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Case guide

LDS abuse in Utah: law and records to ask about

Utah rules on reports and time to sue answer different questions. Ask a local lawyer which law fits your events.

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Updated Oct 4, 202612 sources

This may apply to you if

  • Ask a lawyer about sexual abuse by a person linked to the LDS Church.
  • Explain the place, years and your age when the abuse happened.
  • Describe the person’s role and any reports or responses you remember.

What the public record says

These are cited sources. Their inclusion does not imply that they endorse People’s Justice or reviewed this page.

Karen K. Caldwell · United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation · Chair of the panel issuing the April 3, 2025 order

Finding: The panel denied the request to group the listed LDS abuse cases. It said individual reports of abuse and the responses to those reports would be important facts in each case.

Order Denying Transfer, LDS sexual abuse litigation, April 3, 2025 (opens in a new tab) · Apr 3, 2025 · Checked Oct 3, 2026

The evidence and its limits

United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation · 2025

What the LDS grouping order reviewed

Design:
Other study design
Participants:
Listed civil actions and their varied allegations; no enrolled patients.
Finding:
The panel refused the listed grouping request and said individual reports and responses would matter.
Main limitation
A court coordination review does not establish abuse, fault, a clinical diagnosis or current case status.

Read the source: What the LDS grouping order reviewed (opens in a new tab) · Checked Oct 3, 2026

The short answer

Does Utah law give one deadline for every abuse claim?
The Utah text treats types of people sued differently. It does not give one Church-wide filing date. Ask a lawyer to check your claim and current law. [11]
What does the Utah reporting text say about clergy?
The Utah text has a narrow confession exception. Facts from other sources must be reported. That does not decide fault in a civil claim. [12]
Do Church headquarters choose the law for my events?
Do not assume the Church’s name or location chooses the law. Give the lawyer the place of each event. Filing-time research depends on the actual claim. [7]
What should I prepare for a Utah law review?
Keep dates and records you hold. A civil case may involve files and witnesses. Ask which missing proof matters to the claim. [8]

What rules a case out

Not covered by this case

  • A policy, role or published allegation does not prove your claim.
  • No personal deadline, firm acceptance, payment or privacy guarantee is given.

The process

What happens next

  1. 01

    You answer a few questions

    About two minutes. Nothing is sent until you agree on the last step and press submit.

  2. 02

    A lawyer looks at it

    A lawyer at the firm reads your answers and checks them against the current case criteria.

  3. 03

    The firm decides and gets in touch

    If the firm takes your case, you get the terms in writing to read before you sign. You can always say no.

Does Utah law give one deadline for every abuse claim?

The Utah text treats types of people sued differently. It does not give one Church-wide filing date. Ask a lawyer to check your claim and current law.

The source is official text effective in 2022. It is not a full review of later court decisions or every institutional claim. Give a lawyer the actual places, age, dates and earlier case documents.

What does the Utah reporting text say about clergy?

The Utah text has a narrow confession exception. Facts from other sources must be reported. That does not decide fault in a civil claim.

Ask what law applied at the time and whether the source of the information matters. Do not assume that every conversation with a leader was a protected confession. This page does not decide your reporting obligations.

Do Church headquarters choose the law for my events?

Do not assume the Church’s name or location chooses the law. Give the lawyer the place of each event. Filing-time research depends on the actual claim.

Explain if you moved, attended an event elsewhere or had an earlier case in another court. Ask which location affects each proposed claim. Do not calculate a deadline from a map or headquarters address.

What should I prepare for a Utah law review?

Keep dates and records you hold. A civil case may involve files and witnesses. Ask which missing proof matters to the claim.

List any report, reply, earlier dismissal or signed settlement separately. Ask for the time-limit answer and next action in writing. Do not contact an alleged abuser to seek a new admission.

What should a Utah lawyer explain about the sources?

Ask which text and court rulings apply to your events. A historical statute does not settle every later claim.

What would the local-law work cost?

Ask whether the firm would check time limits, reporting rules or file a case. Read the scope and expenses for that work before agreeing.

Scientific evidence for this case

LDS Church Abuse · Journal of Interpersonal Violence · 2023Cross-sectional

Institutional Betrayal and Clergy Sexual Abuse: Impact on Disclosure, Reporting, and Psychological Outcomes

Survivors who experienced institutional betrayal (e.g., Church concealment of abuse, victim-blaming by leaders) had PTSD symptom severity scores 2.3x higher than survivors who did not experience institutional betrayal

LDS Church Abuse · Journal of Trauma and Dissociation · 2022Cross-sectional

Religious Institutional Abuse: Long-Term Psychological Outcomes in Adult Survivors

Clergy abuse survivors showed elevated complex PTSD rates (78%) compared to other sexual abuse survivors (45%)

LDS Church Abuse · Child Abuse & Neglect · 2018Cross-sectional

Mandated Reporter Compliance in Religious Institutions: A National Survey

41% of surveyed religious leaders were unaware of their mandatory reporting obligations in their state

Find out where you stand.

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Sources

  1. JPML: LDS sexual abuse order denying transfer, April 3, 2025www.jpml.uscourts.gov · court
  2. Church Newsroom: its help-line statement, August 5, 2022newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org
  3. Church guide: helping someone who has been abusedwww.churchofjesuschrist.org · study
  4. RAINN: National Sexual Assault Hotline contactrainn.org
  5. RAINN: what to expect from the hotlinerainn.org
  6. ABA Model Rule 1.5: fees and expenseswww.americanbar.org
  7. SDNY: filing time limits require legal researchnysd.uscourts.gov · court
  8. U.S. Courts: federal civil claims and evidencewww.uscourts.gov · court
  9. U.S. Courts: public access and privacy in federal fileswww.uscourts.gov · study
  10. U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell (D. Utah) granted summary judgment to insurers National Union and ACE, ruling they owed the LDS Church no duty to defend or indemnify for its mid-trial 2018 settlement of the Doe-1 (Michael Jensen) West Virginia child sexual abuse suit; church appealed to the 10th Circuit (No. 25-4049). Settlement amount is sealed in court records. On July 28, 2026, the Tenth Circuit reversed the grant of summary judgment to the insurers and remanded for further proceedings.fox13now.com · Apr 3, 2025
  11. Utah childhood-abuse statute: official 2022 text
  12. Utah reporting statute: official 2024 text

Checked against 7 primary sources by People's Justice editors · Updated

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