SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Mormon church is investigating a former missionary training center president who is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in the 1980s, following the release this week of a secret audio recording where he is heard apologizing to her and citing a sex addiction.
The allegations are “deeply disturbing” and would lead to formal discipline if true, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said in a statement posted to its website Tuesday.
The 85-year-old Joseph L. Bishop denied the allegations when asked by church officials but is apologetic in the recording even though he doesn’t discuss exactly what happened. The recording — from a meeting the woman set up under the guise of being a reporter — was made public this week by the website MormonLeaks , which is a church watchdog.
The 55-year-old woman, whose name is being withheld because she’s an alleged victim of sexual assault, said Bishop tried to rape her in an office in Provo in 1984 when she was a missionary. Bishop was president to the Missionary Training Center in Provo from 1983-1986.
“You want an apology. I want to give you an apology. I don’t know what I can do about it, because here we are, after all these years, but it just… it just hurts my heart to see you suffering,” he said in the taped conversation .
Bishop was also president of Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, from 1972-1978.
The woman lodged a complaint last November with Brigham Young University police, who investigated and forwarded their findings to the Utah County Attorney’s office, Lt. Steven Messick said. Prosecutors at that office declined to pursue charges due to the statute of limitations, he said.
The woman’s attorney sent the recording to church officials in January. The church statement said officials had outside attorneys interview Bishop and the woman.
“Not surprisingly, the stories, timelines and recollections of those involved are dramatically different,” the church said.
The church says it first became aware of the allegations against Bishop in 2010 and passed on information to police in Pleasant Grove, where the woman was living. The church said it never heard back from police and opted against disciplining Bishop because he denied it and they were unable to verify the allegations.
The police department didn’t investigate the alleged sexual assault, but it did look into a threat the woman made against Bishop, Lt. Britt Smith said. No arrests were made.
The allegations resurfaced in 2016 when the woman told a regional Mormon leader in Pueblo, Colorado, the church said. It was reported to local police, but it’s unclear what if anything was done.
The Mormon church reopened its investigation in January when her attorney sent the taped conversations.
