Questions cloud Mormon church handling of suburban congregation's ex-leader accused of abusing minors

A member of a prominent Mormon family who was arrested in Utah in recent months on child exploitation charges previously lived in the Chicago area and for many years attended a congregation in the far northwest suburbs — where he's accused of abusing other minors.

Questions are now being raised about whether local — or even national — Mormon leaders knew of that abuse but kept it secret, failing to tell police and providing cover that allowed child abuse to perpetuate.

Wade Christofferson, who is in his early 70s, was arrested in November, charged with sexual exploitation crimes against minors and accused in court records of molesting an Ohio child 15 to 20 times.

A brother of an influential Mormon leader, Christofferson “also allegedly engaged in a sexually explicit FaceTime call with a second minor victim and sent coded letters to her Utah home that referenced sexual activity,” federal prosecutors allege. “Christofferson also committed hands-on sexual abuse of that child as well.”

While that court case focuses on more recent accusations of sexual abuse out of state, Christofferson is accused of molesting other children years earlier while a member and leader of a Mormon — or Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — congregation in Crystal Lake.

Initially, he was "excommunicated" by the church for that behavior, according to interviews. But he was later allowed to return as a full member — and leader.

A one-time member of Christofferson's McHenry County congregation, former Woodstock resident Edward Nachel, told the Chicago Sun-Times that he was part of the church tribunal that convened in the mid-1990s over allegations that Christofferson molested at least one child at a “slumber party” hosted by one of his children.

While church leaders subsequently “excommunicated” Christofferson over the alleged misconduct, they apparently never went to police or told their flock, and Christofferson was allowed to continue being a part of the congregation, though with a downgraded status.

“No authorities were brought in, nothing was ever mentioned” to the membership, Nachel said, adding that a rumor was allowed to persist that Christofferson's discipline had to do with an extramarital affair.

“Nothing was ever done to dissuade this guy from doing this stuff.”

At some point, Christofferson was “rebaptized,” and he moved to Ohio and resumed leadership roles, apparently without rank-and-file church members being told of his past.

It's unclear who signed off on Christofferson's return.

Nachel said Christofferson’s recent arrest in Utah spurred him to speak up. He said he took his oath seriously at the time of the tribunal that the proceedings and outcome were supposed to be secret, but he also says that had he or others spoken up long ago, perhaps they could have “stopped 30 years” of alleged abuse since then.

Nachel, who moved from the Chicago region to Utah in 2018, said he harbors guilt over what happened and has gone on Facebook to apologize to victims and families for not doing more sooner.

Current leaders of the Crystal Lake Mormon church couldn’t be reached. Crystal Lake police records show a female accuser came forward in 2022 alleging abuse at the Crystal Lake church by Christofferson years earlier when she was a child.

Criminal charges weren’t pursued because the alleged assault occurred long enough ago that the statute of limitations had expired, records show.

The allegations relating to Christofferson’s November arrest indicate he wrote letters to one of the child victims with messages labeled as “top secret” with coded words for body parts, telling the Utah victim: “It was nice to see Snow and her friends when we FaceTimed.”

Christofferson also allegedly wrote: “I can’t wait to see you and play * games! I have a new one to teach you called ‘school.’ You will like it!”

His phone’s online history revealed searches for “criminal defense attorneys sex crimes columbus ohio” and “In Ohio do clergy have to report child abuse confessions,” according to federal authorities.

Floodlit, an organization that chronicles sexual abuse within Mormonism, found after speaking to “multiple survivors or relatives of survivors” that Christofferson “has at least seven to 10 alleged victims from the Crystal Lake” church jurisdiction “in the 1980s and 1990s.”

Neither Christofferson nor his attorney could be reached for comment.

Floodlit also reported that D. Todd Christofferson — Wade Christofferson’s brother who is a high-ranking Mormon official, known as an apostle — knew in or about 2018 of at least one abuse allegation, citing information from an accuser.

A Latter-day Saints spokesman in Utah released a statement to the Sun-Times saying:

"The Church strongly condemns and does not tolerate abuse and honors the courage and respects the rights of survivors. Regarding the history of Wade Christofferson: President  D. Todd Christofferson was never in a position to know about and, in fact, did not know about or influence the ecclesiastical decisions regarding his brother’s membership."

"While he and other family members were told of Wade’s... excommunication, he was not informed of the specific reasons and had no reason to suspect it was for abuse."

"It was not until around 2020 that President Christofferson first learned of — through family disclosure — some of his brother's history of abuse from thirty years earlier; he respected the adult victims' wishes not to involve law enforcement at that time."

"However, upon learning of a recent allegation involving a minor, President Christofferson immediately reported it to legal authorities."

"Wade Christofferson was readmitted to the Church in 1997, following established disciplinary and confession processes, and we are aware of no abuse involving his Church service after that time. We remain committed to protecting the vulnerable and ensuring our reporting processes prioritize victim safety above all else."

Federal authorities haven’t said whether more charges are possible, and how many accusers from the Chicago region they’re aware of.

Like other Christian denominations including the Catholic church and the Southern Baptists, the Mormon church has been mired in sex abuse and financial scandals in recent years, though those troubles haven’t gotten much attention in Illinois because the faith group isn’t very large here compared to some Western states.

In 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused the church and its investment manager of hiding assets to “obscure the amount of the Church’s portfolio” that, by 2018, had reached about $32 billion.

The church has been hit with numerous claims about minors suffering sex abuse and ecclesiastical officials covering up — with the Guardian newspaper reporting in 2025 that more than 100 allegations against Mormon leaders emerged in California amid a three-year window that allowed adults to get around the expired statute of limitations and file lawsuits if they were molested as children.

California has more than 700,000 Mormons.

John Dehlin, host of the Mormon Stories podcast whose web site says he was excommunicated by the church in 2015 as "a direct result of his expanding podcast and outspoken support for the LGBTQ+ community," hosted Nachel last month on his show and observed the irony of critics being kicked out of the church while men like Wade Christofferson are allowed to return and flourish.

"They excommunicate the critics that are trying to protect the vulnerable and the marginalized," Dehlin said. "It's just suffocatingly painful, the disparity."

The church's general handbook says: "Some people who are repenting have broken civil or criminal laws. In some cases, government authorities are not aware of this. Bishops and stake presidents encourage members to follow the law and report such matters when required. Leaders also counsel members to obtain competent legal advice when reporting. The Church’s policy is to obey the law."

"In many places, priesthood leaders are required by law to report some illegal behaviors of which they become aware. For example, some states and countries require that child abuse be reported to law enforcement authorities."

In Utah, there are 2.2 million Mormons, about the size of the Catholic church in Cook and Lake counties.

There are 17.5 million Mormons worldwide.

The church reports roughly 60,000 members and nearly 120 congregations in Illinois, including suburban worship sites in Elgin, Glenview and Wilmette.

Illinois holds an early and ugly place in Latter-day Saints history.

The church’s web site says: “Thousands of early members . . . fled from Missouri to western Illinois in 1839 to escape persecution, including a literal extermination order given by Missouri governor Lilburn W. Boggs.”

“The Latter-day Saints drained swamplands on the eastern banks of the Mississippi and established the thriving community of Nauvoo. The city, whose name means ‘beautiful place,’ grew to rival Chicago in size and became a hub of Church activity and commerce in Illinois.”

“Unfortunately, the peace which Latter-day Saints had initially enjoyed in Illinois lessened with time as the number of Church members grew. Church founder Joseph Smith was martyred by a mob in the neighboring city of Carthage in 1844. By 1846, the Latter-day Saints were compelled to abandon Nauvoo for their own safety, thus launching one of the largest forced migrations in American history and the birth of the Mormon Trail.”

Smith’s legacy has been challenged in more recent times because he not only had multiple wives — 30 or more — some were already married to his friends. At least one was 14 years old.