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

[I Have Questions]

D. Todd Christofferson’s brother

The brother of an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been charged with federal crimes alleging he attempted to sexually exploit children in Utah and Ohio.

Wade S. Christofferson, 72, was arrested last week in Utah and has been in the Salt Lake County jail, according to jail records.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Ohio announced in a Tuesday news release that Christofferson — whose older brother is an apostle and member of the faith’s governing First Presidency D. Todd Christofferson — has been charged with attempting to sexually exploit a minor, and with coercion and enticement.

It’s pretty bad.

Federal prosecutors say that one alleged victim reported to police in Dublin, Ohio, on Nov. 12 that Wade Christofferson had sexually abused them more than a dozen times when they were a child. The news release did not indicate the gender of the victim, or what dates the alleged abuse occurred. The charges are not yet available in online court records.

Dublin police searched Christofferson’s home the same day they received the report, according to the news release. A search of his phone allegedly revealed a search history for criminal defense attorneys in Ohio and the phrase, “In Ohio do clergy have to report child abuse confessions.”

The answer, according to a 2025 law, is that it depends on how the clergy learned of the abuse. In Utah, the law says clergy “may” report abuse obtained through a confession, but it does not require them to do so.

Christofferson also allegedly engaged in sexually explicit conversations with a Utah girl and sent her “coded letters” to her Utah home that referenced sexual activity, according to allegations described by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio. “Christofferson also committed hands-on sexual abuse of that child as well,” prosecutors allege in the Tuesday news release.

It remains to be disclosed what connection Christofferson had with the victims, and what knowledge the Church and his brother had of the offending, and when and how they learned of it.

Federal prosecutors also allege that when Dublin police searched Christofferson’s home earlier this month, they found a modified attic crawl space area that was “accessed by a child-size door with ‘H POTTER’ written on it.”

“Inside the modified attic crawl space area, officers discovered children’s writing on the walls and a mattress, pillows and blankets on the floor,” the news release alleges.

So it seems that the victims could be kids that have been allowed to stay with him.

[Everybody Wang Chung]

“God chooses the men he wants to lead the LDS Church — and it’s never a mistake.” - Henry B. Eyring


So gross and disturbing. But the coverup by the church is beyond disturbing. I remember a video clip of him and Todd saying how angry and hurt they were when their brother came out gay. He’s sexually abusing children but mad at his gay brother!? Church is definitely not a cult.

I can’t see how you can remain a member after reading about the church’s cover up, and subsequently calling him to several bishoprics where he had unlimited access to children.



https://floodlit.org/christofferson-40-years/

[drumdude]

The brothers did an interview years ago:

https://youtu.be/Je7n4EjpDvQ

[Dr. Sunstoned]

After 1995, removing an annotation from a membership record requires approval from a member of the First Presidency. This appears to have occurred. I can only assume that Christofferson’s prominent family connections played a role. Unfortunately, this episode highlights where the Church’s leadership chooses to place its priorities.

[I Have Questions]

After 1995, removing an annotation from a membership record requires approval from a member of the First Presidency. This appears to have occurred. I can only assume that Christofferson’s prominent family connections played a role. Unfortunately, this episode highlights where the Church’s leadership chooses to place its priorities.

I think we are beginning to see exactly why the Brethren have been so resistant to the idea of background checking everyone called to serve in a position of authority over minors. One wonders how many more known predators the Brethren and their legal attack dogs are covering for.

[I Have Questions]

I think the Church needs to retract and apologise for the following statement, as it is clearly and obviously untrue.

The protection of children from emotional, physical and spiritual harm is paramount.

Anything other than this awakens in us an intensity and breadth of emotion that is beyond adequate expression. It is shocking, almost inconceivable, that someone would hurt a child. It is the ultimate form of betrayal. Society is uniting and focussing on the need for greater child protection. Over and over again, we see entire communities mobilize to search for children feared kidnapped or harmed. It is national news when a single child is in danger.

But this type of harm was not always the subject of national media reports. The evil lurked in the shadows, mostly unseen, almost always unmentionable. Yet even before the issue first came to the forefront in the United States, Gordon B. Hinckley, former president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, publicly denounced child mistreatment as a terrible evil. In the early 1980s, he captured our thoughts and feelings when he said in a worldwide conference broadcast: "I am glad that there is a growing public awareness of this insidious evil. The exploitation of children . . . for the satisfaction of sadistic desires is sin of the darkest hue."

The issue goes to the heart of Church doctrine. Little children are innocent and precious in the eyes of God. Jesus Christ experienced some of His most tender moments with children and reserved His strongest language for those who abuse them. "Whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matthew 18:6). Moreover, the family is at the core of the Church. Children attend Church services with their parents. Church practice includes a weekly family night, in which other interests are set aside so that strong family relationships can be built. In the family, parents draw strength from each other to cherish and protect their children by providing an environment where children can grow and develop in an atmosphere of love and support. The Church provides a gathering place for families intent on raising their children with spiritual values. Both the Church and family have the highest interest in the welfare of children.

The Church, the Brethren, have the highest interest in the welfare of the perpetrator.

[Rivendale]

Being gay is worse than a serial child abuser. We have seen that pattern over and over. The culture in Mormonism sees csa merely as a bad choice at the time and a few rituals later they are back to business as usual. It is at the heart of Christianity. Repent, forgive and make use of Christ's atonement, however being gay is an abomination. Oaks has had talks that say pedophilia is incurable and they have finally moved the needle to agree that being gay is also. I don't know if it is because the church spent multiple decades marrying children but they tend to treat csa as a nothing burger.

[Madison54]

Here is a good overview of this posted by "LDS Abuse" on X who is doing an excellent job of updating this case....

I want to outline for you what they've found so far about this man's 40 years of abuse, and the church's coverup regarding it:

Mormon apostle D. Todd Christofferson allegedly knew as early as 2018 that his brother Wade Christofferson allegedly sexually abused a child in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Wade Christofferson has at least nine to 12 alleged child sexual abuse victims dating back to 1985, in three U.S. states (Illinois, Ohio and Utah).

According to multiple alleged victims and their relatives, Wade Christofferson was excommunicated in the 1990s, several years after church officials first became aware of allegations of child sexual abuse against him.

Wade Christofferson was rebaptized into the Mormon church, and church officials removed an annotation on Wade Christofferson’s church membership record, allowing him access to children at church, according to multiple alleged victims and relatives.

Between 2006 and 2025, the Mormon church assigned Wade Christofferson to work in three ward bishoprics and two other church leadership positions, according to records obtained by Floodlit.

Two bishops and a stake president in the 1990s and an area authority seventy in 2025 all allegedly knew prior to Wade Christofferson’s 2025 arrest that he had allegedly perpetrated child sexual abuse. Another stake president allegedly confirmed in 2024 that he knew the church had placed and then rescinded child protection measures against Wade Christofferson.

None of these five church officials told police about the alleged abuse, according to alleged victims. In at least four instances (both bishops, the 2024 stake president and the 2025 area authority seventy), alleged victims told Floodlit they reported their abuse personally to church officials.

[Everybody Wang Chung]

Mormon apostle D. Todd Christofferson allegedly knew as early as 2018 that his brother Wade Christofferson allegedly sexually abused a child in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson 100% knew about his brother’s child sexual abuse since it first became known in the 1990s. There is absolutely no chance he could not have known about it. Of course he knew about his brother’s 1990’s excommunication and the reasons (child sexual abuse) behind it. No doubt he was complicit in covering up for his brother. Just as the First Presidency has been complicit since the 2000s when they prayerfully took off the annotation on his record.

Elder D. Todd knew. The prophet knew. The apostles all knew. How can anyone believe these men are inspired?

[I Have Questions]

Here is a good overview of this posted by "LDS Abuse" on X who is doing an excellent job of updating this case....

Wade Christofferson was rebaptized into the Mormon church, and church officials removed an annotation on Wade Christofferson’s church membership record, allowing him access to children at church, according to multiple alleged victims and relatives.

I think the term “church officials” is a little misleading. This is the process for removing an annotation on a members church record.

According to Handbook 1 section 6.13.4 (at the very end) an annotation can only be removed with First Presidency approval at the request of the stake president.

So it was the three man First Presidency, the highest leadership body of the church, that knowingly removed this annotation from his record. Specifically that would be Hinckley, Monson, and Eyring at that period of time. At the time this annotation was removed, D. Todd Christofferson was President of the Seventy, and was therefore being considered for Apostleship.