West Valley City Pastor Charged with Failing to Report Child Abuse

By Janelle Stecklein
Salt Lake Tribune
December 12, 2012

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/55452886-78/abuse-child-report-charged.html.csp

West Valley City • The former pastor of the Tongan United Methodist Church was charged Wednesday with failing to report child abuse.

Meanwhile, his former congregation, now fractured into two distinct groups — the Methodists and the Weslyan Tongans — is headed to civil court to duke it out over who should have access to the property and money that belonged to his former flock.

Filimone Havili Mone, 59, faces one count of failure to report abuse of a child, a class B misdemeanor, in West Valley City Justice Court.

The sexual abuse charge stems from the long-time pastor’s failure to promptly report a crime when he allegedly learned that young boys in the congregation had been sexually abused by an older boy several years ago. It ultimately led to his removal by national leaders of the United Methodist Church (UMC) for violating church’s mandatory abuse reporting policy. But local church members say Mone’s departure was the catalyst for a deep schism within the congregation that serves an estimated 600 members.

The ongoing frustrations last week caused the Tongan United Methodist Church to split into two factions — the Methodists and the Weslyan Tongans.

That schism has turned ugly during recent weeks as church members found themselves pitted against each other. West Valley City police have been called to the church, at 1553 W.Crystal Ave. (2590 South), nearly a dozen times in recent months to keep the peace during Sunday services. Police report there is an active fraud investigation going on at the church and they have broken up at least one brawl in the parking lot between the family of the now 16-year-old abuser and one of his victim’s families.

The abuse

Juvenile court records paint a stark picture of sexual abuse that allegedly went unreported for months behind the Tongan Methodist Church’s doors.

On one occasion, the perpetrator, then about 14 years old, approached an 8-year-old boy and asked if he wanted to play "a game."

That "game" involved performing oral sex on the teen. In another incident, the teen lined children up so each could take a turn performing oral sex on him, according to charging documents.

A 13-year-old boy also reported that he and the abuser had repeatedly performed oral sex on each other at various locations around the church.

The abuser, now 16, has since been sentenced to secure confinement in a juvenile detention facility, possibly until his 21st birthday, for sexual abuse of a child, a second-degree felony.

The Salt Lake Tribune does not typically identify youth charged with crimes. Officials say the teen is related to Mone’s family.

When national UMC leaders got wind of the allegations, they reportedly immediately placed Mone on leave and in November, permanently removed him from his post.

The move infuriated church members because the national leaders refused to explain why Mone had been removed and would not communicate with the congregation, said attorney Hutch Fale, who is representing the Weslyan contingent of the church.

"They were left in the dark," Fale said. "It was a situation they said was unfortunately too familiar. They were basically treated like little children when they asked questions."