Mormon church excommunicates Sugar Land man who accused Latter-day Saints of 'pornographic' talks with kids
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Sam Young says his 18-month-journey has not ended how he'd hoped. The lifelong member of the Mormon Church and former bishop has been ex-communicated.
On Sunday, he read the notification across from the famous temple in Salt Lake City.
"This is very personal. The community I have known, served and totally believed in my entire life," Young said of the body that had ousted him.
Young's mission has been to get the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to end all one-on-one interviews between Mormon clergy and youth, and the sometimes sexually explicit questions that Young claims are asked.
"I wasn't asked as a kid. As a bishop, I never asked anybody. I was never trained to ask. I just know that it's widespread," said Young.
Church spokesman Eric Hawkins did not provide specifics on Young's case. Hawkins provided a statement from the church:
"Because of the personal nature of Church disciplinary matters and to respect the privacy of those involved, the Church does not provide information about the proceedings. Church discipline is administered by local leaders who are familiar with the individual and his or her circumstances."
Young says the purpose behind the questioning is to establish if a child is worthy of going on to the next level in the church, but he believes permanent damage is done to children.
"When I first started hearing about this, I had no idea of the horrendous long-term effects, shaming with sexual questions can have on children. Today I've read hundreds of stories," said Young.
He says he's received both backlash and support. As he travels back from Salt Lake City to Houston, he says it's time to get back to his current day job and family, and although he is no longer a member of the Mormon Church, he says he is not done talking about this issue.
"I'm not going to quit speaking out against this. We are doing horrendous things to our children," said Young.
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