SALT LAKE CITY — The brother of an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints apologized for sending explicit letters to one of two young girls he was accused of sexually abusing, telling the girl's father he was starting a "repentance process."
Wade S. Christofferson was charged on Nov. 20 with attempting to sexually exploit a minor with coercion and enticement, just weeks after the father of one of the girls, who lived in Utah, asked about the meaning of terms his daughter had been using during a conversation with the 72-year-old.
Charging documents show that on Nov. 5, the father of the Utah girl was speaking with Christofferson, who was in Dublin, Ohio. During the conversation, Christofferson allegedly asked the father to speak to his 7-year-old daughter. As the two spoke, the father heard Christofferson ask his daughter to see "snow" and "friends," before the girl went into a closet and closed the door.
When the child's father asked what the terms meant, the girl said "snow" means female genitals and "friends" means nipples. The father retrieved letters that Christofferson had previously sent to the 7-year-old girl and found similar codes in the correspondence.
The father called Christofferson, who then allegedly admitted to using the terms in the letter and to sexually abusing his daughter while on an earlier visit to Utah.
Following the admissions, the Utah father learned of a 10-year-old Ohio girl whom Christofferson had also allegedly abused. During a conversation with the Ohio father, Christofferson admitted to "inappropriately" touching his daughter 15-20 times.
The Ohio girl's father then contacted police on Nov. 12 to file a sexual abuse report, which led to the start of an investigation by the Dublin Police Department and the FBI Columbus Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking group.
Christofferson is the brother of LDS President D. Todd Christofferson and was charged while appearing in U.S. District Court in Utah just before Thanksgiving.
According to the charging documents, Christofferson texted the Utah father on Nov. 5, writing, "I am deeply sorry for what I have done and will be meeting with my bishop to start the repentance process."
During a search of Christofferson's cell phone, his search history showed the following:
- "criminal defense attorneys sex crimes columbus ohio"
- "criminal defense attorneys columbus ohio"
- "in Ohio do clergy have to report child abuse confessions"
- "criminal defense attorneys Utah"
In addition, a closed internet browser on Christofferson's computer was titled "So, you want to leave the U.S."
