Comments about ‘Centerville church leader faces child sex abuse charges’

"Trotter said Bothell's current and former church positions play no part in the case".
Since it has nothing to do with it, why is the headline LDS even in the story?
dn you are better than that.
waitng for a story when someone of a different faith is accused of doing something disgusting and the headline is their "religion"'.....it won't happen.

@ute alum
So if the pope commits a crime, newspapers aren't going to (and shouldn't) mention in the headline that the accused guy is the pope?
Join planet earth.

Oh and by the way, the statement that the accused's positions play no part in the case are wrong. The 'aggravated" charges stem from his position of authority.

I know this family. They are great people and active in giving to the community. (and I don't just mean at Church) I'm a fairly jaded person but I have to say I am absolutely shocked and heart sick to hear this news. I've known Tim Bothell and his family through community involvement and I've always had the highest regard for him. My heart goes out to all his victims, including his own family, his wonderful wife and fantastic children, who must now face the consequences of his actions. Who knows what lurks in the hearts of men?

This just shows that it does not matter if you are religious, supposedly religious, or non-religious, and it does not matter which religion or non-religion you may be affiliated with, if people set out to do these types of things, it will be done. There was a story about gay leaders in the boy scouts not too long ago, and the comments on there were not surprising. However, I would be more worried about a guy like this than a gay scout leader, because I believe there would be a higher amount of observance of a gay leader than one who is a respected member of the LDS chuch.

And unless the DN changed the headline, it does not say LDS, it says church leader.

Re: xscribe Colorado Springs, CO
"However, I would be more worried about a guy like this than a gay scout leader ..."

LDS Church policy is that there must always be two men (double deep leadership) when they are around young people. It protects both the boys and their leaders. For the same reason an LDS Bishop will always have another adult nearby when conducting an interview.

This suspect is no longer employed by the LDS Church, will be subject to a church disciplinary, and in the end may lose his membership and possibly his family.

For 20 years I have testified in such cases because my area of expertise is antidepressant adverse reactions. Just over a decade ago an ex-LAPD officer, an expert in polygraph, contacted me looking for a doctor who would tell him truthfully why he was finding antidepressants is so many child sex abuse cases. My reply was that pedophilia has long been associated in medical literature to elevated levels of serotonin - exactly what antidepressants are designed to do - elevate serotonin.

Then about five years ago while speaking with the head of Utah's sex offender program I asked him if he could estimate just how many they are working with who committed their sexual offense while under the influence of an antidepressant. His estimate was 80%.

In tracking cases of teachers seducing children it is so rare NOT to find an antidepressant I am shocked - which has been almost never. Why is no one making this connection? Money? Too many lives are being shattered by this. Someone needs to ask what medication he might have been taking! Antidepressants cause mania (including nymphomania) and cause you to act out nightmares in a semi-conscious state called a REM Sleep Behavior Disorder.

Re: DrAnnBlakeTracy Henderson, NV
"... pedophilia has long been associated in medical literature to elevated levels of serotonin .."

Pedophilia has also long been associated with pornography. It is appropriate to place the blame for sex crimes on the shoulders of the accused but in today's politically correct world we have gotten into the habit of shifting the blame on someone or something else.

There are two great forces in the universe and depending on which one we chose to follow we can move towards the light or toward the dark. I would find sitting in jail to be most depressing.

This is no forgiveness in this life or the next for what this man has done. Changed, altered and possibly destroyed the lives of some of these children. He may has well have strangled them.
This monster needs to be taken away for the rest of his life.

The information being reported in this case is not accurate and is a complete distortion of the actual events. I am very close with the family and know everyone involved in this incident, including the victims, and can say that the alleged perpetrator in this case is in no way a monster, a pedophile, a child abuser, or any other ignorant or inaccurate label that people are putting on him. It's such a pathetic shame that people find the need to judge other people and situations that they know absolutely nothing about and that people are tried and convicted in the court of public opinion so unjustly. God knows the truth in this situation, and knows that the heart and mind of the alleged perpetrator is good and decent. All of you out there who think you know this man, you don't. Let's just leave it at that...

@1aggie

"So if the pope commits a crime, newspapers aren't going to (and shouldn't) mention in the headline that the accused guy is the pope?
Join planet earth."

You're making an apples to oranges comparison. This guy was not the LDS equivalent of the pope...he was more like the assistant to a priest - he had enough local influence to use his position to aid in the commission of a crime (hence the aggravated charge), but he's nowhere near the level of a pope. Your insinuation is blatantly dishonest.

@ Dr. Ann Blake Tracy: People who are pedophiles may be taking antidepressants, but not all people who take antidepressants become pedophiles - there is a difference between causation and correlation - and even if there is a causation effect here, you may have your order backwards.

I would be interested in knowing exactly which medications you are talking about and I would like to see the research to which you refer.

A pedophile may act out more when they are taking medication because they are no longer depressed and now have the energy to act out (the same reason individuals with suicidal tendencies are more likely to actually commit suicide once on medication) - but I seriously doubt that the medication causes the pedophilia.

A pedophile may be depressed for a number of reasons and may be taking anti-depressants to treat the depression (correlation). But even if it is true that 80% of pedophiles are taking anti-depressants, that does not mean the anti-depressant caused the pedophilia. What percentage of those taking anti-depressants are pedophiles? This is what would need to be examined to determine causation.

Re: TheRealTruth Mt. Pleasant , UT
"I am very close with the family and know everyone involved in this incident ..."

According to the story Mr. Bothell was confronted by and admitted to his wife that he had inappropriate sexual contact with at least one child of a family friend. He later contacted Child Protective Services who then then involved police.

We also know he was terminated from his job with the LDS Church. Perhaps there is more to this story than people "very close with the family" are aware of.

Dennis, I don't know if you are a Christian or believe in the Bible, but your statement very much contradicts Biblical, Christian theology. If you believe the Bible, the Lord will forgive this man for his crimes if he (the man) asks for it. Hopefully, the victims will forgive him as well, for their own sakes. The man-made, imperfect courts will attempt justice through a trial and possible corrections, but I wouldn't deny this man, or anyone, the justice and mercy of God.

@ TheRealTruth: "The information being reported in this case is not accurate and is a complete distortion of the actual events."

Really? Were you there when the events in question took place?

If so, you are the accused - and your word is suspect.

If not, then you are in no better position to make claims then anyone else.

@ Rifleman & George

I have been in close contact with the alleged perpetrator and his family the past few days. The incidents in question did not occur as the police report suggests. Some things did happen but they are not at the scope or level of severity that is being reported. No, I wasn't there, but I know what happened and why. I cannot comment on the details of what happened because of the pending court case, but suffice it to say that the man in question is not the sick, perverted, pedophile that people on this thread, and on many other comment boards on the internet, are making him out to be. And here is a thought to ponder: if the incidents in question are so abhorrent, why are his wife and kids defending them, and why has the parents of the two girls already forgiven him?

Sorry, in my last comment I meant to say that the man in question's family are defending "him" not "them" meaning the incidents that occurred.

Sorry, TheRealTruth...I don't think he "has a good mind and a good heart", whether he has been forgiven by the parents or not. He admitted to 'sexually abusing 2 young girls'!

I'm glad that God will sort it out, and we don't have to.

Re: TheRealTruth Mt. Pleasant , UT
"I have been in close contact with the alleged perpetrator and his family the past few days"

If the suspect didn't break the law there would be no need for the parents of the girls to forgive him, he wouldn't have been fired by his LDS employer, and he wouldn't have been arrested and put in jail as a direct result of his confession to Child Protective Services.

If, however, he is convicted of a felony(s) their forgiveness may go a long way in determining whether or not he goes to prison.

@MrsH - "Sorry, TheRealTruth...I don't think he "has a good mind and a good heart", whether he has been forgiven by the parents or not. He admitted to 'sexually abusing 2 young girls'!

I'm glad that God will sort it out, and we don't have to."

Well, regardless of what you "believe," the point is that you don't know him or what really happened, so your opinion doesn't matter at all. No offense. As far as God sorting it out, that was exactly the original point I was making in my first post.

@ kilpack.....Mormonism doesn't base it's doctrine on Biblical references. Check the writings of Brigham Young and Joseph F. Smith. There is no forgiveness in Mormonism for what he's done. This is categorically the same as denying the Holy Ghost in Mormon Doctrine.
Can you imagine an loving God allowing "men" to do this to children? Not me.