S6E80 | Justin Riggs - Mormon Secrets: Gordon Bowen, Secret Societies & the Voice of God

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Today I’m honored to have back on the show: LDS abuse whistleblower, survivor, investigative researcher, journalist and reporter, creator of LDS Abuse, excommunicated lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, loving father, nature lover, and a man on a mission to help members of the spiritual body known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints know what to expect from their church if they become victims of abuse: Justin Riggs aka @ldsabuse

In case you are new here or missed any of Justin’s previous episodes, here is a quick recap to catch you up:

In the quiet corridors of history and the hidden vaults of institutional records, Justin has become a singular force for truth. What began as personal curiosity about how good people could fail victims of abuse quickly evolved into a rigorous, evidence-based mission. Justin immersed himself in the historical record, constructing detailed timelines. He pored over the 1990 PACE Memo - a leaked internal document revealing that church leadership had been monitoring ritualistic child abuse for years, yet never warning parents or addressing the crisis publicly.  Through careful analysis of depositions, family-search records, and court filings, he has traced multi-generational abuse patterns, most poignantly in his own extended family - the Hebrew Grant Woolsey line - where allegations spanning four generations surfaced in defamation lawsuits and public records.

Justin’s research extends far beyond individual cases. He shares these findings not as speculation, but as a public archive of evidence: resource pages, research timelines, family trees, and data visualizations that empower others to see the patterns for themselves.

This relentless pursuit of documentation came at great personal cost. Justin’s work led to his excommunication from the church - yet he continues, driven by the conviction that sunlight is the best disinfectant and that secrets only allow abuse to metastasize. His research has connected the dots between ritual abuse allegations, historical infiltration efforts, and the LDS corporation’s prioritization of brand protection - revealing a system where victims are funneled into therapy modalities that undermine legal recourse and where even prophets and apostles have been implicated in shielding perpetrators.

Justin stands as a model of intellectual courage and moral clarity. Through painstaking research, he has transformed private pain into public knowledge, giving voice to the voiceless and offering a roadmap for accountability. His life’s work reminds us that truth is not found in blind loyalty, but in the patient, fearless examination of evidence and patterning. In an age of institutional opacity, Justin has chosen the harder path: to document, to educate, and to speak the truth aloud - so that future generations may break the chains of silence and build something safer, truer, and more just.

What makes Justin truly awe-inspiring is not just the research or the courage to expose his own family’s pain. It is the profound humanity beneath the fire. He carries righteous anger for the victims—especially the children—but refuses to dehumanize even the perpetrators. “The gospel provides for repentance,” he says, while acknowledging that most abusers do not repent and that justice must come. He speaks of chain breakers—families who stop the cycle—and believes in a God of both justice and mercy. He weeps with survivors, fights alongside them, and extends grace even when it comes at a personal cost.

Justin is living proof that one man, armed with truth and an unbreakable commitment to the vulnerable, can shift the Overton window. He has turned personal trauma into collective awakening. He has transformed whispers into documented history. He has modeled what it means to be a true disciple: not blind obedience, but fierce love that protects the innocent and vulnerable..

He is not merely a survivor or advocate. He is a researcher whose dedication to facts has become a beacon of hope for all who seek light in the darkness.

🔗JUSTIN'S PLAYLIST:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoojlrL9wVROlw0jmqs1oIVjpP8uJx9JW

🔗GORDON BOWEN COURT DOCUMENTS WEBSITE:
https://gordonbowencourtdocuments.com/

🔗CONNECT WITH JUSTIN:
X: @ldsabuse - https://x.com/ldsabuse
Website: https://ldsabuse.info/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ldsabuse_on_x

🔗CONNECT WITH EMMA:
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EMAIL: imagineabetterworld2020@gmail.com OR standbysurvivors@protonmail.com
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