Married to Brian David Mitchell for five years in the early 1980s, Debbie Mitchell sought help from church leaders in her LDS ward to try to escape an abusive marriage from the man who would eventually be convicted of the 2002 kidnap and rape of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart.
But when Debbie Mitchell brought complaints to bishops about her husband, they didnt believe her. When she suggested Brian Mitchell was sexually abusing his four biological children including an 18-month-old daughter he shared with Debbie Mitchell they laughed at her assertions.
Brian Mitchell was never prosecuted for molesting his own children, or his three stepdaughters Debbie Mitchells children from a prior marriage. So on Wednesday the day of Brian Mitchells sentencing for keeping Smart in captivity for 9 months and raping her daily Debbie Mitchell seized the op
"You have closure when you get divorced. But with what he did to my children, because nobody believed us, there was never closure," said Debbie Mitchell, 60. "When I wanted to leave him, the bishops said, No, you need to work on your marriage. I would go to church with black eyes and theyd ask me
One daughter who left Utah as a teenager, became distraught over memories of Mitchells assaults. The two children Debbie Mitchell shared with her ex-husband never had much of a relationship with their father, because she got a court order to protect them against him, she said. Another of her daught
Debbie Mitchell has also written a book about her time with Brian Mitchell, titled "No One Would Listen." It hasnt yet been published, but has been used in the LDS Church to help educate bishops on how to interact with church members who report domestic and sexual violence.
