Sex abuse victim says Mormon church failed to protect her

Warning: The following contains descriptions of sexual violence.

(NewsNation) — A woman who was abused by her father is speaking about what she says is an effort by the Mormon church to protect itself from sex abuse claims.

Chelsea Goodrich, now 38, says when she was a child, her father John Goodrich, a former bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, routinely slipped into bed with her while he was aroused.

In the spring of 2015, Goodrich, then a 29-year-old graduate student in psychology living in southern California, began to confront the disturbing memories.

“I confronted him about this, my mother confronted him about it, and initially, he was caught off guard. He confessed to a lot and we actually started audio recording what he was saying because we realized that he was seeking legal counsel, and he was starting to kind of backtrack on what he was saying,” Goodrich said Tuesday on “CUOMO.”

Goodrich relayed the abuse to a church official, Paul Rytting, during a meeting in 2017, the Associated Press reported in an investigation published Monday.

A Utah attorney and head of the church’s Risk Management Division, Rytting had spent about 15 years protecting the organization, widely known as the Mormon church, from costly claims, including sexual abuse lawsuits.

Rytting had flown into Hailey, Idaho, that morning from Salt Lake City, where the church is based, to meet in person with Chelsea and her mother, Lorraine. After a quick prayer, he introduced himself and said he was there “to look into” Chelsea’s “tragic and horrendous” story.

Chelsea and Lorraine had come to the meeting with one clear request: Would the church allow a local Idaho bishop, which in the Mormon church is akin to a Catholic priest, to testify at John Goodrich’s trial? Bishop Michael Miller, who accompanied Rytting to the meeting, had heard a spiritual confession from Chelsea’s father shortly before John Goodrich was arrested on charges of sexually abusing her.

While the details of his confession remain private, the church swiftly excommunicated Goodrich.

Miller was “more than willing to testify; he actually directly said to me, ‘I hope that I’m subpoenaed in a criminal trial because … boy will I talk.’ He said the truth needs to get out for the protection of other children,” Goodrich said.

In a statement to the AP, the church said “the abuse of a child or any other individual is inexcusable,” and that John Goodrich, following his excommunication, “has not been readmitted to church membership.”

However, audio recordings of the meetings over the next four months, obtained by The Associated Press, show how Rytting, despite expressing concern for what he called John’s “significant sexual transgression,” would employ the risk management playbook that has helped the church keep child sexual abuse cases secret.

In particular, the church would discourage Miller from testifying, citing a law that exempts clergy from having to divulge information about child sex abuse that is gleaned in a confession. Without Miller’s testimony, prosecutors dropped the charges, telling Lorraine that her impending divorce and the years that had passed since Chelsea’s alleged abuse might prejudice jurors.

“Bishop Miller spoke to attorneys from the church and from that point, he wasn’t willing to speak anymore, to testify. He became scared and kind of changed his tune,” Goodrich said.

Rytting would also offer hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for a confidentiality agreement and a pledge by Chelsea and Lorraine to destroy their recordings of the meetings, which they had made at the recommendation of an attorney and with Rytting’s knowledge.

Today, John Goodrich, who did not respond to the AP’s questions, is a free man, practicing dentistry in Idaho.

Now, Chelsea Goodrich says she wants more transparency from the church, given her father’s confession to another bishop.

“I think that I had the understanding at that time that the church would continue to do more, to try to get the truth out about John themselves to at least protect children within the church from John, but as time went on and I reached back out to Paul and express concern to him about my own family members, children that are in danger of John, the church did nothing,” Goodrich said.

At the initial meeting with Chelsea and Lorraine, Rytting said a clergy-penitent privilege law made it next to impossible for Miller to testify against John Goodrich. Now, four months later, he was back with an offer.

A $300,000 payment would be made on the condition that Chelsea and her mother sign an agreement in which they promised never to use Chelsea’s story as a basis for a lawsuit against the church — and that they never acknowledge the existence of the settlement.

It also required the destruction of the recordings of the conversations. However, Eric Alberdi, a church member who attended the meetings as Chelsea’s advocate, also made recordings, which he shared with the AP.

Nondisclosure agreements — or NDAs, as they are commonly known — have been used frequently by the Mormon church and other organizations, including the Catholic Church, as well as individuals, to keep sex abuse allegations secret. In addition to her settlement with the church, Chelsea also settled a lawsuit against her father.

At their final meeting, Rytting assured Chelsea and Lorraine that church officials denied hearing John Goodrich confess previously to abusing his daughter, a claim the church backed in a statement to the AP. He urged them to accept the funds the church was offering and sign the nondisclosure agreement, promising they would never sue the church.

It didn’t prevent Chelsea from sharing her story, though, which she is doing now.

“My question for the church is: Who knew? Someone knew,” she said. “I want to know the truth. I want transparency. I think that the church just needs to be transparent in these situations where there’s child sex abuse or any kind of sexual abuse or assault. Just be transparent. Please be honest. Please stop covering up for sexual predators because it has caused serious damage to my life.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.