Disgraced Mormon bishop, 64, is FINALLY caught after two months on the run from sex abuse charges including 'on his daughter, now 38, on a school trip - which was covered up when the church paid her $300,000'

A disgraced Mormon bishop accused of sexually abusing his daughter and arranging for her to receive a $300,000 hush money payment has been charged with child sexual abuse after two months on the run.

Idaho dentist John Goodrich, 64, is accused of abusing his daughter Chelsea while accompanying her on a school trip in Virginia when she was a child, court filings show.

He turned himself in to police in Williamsburg on Tuesday. He faces four felony counts of rape by force, threat or intimidation, forcible sodomy, and two counts of felony aggravated sexual battery by a parent of a child.

'I hope this case will finally bring justice for my childhood sexual abuse,' Chelsea Goodrich, 38, said. 

Disgraced Mormon bishop John Goodrich, 64, who was accused of sexually abusing his daughter as been charged with child sexual abuse after two months on the run

Chelsea Goodrich, 38, claimed her father repeatedly abused her throughout her childhood in Idaho and during a school trip to Virginia where he is now facing charges

The charges were filed after Chelsea's allegations about widespread abuse during her childhood in Idaho sparked an AP investigation which revealed how the Mormon church employed a risk management strategy that has helped it keep child sexual abuse cases secret.

'I'm grateful it appears that the Commonwealth of Virginia is taking one event of child sexual assault more seriously than years of repeated assaults were treated in Idaho,' Chelsea added.

Chelsea first approached Idaho police in 2016, but her case was dropped after a key witness - a bishop to whom Goodrich confessed - refused to testify.

Bishop Michael Miller said he could not take the stand, citing a 'clergy-penitent privilege' loophole in Idaho reporting law that does not compel church leaders to report child sex abuse if gleaned through a spiritual confession.

Goodrich faces four felony counts of rape by force, threat or intimidation, forcible sodomy, and two counts of felony aggravated sexual battery by a parent of a child

The details of the confession have not been made public, but Goodrich was ex-communicated by the church.

After Miller's refusal to testify, Chelsea and her mom approached another church official, Utah attorney Paul Rytting, for help.

However the AP investigation revealed that Rytting was head of the church's Risk Management Division, which works to protect the church against sexual abuse lawsuits and other costly claims. 

The investigation, which was based on recordings of their meetings, also revealed Rytting offered Chelsea and her mother $300,000 in exchange for a confidentiality agreement and a pledge to destroy their recordings which had been made with his consent.

Goodrich was first charged in 2016 and a subsequent AP investigation revealed how the Mormon church used a risk management strategy to cover up incidents of sexual abuse

Recordings obtained by The Associated Press show that instead of helping prosecutors, the church used a legal playbook that has helped protect itself from sex abuse claims. Pictured: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is shown in Hailey, Idaho

Chelsea first approached Idaho police in 2016, but her case was dropped after a key witness - a bishop to whom Goodrich confessed - refused to testify

The AP obtained similar recordings that were made by a church member at the time who attended the meetings as Chelsea's advocate.

The church also employed the use of its so-called sex abuse Helpline, which John Goodrich's bishop had called after his confession. 

The Helpline is a phone number set up by the church for bishops to report instances of child sex abuse. 

Instead of connecting church victims to counseling or other services, however, the Helpline often reports serious allegations of abuse to a church law firm.

After Goodrich was charged in 2016, another alleged victim came forward claiming she had been drugged and raped by him after trying to end their relationship.

The 53-year-old woman alleged Goodrich had given her Halcion, a drug Goodrich often used to sedate patients during dental procedures.

As detectives investigated the new allegations, Goodrich called the woman at least four times, in conversations she recorded and which the AP obtained. 

In these conversations, Goodrich asked her to lie to police while admitting he drugged her even as he tried to minimize his actions and repeatedly apologized.

Chelsea and her mom were offered $300,000 to keep quiet about the allegations and destroy evidence of their meetings with church officials

The strategy encouraged alleged victims to report to a Helpline which directed them to an attorney employed by the Church tasked with minimizing any fallout 

'It was fun as heck, but it was wrong,' he said in a recorded conversation. 'Just out of principle it was wrong, and I'm just mad as hell at myself.'

In the end, John Goodrich reached a plea agreement in the case admitting to distribution of a controlled substance and escaped sex crimes charges. 

A  judge sentenced him to 90 days in jail and three years of probation. 

Chelsea said she waived her right to anonymity to speak out because her father remained free and practicing dentistry in Idaho with access to children. 

She first began to confront disturbing memories in the spring of 2015 as a 29-year-old graduate student in psychology living in Southern California, began

While her peers dated and created lasting relationships, she filled with anxiety and dread at the prospect.

'Instead of wanting to have a relationship, I just remember feeling terror and confusion and kind of disgust, like all at once, about it,' she said.

Her memories included several occasions when her father slipped into her bed at night in their house in Mountain Home, Idaho, to spoon her while he was aroused, pushing himself against her backside. 

Her father was charged in relation to her allegations, but pleaded guilty only to a drug-related charge in a separate case. 

On one occasion, when she was 9, she said her father had apologized to her for being aroused while they were playing in the family swimming pool and told her not to tell her mother.

Thomas Norment, Goodrich's attorney, declined to comment to DailyMail.com stating he is still getting educated on the case.