Churches have no duty to warn

The Utah Court of Appeals held last week that churches do not have a common law duty to warn their members of known sexual abusers in their midst, as long as the abuse has not taken place in connection with church activities or while the abused were in the "custody" of the churches. The case is Doe v. Corp. of Pres. of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The court did not specify what might give rise to a special relationship between a church and its members that would make the church liable for failing to warn or stop abuse. The Salt Lake Tribune reported that "Church not responsible for abusers." Meanwhile, the Deseret Morning News wrote that "LDS not at fault in sex-abuse case, court concurs."