Hidden Sexual Abuse by bishop

I was groomed and molested by my step dad from the ages of 9-18.

When I was around 15 I admitted to the bishop’s wife in my ward in California, what was happening to me.

Apparently my step dad went before the stake council and was disfellowshipped. I don’t know exactly what happened because I wasn’t invited to this meeting and quite frankly not a damn thing was done or said about it after that.

Except the abuse continued at home now with my own mother knowing and not doing anything to protect me. The police were not called. In my mothers words he admitted to fingering me.

I’m sorry what the fuck?! He admitted to fingering a child and he wasn’t taken to the police!? Y’all he wasn’t even excommunicated for this crime.

I did not receive help.

Nothing was done until I was 18 and my step dad drove me to BYU Idaho for college. I had begged my mom to not let him drive me but she insisted she couldn’t take off work and I was forced to endure the most torturous drive and night of my life.

We stayed one night alone in a hotel where he angrily and aggressively tried to rub lotion on my naked body.

I went into psychosis from this event and lasted 14 days at college before I had to go home because I was so mentally fucked up.

My mother put me in a psych ward where finally authorities were alerted to what I suffered.

DCFS was called into my home and interviewed my siblings and none of them spoke up for me because they were young and my mother had told them all to lie these are my sisters words. They claimed because I was 18 there was nothing they could do and since none of my siblings said he touched them, they couldn’t help them.

So my mother stayed married to this man and still is.

I’m now 31, and realizing the gravity of what I experienced as a child and I’m angry at the churches involvement.

I posted recently about my experience and had another mother from my home ward reach out about a similar experience where her daughter was sexually abused by a family member and this same bishop said, “let’s not take this to the police, let’s handle this in house.”

I’m infuriated. This man’s lack of taking this to the police caused me years of additional turmoil and trauma. I was supposed to count on him to protect me and he harmed me more! How many other women has he harmed!?

What kind of church places men in these positions and allows them to abuse and disregard sexual abuse within families but torments its youth with shame about sexual purity!

I want justice. I deserve justice from this situation. Does anyone know any lawyers or how I even go about starting to legally rectify the horrific wrongs I endured at the hands of puny disgusting men.

Read 41 survivor stories by victims of sexual abuse or shaming perpetrated by Mormon church members or leaders.

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