Paul Rytting is the Director of Risk Management at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He’s very good at protecting the Church from accountability for its bishops and leadership sexually abusing children.
Rytting flew to Idaho as soon as he learned that Bishop John Goodrich was alleged to have sexually abused his daughter for several years. She and her mother told him about the abuse, but Goodrich had also confessed to his bishop Michael Miller. Following church policy, Miller immediately called the Help Line created to address abuse issues in the church.
To understand how the Help Line functions, it’s important to know that it is not in any family services or human resource division. It’s in Risk Management. It’s purpose is to protect the church, not survivors of sexual abuse.
When Goodrich’s daughter went to the police in Idaho, they initially went forward with the case. Then Rytting convinced the Bishop not to cooperate, to refuse to discuss John Goodrich’s confession, so the police dismissed the case.
That is his role. Crushing any effort to bring abusers to accountability. The Church will excommunicate abusers and do it quickly, but they will obstruct efforts to prosecute them. Rytting has been involved in multiple scandals in Idaho, West Virginia, Arizona, and Virginia.
- Apple Podcasts: Reveal: Hidden Confessions of the Mormon Church
- Salt Lake Tribune: Takeaways from the AP’s investigation into the LDS Church’s handling of sex abuse cases
- AP News: Recordings show how the Mormon church protects itself from child sex abuse claims
- NE Miss News: Lawsuits expose how the Mormon Church systematically covers up child sex abuse
- AZ Central: 7 years of sex abuse: How Mormon leaders learned Arizona man was abusing his kids and let it continue
December 10, 2023 |