A Pennsylvania woman has filed legal papers in Pennsylvania accusing Utah and Mormon Church officials of interfering in a custody dispute involving her daughter - alleging the girl was sexually abused while in the care of her ex-husband in Utah.
The woman, Margaret W. Fuller, Perkiomenville, Pa., filed papers in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia saying church officials knew the girl, then living in Provo, had been abused by her paternal grandfather in Salt Lake City but failed to report the matter to police.Fuller says the incidents occurred over several years, ending in 1983 when the girl was 11, although she and her current husband were only told of the incident last month.
According to a letter submitted to the court by Fuller last week, she then alerted Salt Lake City police. Police, however, declined to investigate the matter further and said it was being handled by church officials who were counseling the man.
When contacted in Provo, the girl's grandfather said he doesn't recall the episode having occurred.