From the Jan 4 – Jan 10, 2001 issue

Columns

I, Anonymous

Growing up, I tried to be the best Mormon girl I could be. But after I began having sex, I started having flashbacks of sexual abuse at the hands of my father.

Horrified that my father was still performing his priesthood duties, I told my bishop what my father had done. "I know your father," he said. "He could not do those things." I brought a charge against my father and said that it was my bishop's responsibility to take it to higher authorities.

The last time I saw my father was in the high counsel's chambers. I was 19 years old. He was seated at the table with 15 men, most of whom I knew very well. I looked the demon in the eye and stated that he was a bad man and that he was not worthy to hold the priesthood. I then went on to tell what he had done to me. They asked a few questions and I was dismissed.

After the excommunication ruling was announced, they hugged him. Did they hug me? No, they chastised me for being angry. That day, not only did I feel betrayed by my father, I also felt betrayed by those 15 men, by the priesthood, by the church.

Luckily, it was not just the bishop that I told, but the police. He went to prison. Now, six years later, he has found a loophole in the law, won an appeal, and the case has been sent back to the district court to be retried.

Today, the prosecuting attorney informed me that the church would not allow any information from the meeting to be used in court, nor allow any of those 15 men to testify. Today, I again feel betrayed by the church.

--Anonymous