"One of the ten men arrested for "enticing a child" over the internet is a leader of the Mormon Church. He was arrested in an Internet sex sting after allegedly arranging to meet a 14-year-old girl in Idaho.
51-year old Clayton Hildreth is a stake president in Butte, Montana.
Clayton faces federal charges after coming to Boise from Montana to meet up with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl.
Hildreth is now out of jail on $50,000 bond.
Over the past two months, police said, Hildreth corresponded with Boise detectives posing as a 14-year-old girl in an online chat room and sent explicit images of himself. ``We are disturbed by the allegations that our local church leader may have engaged in improper conduct,'' the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said in a statement from Salt Lake City. ``Individuals found to be so involved are released from ecclesiastical responsibilities.''
from http://www.childpro.org/ldsmedia%202003-2004/ldsmedia%202003-2004%2004.htm
2007-08-16 08:17:44 · 23 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Obviously this man is sick to begin with. Since he had been placed in a position of trust and authority, can the claim be made that LDS leaders are actually and directly "called by God" to serve as bishops or stake presidents? Has this 'misjudgment' been made more often than reported?
This is where the significance of his being a 'mormon' arises - This man should not have ascended to this position if his 'heart' had evil intent. Mistakes of this magnitude are not supposed to happen in the mormon hierarchy and ideology. If the 'power of discernment' is a gift of the priesthood, it seems to be easily overlooked or nonexistent.
God should have known better, and yet one more example that demonstrates the One True Church is not divinely directed.
2007-08-16 10:40:09 · answer #1 · answered by Dances with Poultry 5 · 0⤊ 6⤋
Regretfully he has a real problem. Sounds as if he developed an addiction to Pornography and Child porn at that. I just pray that he had not other victims and this was a first for him. I could just cry at the thought that he had molested anyone else. Sadly no matter what you do in life we are all human and are subject to temptations. It was his choice to act this way and not the LDS church. He did this without their blessing and he won't receive any help from them either to get out of the mess he made. He will also be ex-communicated I'm sure very quickly.
To Art - drinking Coke is not a sin in the LDS church. Paying tithing has nothing to do with what will happen to him. If he did it he will be excommunicated, no matter who he is. Also the LDS does hold some sins greater then other. Murder is the worst and equal to that is anything that harms children and other innocents such as molestation, rape etc. Don't talk about things you don't know about. You just sound stupid...
2007-08-16 08:25:47 · answer #2 · answered by idaho gal 4 · 8⤊ 1⤋
If these allegations are true, then the guy is sick and made a major, major mistake. I don't know why anyone would do something like this and I'm not even going to try and speculate...But this shouldn't represent all LDS, should it? It's not fair to have one person's actions display a representation of a group 12 + million people. Isolde said it best. This would be inappropriate behavior in ANY belief system.
2007-08-16 08:24:26 · answer #3 · answered by Daniel 4 · 9⤊ 0⤋
Why do people insist on announcing a persons religion when they've done something wrong!?
The question should be..."Why would anyone do something like this?"
NOT all Mormons, Catholics, Jehovah's Witness, or anyone from any religion, is perfect! There has been horrible people in ALL faiths. There has been crimes committed from people of all religions.
What this person did is awful, and I hope that he is punished for his actions.
BUT please, be careful of what you say.... be mindful, and a little more respectful. We are not all perfect people, we are only human... It does not matter what ones faith is... What matters here is that one more pervert is off the Internet and off the streets. One less person to worry about when it comes to the safety of our children.
2007-08-16 10:01:37 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
Some people in every religion are bad. It does not mean the whole religion is bad.
The church did the right thing and released him of all duties.
I was wondering about the other 9 men arrested. Why didn't you mention their religion?
2007-08-17 09:38:16 · answer #5 · answered by J T 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A person who does this is tempted by Satan. Who do you think Satan wants to get more...the righteous man or the sinner? Unfortunately this 'man' of god, gave into this temptation. Too bad, but I am glad that he was caught before anything further could happen. I feel for his family.
On a side note, the Lord wouldn't let this leader continue to be in this position of Stake President knowing that he wasn't worthy. Maybe this was the way that HE dealt with it??
2007-08-16 08:28:19 · answer #6 · answered by Lu 4 · 4⤊ 1⤋
What the hell is Sisterzeal talking about?
This is disgusting. I am glad that they have operations like this so they can catch the perpetrator first instead of waiting ten years when 20 kids come forward. There are specific routines that uncover cops follow to ensure that it is not entrapment.
2007-08-16 08:59:52 · answer #7 · answered by alana 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
I'm LDS, and I've known several child molestors in my day. That being said, the actions of one sick, sick, individual doesn't mean the faith is sick. People are people, even religious people and some are sick, twisted and pedophiliacs. No one is perfect, not even Mormons.
Its unfortunate, but pedophilia exists in every culture and religion. Mormons aren't immune, but the religion comes up when it happens. (resisting making a catholic joke here).
2007-08-16 10:09:12 · answer #8 · answered by Sherpa 4 · 5⤊ 1⤋
For the same reasons that other pedophiles and other types of sexual deviants do it. What those are, I don't know. That's psychology territory that's way out of my league. It's sad that he was in such a respected position.
2007-08-16 10:42:34 · answer #9 · answered by Senator John McClain 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
That's wild. A guy I work with was just telling me about this...his sister in law was the detective that had been corresponding with this guy. She showed up to gloat when they got him.
2007-08-16 08:21:55 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋