Monday, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was hit with several lawsuits for allegedly covering up decades of sexual abuse among Boy Scout troops in Arizona, marking the latest litigation before the state’s end-of-year deadline for adult victims to sue.
The church “must be held accountable in order to bring healing and closure to Mormon victims of childhood sexual abuse,” Hurley McKenna & Mertz, a law firm that focuses on church sex abuse, said in a statement.
In lawsuits representing seven different male victims, attorneys say church officials never notified authorities about abuse allegations. Public records show members of church-sponsored Boy Scout troops who were abused would tell church bishops about what they had experienced.
Allegedly bishops would tell victims to keep quiet so the church could conduct its own investigation. Troop leaders and volunteers accused of sex abuse would be allowed to continue in their roles or be assigned to another troop, the suits.
The church was the largest sponsor of Boy Scouts of America troops and its greatest ally until the Utah-based faith ended the partnership on Jan. 1, 2020, and pulled out more than 400,000 young people.
