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

[Res Ipsa]

I was in full Cassius U parody mode three minutes ago, but that Tribune article snapped me out of it fast.

It’s hard to joke when the reality is that serious harm was happening.

No kidding.

How many knew and stayed silent, allowing this guy to continue to harm children. Notice how he went straight to “I want to start the repentance process” as if he’d used that as a get out of jail free card” before….

[malkie]

I was in full Cassius U parody mode three minutes ago, but that Tribune article snapped me out of it fast.

It’s hard to joke when the reality is that serious harm was happening.

No kidding.

How many knew and stayed silent, allowing this guy to continue to harm children. Notice how he went straight to “I want to start the repentance process” as if he’d used that as a get out of jail free card” before….

He likely realizes that that will gain him some sympathy from a certain part of the population.

[Marcus]

This comment with the sltrib article was horrifying.

The only reason the Tribune is publishing this stuff is because of the connection to the perpetrator's brother. In 2025 sex abuse cases are a dime a dozen. The Tribune likes to dwell on ones that they can turn into clickbait with the headline

Dear God. The blatant disregard for victims is sickening. This was a comment by a John Wilson, and based on other's responses, he is the John Wilson who is a professor at BYU.

[Res Ipsa]

No kidding.

How many knew and stayed silent, allowing this guy to continue to harm children. Notice how he went straight to “I want to start the repentance process” as if he’d used that as a get out of jail free card” before….

He likely realizes that that will gain him some sympathy from a certain part of the population.

I don’t know. I don’t have a theory of mind for child abusers.

[I Have Questions]

I was in full Cassius U parody mode three minutes ago, but that Tribune article snapped me out of it fast.

It’s hard to joke when the reality is that serious harm was happening.

No kidding.

How many knew and stayed silent, allowing this guy to continue to harm children. Notice how he went straight to “I want to start the repentance process” as if he’d used that as a get out of jail free card” before….

Hinckley, Monson, and Eyring knew. As did his Stake President at the time the annotation was removed. They knew, they removed the warning on the church record and they stayed silent.

[I Have Questions]

I find the following a bit troubling.

The Salt Lake City-based church said in a statement Friday that one of its leaders in Ohio “learned of abuse allegations against Wade Christofferson” involving an alleged victim in Utah on the evening of Nov. 6, and the church reported to law enforcement the following day. It learned of an additional alleged victim in Ohio on Nov. 11, the church said, and reported to law enforcement the next day.

So the father realises Wade Christofferson is grooming his child by listening to a FaceTime conversation Wade is having with his child, who then goes into a bathroom to reveal herself to Wade. The Father interjects and gains more information about what Wade has been doing. But it’s “the church” who reports this to law enforcement a day later. Why is the “the church” controlling the reporting process for alleged child abuse that was discovered outside of a church setting and not as a result of a confession? Note it was also “the church” that reported the other alleged abuse in Ohio as well even though Wade told the alleged victims father directly, again not through a clergy confessional.

“The church” seems to be code for the Church lawyers. And both the fathers seems to have gone to Church leaders instead of the police. Why did the fathers go immediately to the Church’s law firm rather than to the police? I’m stunned. The alleged abuse wasn’t discovered as part of a confessional. The alleged abuse wasn’t perpetrated by a Church leader in a Church setting. There is no good reason, at this stage, for the Church to be involved, so why are they all over this like a rash?

[I Have Questions]

More insight

Charging documents show that on Nov. 5, the father of the Utah girl was speaking with Christofferson, who was in Dublin, Ohio. During the conversation, Christofferson allegedly asked the father to speak to his 7-year-old daughter. As the two spoke, the father heard Christofferson ask his daughter to see "snow" and "friends," before the girl went into a closet and closed the door.

When the child's father asked what the terms meant, the girl said "snow" means female genitals and "friends" means nipples. The father retrieved letters that Christofferson had previously sent to the 7-year-old girl and found similar codes in the correspondence.

The father called Christofferson, who then allegedly admitted to using the terms in the letter and to sexually abusing his daughter while on an earlier visit to Utah.

And then the “Utah” father calls “the church” rather than the police.

Following the admissions, the Utah father learned of a 10-year-old Ohio girl whom Christofferson had also allegedly abused. During a conversation with the Ohio father, Christofferson admitted to "inappropriately" touching his daughter 15-20 times.

The Ohio girl's father then contacted police on Nov. 12 to file a sexual abuse report, which led to the start of an investigation by the Dublin Police Department and the FBI Columbus Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking group.

[I Have Questions]

Here is a Church statement about these allegations

“Child abuse is inexcusable,” the statement reads. “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is committed to preventing, reporting, and addressing abuse. Leaders and members are directed to stop abuse, support victims — including with professional help — and follow all reporting laws. The church urges that all abuse be reported to authorities.”

The statement continues: “The church is cooperating fully with the authorities in this ongoing investigation. We love and are most concerned for the victims and are offering support.”

My question in response to that is, if the Church is so committed to protecting victims and potential victims, why did the Church's top leadership remove the red flag from the Church record of a known serial child abuser, thereby wilfully increasing the risk to other potential victims? This decision only benefits and protects the perpetrator at the expense of future victims and shows that, for the Church and for certain people, child abuse is excusable.

This is very damning for the Church

Records indicate Wade S. Christofferson has no prior arrests or charges.

The Church has protected self confessed child abuser Wade Christofferson for decades. Helping him evade prosecution. Allowing him to continue abusing children. I also think there are people within the Christofferson family that have some questions to answer. As does Henry B Eyring - one of the men who actively covered up Wade Christofferson's record of child abuse.

[Rivendale]

Will law enforcement look into the timeline and how the church was involved or will they be satisfied the perp was caught? Is this going to be another judgement call from the DA's? If so my money is on the church escaping scrutiny again and leaving a wake of victims multiple decades long. Scratch that. The church began by leaving a wake of SA victims so it is 100s of years instead of Christofferson's decades.

[Dr. Shades]

“The church” seems to be code for the Church lawyers. And both the fathers seems to have gone to Church leaders instead of the police. Why did the fathers go immediately to the Church’s law firm rather than to the police? I’m stunned. The alleged abuse wasn’t discovered as part of a confessional. The alleged abuse wasn’t perpetrated by a Church leader in a Church setting. There is no good reason, at this stage, for the Church to be involved, so why are they all over this like a rash?

That entire quote is signature-worthy. None of the facts you address make any sense whatsoever.

The whole scenario is beyond bizarre. It's like everyone involved went completely insane.