AP gives voice to victims and reveals a “help line” that enabled the Mormon church to conceal child sex abuse.
This groundbreaking project began when AP investigative reporter Mike Rezendes learned there were 12,000 pages of sealed records from a settled West Virginia lawsuit that could reveal important details about sex abuse in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Rezendes obtained the documents from a source, then spent months poring over the pages and starting his reporting.
A tip ultimately led him to evidence from a separate lawsuit filed in Arizona by three child sex abuse victims. The result was a stunning story reported in all formats: A so-called help line that diverted calls to church lawyers and had been used by Mormon leaders to cover-up the sexual abuse of a 5-year-old girl by her father. And not just that: Two Mormon bishops and church officials in Salt Lake City were aware of the abuse and allowed it to continue for seven years, until federal agents arrested the father with no help from the church.
Lawyers for the victims and their families said they wanted to go on the record; Rezendes met with them in Arizona, then returned with video journalist Jessie Wardarski and photojournalist Dario Lopez. The team wanted to tell the story in the victims’ own voices; they captured interviews of the individuals and their families with care and sensitivity. Still, the next several months would be a delicate time as the families changed their minds several times about whether to go public.
The story also raised ethical questions. At one point a decision had to be made about whether to name the adoptive parents of two of the children and risk identifying the child victims. The decision was especially difficult because the father of the girl, who also abused her 6-week-old sister, had posted a nine-minute video of the abuse on the internet. And the video, or slices of it, were still circulating online.
MJ embraces her adoptive mother, Nancy Salminen, in Sierra Vista, Ariz., Oct. 27, 2021. State authorities placed MJ in foster care after learning that her father, the late Paul Adams, sexually assaulted her for years and posted video of the assaults on the internet. Mormon clergy and officials were aware of the abuse but did not report it.
AP Photo / Dario Lopez-Mills
MJ and her adoptive mother sit for an interview with The Associated Press in Sierra Vista, Ariz., Oct. 27, 2021. MJ was 5 years old when her father admitted to his bishop that he was sexually abusing her. The abuse continued into adolescence but church officials never reported it.
AP Photo / Dario Lopez-Mills
MJ takes a break from homework while deciding with her adoptive mother what to cook for dinner at their home in Sierra Vista, Ariz., Oct. 27, 2021.
AP Photo / Dario Lopez-Mills
An illustration based on legal documents shows the Mormon church’s protocol for calls to a sex abuse help line. Calls identified as “high risk cases” were to be transferred immediately to an attorney for the church.
AP Illustration / Peter Hamlin
An illustration from legal documents show Leizza Adams, whose husband, Paul Adams, sexually abused two of the couple’s daughters. Both were charged with child sexual abuse. A Mormon bishop who counseled the couple told authorities he knew Leizza was unlikely to stop her husband’s abuse, but Bishop John Herrod says he was instructed by church lawyers not to report the abuse.
AP Illustration / Peter Hamlin
Brian McIntyre, the Cochise County attorney, poses for a portrait outside the Cochise County Superior Court in Bisbee, Ariz., Oct. 29, 2021. McIntyre opened a criminal investigation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after Bishop John Herrod said church lawyers told him he could not disclose years of child sex abuse by church member Paul Adams. “Who’s really responsible for Herrod not disclosing?” McIntyre asked. “Is it Herrod,” who says he followed church instructions. “Or is it the people who gave him that advice?”
AP Photo / Dario Lopez-Mills
MJ’s younger sister stands in the front yard of the Tucson, Ariz. attorney who is representing her in a lawsuit against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Oct. 30, 2021. Paul Adams started sexually abusing hiz infant daughter when she was 6 weeks old, posting videos of the abuse to the dark web.
AP Photo / Dario Lopez-Mills
MJ’s younger sister leaves the home of the Tucson, Ariz., attorney representing her in a lawsuit against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Oct. 30, 2021.
AP Photo / Dario Lopez-Mills
Matthew and Miranda Whitworth embrace at the Tucson, Ariz., home of the attorney representing their adoptive daughter in a lawsuit against the Mormon church, Oct. 30, 2021. The Whitworths said they hope the lawsuit forces the church to change church policy so that any instance of child sexual abuse is immediately reported to civil authorities. “We just don’t understand why they’re paying all these lawyers to fight this,” Matthew said. “Just change the policy.”
AP Photo / Dario Lopez-Mills
A “playground ahead” warning stands by the side of a road on the outskirts of Bisbee, Ariz., Oct. 26, 2021. Bisbee was home to Paul and Leizza Adams,and their six children, before Paul and Leizza were charged with child sexual abuse.
AP Photo / Dario Lopez-Mills
Rezendes talked with the families to make sure they were prepared for the inevitable publicity the story would generate and worked out exactly how, and how much, they wanted to be identified.
The story — a horrific tale of abuse and resilience — protected the victims as it revealed a systemic effort to cover up child sex abuse in the church community.
The piece was further elevated by strong visuals — Wardarski’s video and Lopez’s photos — as well as distinctive illustrations made from the case’s legal documents by digital storytelling producer Peter Hamlin.
An illustration based on legal documents shows Paul Adams, who admitted sexually abusing his two daughters and posting video of the abuse on the dark web. Adams was arrested by Homeland Security agents in 2017 with no help from the Mormon church, after law enforcement officials in New Zealand discovered one of the videos he posted online. He died by suicide in custody before he could stand trial.
AP Illustration / Peter Hamlin
The resulting package, including a sidebar examining four key takeaways, was one of AP’s most-viewed investigative projects of the year, with more than 500,000 pageviews and a remarkable average engagement time of four minutes. Investigative editor Alison Kodjak led the project with help from producer Jeannie Ohm and investigative researcher Randy Herschaft. AP’s audience team, led by Sophia Eppolito with help from Alex Connor, Ed Medeles and Elise Ryan produced a unique multiday social media campaign that included Facebook, Instagram and Twitter Spaces to keep the story in the public eye.
For sourcing built over years and deep commitment to report a story with both impact and sensitivity, Rezendes, Wardarski, Lopez, Hamlin and Herschaft earn AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner honors.
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