A top Mormon church leader who has said he learned in or about 2020 that his brother may have molested children many years earlier — possibly involving a congregation in the Chicago region — didn’t notify police or child welfare authorities.
With the accusers grown, Mormon leader D. Todd Christofferson “respected the adult victims’ wishes not to involve law enforcement at that time,” a spokesman for the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints told the Chicago Sun-Times recently, explaining the inaction.
But Christofferson and other church officials won’t say why the brother, Wade Christofferson, was allowed to apparently stay an active member and leader at a Latter-day Saints community in Ohio after it was known he may have abused children at some point.
Living in Dublin, Ohio, Wade Christofferson was arrested in November on child exploitation charges related to the sexual abuse of two children in Ohio and Utah over the last few years up until late 2025, court records show.
Court records indicate he’s in discussions with federal prosecutors over a potential plea agreement and wants to be released from jail pending the outcome of the criminal case so he can better attend to health problems from home.
Keith Smith, a longtime Mormon leader in Ohio, told the Sun-Times Wade Christofferson was active in the Ohio church community until last year, and while Smith knew him and his family, he had no idea of past allegations of abuse.
Smith said the congregation was informed about Wade Christofferson’s November arrest, calling it a “shock and a surprise.”
“He was released from all church responsibilities and leadership” at that time, and that “was communicated to the temple,” Smith said, describing the church’s child protection practices as “very strict.”
A Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints congregation in far northwest suburban Crystal Lake, where Wade Christofferson was a onetime member and leader.
Robert Herguth / Sun-Times
The alleged abuse relating to the criminal charges did not occur on church grounds and wasn’t directly related to church activities, according to records and interviews. However, court records show Wade Christofferson’s cell phone was examined around the time of his arrest and the online history included the search: “in Ohio do clergy have to report child abuse confessions”?
Court records say he also texted the father of one of his victims in November, saying: “I am deeply sorry for what I have done and will be meeting with my bishop to start the repentance process.”
While the Latter-day Saints has, much like the Catholic church, adopted child safety protocols to prevent future abuse and deal with a sexual abuse crisis within the ranks, transparency is seen as a key part of prevention and accountability, according to experts.
If there’s an abuse allegation made against a Catholic priest in Chicago , the cleric is immediately pulled from public ministry and the parish and public are informed about the accusation while investigations are conducted. Once they’re concluded, the public is also informed of the outcome.
Most major arms of the Catholic church maintain public online registries of credibly accused clergy, but the Mormon church does not have anything similar.
While attending and serving at a Latter-day Saints congregation in far northwest suburban Crystal Lake in the mid-1990s, Wade Christofferson was “excommunicated” over allegations of child sexual abuse involving at least one minor, according to interviews.
Not long after, he was allowed to be “rebaptized,” and he moved to Ohio and resumed active participation in a Mormon community there, where he also became a leader.
Neither the Crystal Lake community nor the Ohio congregation apparently were ever told of that past misconduct.
Court records showing some of the allegations against Wade Christofferson.
Referring to the turmoil in Crystal Lake and Wade Christofferson’s subsequent reinstatement, the church spokesman said: “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.”
A Latter-day Saints web site says: “The first responsibility of the Church in abuse cases is to help those who have been abused and to protect those who may be vulnerable to future abuse.”
Utah has a mandatory reporting law that requires adults to flag police or child welfare officials over suspected child abuse, but D. Todd Christofferson apparently didn’t violate it because the victims were no longer children when he learned of the abuse, according to interviews.
Clergy can also be exempted from reporting sexual abuse if they learn about it in the context of a religious confession, but it’s unclear whether that applied here.
Child advocates say no matter the legal requirements, flagging authorities to guard against future abuse — sex offenders often don’t stop preying on children — is the right course.
Without commenting on this specific case, a child welfare expert, Laurieann Thorpe of the group Prevent Child Abuse Utah, said: “Any time we prioritize the safety of adults over children, that’s a failure … I think any time that a child is hurt and it isn’t reported and adults knew about it, it’s a failure.”
And that’s true “regardless of the time frame,” she said, referring to instances when the abuse was long ago and victims are now adults.
Laurieann Thorpe of Prevent Child Abuse Utah, at left, and former suburban congregant Edward Nachel.
Prevent Child Abuse Utah, Mormon Stories podcast
A one-time member of Wade Christofferson’s McHenry County congregation, former Woodstock resident Edward Nachel, has said he was part of the church tribunal that convened in the mid-1990s over allegations Wade Christofferson molested at least one child at a “slumber party” hosted by one of his children.
Nachel said D. Todd Christofferson should have done more once he became aware of alleged abuse by Wade Christofferson.
No matter what legal reporting requirements are over abuse or church policies, Nachel said D. Todd Christofferson should have “sat him down” and told his brother: “Either you go, or I go” to the police.
D. Todd Christofferson, who is in the Mormon church’s powerful “first presidency” that also includes former Chicago attorney Dallin H. Oaks, wouldn’t speak to a reporter.
Wade Christofferson, jailed in Ohio, couldn’t be reached. His attorneys didn’t return calls and emails.
The church spokesman said that “upon learning of a recent allegation involving a minor, President Christofferson immediately reported it to legal authorities.”
It’s unclear when that was and to what agency it was reported. Court records indicate one or more parents of the child victims from 2025 initially went to police.
