I was thirteen or so when I was asked by a member of the bishopric if I touched myself. Of course, I lied. I barely knew this man. This was shortly after I was sexually abused by my ” best friends “, who happened to be the bishop’s twin daughters. They were younger than myself…
My story is four stories, and you may split them if you wish, or you may tell them together. So we will begin: The story of my mother. I will insert names where I can, you may delete as needed, but I want to give the truth to the point of traceable people should you…
I never thought my story would be important but now that I see others standing up to protect children from these harmful interviews, I feel I cannot be silent. When I was 8 years old a friend I did not play with much came over to my house. We went in my room and she…
I still struggle putting this down on print and still have the shame that the church issued to me with my abuse. When I was approximately 7/8 years old I walked the few blocks to my cousins house to play. We lived in a very safe are of Sandy Utah and this was a common…
How do I even begin to try and explain the damage being abused as a child has caused me. I was 6, we had been friends with this family for a few years, our families did a preschool co-op together. My friend was the same age as me. We had play dates, saw each other…
My story starts outside of church. From the age of seven, I experienced sexual assault and harassment from multiple sources. Other children, adults I knew, perfect strangers. As an example, without revealing some of the more traumatic experiences, when I was eleven or twelve, I was out shopping and the proprietor of the store approached…
It wasn’t the interviews so much as a combination of the interviews with the fire-and-brimstone chastity lessons. Masturbation was described as an incredibly selfish and shameful act. Then we got the For The Strength of Youth pamphlet which called sexual sins “next to murder”. Then came the interviews asking about masturbation and the copy of…
My 15 year old son has been crippled with guilt and shame about masturbation. He has talked to our LDS bishop about it and feels worse afterward. My son is predisposed to depression and anxiety. His therapist thought he was experiencing a level of religious scrupulosity. I spoke to the bishop about this and asked…
My father was both a Bishop and a Stake President for almost my entire childhood. Both of my parents were very well known and respected in our small Mormon community. Nobody outside of our family knew the extreme psychological, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse that was happening behind our perfect facade. I wonder how many…
I felt uncomfortable just being in the presence of Bishop _____. Knowing what he was going to ask me made my heart race with dread. Every 6 months he would pull me into his office and shut the window-less door behind me. Then he would proceed to grill me. “When was the last time you…