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Home / Sexual Abuse Lawsuits / LDS / Mormon Church Abuse
An LDS Church abuse lawsuit may be open to you if you were sexually abused in a church setting, by a leader or by a member. Survivors describe the same painful sequence again and again: a child tells their bishop, the family is told the Church will handle it, police are never called, and the abuser keeps his access to children.
Civil lawsuits nationwide are now forcing that internal system into the open, and bringing the Church to the settlement table. You can find out where you stand privately, and you will not be asked to describe what happened.
Abused in an LDS setting?
About 2 minutes · free · confidential
Before anything legal, support is available right now
A lawsuit is never the urgent step. You are. The RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline is free, confidential and staffed 24 hours a day at 1-800-656-4673, with online chat at hotline.rainn.org. If you are in crisis, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available by calling or texting 988.
If a child is being abused now, report to the NCMEC CyberTipline at 1-800-843-5678 or your local child protective services. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911. Where you safely can, keep letters, records, names and dates. But your safety and your health come first, always.
Eligibility
If any of these describe you, a free review is worth the two minutes it takes.
In wards, seminaries, scouting units, camps, youth programs or leaders’ homes.
Where the abuse happened in church programs or callings, or leaders knew of the risk and allowed continued access.
That routing is the heart of these claims, not a side detail.
Former participants, missionaries, congregants and children of members all fall inside this litigation.
Revival windows and eliminated deadlines in many states now reach conduct from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
No criminal conviction is required, and institutional claims survive the abuser.
Worried about what filing would mean for your family?
That concern is the most common reason survivors never ask. A free, confidential conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Survivors can typically proceed anonymously, and no criminal conviction of the abuser is required. Because many resolutions in this litigation are confidential, an experienced attorney’s judgment on valuation matters more here than in almost any other abuse claim. Meeting these guidelines does not mean you have a valid claim, and a participating law firm decides on its own whether to take a case.
What holds survivors back, and what is actually true
For members and former members alike, the obstacles here are as much about community as they are legal.
What holds survivors back
A disclosure that produced nothing teaches survivors that reporting is pointless.
What is true
A report to a bishop that never reached police is central to this litigation. It shows the institution had notice and chose internal handling over child protection, and records of it become powerful evidence in discovery.
What holds survivors back
Survivors assume institutional liability requires a person holding a calling.
What is true
If the abuse happened in church programs, callings or settings, or if leaders knew of the risk and allowed continued access to children, the institution can be liable for negligent supervision and failure to warn.
What holds survivors back
For many survivors the community cost feels larger than any recovery.
What is true
Courts commonly allow these claims to be filed under initials or a Doe pseudonym rather than a full name. Whether it is permitted is decided case by case, so ask the firm directly before you decide anything.
What holds survivors back
Decades of silence feel like they must have closed every door.
What is true
Revival windows and eliminated deadlines in a number of states now cover decades-old abuse, and several recent LDS suits involve conduct from the 1980s and 1990s.
The pattern
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints faces ongoing civil litigation across the country. The lawsuits allege that bishops, stake presidents, high priests, youth leaders, missionaries and members sexually abused children, and that the Church’s internal reporting culture protected the institution instead of the child.
Complaints repeatedly describe the same mechanism. Disclosures were allegedly routed through the Church’s internal helpline and legal staff rather than to law enforcement. Abusers were allegedly told of the accusation while victims were counseled toward forgiveness and silence. And known, or even convicted, offenders were allegedly allowed to hold callings involving children.
Why discovery is the whole fight. The Church denies wrongdoing and says it complies with reporting laws. That is exactly why civil discovery, the court process that forces each side to hand over evidence, matters here more than in almost any other abuse litigation. It compels the internal records, helpline logs and leadership communications that test those claims against what actually happened.
The $2.28 billion signal
In 2023, a California jury awarded $2.28 billion to a survivor whose lawsuit alleged that LDS officials ignored repeated warnings about her abuser and used intimidation to keep the abuse hidden. The award was entered against her abuser; the Church had settled its part of the case before trial. Verdicts on that scale reflect how juries respond to what the evidence shows. They do not predict any other case’s outcome.
How the disclosures were allegedly handled
| Where | Where the litigation stands |
|---|---|
| California | In 2025 the Church agreed in principle to resolve more than 100 childhood sexual abuse lawsuits, including San Diego County claims alleging abuse by bishops themselves. 91 related cases from 26 counties are coordinated in Los Angeles, with filings alleging the Church used financial resources, internal legal systems and spiritual counseling to suppress allegations. |
| Pacific Northwest | Recent suits in Oregon and Washington allege leaders allowed known offenders, including a high priest with prior convictions, continued access to children in church programs and a church-run daycare. |
| Rhode Island | A revival window running from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2028 reaches churches of any denomination, not only the Catholic Church. |
| Nationwide | Insurance-coverage fights over past settlements continue, and revival windows and eliminated deadlines in many states keep opening doors for older claims. |
Church and program names are used only to identify the institutions involved in the litigation. Direct2Attorney is not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or any court.
How it happens, in plain words
Survivors often ask how abuse could continue for so long inside a community built on trust. Across many institutions, the same patterns appear. Seeing them clearly can help you know that what happened was not your fault.
Abusers often build trust with a child and family first, through callings, youth activities, rides or extra attention, so that time alone feels normal.
When the abuser holds a calling or is respected in the ward, children and parents may doubt themselves rather than him.
When disclosures go to leaders instead of police, the problem can be handled quietly, and the abuser can stay close to children.
Survivors describe being urged to forgive, to protect the family’s or the ward’s reputation, or to keep it private.
Coming forward years later is normal
Many survivors of childhood abuse do not speak about it until adulthood. Legislatures lengthened deadlines because of exactly this.
Healing and support
Healing is personal and has no timetable. These are options many survivors of church and childhood abuse find helpful, whether or not they ever file a claim.
General information only. A licensed counselor can help you choose what fits you.
Right now
RAINN (1-800-656-4673) is free and confidential 24/7. In crisis, call or text 988.
Therapy
Evidence-based approaches such as trauma-focused CBT and EMDR are widely used for childhood trauma and PTSD.
Faith and identity
Some counselors focus on faith-related harm, whether you stay in your faith, leave it, or are still deciding.
Connection
Peer groups, in person or online, can help with isolation, especially after leaving a close community.
Family
Family counseling can help partners and relatives understand and support you.
Your pace
If you choose, keep letters, names and dates. A firm can gather church records for you later through discovery.
Quick self-check
You do not need to describe what happened. If you can say yes to most of these, a free, confidential review is worth asking for.
Did the abuse happen through an LDS ward, program, calling or church setting?
Were you a child or teen when it happened?
Did a bishop, leader or other adult in the Church know, or have reason to know?
Has it affected your health, relationships or daily life since?
Requirements
You do not need any of this to start. A firm gathers most of it for you. But every claim is built on these four things.
A church connection
The abuse tied to a church setting, program or role.
Notice
Leaders knew, or should have known, of the risk.
Harm
How it has affected your life and health.
Filed in time
Under the law of the state where it happened.
Case status
Litigation is active in several states. Firms are still reviewing new claims, including decades-old abuse in states with open windows.
Why filing is what creates leverage
Confidential settlements are common in this litigation. The Church resolved more than 100 California cases in 2025, but those resolutions followed filed lawsuits. They did not follow silence. Filing is what preserves your rights before a deadline, what compels the internal records, and what puts a survivor inside a process rather than waiting outside it.
$2.28 billion jury award
A California jury awards $2.28 billion to a survivor in a case alleging LDS officials ignored warnings. The award is against the abuser; the Church settled before trial.
100+ California cases resolved in principle
The Church agrees in principle to resolve more than 100 childhood abuse lawsuits. Related cases are coordinated in Los Angeles.
Pacific Northwest suits
New cases in Oregon and Washington allege known offenders were allowed access to children in church programs.
Rhode Island window opens
A two-year revival window opens for claims against institutions of any denomination, running through June 30, 2028.
Claims still being filed
Insurance fights continue and revival windows in several states keep older claims open.
This is not legal advice. If you are in crisis, call or text 988. If a child is in danger now, call 911 or report to the NCMEC CyberTipline at 1-800-843-5678.
Compensation
No settlement returns what was taken, and confidential resolutions mean nobody can honestly quote you a number. What a claim can do is fund care and compel the records.
No one can tell you what a claim is worth, and no one can promise you will recover anything. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case.
The process
Nothing happens that you do not agree to, and you decide what to share and when.
Which ward, program or setting, roughly when, and your age at the time. Not what happened. Free, no obligation.
Usually within a day. You decide what to share and when, and you can stop at any point without explaining why.
Helpline logs, leadership communications, calling and assignment histories and prior complaints, obtained through discovery, not from your memory.
Filed under a pseudonym where the court allows, in the state whose law reaches your claim.
READY WHEN YOU ARE
Share only what you choose.
Filing deadlines
Because this litigation is nationwide, the deadline that governs your claim is the one in the state where the abuse happened. Those rules have changed more in the last decade than in the previous fifty years. Several states have removed deadlines entirely. Others have opened revival windows, limited periods when older claims can be filed again.
Several states have temporarily reopened claims that were previously too late. These windows open and close on fixed dates, so a claim barred last year may not be barred now, and may be barred again later.
The Rhode Island window, open from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2028, is not limited to the Catholic Church and covers churches of any denomination.
Legislatures wrote these longer deadlines precisely because survivors of childhood abuse come forward years later. Waiting is normal and is not a weakness in your claim.
The deadline generally follows the state where the abuse occurred, which matters a great deal for a church whose members move between states.
Because these rules have moved so much in recent years, the answer people assume is almost always wrong, and it is wrong in both directions. It costs nothing to have someone check the state where it happened.
This is general information, not legal advice, and it is not a calculation of your deadline. Filing deadlines are set by state law, differ by claim type and defendant, change when legislatures amend them, and can be shortened or extended by facts specific to your situation. Nothing on this page tells you whether your claim is timely. Only an attorney licensed in your state can determine the deadline that applies to you. If a deadline passes, a claim is usually barred permanently regardless of its merits, so the safer course is always to ask early.
Not sure which state’s law applies to you?
With a nationwide institution and a lifetime of moves, that is often genuinely unclear. Finding out takes about two minutes and costs nothing.
The no-fee promise
Participating firms take these cases on contingency. The fee is a percentage of any recovery. If there is no recovery, no attorney fee is owed.
No retainer. No hourly billing. No invoice arriving while you are already paying for therapy. Cost should never be the reason a survivor never finds out what their options were.
What that covers
What to ask about
Fee arrangements are set by the law firm you sign with, not by Direct2Attorney, and vary between firms and states. Settlements on behalf of a minor generally require court approval and may be placed in a protected account until the child reaches adulthood. Read the agreement and ask questions before signing anything.
Why survivors use us
You set the pace
Our intake team is trauma-informed. You share only what you choose to share, and nobody pushes you past that.
Firms inside this litigation
We connect you with firms handling LDS claims in the coordinated California proceedings and in states with open windows.
Private from the first call
Survivors routinely proceed under a pseudonym. Your information is encrypted and handled under our Privacy Policy.
Valuation judgment matters here
Because so many resolutions are confidential, experience with this specific litigation counts for more than in most abuse claims.
What Direct2Attorney is
A legal marketing and referral service. We check whether your situation matches what participating law firms are looking for, and connect you with one of them if it does.
What Direct2Attorney is not
We are not a law firm, a counseling service or a reporting agency. For support, the RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline is free and confidential 24/7 at 1-800-656-4673. In an emergency, call 911.
Confidential reviews are open
You do not need a police report. You do not need a conviction. Your abuser does not need to be alive or still in the Church, and you will not be asked to describe anything on this page.
If you told someone once and nothing happened, that conversation is free, confidential, and yours to end whenever you choose.
What happens after you ask
We check your answers
Usually the same business day
A participating firm may call you
At the time you choose
You decide what comes next
No cost and no obligation, ever
Questions survivors ask
Still have a question? Ask on the call, or by email first if that feels easier. There is no obligation either way.
Start a confidential review →Significantly. A disclosure to a bishop that never reached police is central to these lawsuits — it shows the Church had notice and chose internal handling over child protection. Records of that disclosure become powerful evidence in discovery.
Often, yes. If the abuse occurred in church programs, callings or settings, or if leaders knew of the risk and allowed continued access to children, the institution can be liable for negligent supervision and failure to warn.
Confidential settlements are common — the Church resolved more than 100 California cases in 2025 — but they follow filed lawsuits, not silence. Filing is what creates the leverage, preserves your rights before deadlines, and compels the internal records.
Maybe not. Revival windows and eliminated deadlines in many states cover decades-old abuse, and several recent LDS suits involve conduct from the 1980s and 1990s. A free review confirms your state’s current rule.
Courts routinely allow childhood sexual abuse claims to proceed under initials or a pseudonym. Whether that is permitted is decided case by case, so ask the law firm directly how it would work for you before deciding anything.
No. Your current membership status has no bearing on whether you can bring a claim about what happened to you as a child.
Nothing. The review is free and confidential with no obligation. If a participating law firm takes the case, it will normally work on contingency, meaning the fee comes out of any recovery and no attorney fee is owed if there is no recovery.
It can. Rhode Island’s revival window runs from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2028 and covers religious institutions of any denomination, along with schools and youth organizations. Whether it reaches your claim depends on where the abuse happened and your facts, so ask a firm to check.
No. The form asks only for basics, such as the setting, roughly when, and your age at the time. Please do not write details there. When you speak with a law firm, you decide what to share and when.
In the news
Careful, plain-English articles from our editorial team on new filings, laws and deadlines, and what each one means for survivors.
If you are thinking about speaking up about abuse connected to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one
Official resources
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