#512 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,4,6,7
Having to discuss masturbation and even asked questions about anal sex as a teenager. Asked my 9 year old convert daughter if she had homosexual relations or an abortion.
These are personal accounts of the negative consequences that inappropriate interviews have had on people.
#511 Name Hidden. CS: 1,4,6
When I was 13, my family was not active in the church. Our bishop did, however, reach out to my parents encouraging an interview since I was at a “vulnerable age”. My parents agreed and I soon met with him alone in his office. I did not know this man. He asked me if I…
#510 Name Hidden. CS: 1,3,7,8
I am an active member of the church. When I served my mission, a man broke into me and my companions apartment. He held a knife up to my neck and sexually assaulted me. Not knowing the church protocol, I called my mission president. I don’t think he knew what to do and wasn’t prepared…
#509 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Other: Foundational damage to my testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel and the LDS Church.
I was sexually abused by family members (aunts and cousins) and babysitters from my earliest memory (as a toddler). One such abusive event actually resulted in my drowning death but I was miraculously and gratefully revived. All of my abusers were “faithful” members of the LDS Church. I have also since learned that the abuse…
#508 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,4,7,8
I first discovered masturbation around 6 years old. I had no idea there was anything wrong with it and I simply called it “getting butterflies”. I remember at 8 being asked in my baptismal interview if anyone touched me on my private areas or if I touched myself. This caused anxiety within me. Was it…
#507 Name Withheld. CS: 5
As a teenager, one Bishop always had me sit on his lap after the door was closed. I didn’t question it because I was naive and had been taught to not question authority. Nothing else happened but looking back it was very inappropriate.
#506 Matthew B. CS: 1,2,3,4,7,8. Other: Depression and impairment in social and professional environments.
I masturbated only once (yes, ONCE) as a young man growing up in the Church. I was 14 years old. I didn’t really understand what I was doing or feeling, but my LDS upbringing made me quickly realize that I had committed a line never to be crossed, not even once. I was so horrified…
#505 Name Hidden. CS: 1,4. Other: Poor trust, lack of confidence
I thought I just couldn’t remember things clearly. I questioned myself. I thought I had heard the questions wrong. But I didn’t Sixteen and alone with a man of authority, my heart rate picked up and I stumbled over my words as he asked me if I got sexually aroused when I was around boys.…
#504 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,4,7
When I was twelve years old a male leader came to our Sunday School class. One by one, he took each child out of class to have a talk with the bishop. No parental permission. No “voluntary” confession (these assembly-line interviews with probing questions are at odds with the practice of voluntary “confession”). I can’t…
#503 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,4,7. Other: Distrust of Leaders
I didn’t know what masturbation was until I was a teenager, but found out that I had been doing it since I was six on an off again. At young women’s some girls introduced me to erotic novels and I ended up reading a few. I felt horribly guilty afterward and talked to the bishop.…