By Jerald and Sandra Tanner
In the November 1996 issue of the Salt Lake City Messenger we reported that Cherese Franklin was awarded $750,000 in damages in a sexual abuse case involving repressed memories. On appeal this case was overturned by a judge in Salt Lake City.
In our last newsletter we discussed the problem of child sexual abuse committed by bishops and other important leaders in the Mormon Church. Recently, we received another letter from a woman reporting that she was abused by her father: “Some of your research is being sent to a related attorney regarding the Beckly W. VA. [case] Sad! My bishop father sexually abused me. I know about the damage.”
Significantly, two other cases of sexual abuse involving prominent Mormons have recently come to light.
1 — Lloyd Gerald Pond, 51, was originally charged with two counts of forcible sodomy on a 14-year-old girl he met at a Mormon ward. Pond was employed by the Mormon Church’s public-relations department and “hosted a weekly nationwide radio program that promoted Mormon values . . .” (Salt Lake Tribune, Feb. 4, 1997). Many people were publicly complaining that Pond would only get a slap on the wrist because he was a well-known Mormon. Fortunately, this turned out not to be the case. The Tribune reported: “Ignoring recommendations for probation, a 3rd District judge sent confessed child sex abuser Lloyd Gerald Pond to prison for up to 15 years.” Ironically, Pond’s radio work for the church included warnings “about the evils of child abuse and pornography . . .” (Ibid., Nov. 16, 1996).
2 — The Idaho Falls Post Register reported the following on November 13, 1996:
A former state senator [Rex Furness] will be spending the next two months in jail for sexually battering his teenage granddaughter. . . . Furness will serve 60 days in the county jail, starting next week, and seven years probation. . . .
He was also very active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, holding various titles, including bishop until he confessed the acts to his church and surrendered his temple recommend.
What he did not say in court was that the charge against him forced him to resign from the state senate.
Originally appeared in:
Jerald and Sandra Tanner, “Sexual Abuse Update,” Salt Lake City Messenger, no. 92, April 1997, 15.