Woman who accused former MTC president of rape confronts him at church
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Kierra Dotson, KTVX
ARIZONA (News4Utah)- The woman who has accused a former MTC president of rape confronted his home ward on Sunday while sharing her testimony.
“The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are covering a sexual predator that lives in your ward. His name is Joseph Bishop,” she said to Bishop’s Arizona ward.
A video posted to YouTube captured the entire event:
“He was the MTC president in 1984 when he raped me in the basement of the MTC,” Denson says to the congregation.
RELATED: Judge dismisses most of sex assault lawsuit against LDS Church, ex-MTC president
During her speech Dennon is interrupted by a man who asks her to sit down.
“I’ll be done in just a minute,” she said. The man continues to stand next to her with his arms around her and asks her to sit down and talk with him afterward.
“For the atonement to take place we have to be accountable for what we do,” she continues but is interrupted by the man who says he needs to talk to her.
“No. No. I have more to say,” she says. “In order to keep the church safe we need to hold sexual predators accountable. Whether they are pedophiles or whether they are rapists like Joseph Bishop,” she says as she is escorted away from the pulpit.
Denson tells the men attempting to take her away from the microphone to call the police and stop touching her. “You know that this is assault right? And you know that we’re filming this right?” she is heard saying before she is ushered away.
RELATED: Woman confronts LDS Church official about alleged sex assault
A spokesperson for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent News4Utah the following response to the video:
“Once each month, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints participate in a worship service that includes an opportunity for members to share their testimonies of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and His gospel. It is disappointing that anyone would interrupt such a worship service to bring attention to their own personal cause. Recording and posting of these disruptions on social media to seek public attention and media coverage, sadly, shows an unfortunate lack of respect for others. We respectfully request that those with personal grievances find other means to communicate their messages than disrupting the sanctity of a worship service.”
Last month a judge dismissed the case against Bishop on the grounds that the statute of limitations had expired.
The judge dismissed all of the charges against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well, except for one. The judge said the statute of limitations on her claim that the Church concealed Bishop’s predatory sexual behavior did not begin until she confronted him in December 2017.
Last week, attorneys for the Church filed a motion to dismiss the claim.