lack protections for sexual orientation and identity, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

St. George Republican Sen. Steve Urquhart sponsored the measure. He also sponsored Utah’s landmark LGBT anti-discrimination bill last year that passed after being endorsed by the Salt Lake City-based Mormon church.

Utah proposal would protect LGBTQ people from hate crimes – LGBTQ Nation

Pleasant Grove man charged with 7 counts of sexual abuse of a child | News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KUTV

An man self-reported sexual abuse of children to Pleasant Grove police after he was confronted by LDS church leaders who learned of the abuse from an alleged victim.

The man, Andrew Bishop, is 33-years-old and is accused of abusing five victims in a 10-year period according to police. When leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints confronted Bishop,he was told he needed to call police or church leaders would, according to Lt. Britt Smith with the Pleasant Grove police.

He said Bishop went to the police station and told a detective he sexually abused the first victim nine years ago. He also said the latest victim's abuse happened during the past eight months. Bishop is charged with seven counts of sexual abuse of a child and arrested.

Pleasant Grove man charged with 7 counts of sexual abuse of a child | News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KUTV

The state of Deseret flag still flies over Salt Lake City | The Salt Lake Tribune

The Flag of the Kingdom of God of the State of Deseret flies above Utah's capital city at the Ensign Peak Nature Park — a Salt Lake City municipal park.

After calls to take down the Confederate flag flying over the South Carolina Capitol last week, historian John Gary Maxwell said Utahns should have a similar conversation.

"It's certainly confusing to me," he said regarding the LDS flag. "Up until Brigham Young's death, Utah was a theocracy. There was no separation between church and state."

The Ensign Peak preserve was dedicated to the city by Gordon B. Hinckley, the late president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in 1996. Its trailhead bears three flags: the Stars and Stripes, Utah's state flag and the flag representing the State of Deseret that later became the Territory of Utah before statehood in 1896.

The State of Deseret flag could be at odds with the separation of church and state outlined in the U.S. Constitution, Maxwell said.

And, he noted, even today, Utah legislative leaders meet with LDS officials before the annual legislative session convenes in January.

"It's appropriate for people to discuss what it means," Maxwell said. "With the flag up there, it says to me there is no separation between church and state."

The state of Deseret flag still flies over Salt Lake City | The Salt Lake Tribune

Former ‘church wife’ hopes for prosecution of polygamists | WORLD CULT WATCH

Carol Christie was only 18 when she was chided, drugged and manipulated by her mother into becoming the fourth wife and one of three “church wives” to the prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ Restored.

The so-called prophet — Stan King — was more than twice Christie’s age. Yet Christie was not the youngest of the wives; another was just 14. And as the years passed, Christie says, King took three more “church wives” ranging in age from 10 to 17.

When he died in 1986 at age 58, Fred King took over. He was King’s youngest son by his only legal wife. Fred King took control of both the spiritual and temporal lives of his followers.

He bedded his father’s wives, ran the church’s printing company and prescribed every aspect of the lives of his followers who live on an 80-hectare property near Owen Sound, Ont., that was once a ski resort.

Christie’s story is strikingly similar to those told by women who have escaped the fundamentalist Mormon community of Bountiful, B.C., even though there are no formal links to either the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) or the breakaway group that Winston Blackmore leads.

All three groups denounce the mainstream Mormon church and are denounced by the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All three breakaway groups claim to be the only true followers of Joseph Smith. All three condone polygamy, although the Ontario church limits it to the prophet.

The prophets share a penchant for girls and young women and group sex. Their control over boys is equally strong and results in them working almost as slave laborers for companies whose profits go almost solely to the leader

Former ‘church wife’ hopes for prosecution of polygamists | WORLD CULT WATCH