A graphic 73-page report detailing the relationship between a teenage boy and the estranged wife of Fulton Brock reveals the Maricopa County supervisor met the boy’s parents more than a year before Susan Brock’s arrest, and an iPhone the supervisor kept in a lockbox is among electronic devices being examined by investigators.
Also, Mormon leaders said they will review the role of church personnel in a 2009 meeting that took place at a Chandler stake between the Brocks and the boy’s parents.
According to the report, Fulton Brock had a phone Susan Brock used to communicate with the boy locked away at home with a number of credit cards he also had taken from her.
Susan Brock, 49, was arrested in October on suspicion of sexual conduct with a minor, molestation of a child, furnishing obscene materials to minors and public sexual indecency. On Monday, she pleaded guilty in Maricopa County Superior Court to three counts of attempted sexual conduct with a minor for a relationship that began when the boy was 14. She is facing seven to 15 years in prison and will be sentenced on March 16. Brock was accused of having between 20 to 30 sexual encounters and buying the boy numerous electronic devices during the course of their relationship.
The extensive report was released by Chandler police on Wednesday, and detailed the boy’s relationship with Susan Brock, how she paid him anywhere from $25 to $100 to let her touch his genitals, how the boy would not touch her and how he sometimes would ask her to stop what she was doing to him. Susan Brock also told the boy that her husband would leave her if he ever found out about their relationship and she would kill herself if their relationship were revealed “before police would ever get their hands on her,” according to the report.
Jason Rose, a spokesman for Fulton Brock, released a statement on behalf of the supervisor on Wednesday saying he knew nothing about the relationship. “My wife was untruthful to me,” it says. “She was untruthful to the victim’s parents. I knew nothing of this inappropriate sexual behavior until the police arrested my wife. But I certainly know enough now to divorce her and be the best Dad possible to three children who really need me.”
Sgt. Joe Favazzo, a Chandler police spokesman, told the Tribune on Wednesday that Fulton Brock is not under investigation at this time for any possibility of prior knowledge of the relationship, and that investigators are reviewing communication and dates from the electronics confiscated from the Brock residence that include iPhones and an iPod.
“If there’s any evidence that he (Fulton Brock) knew or that anyone else such as the church had knowledge of this and there was malfeasance on anyone’s part, then I would expect investigators to seek charges,” Favazzo said. “He did make an admission that there was a meeting at the LDS church, and that at that time he knew there was some kind of inappropriate relationship going on.”
The boy’s parents were “frustrated” about Susan Brock’s interference in their son’s personal life as she continued to communicate with him and helped him arrange meetings with the high school girlfriend so they could have intercourse, the report says. The girl’s parents had forbidden her to see the boy, it says.
When Susan Brock was confronted by the boy’s parents about whether she was having a sexual relationship with their son, she denied it. At that same October 2009 meeting at a Jesus Christ Church of Latter-day Saints stake in Chandler, which was facilitated by stake president Mitch Jones, Fulton Brock grabbed an iPod that one of the boy’s parents was angrily trying to hand back to Susan, who had given it to him, the report says.
The relationship came to the attention of Chandler police this past October when family friends intercepted messages on the boy’s iPod Touch that included references to sex acts, documents said. The boy’s father also provided police with a printout from his home computer, on which he had installed a program that reads and stores text — including chat messages. The boy’s father then went to a church member who is also a retired Chandler police officer and said, “I have proof,” referring to the nature of the relationship, according to police. That church member immediately reported it to police and Brock was arrested this Oct. 27.
Kim Farah, a spokeswoman from the national offices of the Mormon church in Salt Lake City, said Wednesday that church officials will be reviewing the Chandler stake’s role in the Brock case to learn more about the meeting that took place in October 2009.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to the victim in this case,” said Cindy Packard, a spokeswoman for the church’s offices in Arizona, in an e-mailed statement. “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not condone child abuse in any form and will not tolerate such actions by anyone affiliated with our faith. Local Church leaders did not become aware of any credible information about this sexual relationship until October 2010. Within a very short time, these leaders were instrumental in getting the matter reported to law enforcement authorities.
“The meeting that took place in October 2009 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. In the course of the meeting, one question was asked and the allegation was denied. There was no evidence at the time that any sexual conduct had taken place and neither the church leader nor the victim’s parents saw any reason to believe it needed to be pursued further.
“Later, when there was evidence that sexual abuse had taken place church leaders were instrumental in getting the matter reported to authorities. We have zero tolerance for abuse of any kind.”
Jones, the stake president, could not be reached for comment.
Chandler police confiscated an iPhone during the execution of a search warrant at the Brocks’ home this past October when Fulton Brock admitted to police that the phone was his wife’s and that he had taken it from her, according to documents. The report says Susan Brock used the iPhone to take a picture of the boy’s genitals, but the boy immediately deleted it.
According to the report, the boy told police the relationship never included intercourse, but Brock sexually touched him and performed oral sex on him.
Documents say the boy also had told Brock’s two daughters of threats Susan made in the course of their relationship if he told anyone. According to the report, Susan Brock said she would tell the boy’s parents that he was a liar, that he was cheating on his high school girlfriend and that he was addicted to pornography.
At one point, Brock also told the boy that she loved him, and that she would change her will and leave him $300,000 so he could go to law school and be “the best lawyer ever” and to keep him quiet, the report says.
During a telephone call police recorded between Susan Brock and the victim, she told him that she already had admitted to sexual encounters with him and wasn’t going to admit to any more. She also told him that she didn’t trust him anymore.
The boy then asked her if Fulton Brock knew and replied, “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 of hiding it.”
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ofuque2 posted at 3:58 pm on Wed, Jan 26, 2011.
I guess that "Separation of Church and State" does not apply if you are Catholic or LDS. If there was a prior meeting at any LDS facility before this came to light, the law should come down hard on ANYONE involved.
sfcanative posted at 4:54 pm on Wed, Jan 26, 2011.
Nothing more than an e.p.i.d.e.m.i.c. of sexual frustration with Mormon women. Read on . . .
http://www.examiner.com/sf-in-san-francisco/video-livermore-hummer-mom-christine-shreeve-hubbs-charged-with-rape-of-boys-cries-court
Dale Whiting posted at 5:04 pm on Wed, Jan 26, 2011.
There is no penitent clergy priviledge in the LDS faith. The first female chief of police in any Maricopa County municipality once informed me that one of the problems she experienced while working juvenile duty was the LDS leadership's tendency to handle these matter themselves. The faith's General Handbook of Instructions clearly orders that any suspecions of child abuse be immediately reported to the appropriate authorities. That notwithstanding, boys will be boys, and covering up is regretably not unheard of. I am familiar with a coverup which dates back to 1960 and Mesa. Perhaps this story will serve to inform this next generation of local leadership.
Slabside posted at 6:38 pm on Wed, Jan 26, 2011.
Dale said, "The faith's General Handbook of Instructions clearly orders that any suspecions of child abuse be immediately reported to the appropriate authorities." That would be Grimms Fairy Tales wouldn't it Dale?
Rich posted at 7:09 pm on Wed, Jan 26, 2011.
Has anyone ever thought to question whether all this really wise, given the boy? As far as I can see the courts and the press have done more damage to him than Susan Brock. When I was 15 I had a 31 year old divorced neighbor, which as far as I will take it. Forty odd years later, it's just a rather nice memory. I wonder if he will be able to say the same forty years from now?
Freethinker posted at 7:19 pm on Wed, Jan 26, 2011.
The clergy of an organized cult/religion covering up alleged cases of child molestation?
Why OH WHY am I not surprised...
soricobob posted at 6:49 am on Thu, Jan 27, 2011.
O.K., here goes, I'm not a member of the Church of LDS, and did not grow up out West so feel like this Mormon stuff is all new to me. It seems to me that there are too many LDS members (men and women) whose illicit behavior with young people is rampant. Does the church attract people who have these feelings towards the young or does the church not explain it's wrong to the members, so they have this activity?
AZMomma posted at 7:16 am on Thu, Jan 27, 2011.
To paint all LDS with a broad brush is unfair...BUT:
There is a tenent-based thread which insists the male is the patriarch, makes the rules. God said so and they are likened to Gods.
Females have a distinct role, as baby-making machines to glorify the male dominance in their celestial version of paradise. Always subservient, and even in the event of a Temple-divorce, drawing the short straw in the " sealed for time and eternity" scenario.
This causes a lot of dysfunction within LDS families, as males push their dominance and females push back for some form of personal autonomy.
If you'd like to know more, get some books that cover the subject from both sides and see what a life-long LDS person has to deal with. Remember, THEY see a celestial paradise awaiting them, and we all know where religious fanaticism can lead.
091468mr posted at 8:15 am on Thu, Jan 27, 2011.
There are way too many mormons in the state, cities and counties law making roles. It's like were being railroaded by salt lake.
MesaAnon posted at 9:00 am on Thu, Jan 27, 2011.
A Mormon church spokeswoman said, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not condone child abuse in any form and will not tolerate such actions by anyone affiliated with our faith."
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What could be further from the truth? The entire Mormon church is *based* on this kind of sexual predatory behavior.
Just swap the genders involved and you have a teenage girl forced into a sham marriage with a middle-aged man.
That's a central tenet of Mormonism.
ttribe posted at 10:10 am on Thu, Jan 27, 2011.
Sure would be nice if people commenting on the story actually read the whole thing.
From the story - "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not condone child abuse in any form and will not tolerate such actions by anyone affiliated with our faith. Local Church leaders did not become aware of any credible information about this sexual relationship until October 2010. Within a very short time, these leaders were instrumental in getting the matter reported to law enforcement authorities.
“The meeting that took place in October 2009 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. In the course of the meeting, one question was asked and the allegation was denied. There was no evidence at the time that any sexual conduct had taken place and neither the church leader nor the victim’s parents saw any reason to believe it needed to be pursued further.
“Later, when there was evidence that sexual abuse had taken place church leaders were instrumental in getting the matter reported to authorities. We have zero tolerance for abuse of any kind.”
This statement is consistent with the police investigation into the matter. If you read the version of the story in AZCentral, it's a little more clear.
sherwood posted at 9:28 am on Fri, Jan 28, 2011.
ttribe, seriously? The October 2009 meeting included questioning Mrs. Brock about sexual involvement with this boy. To then say church leadership was clueless seems a bit of a stretch. And what of the stake prez's powers of discernment?
ttribe posted at 10:18 am on Fri, Jan 28, 2011.
sherwood - I'm not going to comment on any alleged "powers of discernment." I am commenting on the notion that there was any kind of cover-up.
The facts are these - 1) there was a meeting with an LDS leader in 2009; 2) both the Brocks and the parents of the young man attended that meeting; 3) the young man's father asked the question regarding any sexual activities; 4) Mrs. Brock denied any such acts at that time; 5) there is no evidence the young man had told his parents at that point about everything that was going on; 6) when additional facts DID come to light the Church was instrumental in getting the matter reported to authorities. Given that fact pattern, there is NOTHING the Church could have done with respect to the 2009 meeting.
You want to play armchair quarterback? Fine. But unfounded accusations of a cover up are completely unsupported by the facts. I also think it is entirely unfair to hold any church's leadership to some unreasonable standard of infallible omniscience when you would likely never hold yourself to that same standard.
sherwood posted at 12:01 pm on Fri, Jan 28, 2011.
ttribe - I didn't accuse the organization of a cover-up, not that it hasn't happened before.
Re: fact #6 - the church was instrumental in getting the matter reported to authorities. Clever wording. Myabe it's a petty point, but police records show it was actually the victim's father.