Mormons jailed for child sex assaults
Jason...@virgin.net
Mormons jailed for child sex assaults
BY STEWART TENDLER, CRIME CORRESPONDENT
FOUR members of the Mormon church have been convicted of sexually
abusing children after being caught during a two-year police
investigation.
Victims as young as seven gave descriptions of being assaulted by
paedophiles in Mormon groups in Bristol. Police sought information from
the church's headquarters in Utah but the Americans refused to help.
Details of the case were disclosed at Bristol Crown Court after
reporting restrictions were lifted. Martin Hayward, 45, a father of
seven, is serving a six-year prison sentence for a serious sexual
assault on a boy aged seven.
Kenneth Gunton, 72, a painter and decorator, was jailed for two years in
January after being convicted of two counts of gross indecency.
Jeremy Brown, 29, a missionary, was put on probation for two years after
he admitted assaulting a 14-year-old girl during a church "confession".
Murray Collins, 51, a priest, was given a suspended sentence after
admitting 13 indecent assaults on children. He was described in court as
a "fixated paedophile" with a previous conviction for indecent assault.
Collins's first victim reported him to the Mormon church - officially
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - 17 years before the
investigation began. The church refused to call police and repeatedly
used its "disciplinary" procedures to deal with him, but he continued
abusing young church-goers and, despite further complaints, he was
allowed to keep his position of power in the church.
The investigation began after a victim of Hayward went to the police.
The man, now in his 20s, said that he had blanked out the abuse but the
memories returned after he saw a member of the church in the street.
Some of the victims told police that they were attacked in their homes
and others in church. The incidents go back to the 1980s.
During the investigation police made repeated attempts to gain access to
documents kept at the Mormon headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah. But
their requests for help were denied as the American Mormons closed ranks
to protect the English branch of the church.
An Avon and Somerset officer went to the United States and the FBI was
also asked to help.
Detective Chief Inspector Dave Johnson, who led the investigation, said:
"We had no co-operation whatsoever from the Mormon church. They refused
to give us records voluntarily and indicated that if there was any
attempt to obtain them they would vociferously defend any legal action
we took."
A spokeswoman for the Mormons said: "Church policy is that we will never
discuss individual cases. That is the matter between the person
disciplined, the church and the Lord. The church would always comply
with the law of the land."
Two police officers were acquitted of charges. Sergeant Mark Lewis, 36,
was cleared of raping a girl in the church, where he was president. PC
Anthony Henley, 27, a missionary and Sunday school teacher, was
acquitted of two indecent assaults during a three-week trial last year.
The Mormon church has several million members throughout the world. It
was founded in 1830 in New York by Joseph Smith, who claimed to have
been given the Book of Mormons through a revelation. Followers regard
this as scripture that complements the Bible.
geminiwalker
Just thought you might want to know that A&E recently did a series on "True
Believers" about cults and such, and the first episode was on the Mormons
and Polygamy. There was some quite impressive interviewing with women who
had been abused by elders in their families, physically and sexually. You
can get a copy of the video from A&E. It's called "Polygamy."
...geminiwalker