The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can refuse to answer questions or refuse to produce documents in a setting.
The ruling was handed down on April 7 but was not made public until Tuesday. The lawsuit, filed by a child sexual abuse victim, was filed by a church popularly known as the Mormon Church, two of its bishops, and other church members, alleging that church member Paul Adams was accused of his He has accused him of conspiracy and negligence for failing to report the abuse of his eldest daughter in 2010. According to the complaint, due to negligence, Adams continued to abuse the girl for seven years, during which he also abused the girl’s younger sister.
Lynn Caddigan, the Adams children’s attorney who filed the lawsuit, criticized the court’s ruling.
“Unfortunately, this ruling expands the privilege of clergy beyond what Congress intended by allowing the church to cover up crimes against children,” she said.
In a statement, the church agreed with the court’s decision.
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints concurs with the Arizona Supreme Court decision,” the statement said. “We are deeply saddened by the abuse these children have been subjected to. The Church will not tolerate abuse of any kind.”
Adams also posted a video of himself sexually abusing his daughter on the Internet, boasted about the abuse on social media, and confessed to federal law enforcement who arrested him without the church’s help in 2017.
Due to these actions, on August 8, 2022, Cochise County Superior Court Judge Laura Cardinal ruled that Adams had waived her right to keep her 2010 confession to Bishop John Herod confidential.
“In summary, Adams’ blatant act demonstrates a lack of repentance and a profound disregard for the principles of the Church,” the cardinal said in her ruling. can only be characterized as
Clerics in Arizona, like many other states, are required to report information about child sexual abuse or neglect to law enforcement or child welfare authorities. An exception to this law, known as the Clergy’s Privileges of Repentance, allows members of the Clergy who learn of the abuse through a spiritual confession to keep the information confidential.
The church argued that upon learning of Adams’ confession, Herod and the second bishop, Robert “Kim” Mawsey, had no legal obligation to report abuse of his eldest daughter and appealed the cardinal’s sentence. served as defense in a privileged action.
On December 15, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the church, saying it was not necessary to file a disciplinary record for Adams, who was excommunicated in 2013. The hearing could, on the basis of the clergy’s penitential privilege, refuse to answer questions from the plaintiff’s attorney during pretrial testimony.
Lawyers representing the Adams girl and one of her brothers filed a lawsuit in the Arizona Supreme Court, but they did not win, according to the April ruling.
In an unusual move, Caddigan said attorneys for the three Adams children intend to file a motion asking the Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling.
According to AP research on clergy privilege, it exists in 33 states, and the Mormon Church, often affiliated with the Catholic Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other religions, has reformed or It has successfully lobbied against attempts to eliminate it.
