http://www.ksl.com/?nid=1070&sid=17927418&title=heber-charity-co-founder-sent-to-prison-for-sexually-abusing-daughters


Prosecutors say the sexual abuse began in 1995, around the time Kennard was serving as bishop of his LDS Church ward and one year after he and his wife founded Village of Hope.

Kennard apologized to his wife, his children, the members of the LDS ward

Think of all the young kids he interviewed about their sex lives. sick sick sick

Whimpering, whining, "I'm sick..."

@$$hole, piece of human merde.
--------------------------------
"Before he was sentenced, Kennard tearfully begged his family for help. "They've all said how sick I am and I agree, but I need help and I can't do it by myself," he said. "I need a family. It's horrible to be without a family."


SUFFER, you poisonous puddle of pus.

Hope this sick freak gets thrown into the general prison population.

Utah State Prison has a "Special Services Dormitory" for the chesters.

The world is a sick place. Why doesn't the LDS church and stake apologize to them? Shouldn't the church apologize for choosing a bishop that was an abuser?

They didn't warn me and they didn't warn the two women he married after me. They care if it comes out in public, "after all they can do" to suppress it. They care most about their public image.

Anagrammy

My heart goes out to those girls. All they wanted was a loving family. All they wanted was a loving dad. He handed them a nightmare instead. They may never have a chance to enjoy a normal family life. He robbed them, and then he robbed them again.

I hope they throw away the key.

"Hey Discernment, are you there? Hello? Hell--o--o..."

I don't necessarily blame the church directly; predators can be found anywhere.

I do think about the irony that the church has made so many people feel guilty and dysfunctional for perfectly normal sexuality while those who really ought to feel guilty are able to use religion as a shelter.

Why is he wearing headphones in the courtroom? Is he getting a translation through them? Is he pretending not to understand English?

>Kennard's attorney, Matthew Bartlett, said his client "struggled" to understand how his life had become what it is...

It's easy, sir. Your client like the idea of abusing his position and fucking little girls. So that's what he did.

I'd like to ask the SP who appointed this Bishop wether he really felt the Holy Spirit testify that he was the right man for the job?

If he did - the Holy Ghost lied to him
If he didn't - it's basically his fault for making an uninspired appointment.

Either way the SP's position is untenable and he should step down.

This is terrible. He ruined the lives of many children who will have difficulty with their lives; they will not know what 'normal' is.

The SP should be raked over the coals for 'calling' this man to be a Bishop!

The man himself, no, do not put him in the general population, he can rot in isolation.

The saddest thing is what got him down that path in the first place??? What sexual guilt and abuse did he suffer as a child that turned him into the monster he became???

Tough as it is, he hates that monster inside him too.

These people do not get any useful help, just stomped out.

I'd let the victims throw the rocks at him. Let his victims sentence him. Let his victims kill him or what ever. After all it is their right. They are the ones who were hurt the most. I'm sure they'd like him locked up for the rest of his life. I'd agree with that....

Cinder block walls and a two inch thick mattress with two thin blankets are a very boring place to be for any amount of years.

And so what if an inmate had a TV??? They can look at pictures of people enjoying the great outdoors they will never know again. What an exquisite torture!

Mormon Observer Wrote, in part:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The saddest thing is what got him down that path
> in the first place??? What sexual guilt and abuse
> did he suffer as a child that turned him into the
> monster he became???

SD: COP-OUT!!!
You are being too nice.
Many, MANY people were abused abominably and do NOT turn around and abuse others!!!!



> Tough as it is, he hates that monster inside him
> too.

SD: Yeah, sure. He just hates that he got caught.



> These people do not get any useful help, just
> stomped out.

SD: That's all they deserve! Time and time again, it has been shown that there is NO effective treatment for these people!

That's exactly what I would expect a dog to say. Go bite 'im inna leg! However, most of the posters here are human beings.

It's true that a lot of people who are abused do not become abusers, but it's also true the majority of abusers were abused themselves. Physical, emotional, sexual abuse -- people generally learn these behaviors from their own horrible experiences. It's not unreasonable to speculate that Kennard may have been abused himself.

A lot of people here struggle or have struggled with obsessive, compulsive, or addictive behaviors. We smoke, drink, eat too much, take drugs, can't tear ourselves away from porn/the internet/computer games/whatever, when we know that the activity is bad for us physically or emotionally, that it's sabotaging our relationships, that it's interfering with other important activities, that we're avoiding dealing with our issues in a constructive manner. We know the negative consequences, but we still give in to our temptations. We don't seem to be able to help ourselves. Sort of like when you get a sore paw and just can't stop licking or chewing at it. If you've never had to wear the "cone of shame," you're a lucky pooch, and it's no wonder you can't empathize with Kennard. But those of us who have been trapped in our own behavioral ruts have a glimmer of what he felt like. I'm grateful that my issues are minor compared to his.

When Kennard says he struggled with his behavior and felt terrible about it, I believe him and feel sorry for him. That doesn't mean I condone his behavior or think he shouldn't be punished. Like most other humans engaged in destructive behaviors, he knew he had a problem. He didn't deal with it, and now he has to bear the consequences. I'm glad he's been caught and stopped. My heart goes out to his victims, and I hope they heal. And I hope Kennard will eventually find some peace, too.

I can tell you from personal knowledge that he did not experience any sexual abuse as a child...he is the way he is because he is a monster.

No way to know if what you say is true, but I'm going to dive in and say, in the war between nature and nurture, it's always both, but NATURE kicks butt.

He was most likely born this way. How much can he help it? Obviously not enough.

Can he be rehabilitated? All the evidence says NOPE.

Should he ever be let out?

NO WAY!!!

Monsters stay monsters.

Burn him at the stake. I would strike the match.

Hey, look what the god of the Doctrine and Covenants said should happen to him.

D&C 121:
19 Wo unto them; because they have offended my little ones they shall be severed from the ordinances of mine house.
20 Their basket shall not be full, their houses and their barns shall perish, and they themselves shall be despised by those that flattered them.
21 They shall not have right to the priesthood, nor their posterity after them from generation to generation.
22 It had been better for them that a millstone had been hanged about their necks, and they drowned in the depth of the sea.

He should be "severed from the orinances". He should starve, his house and barn should perish. Maybe a millstone should be put around his neck and he should be drowned. His son is his posterity but has lost all rights to the priesthood because the father was a sick bastard.

Lon Kennard's biological son said “He brought these sweet, innocent girls here under the guise of charity and turned them into personal sex slaves.”

Sorry biological son, you shouldn't have your priesthood anymore because of what your Dad did. Thus saith the lord through Joseph Smith.

> Lon Kennard's biological son said “He brought
> these sweet, innocent girls here under the guise
> of charity and turned them into personal sex
> slaves.”

That is not all that different from the way Joseph Smith operated. He had teens stay in his home, ostensibly to give them shelter and a job, and then he attempted to seduce and betray them right under Emma's nose.

What a tragedy, the innocent children victims of this abuser, I hope they find some sort of closure and can rebuild their lives the best they can under these circumstances. What is even more sad is that for each one person convicted such as this man, there are many who are never even reported or just walk.

Does the church and authority of the priesthood contribute to this behaviour? Who knows. But I find this part of the article interesting:

"All have come to see that Lon Kennard the depraved, and Lon Kennard the upright are shockingly, and disturbingly the same," the judge said. "You are what you have done and what you have done is destructive and evil."

It makes me think that the environment in the lds church seems to discourage people from being themselves, therefore some learn to be two different people, or maybe at some degree we all learn to present the right image at church, one is the faithfull temple-recommend holder who is always serving the church and presenting the appearance of good. The other is the more obscure side of a person that can only be expressed in private, it can be a short temper, a messy home or even a dishonest and pervert personality. The church 'judges' people according to their obedience to the church, the time given to the church and the good image that is portrayed, in this it seems to encourage lying and pretending. Later it tends to reward those in the form of leadership positions, especially men. If this man would have not learned to play the image game early, would he have been discovered earlier and many suffering spared? And his wife, if she had been taught to address issues instead of ignoring and making nice, would she have been aware of the situation before? I personally do not understand how wives can live with husbands who are abusing children and not see any signs, but maybe they have other issues to deal with and miss the red flags.

I agree with mormon observer, if people like this man would have been identified in time and received the help needed, maybe the story would be different. Nobody knows what series of events got him on this path but who knows, at some point maybe it could have been turned around.

D

is the justification in the comments- "Oh, he's only human, we all make mistakes."

Seriously, I'm really fucking tired of hearing this bullshit excuse. Calling someone a cruel name is a mistake. Forgetting to pay a bill is a mistake. Missing your kid's soccer game is a mistake. Running a red light is (hopefully) a mistake.

Sexually abusing his daughters is not "a human mistake." He deliberately adopted girls to use in his sick desires. I just just want to sucker punch people when they say this fucking apologetic tripe.

Hitler was only human. We all make mistakes.

"Before he was sentenced, Kennard tearfully begged his family for help. "They've all said how sick I am and I agree, but I need help and I can't do it by myself," he said. "I need a family. It's horrible to be without a family."

He will find plenty of "family" in prison. They may well keep him so involved and busy he won't have time to sit down - even if he can do so without pain after they pass him around.

I hope that they lock him up and throw away the key.

As for his victims, I hope that they are able to get long-term counseling. Sometimes states maintain funds to help victims of crimes, and I think this would be a great use of public money.

Of course, the Mormon church could do the right thing and also offer free counseling, given that this man had a position of responsibility within the church.

Survivors of sexual violence and trafficking receive health care and counseling.