Mormon Church Leader is a Registered Sex Offender
WHY MORMON REVELATION AND DISCERNMENT IS FAKE!
The above photograph is Michael Adam Davis. He is a lifetime registered sex offender originally from Utah who relocated to Minnesota. During my 35-year membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormon church, I repeatedly encountered sexual abuse of children by church leaders such as Michael Adam Davis. As Tom Lynden of Fox 9 KMSP in Minnesota reported, this case is yet another example of how the Mormon church and its culture is a breeding grounds for the sexual abuse of children. As the Mormon church is much more concerned about its image than its children, local leaders are firmly directed that the first emergency phone call is not to the police authorities but to Mormon church lawyers in Salt Lake City. The protection of the church comes before the safety of its children. As Tom Lynden points out, “The case raises troubling questions about what Mormon church leaders knew about his past, whether red flags were ignored, and why a simple criminal background check wasn’t conducted.”
Only through a traffic stop was Michael Adam Davis caught with a young child in his car, not his child, of course. Lyden noted, “According to court documents, the boy “knew Davis from church,” “considered him family.” Davis would give him expensive gifts and “guy” hugs. The boy would later admit Davis repeatedly sexually assaulted him and tried to rape him. The Dodge County Attorney has charged Davis with four counts of criminal sexual conduct in the first and second degree, as well as indecent exposure. The charges say Davis abused his “position of authority.”
Although other cases in 2003 and 2005 took place, Davis has never served any prison time. Why is that, you may well ask? Plea bargains! Apply plea bargains and move out of Utah into the “missionary field.” This creates a recipe for disaster and allows any predator to prey on children in a Mormon congregation. Smaller branches and wards or congregations are usually excited to have people from Utah move into their area as leadership is limited in many smaller areas of the USA. Davis would have known this, and he certainly took advantage of it.
IS MORMON PERSONAL REVELATION AND DISCERNMENT REAL?
The question is, how is this possible? Surely there must be background checks and the use of sexual offender lists? No, in fact, a big fat NO. There are two reasons. First, the Mormon church has its own “security,” mostly retired police, FBI, military, and other government bodies. Second, and probably the most important point, the Mormon church believes totally in revelation and discernment. Church leaders at every level are taught that God will direct them on what to do and who to call to any position and will definitely not lead the leaders and their congregations astray. Sounds good, doesn’t it? However, it’s garbage. The main issue is that people such as Michael Adam Davis take advantage of such beliefs.
Reporter Tom Lynden points out, as with my own experience, “Those who have tried to protect children say they’ve learned nothing is more important than the reputation of the church.”
“As I’ve spoken out about it, local leaders have in many ways tried to silence me by taking certain kind of membership privileges away from me and things like that,” said Michael Benjamin, previous Stake or regional leader and licensed social worker in Rochester.
“The church’s number one priority is, to quote, ‘protect the good name of the church.’ They’re not out to protect the victim,” Sam Young, a former LDS bishop, said. Sadly, my long experience would confirm what Michael Benjamin and Sam Young state.
MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
In 2002 my family lived in Orem, Utah, while attending graduate school at Brigham Young University. Our two youngest children, both girls, were encouraged by local church leadership to participate in photography sessions from Joseph Paul photography. Joseph DurBorow was a leader in the congregation we lived. On more than one occasion, not only did I refuse to send my young girls to be photographed, but I also pointed out to the Bishop that I was uncomfortable with the idea and even suggested to the Bishop that children without supervision, no matter the person, was not safe. Over a period of time, my concerns fell on deaf ears, and eventually to being ostracized for being “disobedient.” The Bishop told me that the children were safe because revelation had revealed Joseph Durborow was a “good man.”
As KSL NEWSRADIO (Dave Cawley) and KSL TV (Keira Farrimond) retell on 13 October 2020, Joseph Durborow lived at 535 North 1025 West, Orem. Joseph Durborow went on to establish a photography studio in the basement. His photography page was published online under the name Joseph Paul.
“This site’s purpose is to showcase young models,” a statement on the website read in 1999. “All of our models are under the age of 14, and we have contracted both male and female models. We have a particularly good selection of ethnic models to work with.” The first of those “ethnic models,” according to another statement on the website in 2002, was one of Joseph Durborow’s own foster children. “The Young Models Resource began with Joseph Paul advertising his daughter as a model,” the site read. “It expanded to include his daughter’s friends and, as word spread of what we were doing, many others.”
Word even reached Orem police. Child sex crime investigators there became concerned something more sinister might lurk beneath the veneer of Joseph Durborow’s child-focused, at-home photo studio. They were unable to prove it. A detective who worked the case in 2002 told KSL parents whose children had modeled for Durborow said he’d operated above board, requiring contracts and even a parent to be present during photoshoots.
And then came Operation Hamlet!
OPERATION HAMLET: Child Pornography in Utah
Again as reported by KSL, on Aug. 9, 2002, the “United States District Court in the District of Eastern California unsealed an indictment against 15 people, accusing them of conspiring to create and share images of child pornography. The indictment resulted from a 10-month investigation involving agencies from both the U.S. and Europe.”
“One of the targets of the probe, which was dubbed “Operation Hamlet,” had used the online handle “Lazarus.” According to the charging documents, an email address for Lazarus was tracked back to an internet service provider account registered to Joseph Durborow. Orem police served a search warrant on Joseph Durborow’s Orem home just hours after the indictment was unsealed. They arrived at 2 a.m., swept through the house, and seized Durborow’s computers.”
Additional charges later filed in federal court said Durborow told detectives he’d used a hidden camera in a changing room at his photo studio to capture images of the underage models. Durborow had then offered those images for sale through his website.
I personally read in the local newspaper when police opened a lock-up in American Fork, Utah, the police found that Durborow had multiple thousands of CDs/DVDs of child pornography locked away.
“Durborow admitted to exchanging images of child pornography with others,” the federal charging document read. Joseph Durborow pleads guilty to felony charges in both federal and state courts. He received a sentence of 10 years in prison on the federal charges, as well as two terms of one to 15 years in prison and three terms of three years to life in prison on the state charges.
DIVINE REVELATION IS FAKE
Although vindicated in my assessment of “Brother Durborow,” I am always reminded of the Bishop's mindless instruction. “Your problem, brother is you're disobedient . . . when I say to you put your tiny baby into the microwave and turn it on, you should do it because I speak the will of God.” I am sure you know what my response was!
© Stephen G. Arrowsmith 2022
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