Child abuse at the hands of clergy often makes headlines, and leaves people questioning how various religious organizations respond to and seek to prevent the sin and tragedy of child abuse.

This question about how the LDS Church handles child abuse was recently addressed by Von G. Keetch, chief outside legal counsel for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He summed up by stating that the Mormon Church’s position is simply that “Abuse cannot be tolerated in any form.”

He explains:

For decades, the LDS Church has repeatedly, publicly, and unequivocally denounced child abuse as an “insidious evil” and a “sin of the darkest hue.” Church leaders at the highest level began making such statements and aggressively addressing the issue even before clergy-abuse cases raised public awareness in the mid-1980s. Since 1976, more than 50 articles have appeared in Church publications condemning child abuse or educating members about it. As wrenching as the topic is, Church leaders have given sermons about it more than 30 times at the Church’s worldwide conferences….

Read more on this topic in the article entitled: Protecting Children in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

You can also read more about the Church’s position on abuse at lds.org under the index topic “Abuse