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The Salt Lake Temple in Salt Lake City is shown on April 18, 2019. A top Mormon church official learned a former bishop had made a religious confession to details about his relationship with his own daughter when she was a child. Recordings obtained by The Associated Press show that instead of helping prosecutors, the church used a legal playbook that has helped protect itself from sex abuse claims. Today, the former bishop is a free man. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

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Takeaways from The AP's investigation into the Mormon church's handling of sex abuse cases
By MICHAEL REZENDES and JASON DEAREN - Associated Press
Sun,12/03/23-11:05PM , 43 Reads
HAILEY, Idaho (AP) — Paul Rytting had been director of the Risk Management Division at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for around 15 years when a 31-year-old church member told him that her father, a former bishop, had sexually abused her when she was a child.
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Chelsea Goodrich poses for a portrait at a friend's house in Ketchum, Idaho, on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. Goodrich's father, a popular Idaho dentist and former bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church, was excommunicated after sharing details about his relationship with her when she was a child during a religious confession. Recordings obtained by The Associated Press show that instead of helping prosecutors, the church used a legal playbook that has helped protect itself from sex abuse claims. Goodrich's father is today a free man, and she says she decided to speak out to protect other children. (AP Photo/Jason Dearen)

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Recordings show how the Mormon church protects itself from child sex abuse claims
By MICHAEL REZENDES and JASON DEAREN - Associated Press
Sun,12/03/23-11:01PM , 58 Reads
HAILEY, Idaho (AP) — Paul Rytting listened as a woman, voice quavering, told him her story.

When she was a child, her father, a former bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had routinely slipped into bed with her while he was aroused, she said.
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The Salt Lake Temple stands at Temple Square in Salt Lake City on Oct. 5, 2019. In a ruling made public Tuesday, April 11, 2023, the Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can refuse to answer questions or turn over documents under a state law that exempts religious officials from having to report child sex abuse if they learn of the crime during a confessional setting. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

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Arizona court upholds clergy privilege in child abuse case
By MICHAEL REZENDES and JASON DEAREN - Associated Press
Tue,04/11/23-5:41PM , 176 Reads
The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can refuse to answer questions or turn over documents under a state law that exempts religious officials from having to report child sex abuse if they learn of the crime during a confessional setting.
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Republican Rep. Merrill Nelson speaks during a special session at the Utah State Capitol, in Salt Lake City, on April 18, 2018. In a Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022 filing, three children who were sexually abused by their father, the late Paul Adams, are accusing Nelson and a prominent Salt Lake City law firm, Kirton McConkie, of conspiring with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to cover up their abuse, allowing it to go on for years. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

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Lawsuit: Utah firm and lawmaker helped Mormons hide abuse
By MICHAEL REZENDES and JASON DEAREN - Associated Press
Wed,10/12/22-2:27PM , 202 Reads
Three children who were sexually abused by their father are accusing a Utah state legislator and a prominent Salt Lake City law firm of conspiring with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to cover up the abuse, allowing
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