A former Utah city mayor and bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been arrested on charges that he sexually abused at least three children decades ago. Carl Matthew Johnson, 77, was arrested Wednesday and booked into the Daviess County Jail in northern Utah on suspicion of seven counts of sexually abusing a child, according to a probable cause statement. Investigators say Johnson admitted to abusing three victims in 1985, 1993 and 1996 and estimated there were a total of six victims as young as two years old, according to the document. He told investigators he struggled “to control his sexual urges” most of his life. Some of the alleged abuse occurred during the same years he was mayor of West Bountiful, a city just outside Salt Lake City that he led from 1990-97. The investigation is still ongoing, but so far Johnson has only been charged with allegations stemming from three victims. Johnson had not yet been charged as of Thursday afternoon and it was unknown if he had an attorney. Johnson was in a “position of trust” for each victim, but investigators did not explain what that was in the probable cause document. Stephanie Dinsmore, a spokeswoman for the Davis County Sheriff’s Office, also declined to comment. The victims told investigators they were told not to tell anyone and Johnson used his position to suppress the disclosures, according to the probable cause affidavit. Dinsmore initially declined Thursday to provide information about when Johnson was a bishop at a church of the faith known widely as the Mormon church, saying in a text that the agency would not comment on Johnson’s “affiliation” with the faith. He later revealed that he was a bishop from 1974-1979. Bishops are lay clergy who oversee local churches for a few years at a time in a rotating role reserved only for men of the faith commonly known as the Mormon church. Sam Penrod, a spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said in a statement that the allegations are “serious and deeply troubling” and reiterated the church’s stance that the faith does not tolerate any kind of abuse. “Those who engage in abusive behavior are rightfully subject to prosecution by legal authorities and also face loss of church membership,” Penrod said. The faith has come under scrutiny after an Associated Press investigation found flaws in how it handles reports of sexual abuse allegations made against bishops. The church has defended the system, and the alleged AP has mischaracterized its reporting system. The AP reported Thursday that a Utah lawmaker was the person who advised a church bishop in Arizona not to report a confession of child sexual abuse to authorities, a decision that allowed the abuse to continue for years, according to records filed in a lawsuit.
