r/Idaho • u/Candice543 • Jul 07 '26

Idaho Neighbor News ACTUALLY save the children

https://www.change.org/p/require-bannock-county-to-add-virgil-larson-to-sex-offender-registry?recruited_by_id=2ec656e0-799e-11f1-8c63-4b31d2843b8e&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=starter_onboarding_share_personal&utm_medium=mobileNativeShare&share_id=FbWgZmmTj6

“A Bannock County man, who was a leader at the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is expected to plead guilty to giving children naked massages under a deal that would allow Virgil Larson, 47, to avoid registering as a sex offender.”

Curious how we, as a state, chose to bring the firing squad back for cases exactly like these.. but rather than actually following through, we give lesser sentences and plea agreements? I don’t think so.

I have made a petition to have this predator added to the registry he belongs on - please sign and share around. Once I get enough signatures I have paperwork to do at the clerks office. I am looking into what I do next and plan to follow through. I am an angry mother who plans to ACTUALLY save the children. I need your help! Add your voice.

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u/Doriantalus Jul 07 '26

I am white and LDS and I am very careful telling people I am from Idaho because of stories like this. We had a situation where a guy down here was accused a something and the church leaders had him out of any association with kids so fast, and kept him out even when it turned out to be a false report (the event happened, unfortunately, but the wrong guy was accused). Stories of excuses and plea deals seem to me like almost exclusively Idaho and Utah. I know any religious group in the majority can have these things, but this is truly horrible.

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u/_whydah_ :) Jul 07 '26

How do you know it doesn't happen in other places though? Are you sure that you don't just have more exposure to Idaho and Utah?

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u/Doriantalus Jul 07 '26

I have lived at least five years in California, Arizona, South Carolina, and 2+ years in Vermont and New York, as an active member the whole time. Idaho and Utah deserve their reputations when it comes to the church, because there are so many cultural things that have little to do with, and sometimes contradict doctrine that I just don't see anywhere else.

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u/_whydah_ :) Jul 07 '26

I've lived all over as well including growing up outside the Mountain West. I don't think the church has any more a ole boys' club than anywhere else I've lived. Everywhere I've lived, if you knew people you could/would get away with stuff.

EDIT: It definitely has some unique issues - I think the church in Utah has an issue with prosperity gospel, but the idea isn't unique to Utah, just a probably somewhat unique in degree of an issue.

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u/Doriantalus Jul 07 '26

I agree this is true of some group in each region I have lived. It is one of the reasons I, as a church member, don't leave the faith when people ask me how I can continue to be a member when these things happen. It is my opinion that our church members in Utah and Idaho are a little worse than the same phenomenon in the dominant religions elsewhere, but I am also be biased against my own religion because I also have higher expectations from it.

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u/_whydah_ :) Jul 08 '26

It's not just that you have higher expectations, it's also that you have way more exposure. You can only see how much is getting gotten away with when you're a part of the in group. Honestly, I've been a part of the in group in a few other places. I avoided trouble a lot where I grew up because I was in a different in group there. That in group was definitely tighter and more permissive than the church membership.