Prosecutor: Assault came during Williamsburg trip
Ex-Mormon bishop allegedly raped daughter in 1999
WILLIAMSBURG — Williamsburg’s top prosecutor said Thursday that felony charges against a former Mormon bishop stem from allegations that he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl during a field trip to the area nearly 25 years ago.
John Goodrich, 64, of Caldwell, Idaho, was indicted Jan. 17 by a grand jury in Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court. He’s accused of sexually assaulting the girl on June 1, 1999, and faces charges of rape, sodomy and two counts of aggravated sexual battery by a parent.
“The defendant and victim were alleged to have been on a field trip — the ‘American History Super Trip’ — which visited sites in Washington, D.C., James City County and the city of Williamsburg,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Nate Green, who leads prosecutions in Williamsburg and James City County.
While the Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot typically do not name sexual assault victims, exceptions can be made in cases in which victims agree or ask to be publicly identified. Stories in Associated Press and The Salt Lake Tribune have identified the woman — with her permission — as Goodrich’s daughter, Chelsea Goodrich. She’s now in her late 30s.
Green declined Thursday to say when the complainant first came forward about the Williamsburg allegations, or how long Williamsburg Police detectives have been investigating. Since the charges were brought by a direct indictment rather than a criminal complaint from police, the details of the sexual abuse allegations are sparse in court records.
The prosecutor declined to say exactly where the assault is alleged to have taken place.
“I don’t want to get into that level of detail,” Green said. “But Williamsburg has a lot of field trips, and they usually stay in hotels.”
Following the Jan. 17 indictments, a judge in Williamsburg issued a warrant for Goodrich’s arrest. He turned himself in Tuesday to the Williamsburg Police Department.
He was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond. That means he didn’t have to post any money or property as collateral for release but would be liable to pay that amount if he fails to show up for court hearings. The bond provisions, set by a Williamsburg magistrate and backed by Green, also allow him to leave Virginia.
His local attorney, former state Sen. Thomas K. Norment Jr., did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
A bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, widely known as the Mormon Church, does not hold the same overarching authority as bishops in the Catholic Church or other Christian denominations. A bishop in Mormonism is more akin to a local church pastor as a leader of a local flock.
Associated Press reported that Chelsea Goodrich and her mother went to police in Idaho in 2016 with complaints against Chelsea’s father.
The complaints eventually led to John Goodrich’s excommunication from the Mormon church, but the AP reported that the Idaho prosecution was dropped after a “spiritual confession” that Goodrich allegedly made to a fellow bishop could not be used in court.
“I hope this case will finally bring justice for my childhood sexual abuse,” Chelsea Goodrich said in a statement to the AP on Wednesday. “I’m grateful it appears that the Commonwealth of Virginia is taking one event of child sexual assault more seriously than years of repeated assaults were treated in Idaho.”