DiscussMormonism.com

REM, Utah (KUTV) — A former bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been arrested as part of an ongoing sex abuse investigation involving multiple victims over the course of several decades.

Carl Johnson, 77, was arrested in Orem on Wednesday and booked into the Davis County Jail on seven counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child.

Detectives say Johnson abused children as young as 2 years old and held numerous positions of trust in the Church, including as a bishop. Johnson also served as Mayor of West Bountiful City in the 90s.

“In all these cases, the victims were told not to tell anyone else about what happened to them. In some cases, these crimes were suppressed in one way or another by Johnson when any disclosures were made. Johnson used his position of trust to influence any disclosures,” a police affidavit says.

The Davis County Sheriff’s Office estimates there are at least six victims and more cases currently under investigation.

The police report released publicly on Thursday details abuse against three victims between 1985 and 1996. The victims each described sexual abuse by Johnson on different occasions in Davis County. During an interview with detectives, Johnson admitted to the allegations of abuse by the three victims, according to police.

“Johnson has showed a long history of sexual abuse of children, some as young as 2 years old. Johnson admitted he has a problem of controlling his sexual urges and has struggled with this problem most of his life,” a detective wrote in the affidavit.

Johnson is currently being held in the Davis County Jail without bail.

This is a developing story, KUTV will post additional information about the case as it becomes available.


https://kutv.com/news/local/former-utah ... day-saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints sent a statement to KUTV in response to an inquiry about Johnson's arrest.

"The allegations against this individual are serious and deeply troubling. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has no tolerance for abuse of any kind. Those who engage in abusive behavior are rightfully subject to prosecution by legal authorities and also face loss of Church membership.”

Stephanie Dinsmore, spokesperson for Davis County Sheriff's Office, declined to say if the alleged abuse happened when Johnson was a church bishop, saying in a text that the agency will not be commenting on Johnson's “affiliation” with the church.

W. BOUNTIFUL MAYOR SOLIDLY WINS RE-ELECTION; VOTERS CHOOSE 2 NEW CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
By Deseret News
Nov 3, 1993, 7:00am BST
Brian West, Staff Writer

Residents here apparently felt pleased with the performance of their mayor over the past four years as they overwhelmingly returned him to office Tuesday.

Carl M. Johnson received 665votes to David L. Badham's 173, according to complete but unofficial vote tallies.

West Bountiful residents also elected Jim Child, 38, and Carl Martin, 58, as new members of the City Council.

Johnson, 48, said his re-election was the result of a lot of good people working together. "It's a matter of feeling good about the city at this particular time," he said.

"I think my involvement in the city for the past four years as mayor" made the difference in the campaign.

Johnson, manager of the copyrights and permissions office of the LDS Church, said his first order of business will be to get the city's new governing body oriented and organized.

Age: 46\ Born: Salt Lake City.\ Family: wife, Sherrie; children, Breana, 19; Anissa, 16; Mariah, 14; Kirsha, 12; Meleah, 11; Patrea, 9; Joshua, 6.\ Education: bachelor's degree, Weber State College; master's in public administration, Brigham Young University.

Occupation: manager, LDS Church copyrights and permissions office.

The victims told investigators they were told not to tell anyone, and Johnson used his position to suppress disclosures, according to the probable cause statement.

Police say they were able to get in contact with three of Johnson’s victims–whose abuse took place from 1985 to 1996 in Johnson’s home is Davis County while the victim’s were in the age range of five to 12–and conduct interviews with all of them. It is important to note that DCSO says that these three individuals were all victimized while Johnson “held a position of trust” over them, and were “told not to tell anyone else about what happened to them.”

DCSO says that while interviewing Johnson regarding these incidents as well as other possible crimes he has committed, he admitted to touching Victims 1 and 2 inappropriately as touching Victim 3 inappropriately over her clothing.

Police records add that Johnson also admitted to inappropriately touching other victims, estimating that “there was more than six victims as young as two-years-old.” DCSO notes that Johnson “used his position of trust to influence any disclosures” that were made, and “admitted that he has a problem controlling his sexual urges and has struggled with this problem for most of his life.”