Gerald E. Mortimer, the retired obstetrician/gynecologist who allegedly used his own sperm to impregnate a patient undergoing artificial insemination, served as president of an LDS Church temple and a church mission in the Philippines.
A lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court in Idaho names Mortimer, Linda G. McKinnon Mortimer, and Obstetrics and Gynecology Associates of Idaho Falls as defendants, accusing them of fraud and medical negligence.
A news release from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dated Oct. 3, 2009 announced Gerald Elbert Mortimer and wife Linda Gay McKinnon Mortimer as the president and matron, respectively, of the then-new Cebu City Philippines Temple.
Gerald Mortimer previously served as president of the Philippines San Pablo Mission and was also the area medical adviser for the Idaho Pocatello and Idaho Boise missions. Mortimer is originally from Payson, Utah, and his wife was born in Logan.
An LDS Church spokesman declined a request for comment.
A Washington Post story published Tuesday detailed that Kelli Rowlette, who lives in Benton County, Wash., discovered Mortimer’s actions when she sent a DNA sample to the popular genealogy website Ancestry.com, and the test showed her DNA matched a sample from Mortimer, indicating he is her father.
The Tribune plans to update this article.
Follow @tribjazz