Long critical of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a popular podcaster whose audio-video platform earlier this year helped reveal accusations that a one-time Mormon figure in the Chicago area molested children in the region is now being sued by the institution.
The church insists it’s not payback for the years that John Dehlin’s “Mormon Stories” podcast exposed and delved into church controversies — including a child sexual abuse scandal.
Rather, the lawsuit filed in federal court in Utah, where the denomination is based, says the case is really about trademark and copyright infringement — that Dehlin is using words and images that essentially belong to the church, and that’s proved confusing for some people who wonder if the show is church-sanctioned.
Dehlin says that’s nonsense, noting he’s done his show for two decades with little change.
“I think it’s a fair question to ask them: After 21 years, why now?” Dehlin said, adding his platforms include 800,000 subscribers. “It appears like the intent is to harm us, harm our reputation and bankrupt us.”
Either way, the unusual legal assault comes roughly two months after “Mormon Stories” hosted Edward Nachel, a former Chicago area resident who revealed he’d been part of the excommunication process of former McHenry County church leader Wade Christofferson in the 1990s after it came to light he molested one or more children.
As the Chicago Sun-Times has since reported, a number of church leaders knew about Christofferson’s misconduct but let him back into the church, and into leadership, and apparently told nobody.
Christofferson has since molested more children out-of-state, according to prosecutors who lodged charges against him in November in a case that’s pending in Ohio where Christofferson moved.
Christofferson’s case has been embarrassing to the church because his brother, D. Todd Christofferson, is one of the Latter-day Saints’ top three international leaders. D. Todd Christofferson has since acknowledged he knew in or about 2020 that his brother may be a child molester and didn’t call police or child welfare authorities or, it appears, tell other church leaders.
He apparently didn’t violate his state’s mandatory reporting law, but it’s not clear whether he lived up to the church’s own stated mission: “We all have an obligation to prevent abuse and protect others from abuse.”
It’s also unclear what role if any the church’s “first presidency” — which D. Todd Christofferson is part of — played in the litigation.
The lawsuit zeroes in on Dehlin’s podcast’s embrace of the word “Mormon,” which the church claims some dominion over, even as it’s frowned on its usage in recent years.
“As Defendants are well aware, the public associates the term MORMON with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has used the mark MORMON and other names and marks incorporating the term MORMON since its founding nearly 200 years ago,” the new lawsuit says.
The church’s web site clarifies that, saying: “The Church holds trademarks covering certain uses of the term ‘Mormon,’ including in connection with educational services. Not every use of the word requires permission. But when it is used as part of organizational branding in ways that create confusion about affiliation, the Church has a responsibility to address it.”
The suit points to logos and images used by Mormon Stories, saying: “Defendants’ use of Church trademarks and copyrighted materials has caused and will continue to cause individuals to be confused and access Defendants’ content mistakenly believing it comes from or is affiliated with or endorsed by the Church. This is not by accident.”
For example, “Defendants adopted a blue MORMON STORIES logo with a light-rays design prominently used by the Church, showing Defendants’ intent to capitalize on and increase confusion.”
“The Church does not seek, in any way, to influence the content of Defendants’ podcast, but Defendants should not be allowed to use the Church’s trademarks or other Church intellectual property to cause confusion as to the source, affiliation, connection, endorsement, or authorization of Defendants’ podcast and other content.”
Prior to the lawsuit, Dehlin and the church were involved in mediation and Dehlin said he had agreed to almost all requests, except for what he described as an over-the-top disclaimer that he’s not affiliated with the church.
Dehlin said since the suit was filed, he’s been subjected to ugly comments online, including some that call him “Satan.”
He was excommunicated by the church in 2015 after speaking in favor of female ordination to the priesthood and same-sex marriage — though church officials have pointed to other factors, including statements “that the Book of Mormon and the Book of Abraham are fraudulent and works of fiction.”