Mormon Church Being Sued for Sexual Abuse of Navajo Children

A fourth person is suing the Mormon Church for enduring sexual abuse by his foster father while he was a part of a church program that placed Navajo children with Mormon families, ABC News reported.

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The man, identified as L.K. in the lawsuit, said that when he reported the abuse that occurred in the 1970s in northern Utah to workers in the Mormon program, they took no heed to his concerns.

"It's horrible. You relive it. You see the person who did this. You see their silhouette," he said about the abuse that occurred when he was a seventh-grader, as published in ABC News Tuesday. "It broke me. When a Native American is broken, he has to fix himself."

L.K.’s attorney, Craig Vernon, said L.K.’s abuser has died. Vernon is representing another Navajo woman who has also sued, and said that more lawsuits could be coming, as more possible victims have come forward.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spokesman Eric Hawkins said none of the alleged perpetrators were church leaders, but people associated with host families and that the alleged abuse of the four victims occurred before the church created a program to address abuse.

"As awareness of the scourge of child abuse has grown in society, the church has been at the forefront of efforts to combat it," Hawkins said, as reported by ABC News.

Thousands of Native American children participated in the program from the late 1940s till 2000, when it ended.

Vernon said he's looking for monetary compensation for his two clients, for the Mormon church to change its policies so suspected abuse is always reported, and a formal apology from the religion to Navajos for the program.

David Clohessy, executive director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said to ABC News, "Church officials often try to make all this about the past. But those of us who are survivors believe it's about the present and the future. We're talking a very real threat to the safety and well-being of boys and girls today."