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Churchwide News
| U S State Dept Condemns Attack on Mormons August 20th |
| The US State Department yesterday condemned an attack on a
Mormon group in Volgograd August 20th as well as recent attacks on Jews and
Jehovah's witnesses and called on the Russian government to prosecute the
perpetrators "to the fullest extent" of the law. |
| Woman's Lawsuit vs. LDS Church Over Abuse Heard by Utah Supreme Court |
| The Utah Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday
in the case of a woman suing the LDS Church over its handling of her abuse
by another LDS Church member. Lynette Earl Franco says she was abused at age
7 by a member of her LDS congregation who was 11 at the time. After
initially filing a claim of clergy malpractice, Franco now claims that her
Bishop and Stake President committed fraud, were negligent and inflicted
distress on her. |
| Failure to Report Charges vs LDS Bishop Dismissed |
| An LDS Bishop has escaped charges that he failed to
report a case of sexual abuse of an infant. On the recommendation of Salt
Lake District Attorney David Yocum, Judge Roger Livingston dismissed the
misdemeanor charge against LDS Bishop Bruce Christensen i the case of a
one-year-old allegedly abused by her father. Yocum told the court that the
child's mother had changed her story. "The police reports were very
specific, [but] now she's saying something different," Yocum told the court. |
| Another LDS Bishop Escapes Failure to Report Charges |
| Just one day before a scheduled court date, LDS
Bishop David Maxwell reached an agreement with prosecutors to have the
charges against him dismissed. The so-called "diversion" agreement requires
only that Maxwell "take advantage of the standard educational opportunities
provided to all ecclesiastical leaders in [Utah's failure-to-report
statute]." Charges against him will then be dismissed in 90 days. |
| Swap for Martin Handcart Company Site on Hold |
| An attempt by the LDS Church to swap land with the US
Government's Bureau of Land Management is on hold while the Church looks for
suitable land to swap. The Church wants to get the Martin's Cove site
because it is where about 150 members of the Martin Handcart Company died
from exposure and starvation in 1856 after being trapped by early snows. |
Other Churchwide News
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