The woman who alleges the former president of the Missionary Training Center raped her in 1984 brought her battle to an LDS ward in Arizona on Sunday, and a video of her repeating her accusations there has been posted on YouTube.
McKenna Denson is seen speaking during the monthly fast and testimony meeting at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ward.
“The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are covering a sexual predator that lives in your ward,” she says from the podium. “His name is Joseph Bishop. He was the MTC president in 1984 when he raped me in the basement of the MTC.”
Denson is approached first by one man, who quietly says, “I need to have you sit down. I’d love to talk to you afterward.”
“No. No. I have more to say,” she replies, adding, “In order to keep the church safe, we need to hold sexual predators accountable. Whether they are pedophiles or whether they are rapists like Joseph Bishop.”
A second man approaches, and the first man eventually takes hold of Denson and tries to force her from the podium.
“You know that this is assault, right? And you know that we’re filming this,” she says. “Call the police. Don’t touch me. You’re assaulting me.”
On her Facebook page, Denson wrote, “Yes ... Joseph Bishop was there. I looked him in the eye. He sat with his son Steven who is the same person who walked up to ask President Jones to silence me.”
The video, titled “McKenna Denson’s Testimony in Joseph Bishop’s Mormon Congregation,” was posted on the NewNameNoah channel — which describes itself as “a series of videos made with hidden cameras inside Mormon temples. These are made to expose the TRUTH about what goes on inside Mormon temples around the world.”
Denson’s lawsuit against Bishop was thrown out because of the statute of limitations has expired, but the ruling allowed a claim against the LDS Church for fraud — for presenting him as a safe and trustworthy leader — to continue.
NewNameNoah posted a second video of Denson outside the meetinghouse that shows her telling another man, “Your dad raped me at the MTC.”
“Yeah, right,” he replies.
“Well, listen to the audio,” says Denson, who recorded Bishop apologizing, describing himself as a predator and confessing to other sexual misconduct in 2017 — but saying he didn’t remember taking her into the basement room, let alone sexually assaulting her.
The LDS Church provided this statement to FOX13 in response to the videos:
“Once each month, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints participate in a worship service that includes an opportunity for members to share their testimonies of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and His gospel. It is disappointing that anyone would interrupt such a worship service to bring attention to their own personal cause. Recording and posting of these disruptions on social media to seek public attention and media coverage, sadly, shows an unfortunate lack of respect for others. We respectfully request that those with personal grievances find other means to communicate their messages than disrupting the sanctity of a worship service.”
