A lawsuit filed in Salt Lake City’s federal court in 2018 alleging sexual abuse and a cover-up involving family members of the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was dismissed this week.
The case was filed by six unnamed plaintiffs, identified as “Jane Doe” and “John Doe,” against Brenda and Richard Miles, who are the daughter and son-in-law of church President Russell M. Nelson.
The Mileses vigorously denied the allegations.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs and defendants filed a motion Wednesday to dismiss the case, which was granted the next day by U.S. District Court Judge Jill N. Parrish.
The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled again, according to FOX 13.
“The Miles are grateful for our judicial process that resulted in the dismissal of this case, which should never have been brought in the first place,” James Jardine, the couple’s attorney, told FOX 13 on Friday.
The plaintiffs dropped the suit, their attorney Craig Vernon told the station, after a recent Utah Supreme Court ruling “eviscerated” their case. That decision deemed that a new state law removing the statute of limitations in civil suits alleging sexual abuse could not be applied retroactively.
The now-dismissed lawsuit alleged that a man identified in court documents as the “Perpetrator” sexually abused his children in 1985. It also says a 16-year-old babysitter was both victimized and victimized others. The suit then accuses Brenda and Richard Miles of abuse.
“Doe 1 male defendant and Doe 2 female defendant led what they called ‘touching parties’ at their home and at the Perpetrator’s home. These ‘touching parties’ were sometimes attended by acquaintances and friends of Defendants and Perpetrator,” the lawsuit states.
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