Shawn Gooden was a bishop with the Mormon church and a member of the executive board of the New Birth of Freedom Boy Scouts. He was a lawyer in Harrisburg, PA. He was also an adjunct professor at Widener University Commonwealth Law School. That was all before he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a young relative in Virginia and was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison.
The specific charges he pleaded guilty to are, taking indecent liberties with children, aggravated sexual battery, and two counts of forcible sodomy. The investigators report that the child was between the ages of nine and thirteen during several years of repeated sexual abuse. They also found that another relative, between the ages of eight and twelve, was also sexually abused. For this he will serve 2.5 years in prison, have five years of parole, and be listed as a sex offender.
But there is more. He is also facing nineteen charges for the rape of three children younger than thirteen in Pennsylvania.
- Dauphin Daily Voice: Mormon Ex-Scout Leader Sentenced For Raping Children In VA, New Charges In PA
- ABC 27: Former Lebanon County LDS Church, scout leader facing rape charges
Content Note: The following article has unnecessarily specific details of the abuse that may be distressing.
