LDS church target of lawsuit
Oregon man asserts he was abused by scout, youth leader
By JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Friday, February 22, 2008 12:57 PM PST
VALE — A Portland-area man has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the Church of Latter-day Saints, Boy Scouts of America and the Ore-Ida Council of the Boy Scouts, asserting he was sexually abused on a number of occasions — including during Boy Scout outdoor trips to Malheur County — by a church youth and scout leader during a three-year time period.
The man’s attorney, Kelly Clark, O’Donnell & Clark LLP, Portland, filed the $5-million lawsuit Thursday in Malheur County Circuit Court in Vale on behalf of his client, referred to only as “Tom Doe” in court documents.
The lawsuit’s claims against the defendants — the Corporation of Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Successors, the Boy Scouts of America and the Ore-Ida Council Inc., Boy Scouts of America — include sexual abuse of a child, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and fraud by way of omission.
According to the lawsuit, Doe was sexually abused by his Nampa Second Ward youth leader and Boy Scout Troop 101 master Larren Arnold from 1967 to approximately 1970.
The Boy Scout troop was jointly-operated by the Boy Scout and LDS defendants, according to court documents.
Clark said the sexual abuse occurred in the Nampa area, where his client grew up, and on fishing and camping trips to various nature spots in Malheur County. At the time, he said, his client, now 53, was 12 through 14 years of age.
The lawsuit asserts “as a result of Arnold’s sexual abuse, molestation, and breach of authority, trust and position as Youth Leader and authority figure” to the plaintiff, Doe has “suffered and continues to suffer severe debilitating physical, mental and emotional injury...”
“He worshipped Larren Arnold,” Clark said of his client, adding Doe has described Arnold as charismatic, liked and loved.
“That’s part of the confusion,” Clark said.
Clark said his client, brought up in a devout Mormon family, cites problems with authority figures at his jobs and in personal life and severe trust and intimacy issues as a result of the abuse.
Clark said he has also observed his client has “absolutely no religious and virtually no spiritual” ties anymore.
Through the lawsuit, Clark and Doe contend the LDS and Boy Scout defendants were aware of problems of sexual abuse by youth and scout leaders, and, at one time, were “removing leaders at a rate of up to one every three days for sexual improprieties with children.”
The lawsuit contends the defendants were negligent because they did not have adequate child sex abuse policies in place to protect children, despite knowledge of the problems, and they failed to notify parents.
Clark maintains the LDS and Boy Scout defendants were also aware of Arnold’s behavior, although he does not say they condoned it.
Clark also asserted Arnold sexually abused other children. In 1985, Arnold was convicted in Bannock County for sexually abusing a child younger than 16 in an unrelated case. According to the Associated Press, Arnold was listed as a registered sex offender in Bannock County several years ago for the unrelated offense but is no longer on any Idaho sex offender registry. Bannock County probation officials would not release any details of the case or Arnold’s current sex offender status.
Clark also said he intends to prove Arnold was on the Boy Scout rolls for up to six years after the Bannock County conviction. According to the Associated Press, J. Craig Rowe, spokesman for the LDS church in Idaho, said the church takes the allegations seriously. He criticized Clark’s approach to the case.
‘‘The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a zero tolerance policy for child abuse and does all it can to help victims and report abuse. It will seriously investigate these decades’ old allegations,’’ Rowe said in a prepared statement.
‘‘However, the way in which this case was filed raises a serious issue of which both the court and the public should be aware. The plaintiff’s attorney contacted media before the lawsuit was even filed knowing the church could not respond, in an attempt to create headlines rather than discover the facts. This approach trivializes the seriousness of child abuse and its tragic consequences.’’’
— The Associated Press also contributed to this story.
