MDL Sought for Sexual Abuse Lawsuits Against Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Motion seeks to centralize all child sex abuse lawsuits being pursued against the Mormon church in the federal court system, which raise allegations similar to those pursued against the Catholic church.

A group of individuals pursuing child sexual abuse lawsuits against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have filed a motion with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML), asking for claims brought throughout the federal court system to be consolidated before one judge for discovery and pretrial proceedings, as part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL).

There are currently almost 50 lawsuits against the Mormon church pending in U.S. District Courts nationwide, each raising similar allegation that the organization knew about credible incidents involving the sexual abuse of children for decades, but chose to cover up the brutal crimes instead of protecting its most vulnerable members.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has approximately 6.8 million members throughout the United states, and operates as one of the wealthiest private organizations in the world.

“[I]n order to preserve the influx of generations of financial commitments from congregants and to protect the moral reputation of the Church, the Church hides, covers up, and ultimately knowingly and directly benefits from the trafficking and sexual abuse of children by Church members,” according to the motion for transfer (PDF) filed with the U.S. JPML on February 3.

The litigation mirrors claims presented against the Catholic church in recent years, which has resulted in thousands of complaints being pursued against various Archdiocese, and billions in settlements being paid by the organization.

The plaintiffs point out that each of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints sex abuse lawsuits raises similar questions of fact and law, indicating that the claims should be consolidated before one U.S. District Judge to reduce duplicative discovery into common issues, avoid conflicting pretrial rulings, and serve the convenience of common witnesses, parties and the judicial system.

The motion asks for complaints to be transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, where at least 27 of the current actions are pending. However, it is widely expected that hundreds of additional claims may be brought throughout dozens of other federal district courts over the next few years.

The filing came on the same day the Maryland Supreme Court upheld a new child sexual abuse law in that state, which removed the statute of limitations for civil child abuse claims in Maryland, and allows sexual abuse lawsuits against the Mormon church to move forward, regardless how long ago the incidents occurred.

The constitutionality of the new Maryland law was challenged by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. However, the Maryland Supreme Court rejected the concerns and cleared the underlying Mormon church sex abuse to proceed toward trial, involving allegations that it did nothing to stop a minister from sexually assaulting a young girl, even after a probation officer warned the organization that the minister, Frederick Edvalson, should not be left alone with children. Edvalson pled guilty to felony sex charges in 1985 and is now deceased.

Similar factual patterns have also been repeated in federal complaints brought in various different states, involving incidents of abuse at the hand of different sexual predators affiliated with the Mormon church.

“In each action, Plaintiffs allege reports were made to Church leadership regarding the abuse but were not acted upon due to a pervasive and intentional scheme to cover-up and conceal the rampant sexual abuse within the Church,” the motion states. “These horrific crimes, most often perpetrated against children, are swept under the rug by the Church and its ordained members as a matter of policy. The Church actively works to make sure that credible reports of sexual violence – including the rape of children – are silenced.”

If the U.S. JPML chooses to consolidate the claims, one judge will shepherd the cases through the pretrial proceedings, and would likely propose a bellwether trial plan, to help the parties gauge evidence and expert testimony that may be repeated throughout the litigation. However, if Mormon church sexual abuse settlements are not reached during the MDL proceedings, the presiding judge may decide to send each case back to its originating district for individual trials.