Brother of LDS apostle (Christofferson) charged with attempting to sexually exploit children in Utah and Ohio

[Equality]

Something more troubling I saw someone comment, if we take the church’s statement at face value that Wade got no special help from his familial relation. It just goes to show the church will happily rebaptize and remove the annotation for any old child sex abuser.

So what’s worse special treatment for one, or a general policy of child sex abusers can easily get back into a position to abuse more children?

This is a bit like the church digging up records to contradict Beau Oyler’s claim, records they have sworn to the court do not exist as a matter of practice and policy.

LDS Church: No special treatment for Mormon royalty. No siree, uh-uh, no way José! We cover up the sexual-abuse history of all our church pedos whether they be librarians, primary school teachers, Bishops, or brothers of apostles, for truly God is no respecter of persons. We are equal-opportunity whitewashers.

[Tom]

The Salt Lake Tribune reported today that a new accuser of Wade Christofferson has stepped forward.

Five months after Wade Christofferson was charged with attempting to sexually exploit a Utah child, a woman has stepped forward to publicly disclose that, as a young teenager decades ago, she reported to a Latter-day Saint bishop that Christofferson had sexually abused her.

At the time of her report, she and Christofferson — a brother of a now high-ranking Latter-day Saint apostle — attended the same congregation in Illinois. Speaking at an April 17 event held at Harvard Divinity School, Kristin Dunbar Mautz, now 48, said, “I did what I thought I should do.”

“I went to my bishop,” she said at the symposium on religious trauma. “I reported it. I was a child expecting safety, expecting protection.”

The adults, she thought, would decide what the consequences should be, caution others, set things right.

“Instead, I was given a punishment,” Mautz said. “I was forced to sit in that congregation Sunday after Sunday and watch him … sitting up on the stand, serving in the bishopric, a position of honor and trust.”

That’s the church’s gold standard approach in action.

The Tribune article continues:

In a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune, a spokesperson for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said that Wade Christofferson was excommunicated more than 30 years ago. He was then rebaptized before again serving, “for a brief time,” as a member of a bishopric, this time in Ohio.

What does the unnamed spokesperson mean by “a brief time”? It’s not clear. According to Floodlit’s timeline, however, Christofferson served as second counselor in a young single adult ward bishopric from 2006 to 2011. He then served as first counselor in two bishoprics from 2016 to 2019. If the timeline is accurate, Christofferson served as a member of a bishopric for anywhere from about six years to ten years. That’s apparently “a brief time” in churchspeak.

The Tribune notes that federal prosecutors recently argued that they possess evidence that “reflects additional victims at church where [Christofferson] held leadership roles. … Other alleged conduct includes sexual assault of very young children.” A federal magistrate ruled last week that Christofferson should remain in custody.

The Tribune quotes the church statement as saying that when Todd Christofferson learned “late last year” of allegations of recent child abuse by his brother, he “reported it to legal authorities within hours.” Mark it down. Did Todd Christofferson, in fact, report within hours? How many?

[Marcus]

The Salt Lake Tribune reported today that a new accuser of Wade Christofferson has stepped forward.

Five months after Wade Christofferson was charged with attempting to sexually exploit a Utah child, a woman has stepped forward to publicly disclose that, as a young teenager decades ago, she reported to a Latter-day Saint bishop that Christofferson had sexually abused her.

At the time of her report, she and Christofferson — a brother of a now high-ranking Latter-day Saint apostle — attended the same congregation in Illinois. Speaking at an April 17 event held at Harvard Divinity School, Kristin Dunbar Mautz, now 48, said, “I did what I thought I should do.”

“I went to my bishop,” she said at the symposium on religious trauma. “I reported it. I was a child expecting safety, expecting protection.”

The adults, she thought, would decide what the consequences should be, caution others, set things right.

“Instead, I was given a punishment,” Mautz said. “I was forced to sit in that congregation Sunday after Sunday and watch him … sitting up on the stand, serving in the bishopric, a position of honor and trust.”

That’s the church’s gold standard approach in action.

The Tribune article continues:

In a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune, a spokesperson for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said that Wade Christofferson was excommunicated more than 30 years ago. He was then rebaptized before again serving, “for a brief time,” as a member of a bishopric, this time in Ohio.

What does the unnamed spokesperson mean by “a brief time”? It’s not clear. According to Floodlit’s timeline, however, Christofferson served as second counselor in a young single adult ward bishopric from 2006 to 2011. He then served as first counselor in two bishoprics from 2016 to 2019. If the timeline is accurate, Christofferson served as a member of a bishopric for anywhere from about six years to ten years. That’s apparently “a brief time” in churchspeak.

The Tribune notes that federal prosecutors recently argued that they possess evidence that “reflects additional victims at church where [Christofferson] held leadership roles. … Other alleged conduct includes sexual assault of very young children.” A federal magistrate ruled last week that Christofferson should remain in custody.

The Tribune quotes the church statement as saying that when Todd Christofferson learned “late last year” of allegations of recent child abuse by his brother, he “reported it to legal authorities within hours.” Mark it down. Did Todd Christofferson, in fact, report within hours? How many?

Thanks for the update, Tom. You know what's really horrifying? Do you think they put him in a bishopric of a ysa ward at first, because they thought the women there were safe because they were older than his preference?

[I Have Questions]

The Salt Lake Tribune reported today that a new accuser of Wade Christofferson has stepped forward.

Five months after Wade Christofferson was charged with attempting to sexually exploit a Utah child, a woman has stepped forward to publicly disclose that, as a young teenager decades ago, she reported to a Latter-day Saint bishop that Christofferson had sexually abused her.

At the time of her report, she and Christofferson — a brother of a now high-ranking Latter-day Saint apostle — attended the same congregation in Illinois. Speaking at an April 17 event held at Harvard Divinity School, Kristin Dunbar Mautz, now 48, said, “I did what I thought I should do.”

“I went to my bishop,” she said at the symposium on religious trauma. “I reported it. I was a child expecting safety, expecting protection.”

The adults, she thought, would decide what the consequences should be, caution others, set things right.

“Instead, I was given a punishment,” Mautz said. “I was forced to sit in that congregation Sunday after Sunday and watch him … sitting up on the stand, serving in the bishopric, a position of honor and trust.”

That’s the church’s gold standard approach in action.

The Tribune article continues:

In a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune, a spokesperson for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said that Wade Christofferson was excommunicated more than 30 years ago. He was then rebaptized before again serving, “for a brief time,” as a member of a bishopric, this time in Ohio.

What does the unnamed spokesperson mean by “a brief time”? It’s not clear. According to Floodlit’s timeline, however, Christofferson served as second counselor in a young single adult ward bishopric from 2006 to 2011. He then served as first counselor in two bishoprics from 2016 to 2019. If the timeline is accurate, Christofferson served as a member of a bishopric for anywhere from about six years to ten years. That’s apparently “a brief time” in churchspeak.

The Tribune notes that federal prosecutors recently argued that they possess evidence that “reflects additional victims at church where [Christofferson] held leadership roles. … Other alleged conduct includes sexual assault of very young children.” A federal magistrate ruled last week that Christofferson should remain in custody.

The Tribune quotes the church statement as saying that when Todd Christofferson learned “late last year” of allegations of recent child abuse by his brother, he “reported it to legal authorities within hours.” Mark it down. Did Todd Christofferson, in fact, report within hours? How many?

Todd Christofferson has a track record of not reporting. Floodlit reports -

Mormon apostle D. Todd Christofferson learned in around 2020 that his brother Wade Christofferson allegedly sexually abused multiple children between the late 1980s and early 1990s, but Todd did not report the alleged abuse to law enforcement. In March 2026, a church spokesman said Todd “respected the adult victims’ wishes not to involve law enforcement at that time.”

Todd, in 2020, did not seem to be prompted to fully ascertain how many victims there were. Clearly there were plenty that would have wanted him to contact the police on their behalf. Mautz for one. Todd is complicit in covering up child abuse.

[Rivendale]

The Tribune is keeping this story alive. https://www.sltrib.com/news/2026/07/0 ... -d-todd/ . Wade was just fine using the church as a crutch to continue his depravity and the church was also. Discernment should be classified exactly like the word Mormon. A victory for Satan. Fair Mormon (and others) continue to say that clergy privilege for non-reporting helps catch predators....

[Marcus]

And Deseret News? Here's how they reported it:

"Ohio man pleads guilty..."

https://i.redd.it/ko3ncl63each1.jpeg

[I Have Questions]

And Deseret News? Here's how they reported it:

"Ohio man pleads guilty..."

https://i.redd.it/ko3ncl63each1.jpeg

At no point in the latest Deseret News report does the reporter propagandist note that the self confessed child sex abuser is the brother of Apostle Todd Christofferson, despite that being in the public interest - the latter knew of his brother's depravity for 20 years, but did nothing about it. Enabling his brother Wade to offend again, and again, and again.

[I Have Questions]

The Tribune is keeping this story alive. https://www.sltrib.com/news/2026/07/0 ... -d-todd/ . Wade was just fine using the church as a crutch to continue his depravity and the church was also. Discernment should be classified exactly like the word Mormon. A victory for Satan. Fair Mormon (and others) continue to say that clergy privilege for non-reporting helps catch predators....

From the article:

The brother of an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pleaded guilty in federal court in Ohio on Thursday, admitting that he coerced and enticed a minor.

Wade S. Christofferson, 73, admitted to sexually abusing two girls in Ohio and Utah, according to plea agreement documents, and he pleaded guilty to coercing and exploiting the Utah girl through sexually explicit letters and phone calls.

Federal prosecutors say the charge carries a minimum-mandatory penalty of 10 years in prison, but he could be sentenced to spend the rest of his life in a federal lockup. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

Christofferson’s older brother is D. Todd Christofferson, who is a Latter-day Saint apostle and a member of the faith’s governing First Presidency.

The Salt Lake City-based church has said that the apostle did not learn about any abuse allegations against his sibling until sometime in 2020-21.

“That matter involved abuse from decades earlier that was denied,” a church spokesperson said in a statement. “Consistent with respect for adult survivor rights and a request for privacy … he did not take independent public action.”

Nor did Todd take any action to protect his own family from future child abuse by his brother. Had he done so, the latest child in his family that has been abused would have been protected. That’s on him. He should resign as an Apostle. If he had any shred of integrity he would offer a public apology for failing to act on a known future risk to children and step down.

Christofferson, prosecutors said in their news release, admitted to “hands-on sexual abuse of the child in Utah and the second victim in Ohio approximately 20 times.”

Todd could have prevented that. But he chose to do nothing. Given his position, his inaction brings shame on the Church. What must the parents of the latest children to be abused think about good old Todd keeping the risk Wade posed a secret from them?

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Those darn drag queens are at it again!

[Res Ipsa]

There is a part of this that still baffles me. The charges against the brother did not include physical abuse of the child in Utah, although he confessed to it. I've been assuming that's because the court didn't have jurisdiction over physical abuse that happened in Utah. So why prosecution for communicating over video and not the actual physical abuse? Is the family not cooperating? Somebody talk me down.