Abuse in the Mormon Church: the victim's mother says that the authorities "covered up the case"

"Sorry," that was the word Sara heard the most times from the authorities of the Mormon Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, after Marcelo Moreno Pérez, a member of the institution, abused his daughter. 14 years old, in 2017.

“They got tired of goading me into forgiving my daughter's abuser. Sorry Sorry sorry. I believe in God, but I cannot forgive,” the woman told Channel 10 exclusively. “I hold the Bishop and the Stake President responsible. They covered up the cause, they kept quiet,” she added.

Moreno Pérez was arrested on Monday and will go to trial on November 30. This is the first interview she has given since cba24n.com.ar told the story of the abuse on Monday and how the religious institution reached a private agreement with the victim's family and paid them $4.5 million so they would not mention to the institution.

She, accompanied by her lawyer, Hugo Pérez Moncada, said that Alejandro Federico Paolantonio, stake president, called her by phone to intercede on behalf of the abuser. "He told me that Moreno was sorry, that he was crying like a baby and that he needs to go to his house to apologize."

Paolantonio would have been the first person to find out about the rape. He was warned by the author himself, minutes after committing it. "It wasn't a confession, it was an act of desperation," the family's attorney said.

However, instead of going to court and denouncing the crime, she tried to intercede in search of "forgiveness". “The next day she went home to give us a prayer of comfort,” Sara said.

false containment

After the investigation of cba24n.com.ar, the Mormon Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints published a statement in which they deny the economic agreement and maintain that they have provided support to the victim and the family.

“It was false. We are never happy for the Church,” Sara said. "Only the first day we felt containment," she added. She said that the church put two psychologists and one of them tried to convince her daughter to resort to forgiveness: "She came from therapy badly," she detailed.

For his part, the family's lawyer, Hugo Pérez Moncada, who is also a member of the church, said that the institution has "security protocols" to help victims of abuse. “They are manuals with basic guidelines that were not followed in this case. The church had all the tools and didn't use them,” he said, explaining: They were the first to know, before the victim's mother. The next day, the mother found out from her schoolmates. However, instead of bringing him to justice, they tried to talk to her."

She also said that the economic agreement was "in the nature of compensation."

Other cases

The abuse was reported four years ago in Villa Allende when Moreno was in charge of the “Young Men” section of the Mormon Church. Prosecutor Marcelo Hidalgo, in charge of the investigation, ordered the man's arrest when he learned of the out-of-court settlement. The text of the agreement states that the Church "has nothing to do" with the abuse of minors and offers payment to the family and lawyers. In addition there are other clauses.

As a result of the publication of this medium, other cases committed by Moreno arose. "When we saw the note, we hugged each other and cried," Sara said.