Thread by @WhstleblwrMSP

The truth about @thekwakuel's expose of @johndehlin

CC: @Kate_Kelly_Esq @ExmormonReddit @religiongal @janariess

TL;DR: Kwaku is a tool and his video is sensationalized...but what he alleges about Rosebud and sexual harassment absolutely happened.

A thread.../1

First, let me be clear that I'm very much not a fan of Kwaku. I'm not a fan of his tactics, his approach or even his mission. I'm an ex-mormon myself going on a few years now and I find his schtick to be tired and incredibly overwrought./2

The only problem is, despite its sensationalist tone, the central premise of his video exposé of John Dehlin is 100% true. /3

I know this because I know many of the players involved. I have personally reviewed hundreds of documents, including emails, text messages, FB messages and more relating to the Rosebud/John Dehlin affair./4

There is much, much more information and detail that I am not sharing that John knows about and does not want to become public. The vast majority of the info below is publicly available in various places online if you know how to follow the breadcrumbs. /5

The outline of what happened between John and Rosebud and how it goes all the way to the center and the integrity of the Mormon Stories movement is as follows, based on a very thorough examination of all the evidence. /6

(TRIGGER WARNING - Discussion of sexual harassment, grooming, coercion, etc)/7

1.John and Rosebud first met virtually through FB, as is often the case with people John meets. Rosebud reached out to John to offer praise and support for his work with Mormon Stories./8

As John often does with followers (especially female followers) who reach out to him, he encouraged her to stay in touch and offered some suggestions on how she could volunteer for the organization. This begins an online relationship in which they communicate frequently./9

2.Several months later, John invites Rosebud to an early MSP event, one of the first in-person events organized by what was then a fledgling organization. This is the 1st time they meet in person. At the event, John singles her out, finding opportunities to talk to her alone./10

3.John quickly begins to groom Rosebud, paying special attention to her, showering her with praise for her intellect and her ideas for organizing Mormon Stories events, using his position as the leader of Mormon Stories to manufacture ways for them to be in the same city./11

4.As their personal relationship begins to evolve, John begins to find reasons and ways for them to be alone, to strategize on Mormon Stories conferences. During one of these encounters, John privately shares with Rosebud his desires to.../12

...be a modern-day "September Six" and outlines his plans to agitate the church through his Mormon Stories work so they will eventually excommunicate him. Revealing his plan to her is part of his grooming process of gaining her trust. /13

5.John and Rosebud continue to work more closely, John continuing to give her more and more high-profile volunteer projects, including actively organizing in-person events. Again, more grooming behavior./14

6. At these events, John begins a series of romantic/semi-sexual advances. Rosebud is both flattered and conflicted, due to a series of personal/family struggles (including her marriage being very fragile at the time) she is dealing with and which she has disclosed to John./15

She later recognizes that, like most predators, he likely targeted her because of these very vulnerabilities./16

7.After months of persistence and now that she has been given a portfolio of projects with Mormon Stories, Rosebud begins to acquiesce to John's advances. They engage physically, however, John refuses to allow the emotional affair to advance past certain physical points.../17

...as he doesn't want to be excommunicated for adultery, still holding to his plan of the church excommunicating him for apostasy. John is scared if he goes all the way and his wife or someone else finds out and reports him to church leadership, his plan will be ruined. /18

8.Rosebud, who at this point is now actively managing entire online communities for Mormon Stories as well as organizing a growing number of events for the organization, begins to grow tired of John's "games" and asks him to stop initiating physical contact with her.../19

...including coming to her hotel room or rooms where she is staying at conferences (many of these conferences were held in listener's homes). /20

9.John initially agrees to do so and keep their relationship professional, but before long he refuses to comply with her requests. He cajoles her at multiple events, begging her to reconsider, knocking on her door late at night and uses his considerable influence over.../21

...the work she is doing to pressure her to re-engage. In one instance, he comes into her room without her consent, gets into her bed without her consent and gropes her without her consent./22

10.Rosebud, now finds herself conflicted both by her feelings for John but now also for the predicament she finds herself in with regards to the communities she has helped to create (including Circling the Wagons).../23

...fearing she will lose them if she either rejects John, or continues to engage him and things ever turn south. She feels stuck and scared. She wishes John would stop "playing games" with her./24

11.Even in the midst of John's continued advances, he refuses to engage with Rosebud past certain physical/sexual boundaries. Not because he doesn't want to or he is afraid of losing his wife/family but because he, again, doesn't want to ruin his excommunication plan./25

Rosebud is psychologically and emotionally confused and frustrated by his mercurial behavior. He uses his sexual influence over her in emotionally abusive ways. He will frequently push her away emotionally (sometimes in cruel ways), only to double back and beg to be with her./26

12.Meanwhile, Rosebud now finds herself having created wildly successful online communities, in-person event and taking Mormon Stories conferences to an entirely new level. The Mormon Stories/Open Stories board of directors is impressed with Rosebud's work and.../27

...discussions begin as to how she can play a larger role within the organization. The board, which is led by @_joannabrooks , is unaware of John's and Rosebud's physical/emotional relationship behind the scenes./28

13.All of these elements begin to converge into the perfect storm: Rosebud wants John to put up or shut up as it relates to their relationship -- stop stringing me along or leave me alone for good, she says. Meanwhile, John is feeling threatened about Rosebud's.../29

...continued influence over the Mormon Stories organization, communities, and board. He fears she is amassing too much influence within the organization he created./30