The state Court of Appeals has revived a lawsuit against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and two of its bishops.
The suit accuses them of failing to report a Bisbee man who confessed to sexually abusing his young children.
The lawsuit filed by three now-adult children of Paul Adams had been dismissed by a Cochise County trial judge in 2023.
He ruled there was no evidence church officials knew of the abuse outside of a confessional setting, which is protected in Arizona law in some circumstances.
The new ruling from the appellate court says a jury should decide if the bishops heard about the abuse through other means.
Adams’ children allege clergy knew about the harm, as he made an admission to his wife during a meeting their bishop set up. Adams died by suicide after his arrest in 2017.
The church says it will appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.
