PD:
"This doesn’t mean the Bishop arranged it or that the payoff was in any way a church policy or endorsed arrangement." From the article "But, Trotter said, Maher's 2008 letter was referred to local leaders, who handle disciplinary matters."
I would think that the Bishop did endorse this arrangement as he was acting on behalf of the church according to the LdS church spokeshole.
Rep. Carl Wimmer, left consoles House Majority Leader Kevin Garn at the close of the 2010 Legislature after he apologizes in front of the entire Legislature for an inappropriate encounter with a teenager 25 years ago. His wife Tanya is consoled by Pamela Atkinson
Cheryl Maher