Mesa Scoutmaster, Church Leader Charged With Molesting 2 Boys

By Emily Bittner
Originally published in The Arizona Republic, August 28, 2002

MESA — After admitting to his wife and father that he sexually molested two boys—one for seven years—a scoutmaster and church youth group leader was arrested Friday.

LaMell Ray Lippard, 34, a member of the Cornerstone Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a scoutmaster with the Boy Scout troop at the church, is charged with one count of attempted child molestation and two counts of sexual conduct with a minor.

One victim belonged to both the church and the troop. The boy told police that from the time he was 7 years old until he was 14, Lippard sodomized him and forced him to perform sex acts, according to police and court records.

The victim didn't surface until Lippard's wife caught him abusing a second boy in their home about two weeks ago, Mesa police Detective Tim Gaffney said.

She walked into their home, in the 400 block of North Olive Street, and found her husband having sexual contact with the boy, according to court records.

Lippard is being held on $108,005 bail. The couple have a daughter who is about 3 years old, neighbors said.

The church removed Lippard from his post as scoutmaster about a week ago, a fellow member of the LDS ward said.

"Maybe that's why they replaced him," said Phil Allen, who noted that Lippard was doing a good job as scoutmaster.

Lippard, a foreman at Rowley Pipeline, had easy access to young boys, and police believe that he might have molested others, Gaffney said.

"I am as shocked as anybody ever was," neighbor Virginia Wright said. "He didn't have that kind of personality."

The regional office of the Boy Scouts of America declined to comment. Police know of no other prior arrests or convictions for Lippard, court records show.