{"id":1932,"date":"2023-12-04T05:56:33","date_gmt":"2023-12-04T06:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shinsori.me\/?p=1932"},"modified":"2023-12-04T09:54:01","modified_gmt":"2023-12-04T09:54:01","slug":"idaho-abuse-case-church-responds-to-ap-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/shinsori.me\/index.php\/2023\/12\/04\/idaho-abuse-case-church-responds-to-ap-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Idaho abuse case: Church responds to AP story"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"The<\/p>\n

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The Church Office Building of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is pictured during the 190th Annual General Conference on Saturday, April 4, 2020, in Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/span><\/p>\n

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Spenser Heaps, Deseret News<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints responded Sunday night to an Associated Press story that detailed allegations about a former church member who allegedly sexually abused his daughter.<\/p>\n

The church swiftly excommunicated John Goodrich in 2015 after he allegedly confessed to a bishop in Mountain Home, Idaho, that he had sexually abused his daughter more than 20 years earlier.<\/p>\n

Goodrich was arrested in 2016 and charged with lewdness, but a prosecutor asked a judge nearly a year later to dismiss the charge for lack of evidence.<\/p>\n

On Sunday night, the Associated Press published a story that included information from recordings of a church representative talking to Goodrich\u2019s daughter about reaching a settlement with the church when she was an adult. The story did not say why the church offered a settlement, but the story claimed it was evidence the church was trying to cover up the abuse. <\/p>\n

The church strongly denied the allegation that it attempted to keep the abuse case a secret.<\/p>\n

The story noted that the settlement, which included a nondisclosure agreement about the amount of the settlement and recordings made of church officials discussing it, did not preclude the survivor from telling her story.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2017, the church agreed to settle a civil claim made by the survivor,\u201d the church statement said.\u201c Nothing in the agreement kept her from talking about the abuse she suffered or the facts of the case itself with anyone. Both parties mutually agreed not to disclose the financial terms of the settlement.\u201d<\/p>\n

The church provided its statement in response to questions from AP reporters Michael Rezendez and Jason Dearen. The Deseret News reached out to the church and was provided the statement Sunday night.<\/p>\n

The church statement said Goodrich was excommunicated in October 2015 after his bishop learned of the abuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has not been readmitted to church membership,\u201d the church statement said. \u201cClaims that he confessed to a bishop prior to 2015 are false.\u201d<\/p>\n

The survivor and her mother also claimed in the story that the prosecutor abandoned the case against Goodrich because the Latter-day Saint bishop refused to testify. The church said the bishop was precluded from testifying under Idaho law, which protects clergy-penitent communications.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly (Goodrich) could release the bishop from his obligation under the clergy-penitent privilege<\/a>, and he refused to do so,\u201d the church statement said. \u201cThe bishop was subpoenaed to testify in this case, but prosecutors released the subpoena, and he was not recalled to testify. The church had no role in influencing the prosecuting attorney to dismiss the criminal case. Questions about the status of the criminal case should be directed to local prosecutors.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Related<\/div>\n