Former LDS mission president tells BYU police he asked missionary to expose breasts
(KUTV) In documents obtained by 2News, a former LDS official admitted to Brigham Young University police that he took a female missionary into a private room in the Missionary Training Center and asked her to expose her breasts.
Joseph L. Bishop, former president of the LDS Church's MTC in Provo, Utah, was recently accused of attempted rape in a recording made by a woman who claimed to be a victim while she was a missionary under his supervision in 1984. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints responded to the recording and transcript of that conversation with a statement.
According to a police report from Dec. 2017, as part of an investigation of the alleged rape, Joseph told detectives that he went with the woman to a small "preparation room" in the cafeteria area of the MTC "and while talking with her, asked her to show him her breasts, which she did."
The police report said the alleged victim's account lined up with Bishop's account of events, except for the rape. When police asked Bishop why those details were different, he said "he either can't remember it or that [name redacted] was exaggerating her account."
The woman also reported the room had a bed, TV and VHS tapes but Bishop told police it didn't.
According to the documents obtained Wednesday, police also contacted the victim's MTC instructor who said she remembered the sister missionary in question and recalls her being called out of class at some point, but didn't recall who she went with.
After their investigation, police turned the case over to the Utah County Attorney's office. Deputy Utah County Attorney David Sturgill stated in the police report that he had "no reason to doubt the victim's disclosure, and would have likely prosecuted Mr. Bishop, but for the expiration of the statute of limitations."
Sturgill wrote that in 1984 the statute of limitations was for four years and remained the same for over a decade.
According to the police report, the case is now closed.
