BishopAccountability.org
	Brocks Were Asked about Abuse in '09 By Laurie Merrill and Edythe Jensen Arizona Republic January 27, 2011 http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2011/01/27/20110127brock0127.html Susan Brock and her husband, Maricopa County Supervisor Fulton Brock, met with the local president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the parents of the victim in Susan Brock's sex case more than a year before she was arrested, according to a Chandler police report. Between the October 2009 meeting and her October 2010 arrest, Brock committed 15 more illegal acts involving her teenage victim, according to the indictment. She was also charged with committing 13 acts before the meeting. She pleaded guilty on Monday to three counts of attempted sexual conduct with a minor. The parents of the victim, 17, met with LDS Stake President Mitch Jones and the Brocks to discuss "frustration with Mrs. Brock's interference in (their) son's life," said the report released Wednesday. The victim's father asked Susan Brock if she was having "sexual relations" with his son and she denied it, the report says. Fulton Brock said Wednesday in a statement that he did not know of the attempted sex acts. "My wife was untruthful to me," he said in a statement. "She was untruthful to the victim's parents. I knew nothing of this inappropriate sexual behavior until the police arrested my wife." He later declined to answer detailed questions about the police report, telling The Arizona Republic "this is so painful for everybody, it's a tragedy for everyone it's touched, and it's just too painful to talk about." Susan Brock also said her husband didn't know about sexual conduct, the report says: "Fulton is not going to find out, he hasn't found out about anything we've done in the past three years, we've done a pretty good job hiding it." Jones could not be reached for comment. A spokeswoman for the church said it would be "looking into" its role in the case following the release of the report. Kim Farah, spokeswoman for the national church in Salt Lake City, said officials were not commenting on specifics of the case but "we are just learning about the (police report) documents . . . now that we've been made aware of them, we will be looking into it." Farah referred to the church's lengthy written policy on reporting child abuse. The policy takes a "zero tolerance" position on child sex abuse and puts protection of victims above confidentiality between clergy and adults. "Helping the victim is of first concern. . . . The first responsibility of the Church is to help those who have been abused and to protect those who may be vulnerable to future abuse," the policy reads. To encourage clergy to do this, the church established a helpline that "provides bishops with immediate access to professional counselors to guide them in protecting abuse victims." Farah also said the October 2009 meeting "was not held to discuss allegations of sexual abuse. The victim's family asked for the meeting to discuss their concerns about improper gifts and influence." Arizona LDS spokeswoman Cindy Packard said when local church officials became aware of the sexual relationship between Susan Brock and the victim in October, "these leaders were instrumental in getting the matter reported to law-enforcement authorities." Farah would not identify the leaders by name, but police records indicate the matter was reported by the victim's father. Chandler Sgt. Joe Favazzo said the investigation was continuing and that police would seek charges against anyone who had information about the crime but failed to report it. The report details how the boy, a family friend, did odd jobs such as filing for the Brock family and was normally paid $25 for the work. After Susan Brock began molesting him, she often paid $100 per act, the report says. The boy said Brock committed as many as 30 sex acts, including masturbation and oral sex, and paid him $100 for as many as 20 of the acts. The boy wouldn't look at Brock, touch her genitals or perform intercourse, the report says. "She's older than me and not supposed to be doing that," the victim told police, the report says. The report shows that Brock threatened to destroy his relationship with his girlfriend, humiliate him and even commit suicide, police said. She told him, "I am going to kill myself and I love you." She also promised to change her will to leave him $300,000 "so he could go to college and become the best lawyer ever." "A 13-year-old child who was just turning 14 is not mentally capable of handling this type of abuse," Favazzo said. The boy also wrote an e-mail saying, "I was a robot during that, I was told what to say and do and if I didn't I feared loosing (his girlfriend) which I lost in the end anyways." Brock faces a prison sentence of between seven and 15 years. The presumptive sentence is 10 years, according to the plea agreement. Under the plea, Brock will remain on lifetime probation, register as a sex offender and use her computer only for business purposes. She also must pay up to $1 million to the families of the boy and his girlfriend for medical, counseling and other costs, according to the plea.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.