LDS church denies claims of pedophilia, says it has ‘zero tolerance’ for child sex abuse

The Mormon Church on Friday denied reports of child sex crimes against adults in its ranks and said it has “zero tolerance” for child sexual abuse.

In a statement to The Associated Press, the church said it does not believe it can tolerate any form of sexual misconduct, even if the victim was a child.

It said the church has an established policy of not releasing names of alleged perpetrators to the public and is working with law enforcement agencies to investigate allegations.

It was not immediately clear how the church’s policy differed from that of other denominations, including the Baptist, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian churches.

The church, which was founded in 1830, is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with more than 13 million members.

The announcement comes after more than 30 former church leaders filed lawsuits accusing the church of widespread sexual abuse in its care of young children, and some have said the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is guilty of covering up the abuse.

It comes after the AP first reported allegations of sexual abuse against at least nine church leaders in the 1990s.

The church denied those claims in a statement Friday.

In 2015, a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., indicted 11 church leaders on sex abuse and other charges, including molesting children.

In that case, the grand jury found that the church had no records of any sexual abuse of minors by its clergy.AP reporters Mark Schmitt and Sarah Binder contributed to this report.