We lost a generation of young men in my ward in NY in the 80s due to grooming and molestation by a bishop facilitated by one on one bishop interviews. He convinced several young men that there was a secret priesthood initiation involving oral sex. One young man spoke out and his parents took it to church court. The bishop brought in many character witnesses. The accusation was kept secret so no other witnesses came forward and no investigation (e.g. interviews of other youth) took place at that time. So the decision by church court was apparently to remove him from his calling and make it so he “never was bishop again.” He then moved to Pennsylvania, became bishop, and did it again. This time the accusations were proved true, and a serious investigation in our ward youth commenced. All the young men were interviewed. The extent of his depredation was widespread and his family, who I love, was devastated. So the system fails the youth. There is no window on the door to the bishop’s office. No youth should be interviewed without a parent present. Period.
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