Religious leaders do not have a duty to report child sex abuse when they learn of it through a confession or confidential disclosure, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled.
In an unanimous opinion on July 30, justices sided with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a case brought by three victims whose father sexually abused them. The children sued the church after their father, Paul Adams, disclosed the abuse to bishops and then the bishops did not report it to law enforcement.
The high court said because the bishops had learned of the abuse through a "confidential communication," they were not obligated to disclose it to law enforcement. It also reversed an appeals court ruling that said the bishops may have waived their confidentiality
privilege when they discussed the father's abuse jointly with the wife and before a formal disciplinary council, some members of which may not have been clergy.
"The fact that non-clergy members also may have heard the admissions would not undermine (the bishop's) ... ability to receive Paul's admissions as a confession or confidential communication in that role," the opinion said.
Arizona's duty-to-report law requires that “any person who reasonably believes that a minor” is a victim of abuse must “immediately report or cause reports to be made” to law enforcement or other government authorities. But the law exempts clergy members who learn about the abuse during a "confession” or “confidential communication” and when the member “determines that it is reasonable and necessary within the concepts” of their religion to refrain from reporting the abuse.
Adams confessed to his bishop in 2011 that he had sexually abused one of his daughters, court documents show. The bishop then asked the man’s wife, Leizza Adams, to join them, and the man told her he had abused their daughter, court documents show.
The bishop encouraged the man to turn himself in, or alternatively have his wife turn him in, but the court record shows he did not feel he could call the authorities himself.
That bishop thought he couldn’t inform law enforcement because what the father told him was a confession, one of the statutory exemptions to the law that mandates certain people have a “duty to report” such abuse.
The LDS church excommunicated the father in 2013, a process during which he discussed his actions at a disciplinary hearing. Still, the documents show, no one from the church alerted police or the state’s child protection agency.
How the case made its way to the Arizona Supreme Court
Three of the father’s six children, two daughters and a son, filed a civil suit in 2020 against the church, saying it shouldered a share of blame for years of continued sexual abuse and exploitation.
While a judge in Cochise County ended the children's lawsuit in November 2023, siding with the church, an appeals court later reversed that decision.
The three-judge panel ruled that when the father admitted the abuse to his wife, the bishop was merely observing the interaction, not taking a confession. The judges said a jury might conclude that the exemption to the law did not apply in that circumstance.
The panel also said a juror might find that the father’s confession before the disciplinary panel also wasn’t privileged.
But the bishops argued they had "determined that not reporting the communications was ‘reasonable and necessary within the concepts of the (Church’s) religion,'" in line with Arizona law.
The Arizona Supreme Court agreed, noting that the First Amendment bars a court or jury from questioning clergy members' interpretation of their own religious doctrine.
"The Church deemed any communication (the father) made during the Council proceeding confidential under Church doctrine. Thus, we conclude that (the father's) alleged admissions to the Council were, at a minimum, 'confidential communications,'" the opinion said.
Republic reporter Richard Ruelas contributed to this report.
Taylor Seely writes about First Amendment issues at The Arizona Republic / azcentral.com. Do you have a story about the government infringing on your First Amendment rights? Reach her at tseely@arizonarepublic.com or by phone at 480-476-6116.
Seely's role is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: LDS church didn't have to report child sex abuse, Arizona court rules
