WEST JORDAN, Utah — A bishop who served in a West Jordan area church almost 20 years ago was recently charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl in his office.
Mark Lehnof Stevens, 68, was charged Monday with two 2nd-degree felony counts of forcible sexual abuse and one 1st-degree count of forcible sodomy.
According to court documents, the victim told West Jordan Police that Stevens called her into his office to discuss her leadership role in the church between 2006 and 2007, when she was 16 years old.
But during the meeting, she said he began asking her about sex and her "personal chastity." She said Stevens then told her that in the future, she would be responsible for keeping her husband "sexually satisfied," and that "God would hold her accountable" if she did not, according to charging documents.
The victim said Stevens then groped her and forced her to perform a sexual act on him. Afterward, he allegedly said he did this in order to teach her how to please her future husband.
The report says Stevens told the teen he wanted to meet with her every week to continue to "teach her," but it was not clear whether the abuse continued after the first incident.
An arrest warrant was issued Monday for Stevens, who now resides in Washington City.
“Churches are sacred spaces in our community," Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said in a statement announcing the charges. "Children need to be protected, and it is incumbent on all of us to safeguard these spaces for our children. I want to thank this brave victim-survivor for coming forward and reporting this alleged abuse. If you are a survivor of sexual assault, I encourage you to report it to law enforcement."
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Resources for sexual assault survivors:
- Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault hotline: 801-736-4356 (available 24/7)
- More resources available online at ucasa.org/resources
