Mormons confront sexual misconduct allegations inside and outside of their ranks

While sexual misconduct has rocked the Catholic church of late, it also is something members of the Mormon church are confronting.

The website MormonLeaks has been airing allegations of sexual misconduct by people affiliated with the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormon church’s formal name. Some of the accusations involve children being abused.

And a lawsuit filed earlier this year accuses a Mormon church official of raping a young woman in the 1980s.

Last month, a nonpartisan group of Mormon women urged members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee who are Mormon to “suspend” Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court “confirmation proceedings until a thorough independent investigation can be conducted” of the sexual assault accusation he faced.

The women’s group wrote: “Our mutual faith teaches that any sexual abuse or assault in any context is contemptible and worthy of the most severe condemnation.”

The Religion Roundup is also featured on WBBM Newsradio (780 AM and 105.9 FM) on Sundays at 6:22 a.m., 9:22 a.m. and 9:22 p.m., except when preempted by Bears coverage. For more religion coverage, check out suntimes.com. Email tips and comments to Robert Herguth at rherguth@suntimes.com.