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Church officials declined to comment about the newly obtained recording. Bishop’s attorney did not return requests for comment.

‘The natural man’

Denson reported to BYU police in 2017 that Bishop had tried to rape her when she was a missionary-in-training, saying he had taken her to a small room and tried to kiss her. She resisted, she reported, and he ripped her blouse and skirt while trying to rape her. She pushed him off, she said, and left the room.

After her report, two BYU officers traveled to Arizona to question Bishop. The 85-year-old man welcomed them into his home by greeting them as his friends, according to the recording, and apologized for still being in his plaid pajama pants. He had just been hospitalized for issues with his heart,to keep the interview secret, after the State Records Committee ruled last year that it should be public. Those suits are filed against the three parties that have requested the recording: KUTV-Channel 2, the transparency website MormonLeaks and Washington-based lawyer Corbin Volluz. Those lawsuits remain pending.

A secret recording

By the time police got to Bishop’s door, the former MTC leader already had spoken with Denson about her allegations. She had visited Bishop in Arizona, posing as a writer who was interviewing former mission presidents.

During their nearly three-hour conversation, which she secretly recorded, the Colorado woman urged him to admit what he did to her and others. Denson reminded him that during their time at the MTC, Bishop flattered her, took her out of class and told her she was