A former Mormon church leader from the Chicago area has pleaded guilty in a US federal court to a child sex crime involving two young girls, years after he was removed from the church over earlier allegations of child sexual abuse and later reinstated.Wade S Christofferson, 73, admitted to coercion and enticement of a minor in the US District Court in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday. The offence carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life.He will be sentenced at a later date by US District Judge Edmund A Sargus Jr. Under the plea agreement, Christofferson will also have to register as a sex offender if he is released from prison.
Earlier allegations
Christofferson was once an influential member and leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Crystal Lake, a suburb in the Chicago area.He was excommunicated from the church in the 1990s after allegations of child sexual abuse. However, he was later reinstated and allowed to serve as a member and leader in a congregation in Ohio. Authorities say he later went on to abuse two more children.The Chicago Sun-Times had previously reported that Christofferson’s younger brother, D Todd Christofferson, a senior leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, became aware around 2020 of allegations that Wade Christofferson had abused children decades earlier.According to the newspaper, a church spokesperson said D. Todd Christofferson respected the wishes of the alleged victims, who were adults by then, and did not report the matter to law enforcement. The spokesperson also said he had not known why his brother was excommunicated in the 1990s and had no role in the decision to later reinstate him.
The FaceTime call
According to the US Department of Justice, the investigation began in November 2025 after Christofferson was overheard during a sexually explicit FaceTime call with a child in Utah.Federal prosecutors said he had also been sending handwritten letters to the child’s home for around six months. Investigators alleged that the letters contained coded language referring to sexual activity and were marked ‘Top Secret’, with instructions that only the child should read them.A few weeks after the FaceTime call, the Dublin Police Department in Ohio received a report alleging that Christofferson had sexually abused another child in Ohio when the victim was around seven and eight years old.According to court documents, Christofferson admitted to coercing and enticing minors under the age of 10. Prosecutors said he sexually abused the child in Utah and the second victim in Ohio about 20 times.
What FBI found at home
As part of the investigation, police searched Christofferson’s home in Dublin, Ohio, in November 2025 and seized his electronic devices.The FBI later carried out a forensic examination of his mobile phone. According to prosecutors, investigators found internet searches including ‘criminal defense attorneys sex crimes columbus ohio’, ‘In Ohio do clergy have to report child abuse confessions’, as well as searches related to leaving the country.Christofferson pleaded guilty to coercion and enticement of a minor, a federal offence that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life.