Jessica Cavalieri said she hoped the case would help the church deal better with such situations.

"They don't know how to handle abuse victims and pedophiles," she said. "They're just completely naive."

Stepfather Peter Taylor pleaded guilty to child molestation in 2001 and was sentenced to more than four years in prison. The jury found the LDS Church liable for $2.5 million and Taylor for $1.7 million. Keetch said the trial judge may soon rule that the LDS Church can be held liable for all of the amounts.

Church officials take issue with the assertion that they have not taken steps to prevent child sex abuse among its membership — as in that church President Gordon B. Hinckley called it a "sin of the darkest hue."

"The training is ongoing," LDS spokesman Dale Bills said, adding the church is confident that its lay bishops are prepared. Church officials acknowledged that isolated mistakes in failing to report sex abuse have happened in the past by bishops who misunderstood the law or what the LDS Church expected of them. But steps have been taken to make sure child abuse is handled appropriately, officials said.

Since 1995, the LDS Church have had a campaign to train its bishops in how to handle sex abuse, including offering a 24-hour help line staffed by a psychologist or psychiatrist trained in sex abuse as well as access to church attorneys.

Since the help line was established, Keetch said, there have been no lawsuits filed claiming abuse.

Bishops are given at least three general rules in dealing with child abuse, according to the church's training literature. The first is to protect the safety of the child; second is to comply with the law, and third is to call the help line.

What makes the issue difficult, Keetch said, is that reporting requirements for clergy are different in many states. Twenty-three states, including Utah, have laws that require clergy to report abuse only when the information is not privileged. This means that if a clergyman learns the abuse as confession, it is protected under law.

However, if a clergyman is told by a victim or learns of the abuse firsthand, then it must be reported. Nine other states require clergy to report abuse no matter what and 18 states do not require reporting abuse at all.

Keetch acknowledges that although bishops are required to follow the law, there are instances bishops have reported abuse to law enforcement in states where the information was considered privileged. In North Carolina, the LDS Church was sued by a sex abuse suspect, who said his LDS bishop violated the law in reporting information he considered confessional.