Lawsuit accuses LDS church of allowing convicted Mountlake Terrace sex offender access to children

A lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court this week alleges that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints allowed a convicted sex offender to have ongoing access to children, leading to the sexual abuse of four boys in the Mountlake Ward in Mountlake Terrace.

The complaint, filed by national litigation firms Dolman Law Group and Anapol Weiss, claims the Church knowingly allowed former High Priest David Herget, a convicted pedophile, to remain active in the congregation and interact with children. 

The four plaintiffs, referred to as John Roes, allege that Herget’s involvement in church activities enabled him to exploit and abuse them between 2001 and 2005.

According to the lawsuit, Herget was convicted in 1993 of raping his 13-year-old daughter and served 180 days of a seven-year sentence after senior Church members allegedly wrote letters advocating for leniency. The complaint states that following his release, Herget attended services and was given church responsibilities involving children.

Mountlake Terrace police arrested Herget in 2005 on 18 charges, including child molestation and child rape. Herget died by suicide while in Snohomish County Jail, according to Seattle Times.

The suit claims Herget created “special programs” with candy taped inside that he distributed to boys, sometimes with Church leaders present, and that he dressed as Santa Claus during church events where children sat on his lap. 

In 2002, Herget was allegedly rebaptized into the Church despite ongoing abuse, and his position as a High Priest was restored in 2004.

Each plaintiff describes separate instances of abuse that included masturbation, oral sex, groping and fondling – some of which occurred in the Church parking lot and involved victims as young as 5.

“For years, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints allowed this depraved sexual offender to have unrestricted access to countless children, the most vulnerable members of their community,” said Stan Gipe of Dolman Law Group. “After years of systemic abuse at the hands of someone that the Church empowered, our clients are finally seeking justice from this morally corrupt institution that sat by idly and allowed this horrific abuse to occur. We will do everything in our power to ensure that the LDS church is held fully accountable for their purposeful neglect of these children, and to force change so that other innocent children never have to experience this type of evil again.”

The complaint seeks unspecified monetary damages from the Church, alleging lasting physical and emotional harm to the four plaintiffs, according to the lawsuit.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did not respond to a request for comment.