Woman who accused MTC president of sexual assault has been telling her story for 3 decades
UPDATE 3/24/18 (3:56 p.m.) - The victim in the audio recording where Bishop admits to some sexual misconduct has issued a statement.
(KUTV)- When you ask the former bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints, Ron Leavitt, about the recent allegations against former MTC mission president, he says he remembers them vividly.
“Oh heavens yes,” Leavitt said as he recalls what he was told in 1984.
Leavitt was a single ward president from 1979 to 1985 and said during his regular post-church meetings with parishioners, a woman told him that Joseph Bishop, a former president of the Missionary Training Center, had acted inappropriately with her.
“According to her he took (her) and I think another sister missionary down to the basement and showed them some pornography,” Leavitt explained.
When asked if he reported the incident to the police or the leadership of the LDS Church Leavitt said he did not. “I didn't think it had much credence. I wasn't going to risk sullying the reputation of someone based on that kind of a report,” Leavitt said.
The explosive allegations were first reported by MormonLeaks on Monday. The website released a 2 and a half hour audio tape that the woman says she recorded with Bishop. On the tape, the woman asked if he remembers allegedly raping her.
Bishop never admits to rape but does indicate that he may have been sexually inappropriate with at least one sister missionary during his time at the MTC, and apologized several times to the woman.
He also says on the tape that he has a sexual addiction. In a police report 3 months ago, he told police that he did ask the woman to show him her breasts, which according to the police report, she did.
Leavitt says he has heard from officials with the LDS Church at least 3 times in the last week and a half, about the allegations.
