Mother Sues Mormon Church Over Abuse Case
A mother from Lawrence, Massachusetts is suing the Mormon church for negligence after her son was sexually abused by a volunteer who was a former sex offender. The mother says the church should be held responsible, as they did not perform a background check on the volunteer.
The offender in question is Kevin Curlew and he served a year in a Maine prison about 22 years ago. Curlew volunteered at the church, acting as a baby-sitter and was convicted of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, as well as two counts of assault and battery. He was sentenced to 9-10 years in jail with 512 days credit.
The lawsuit was filed in May and is against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (referred to as the Mormon church or LDS), its branch in the town of Methuen, Massachusetts, two male members of the local church and Kevin Curlew.
The mother attended women's meetings while babysitters would look after her son. Curlew volunteered as a church baby-sitter and was allowed to baby-sit alone, contrary to the rules and regulations of church policy, which requires two adults to be present when watching children. Curlew molested the 9-year old boy several times in the church bathroom during 2004.
The lawsuit states that even after a Bishop and another member of the church learned of the abuse, the men told the mother that Curlew would receive counseling and insisted that the issue remain within the church. The complaint goes on to state that Curlew was allowed to continue working as a volunteer after the report of abuse was filed.
The attorney for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Harold W. Potter, Jr., admitted the boy was abused but said the church would not accept responsibility. Potter was quoted as saying, "I don't think you could find a church in the United States that does [criminal background] checks on its members."
I'm curious to know if this attorney has done his research in order to back up this statement, as I personally know several churches who conduct background checks on employees and volunteers. In fact, many background check companies offer discounted pricing to churches and other non-profit organizations.
posted by JenWiehl @ 12:12 PM
12 Comments
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12 Comments:
I would think that background checking church volunteers would be as important as background checking volunteers for schools or hospitals! It's a scary claim that so few churches actually are doing anything to ensure a safe environment for their congregation.
Is it just me...or does anyone else find it appalling that the church asked the mother to keep this quiet? Sounds like an awful lot of negligence on the church's part.
I'm sorry, but is the lawyer's name really Harry Potter? That's just too much.
You cant trust the school, coaches, and not even memeber's of your church. It's sad that the world is full of dangerous people.
just because someone is a member of a church does not mean they are a good person.
Plus, churches tend to "trust" their members. This makes them a potential magnet for predators.
Ok, if I was the church, I would get another attorney. He obviously does not know what he is talking about and I would not feel confident in letting him represent me. This is a continuing problem in too many different areas. I think that anyone, volunteer or not, should have a background check done on anyone who interacts with children. Now who is to say these children will not have future issues related this assault. Very Sad!!!
this opens a can of worms, doesn't it? Sure, for starters there is the issue of background checks for volunteers and employees... but it's also a question of faith... of forgiveness and of doing your time. That guy last offended 22 years ago...
"I don't think you could find a church in the United States that does [criminal background] checks on its members."
This one (www.ziononline.com) did when I was there. I don't recommend the curch (in fact, quite the opposite). But we did perform background checks on Children's Ministry workers.
So the Mormons' lawyer (Harry Potter? Are you SERIOUS?!) is wrong.
Counseling? Counseling?? If I was inclined to go to church, I'd like to think that the leaders and decision makers could also be logical thinkers. The fact that they sought counseling, rather than justice, as a remedy for this person's perverted (and illegal!) behavior...well, it completely explains why background checks for volunteer members never even crossed their minds in the first place. *sigh*
At this point it is an accusation. Let the facts come out before you hang anyone.
This dude should be placed in prison for life. He's committed crimes in the past and 22 yrs. later he is hurting children. Harry Potthead Jr. the attorney is an idiot. I hope the woman wins the lawsuit. That's all.
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