Court Demands Mormon Files in Sex-Abuse Case

Hoping to uncover what the Mormon Church knew about a high priest convicted of sexually abusing an 11-year-old boy, a Multnomah County judge ordered the church to release internal records of sex-abuse complaints and discipline actions.

The church has filed an emergency appeal with the Oregon Supreme Court.

Multnomah County Circuit Judge Ellen F. Rosenblum ordered the church on Jan. 24 to produce not only all records of Franklin Richard Curtis, the high priest, but also all records of reports of sex abuse made against anyone in the Portland or East Portland wards.

The church has argued the material is protected under the 1st Amendment and confidentiality laws between a church and a penitent. Rosenblum has suggested that only she be allowed to review the documents.

The order stems from a 1998 lawsuit by Jeremiah Scott, now 21, who accused a high priest of sexually abusing him repeatedly in 1990 and 1991, in Portland, when he was 11.

Curtis was 87 at the time of the abuse. He was convicted of first-degree sex abuse and given probation in 1994. He died in 1995.

At issue is what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints knew about Curtis’ past and when it knew about it.

Scott’s lawsuit claims the church knew of Curtis’ past sex abuse when Curtis moved in with Scott’s family but didn’t warn them.

Curtis had been excommunicated from a ward in Pennsylvania for sex abuse when he moved to Oregon.