Pinal County prosecutors, pushing for the maximum 15 years in prison for the estranged wife of Maricopa County Supervisor Fulton Brock, portrayed Susan Brock as a predator who repeatedly molested a teenage boy after initially pursuing his older brother without success — all while they said the Mormon church concealed the abuse.
Susan Brock sentenced to 13 years in prison
Prosecutors spent 2 1/2 hours Thursday presenting their case in a Maricopa County courtroom, with Pinal County deputy attorney Jason Holmberg presenting emails and documents that detailed the sexual relationship of more than three years. Holmberg said Bishop Troy Hansen of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had been informed of the allegations of sexual abuse from fellow Bishop Matt Mires, but did not report it to authorities.
A Church official denied the prosecutions allegations.
“This matter was reported to the police when it was first disclosed to Church authorities before Susan Brock confessed,” said Church spokesperson Kim Farah. “One of the victims reported to the police as encouraged and facilitated by the Church.
“Arizona law is clear that no priest can disclose any confession even when it concerns child abuse. Nevertheless, Church leaders worked effectively within the law, and with those involved, to facilitate prompt reporting to the police while protecting the victim.
“It is absolutely false to suggest that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints engaged in doing anything other than help bring the perpetrator to justice in this tragic case.”
According to prosecutors, Susan Brock began to “groom” the boy when he was 11 and in sixth grade, and the sexual abuse began when he was 14. The boy, now 17, is attending school out of state and getting counseling.
Prosecutors say that after Susan Brock was arrested, Fulton Brock tried to set up a meeting to pressure local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officials and the boy’s family for forgiveness, but that meeting never took place.
Earlier this year, Susan Brock pleaded guilty in Maricopa County Superior Court to three counts of attempted sexual conduct with a minor. On Monday, Chandler police detectives said they served a search warrant to get handwriting samples from Fulton Brock.
Susan Brock began the three-year relationship with the boy after her daughter Rachel Brock, 21, began having sexual encounters with him, according to police. Rachel Brock has been indicted by a grand jury on five sexually related counts of sexual conduct with a minor and furnishing harmful materials to a minor.
Court records show Rachel Brock sent nude photos of herself and an explicit video to the boy’s cell phone. The trysts occurred when she was 18 and the boy was 13.
The boy attended the same Church of Jesus Chris of Latter-day Saints as the Brocks. Documents show Susan Brock initially denied any wrongdoing during a meeting with a church official, but that Fulton Brock took an iPhone his wife gave the boy and put it in a lockbox. The phone allegedly had sexual content Susan sent the boy, and officers later obtained the phone through a search warrant to examine its contents.
Holmberg said Thursday that Fulton Brock told investigators he didn’t know where the phone was, but that after police conducted a 45-minute search of his home he turned it over. “In the end, he did the right thing,” Holmberg said.
• Contact writer: (480) 898-6533 or msakal@evtrib.com
SixMom posted at 8:29 am on Fri, Apr 8, 2011.
The headline is misleading, as if this is promoted by the Mormon Church, probably to attract readers. It worked on me, so here is my comment. These are difficult situations, and the evidence is usually hearsay. Or pitting one person's word against another. I"m very glad they got to the bottom of it, that the woman goes to prison. There are a few whack-os in every crowd. No matter where you are. I personally didn't come into contact with any such experience growing up in the Mormon church, nor have I personally known someone who has. BUT, it exists in every institution and we cannot be too careful. Hooray for those who pursued it and saw it through.
ZeusKingoftheGods posted at 1:49 pm on Fri, Apr 8, 2011.
It doesn't sound like the Mormon Church did anything at all wrong here. In fact, it sounds more like the Mormon Church did everything that it could, within the bounds of law, to try and get the victim help & have that victim contact the proper police authorities.
Where it looks like there may be a very big problem is regarding Maricopa County Supervisor Fulton Brock. It sounds like he may have been obstructing justice & trying to protect his wife from legal & Mormon Church authorities.
I had no idea who Fulton Brock was when this story first came out a few months ago since I hail from a different county within Arizona. But I felt sorry for Mr. Brock because it seemed like he was completely unaware of the actions of his wife & his adult daughter who was also apparently molesting the same child male victim. But this article makes it look more like Mr. Brock went outside the bounds of the law to protect his wife, his family & possibly even his own reputation.
One thing for sure is that Susan Brock seems to be a monster & has passed that predatory trait onto at least one of her children.
Hotcopone posted at 2:27 pm on Sat, Apr 9, 2011.
Feel sorry for Fulton Brock? Hardly... He found out when they had the meeting at the church with church officials and the other family. He took and I phone and hid it knowing and read all the texts and pictures etc.
I can understand a husband knowing and definitely not telling police to protect his wife but now after all the arrests etc he was forced to turn it over while the PD was executing a search warrant.
Something stinks for sure because they got handwriting for comparisons. He knew of this when it was first brought out a year ago. He only divorces her two weeks after her arrest. He publically distances himself from her until after election.
After election, he frequents the jail visiting her and bringing her fast food in violation of jail policy with prisoners amoung other violations.
He's a no good liar and is doing what he needs to do to save himself his Supervisors job. He needs to be fired or even recalled.
devils66 posted at 9:57 am on Sun, Apr 10, 2011.
I don't feel sorry for Fulton Brock at all. I have no doubt he knew some of what was going on. How stupid can one be to not know what was going on. Why did he put the phone with all the images and messages in a lock box????? Then he lies about it and says he dont' knwo where the phone was, then when there was a search warrant he gives it up???? Brock deserves to be where she is and her daughter will deserve at well. What a messed up bunch of people!
SAM9RET posted at 7:43 am on Mon, Apr 11, 2011.
The law says "report or cause to be reported." If the Bishops got the information, contacted the victim's father and believed he would make a report, then the Bishops would not be required to make a report. We are most certainly glad the report was made, the crime substantiated by good police work and the sentence given. We can only hope for the recovery of the victim and his family for suffering such media attention due to the suspect's husbands position.
manini posted at 11:12 pm on Tue, Apr 12, 2011.
Ummm, what are we saying???....that Mormons like Susan Brock & hubby, Maricopa County Supervisor Fulton Brock, are pervert, child molestors, like the Roman Catholic Priests preying on young altar boys & girls in their Churches??? What sicko religious sects to condone these perversions for years. Almost as bad as the FLDS Polygamist, childmolestors led by Warren Jeffs et. al. Jail'um all!!!!
AZ Native posted at 12:11 pm on Wed, Apr 13, 2011.
I am a "Mormon" and thus a part of the "Mormon Church" and I had absolutely NO knowledge of such a heinous crime being perpetrated - so , how dare you say the "Mormon Church had knowledge of ....". That's like saying that every member of the Catholic Church knew about every pedophile priest molesting children. Your headlines need some serious fine tuning.
Hoss817 posted at 6:36 pm on Thu, Apr 14, 2011.
manini,
talk about bigotry and stereotyping, lumping groups of people you don't know into one category.
Hoss817 posted at 6:37 pm on Thu, Apr 14, 2011.
Manini,
The issue with the Catholic Church was with pedophile priests. This is just a member. How can you lump them together as the same.
As An Aside posted at 12:04 pm on Fri, Apr 15, 2011.
This tragic (for the boy) situation raises some interesting questions for the Mormon church and any other church with a member who goes off the rails and breaks the law. If someone confesses a sin or a crime to his or her clergyman, does that person have a right to assume that the information she shares will remain confidential? The answer is clearly yes and is codified in Arizona law: A.R.S. 12-2233 and 13-4062. By law, the right to decide whether this "priest-penitent privilege" should be waived and set aside to allow the clergyman to share the information belongs to the confessor, not the clergyman. So the clergyman is stuck, even if he thinks the world (including law enforcement) should know. He can encourage the sinner to turn himself in and face the music, but cannot force the issue. As a society, we have decided that there is value to each of us in being able to talk freely to a clergyman, an attorney, a behavioral health professional, accountant, etc., about our problems and to receive counsel and advice without fear that these folks will broadcast our unflattering information to the world. Our laws reflect that decision. The priest-penitent privilege does not, however, allow the clergyman to himself commit the bad acts and keep it a secret. So it's not comparable to what one commenter above referred to as the "pedopohile priests" situation.
btbeme posted at 7:19 pm on Fri, Apr 15, 2011.
All the Mormon apologists here need to put themselves in the shoes of the victim's family. It is inexcusable for anyone to allow this to happen - even a brainwashed stump like your beloved bishop. I am certain this is the smallest tip of the iceberg - most of the Mormons I know have more skeletons in their closets than a Tim Burton movie.
Allowing another human being to be sexually abused, in the name of any religion, is just plain wrong.
"They did all they could do." Yeah, right - except report it to the authorities.