Woman sues Mormon church, says they reported husband who confessed to child sex abuse

An Oregon woman is suing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, saying in a $9.54 million lawsuit that the church reported her husband to police after he confessed to sexually abusing a child.

In the suit, filed Jan. 3 in Marion County Circuit Court, Kristine Johnson says church leaders failed to tell her and her husband Timothy they would contact authorities if he admitted to sexual abuse.

Timothy Johnson was arrested in 2017 for “first-degree sodomy, sexual abuse, and unlawful sexual penetration,” according to the Statesman Journal. He pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree sexual abuse and was later sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Church officials didn’t respond to the Statesman Journal’s request for comment.

The lawsuit seeks damages for “extreme emotional distress” and loss of income due to Timothy Johnson being incarcerated.

The suit says that reporting Johnson’s confessions violated the “confidentiality” and “clergy-penitent privilege” of the church’s doctrine.

Oregon, along with 27 other states, list clergy as mandatory reporters, according to Child Welfare Information Gateway. The state, however, exempts reporting for disclosures that fall under “clergy-penitent privilege” such as those in confessionals.

Other states, including Utah, are considering doing away with making confessions of child abuse and neglect to clergy exempt from reporting laws.

Kristine Johnson’s lawsuit differs from others filed against the Mormon church, alleging its leaders didn’t report child sex abuse and treated it as a sin.

This story was originally published January 8, 2020 at 12:38 PM.