Reporting Abuse, Church Helpline, & the Bishop | An Interview with Jennifer Roach

Listen to the UPDATE podcast HERE. Jennifer Roach earned a Masters
of Divinity from the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology and
a Masters of Counseling from Argosy University. She is a licensed
Substance Use Disorder counselor, a Clinical Mental Health
counselor, and was an ordained Anglican Pastor prior to her baptism
in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Highlights
01:15 Kurt introduces the guest and topic of abuse. 03:45
Background of the article from the Associated Press dated August
4th, 2022. The article claims that the Church is hiding abuse.
06:00 Jennifer explains the Church’s helpline. 07:00 What is
mandated reporting? There are three versions. You must report, no
exceptions. You must report but the exceptions are clergy or
medical reasons. You may not report. You need to know the laws in
your particular state. 9:00 The helpline is there to protect the
bishop and the victim. Reporting in each state is very different.
10:30 Kurt breaks down the different kinds of reporting and how
complicated it can be in different states. 12:15 Jennifer and Kurt
discuss the Arizona case on abuse and the bishop’s involvement.
There is still so much we don’t know. 19:30 The biggest question
most of us have is why the Church’s attorney on the helpline didn’t
have the bishop call the police. 22:10 What can we learn from this
case of abuse? 23:20 Is the helpline a good idea? 27:00 Kurt and
Jennifer discuss whether the Church’s hotline should be led by
attorneys or social workers and what the role each of these
professionals play. 30:15 Background checks catch very few abusers.
It only catches people that have been convicted. The background
check system can’t be fully trusted. 34:00 What can we do to better
protect our youth? We can’t rely on just one tool. A background
check is one tool but not completely reliable. There are many
pieces to the pie. 37:10 Another tool that can be used is listening
to the kids. You have to be careful with this though. 39:10 When
kids reveal abuse it’s normally unintentional. Most children won’t
say outright that they are being abused but leaders and adults
should pay attention to the small comments that seem off. 41:15
Statistically most child abuse doesn’t happen on a church campus
but grooming does. Jennifer shares tactics that abusers use. 42:45
Parents should be very careful with whom they trust. Sleepovers
should not be happening. 43:55 It’s difficult to identify abusers
very accurately. However, it’s a little bit easier to accurately
identify kids that are being abused. Jennifer shares some things to
look out for. 47:00 During the pandemic more kids were abused
because they were at home more. Home is the most likely place that
kids are getting abused. There is no for sure way to make sure that
a kid doesn’t get abused. 48:15 We are saving and protecting way
more potential victims than those that are getting victimized.
While we don’t have a perfect system, it’s also not fair to say
that our system is completely broken. 49:30 What does the Church
gain by protecting abusers? 50:45 One of the protective factors for
kids in our church is that people change callings all the time.
It’s different from other churches where the pastor is abusing kids
for 40 years. 51:50 While we can respect the writer of the AP
article, there are some things that he did get wrong. For example,
there is no evidence that indicates that the Church covered up any
evidence. 53:40 The article implies that hiding abuse is the norm.
The main message that people are getting is that the Church hides
abuse on the regular. Links UPDATE to this Podcast AP News article:
Seven years of sex abuse: How Mormon officials let it happen Public
Square Magazine article: Are Publicized Abuse Cases Exceptional or
Representative of Our Faith? General Handbook 32.4.4:
Confidentiality 4 Reasons Why Bishops Should Be Meeting with Youth
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