Principle Rights Coalition Statement Against Child Sex Abuse (August 4, 2011)
As always, it is the policy of the Principle Rights Coalition (PRC) to support the just application of laws, and the right of an accused person to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
As new evidence has surfaced in Texas detailing reprehensible acts of sexual abuse against children as young as twelve years old, we are alarmed that such depravity could have been perpetrated by anyone.
While we understand that horrific abuse can occur in any part of society, it is especially devastating to discover that sexual assault of young children may have occurred behind the false pretense of a religious ideology. Those who commit such crimes must be held accountable. If any members of our communities are in fact guilty, we fully support their being brought to justice.
We repeat our vigorous denunciation of all child abuse, sexual or otherwise, as an egregious violation of our faith. We grieve for the children whose lives and virtue have been so cruelly impacted. We pray for healing and safety for the victims and their families.
In some cases, years of isolation and secrecy may have cultivated and concealed abuse, since those who might ordinarily have come forward feared the threat of prosecution should their plural family arrangement be disclosed. These reports of abuse illustrate the necessity of decriminalizing plural, consenting-adult relationships, while convicting those specific individuals who have victimized children.
——————————————————————-
Signed by the PRINCIPLE RIGHTS COALITION (a coalition of Fundamentalist Mormon Communities) – including:
Apostolic United Brethren,
Centennial Park,
Davis County Cooperative Society,
The Nielsen-Naylor communities,
Principle Voices (www.principlevoices.org)
and numerous other, independent Fundamentalist Mormons
Contact person – Anne Wilde
