618: Matt Long, Sex Crimes Prosecutor, Discusses LDS Church Child Abuse Policies and the Recent News Release Pt. 1

On February 1, 2016 the LDS Church re-released a media statement originally released in 2013 entitled “ Effectiveness of Church Approach to Preventing Child Abuse .” In this press release (authored by Kirton & McConkie partner and LDS 1st Quorum of the 70 member Elder Von G. Keetch ) the LDS Church claimed that "no religious organization has done more" to prevent child abuse, and touted their child abuse approach as "the gold standard" amongst all churches. Immediately the Mormon Internet exploded with the stories of past and present victims of LDS-related sexual abuse, expressing sadness, frustration, feelings of invalidation, sickness, and (at times) horror over the church's statement/claims. For examples, see here , here , and here . In this episode of Mormon Stories we interview Matt Long -- a criminal defense and victim's rights attorney who has considerable experience prosecuting (and defending) perpetrators of child abuse in Arizona -- many of which were within the LDS church system. In part 1 of this episode we discuss the mindset and techniques of child/sex abusers. In part 2 we discuss the recent LDS Church new release, and Matt's perspective on what the LDS Church could do to improve its approach to child/sex abuse. More on Matt: Matt uses the skills he developed as a sex crimes prosecutor to protect victims' rights and represent victims in lawsuits against offenders and institutions, such as fraternities, schools, businesses, or churches, that allowed abuse to occur. When he's not arguing in court, Matt argues with the other infants on the infants on thrones podcast at infantsonthrones.com. You can reach Matt at 480-833-1113 or e-mail his paralegal at kristin@azlegal.com with any questions about victim representation.