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Child Sexual Abuse CASES : Churches

The purpose of these articles, is to show the importance of Creating Safer Havens. Our intent in sharing these cases is to bring an awareness of the 'Secret Sins' that are going on around us daily. These are only a few of the many thousands of cases occurring within the church and places where children are supposed to be kept safe. Let's not be fooled into thinking these types of acts are limited to churches and after school programs. In this fast-paced world we live in, these 'Secret Sins' are happening everywhere. As you will see below, children are being violated by pastors, therapists, music directors, volunteer workers, school teachers, coaches, and sadly, the list goes on. Our hopes at Creating Safer Havens is that the seriousness of this problem will no longer be overlooked, and the importance of protecting our children will become top priority.  

** The following synopses are for illustrative purposes. **

Church Related Cases

Ontario, Vaughan - 2/2/2012
Police in Ont. arrest 60 child porn suspects

 

Police across Ontario nabbed 60 suspects, including three teens and a former youth worker, and identified 22 victims in what police say is the largest child porn bust in Ontario history.

Police executed 76 search warrants Wednesday and filed 213 charges, including sexual assault, child luring, and accessing, possessing, making and distributing child pornography.

The three teen boys charged are all 16 years old. The oldest suspect is 69, police said.

Also among the suspects is Gregory William Pickard, 41, who was a youth worker at a group home for young people and worked with children at his church. This is the second time in just over a year he faces child porn-related charges.

None of the suspects are part of a child-porn ring, police said. Investigators monitored their computer activities using specialized software.

Twenty-five police departments in Ontario took part in the raids, including Sault Ste. Marie, Ottawa, Sudbury, Cornwall, North Bay, Chatham, Brantford, Sarnia, Barrie, London, Toronto and Hamilton.

Scott Tod, acting commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police, said the project is aimed at stopping the sexual abuse of children. “Child pornography is the sexual abuse of children,” he said. “Every image...represents a child victim. “Every trading or transmission of that image represents a re-victimzation of that child.”

Additional arrests and charges are pending, Goldschmidt said.

He said child pornography is pervasive in Ontario. Police with the Provincial Strategy to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation on the Internet identified more than 8,900 IP addresses on child pornography sites in the past three months, Goldschmidt said. Of those, police arrested 60 suspects, he said.

Goldschmidt said police face constant technological challenges as they try to keep up with child pornographers.

“It’s like the speeders on the highway,” Goldschmidt said. “There are so many of them out there that you only going get (some) of them.”

WI, Milwaukee - 2/2/2012
550 Sexual Abuse Claims Filed against Milwaukee Archdiocese

 

About 550 people are asking for restitution for alleged sexual abuse by clergy in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee - more than in any of the other U.S. dioceses that have filed for bankruptcy protection, according to a lawyer involved int eh Milwaukee case. One priest alone is accused of abusing some 200 boys at a suburban school for deaf students from 1950 to 1974.

John Stang, a bankruptcy lawyer who represents creditors in the Wisconsin case, estimated that about 550 claims had been filed by the Wednesday afternoon deadline set by the bankruptcy court.

A victim’s advocacy group call the number of filings “extraordinarily tragic”, but said that represented only a small portion of people abused by clergy.

The other seven Catholic dioceses in the U.S. that have filed for bankruptcy since the clergy abuse scandal erupted in 2002 in Boston are in Davenport, Iowa; Fairbanks, Alaska; Portland, Ore; San Diego, CA; Spokane, Wash.; Tucson, Ariz; and Wilmington, Del. Two other religious order have also filed for bankruptcy.

WA, Chillicothe - 1/24/2012
Washington Court House man facing sex charges from 1990s

 

A March trial date has been set for a man accused of sexually abusing two children in the 1990s.

Gary W. Freeland, 60, of Washington Court House, is facing four first-degree felony counts of rape and one third-degree felony count of gross sexual imposition. Both victims in the indictment are adults now but were 11 and 4 at the time of the alleged incidents, one of which reportedly happened inside Tabernacle Baptist Church where Freeland once was a member.

Freeland was in court Tuesday where counsel had a pretrial status conference in chambers.

N.Y., Rochester - 1/19/2012
Convicted church leader expected in court

 

A former church leader in Rochester, already convicted of sexually abusing a young boy, will be back in court Thursday.

Bishop Joe Flowers is accused of molesting two other children. He was sentenced in August for sexually abusing an eight-year-old boy. That child’s family went to Flowers’ church.

Flowers was sentenced to seven years in prison for that charge but he is currently in the Monroe County Jail until these other cases are resolved.

Maine, Bangor - 1/19/2012
Pastor accused of child sex abuse commits suicide

 

The day before his suicide, the Rev. Robert Carlson was told by Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross, a longtime friend, that Carlson was the subject of a state police investigation of child sex abuse allegations, according to a Waldo County Sheriff’s Department report.

Ross said Wednesday that he felt compelled to tell Carlson that he was the focus of the Maine State Police probe because Carlson was on the Penobscot County Jail’s board of visitors and Ross wanted to limit his access to the jail.

Ross, who was Carlson’s co-worker for 33 years, said he spoke with Carlson around noon on Nov. 12. Carlson jumped to his death from the Penobscot Narrows Bridge early the next morning.

"I didn’t feel it was a conflict. I felt it was my responsibility as a sheriff," Ross said when asked why he informed Carlson of the investigation.

State police detectives never got the opportunity to speak to Carlson, 68, before his death, Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, has said.

The sheriff said he initially felt a certain responsibility for Carlson’s death but since has come to another conclusion. "If I hadn’t been the one to talk to Bob, Bob would have been dead a week later after talking to state police," Ross said.

The Waldo County Sheriff’s Department, which investigated Carlson’s death, released its report Wednesday to the Bangor Daily News but blacked out the names of Carlson and several people interviewed, including the Bangor man police believe was the last person to see him alive. Ross’ name was not blacked out.

The state police investigation into the sex abuse allegations, which began on Nov. 10, is continuing and should be completed in the next month, the lead investigator, Sgt. Jeffrey Love of the criminal investigation division in Augusta, said earlier this week.

Ross said he received a copy of the anonymous letter that sparked the child sexual abuse investigation on Nov. 10 and got a call shortly afterward from state police Detective Troy Gardener, who thought Carlson was a county jail employee.

Carlson was the Penobscot County Jail administrator when Ross was hired and later became the jail’s chaplain, a post he held for 38 years. He retired nearly two years ago, Ross said.

Ross said he is waiting for all of the final police reports before he makes any judgments about his longtime friend. "I’ve known and respected the man my whole police career," the sheriff said, saying he was heartbroken. "It’s still a hard pill to swallow."

TX, Houston - 1/17/2012
FLDS Church Leader Warren Jeffs Pulls Strings from Prison
- Update of 8/4/2011 article

 

Serving a 20-year-to-life sentence in a Houston, Texas prison, 56-year-old Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints leader Warren Jeffs pulls the strings of his 10,000 followers from behind bars. Gone are the days after his Aug 9, 2011 conviction for raping his niece and nephew of his “nervous breakdown,” hunger strikes and medically induced coma. Jeffs now runs the FLDS church from his jail cell, allowing phone calls and visitors to carry away his instructions. Jeff’s inherited the church in 2002 from his father, Rulon Jeffs, who started the “United Holy Order,” a polygamous group that settled in the ungoverned lands near Colorado City Arizona to recreate the incestuous tribe of early Mormons. Despite denounced by the Salt Lake City-based Mormon Church, states’ rights advocates believe the federal government should butt out.

First Amendment’s Freedom of Religion gives cults like the FLDS church un-deserved protections in which to violate state and federal laws protecting children from abuse. Jeffs, and other FLDS leaders, see nothing wrong with childhood brides, as young as seven years of age, marrying church elders in their 40s and 50s, breeding at the whim of husbands’ arbitrary supreme authority. While multiple wives are permitted in the FLDS church, young boys are removed from their mothers and abandoned to make more female offspring available to Church elders for marriage and breeding. “He regulates sex and money on behalf of God,” said Willie Jessop, a former FLDS spokesman no longer affiliated with the group. Since placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List in 2005, Jeffs went on the lam, eventually captured in his Cadillac Escalade Aug. 28, 2006 after a year-long manhunt.

Apart from having a loyal following, Jeffs, like the late fundamentalist preacher Jim Jones, of Jones Town fame or David Koresch of Waco’s Branch Davidians, ruled by coercion and brainwashing. “”There are eight questions, before they get there, they ask. ‘Do you accept Warren Jeffs as God’s mouthpiece and your prophet,’ and if you believe he can rule in all the affairs of your life,” Jessops said, showing the kind of domination and manipulation making Jeffs among the most dangerous psychopaths masquerading as a religious leader. With the Constitution’s Separation Clause, loonies like Jeffs set their traps, attract weak-mined zealots and recruit the downtrodden with promises of salvation. ”What makes this important is that there has never been a time when people in the community have taken this sort of stand against Warren,” said Jessop, who still considers himself an FLDS member.

Jessops, like others, are in a state of disillusionment and disbelief now that their fearless leader sits behind bars. “I think the church is going through a social crisis that is extremely painful, but, in the long term, it’s healthy,” said Jessop, showing he still suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder a year after he left. Like children molested by their parents, FLDS members lack the autonomy and independent judgment necessary to make sound decisions.

While no one knows the exact numbers, around 40,000 Mormons in Southern Utah and Northern Arizona practice plural marriage, violating the Mormon Church and state and federal laws. Opportunities within fundamentalist Mormon churches for polygamy attracts pedophiles and other misanthropes seeking institutional approval for aberrant behavior. Jeffs’ original charges for violating Utah’s child abuse laws were tossed out June 9. 2010 by a sympathetic Utah judge. While convicted in Texas, FLDS judges, or at least those sympathetic with the Church, side with fundamentalists seeking a plural lifestyle in the insular communities of Southern Utah and Northern Arizona.

Charismatic cult leaders like Jeffs give legitimate religions like the Mormon Church a black eye. With GOP frontrunner former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, a Mormon, running for president, Jeffs being back in the news raises eyebrows. No organized religion should allow itself to be hijacked by garden variety psychopaths that hide behind the First Amendment. There’s simply no justification, historic or religious, for pedophilia and the damage it wreaks on innocent children. No religious order has the right under the Freedom of Religion to violate the nation’s laws protecting children.

Now running the FLDS from prison, Jeffs continues his devious behavior. Psychopaths and pedophiles should not perpetuate their sickness from prison or any other venue. Regardless of states’ rights, there can be no safe havens for criminals hiding behind organized religion to practice deviant behavior.

United Kingdom - 1/12/2012
Child Sex Crimes Trial Grinds to a Halt

 

The trial of a former deputy head teacher who faced historical child abuse charges, ground to a halt today as the jury could not agree on a verdict.

David Griffiths, 50, of Thistlecroft Gardens in Stanmore, has been on trial at Wood Green Crown Court for eight counts of indecency with a child and one count of serious sexual assault. He has denied the charges throughout.

Today the jury could not agree on a verdict, and so the case has come to a standstill. The case has been adjourned until January 20. Griffiths also faced an additional charge of indecency with a child, but was found not guilty by the jury of this allegation at a hearing on Friday January 6.

Griffiths worked at several schools during his career which began in September 1987, including Broadfields Primary School in Barnet, Edgware Junior School, Frith Manor Primary School, also in Barnet, and Weald Junior School in Harrow.

The offences were alleged to have happened between 1991 and 1993 in more than one location, including a school, which cannot be named, and the Welsh Harp Boating Lake.

Griffiths, who is married, was a long running volunteer for Greater London and Middlesex West Scouts, having been rewarded for more than 30 years service including a role as a district commissioner.

He also had a voluntary role in child protection at a local church, as well as assisting with a range of other projects at the church.

MO, St. Louis - 1/12/2012
When federal investigators busted Jeffrey Greenwell outside St. Louis, they hit the kiddie-porn jackpot

 

The child-pornography probe in Missouri that led to the arrest of Jeffrey Greenwell began with a lead forwarded to St. Louis from Los Angeles, where a state and federal task force was in the process of dismantling Lost Boy, an online network of pedophiles who traded photos and videos via the Internet. Ultimately, the Greenwell investigation spun off into four additional cases in four different states.

In early 2010, Captain John Foster, a detective with the Yell County Sheriff's Department in northwest Arkansas, received a package of photos prepared by Brian Mize, a forensic investigator with the St. Louis Division of the FBI.

The images, which Mize had culled from the thousands he'd found stored on hard drives and other media seized from Greenwell's house, depicted various shots of four boys. Mize believed each of the boys had been sexually molested by a man named Evan Batton, a youth pastor at a Baptist church near the city of Dardanelle.

Foster immediately recognized the face of one of the children: "a cute little redheaded kid, wearing an army helmet," he recalls.

Later that same day, Foster drove to Batton's house armed with a search warrant and accompanied by a team that included an agent from the FBI's Little Rock Division. When Batton answered the door, the lawmen could see that the pastor wasn't alone. There was a little boy in the house — another face Foster had seen in Mize's dossier.

Rather than face a jury trial, Batton agreed to plead guilty to one felony count for the rape of a seven-year-old boy. Now 29, he is serving a 30-year sentence in state prison. He did not respond to two letters from Riverfront Times requesting comment for this story.

Yell County Prosecuting Attorney Tom Tatum II says he has chat-room transcripts in which Batton boasts to Greenwell about setting up a webcam in his bedroom in order to record himself having sex with boys.

"To have this guy in our back yard and not know it was shocking," says Tatum. "We were glad to get the tip and get rid of him."

During an interrogation session on the day he was arrested in 2009, Greenwell revealed the name of a child pornographer whose handiwork was widely shared on Lost Boy. Investigators in LA and St. Louis knew of the man only by his online alias, "SpongeBob."

In late 2009 a federal grand jury in Utah reviewed evidence that proved sufficient to indict Antonio Cardenas, a.k.a. SpongeBob, who is in jail awaiting trial, having entered a plea of not-guilty to seven counts of production and distribution of child pornography and aggravated sexual abuse of a child.

Mize was able to identify two other child pornographers whose images were part of Greenwell's massive stash. One remains at large in a Midwestern state, according to the FBI. Investigators tracked down the other man, an insurance manager in New Hampshire, only to learn that he had committed suicide in 2008.

AZ, Phoenix - 1/10/2012
Man used church connections to molest children

 

A man suspected of using his connections with two Valley churches to molest young children has been arrested, according to the Phoenix Police Department.

Christian Turcios, 26, was arrested Monday on suspicion of 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, along with child molestation and unlawful surreptitious video recording counts, according to police.

Turcios was first suspected in summer 2010, when an 11-year-old accused Turcios of molesting him at a church summer camp at Phoenix First Assembly, police said. Police were unable to make an arrest because of lack of evidence, said Sgt. Steve Martos, a spokesman for the Phoenix Police Department.

Our hearts are broken anytime there are allegations of any injury to a child,” David Blythe, associates pastor at Phoenix First Assembly, said in a statement, “It is our overwhelming desire to protect innocent children in our care.”

Blythe continued to say that Turcios was only a volunteer with the church and that he is banned from the church campus.

Investigators with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Internet Crimes Against Children unit launched an investigation in October and were able to collect enough evidence to obtain a search warrant for Turcios’ home in December, according to police. At his home, investigators found child pornography and images of Turcios engaged in sexual acts with children between 13- and 16-years-old, Martos said.

Turcios also served as a volunteer with junior high students for a year and a half at Highlands Church in north Scottsdale. On Jan. 1, he was hired as a custodian, according to police and Highlands Church.

Turcios also worked as a babysitter for members of Highlands Church, according to police. There is evidence that he abused children he babysat, police said. Detectives from the Crimes Against Children Unit of the Phoenix police said they have identified one of the victims he babysat, but are still working to identify several others.

“We are completely stunned and shocked,” said Lee Hughey, senior pastor at Highlands Church. “We are saddened for any victims. We didn’t know it was going on.”

Since learning about the arrest, Hughey said Turcios has been removed from the staff and from any involvement with the church.

Investigators believe that he has been preying on young children for several years and that he worked to be in positions where he would be near children during church camps and other activities.

Police expect there to be several more victims.

For more information about this case or to report another victim of this suspect contact the Phoenix Police Department at 602-262-6141, or remain anonymous by calling Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS.

AK, Benton - 1/6/2012
Prominent Music Minister in Prison for Sexual Indecency with children

 

David Pierce, 59, was the choir minister at First Baptist Church in Benton for 28 years. Four male teens who had been members of the youth choir reported sexual abuse by Pierce.

Pierce is married and has three grown children and several grand children. He had been with the church for 28 years and had no prior arrests.

Pierce was convicted in August 209 and is serving a 10-year prison term for four counts of sexual indecency with a child. He is up for possible parole on January 26, 2012. David Pierce.

TX, Austin - 12/27/2011
More child sex charges for “Traveling Pastor”

 

A “traveling pastor” who was charged with sexual crimes against children earlier this year has been charged again after another accuser came forward, according to court documents.

Francisco Antonio Hernandez, 53, was charged last week with indecency with a child by contact, a second-degree felony, according to an arrest affidavit filed with Travis County courts today. In October, Hernandez was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child by sexual contact.

Police have said that Hernandez, also known as Pastor Javier, traveled to private homes in the Austin area to hold services for a nondenominational church that had no name. The church was led by Hernandez, with services six or seven nights a week that entailed reading from the Bible and singing, police have said. Hernandez led services as early as the early 1990s and as recently as August of this year, detectives said.

Four women came forward earlier this year to say that Hernandez had sexual contact with them as children.

The latest charge against Hernandez comes from a woman who came forward in July. That woman told police that Hernandez, whom she knew as “Pastor,” sexually abused her when she was 7, the affidavit said.

The woman told police that she and her two sisters stayed with Hernandez and his wife in 1988 when their mother had to go out of town for an emergency, the affidavit said. She said Hernandez sexually abused her in his bedroom, the affidavit said.

The woman said she told her mother about the abuse in 1998 or 1999; the affidavit does not say whether the mother reported it.

A few days before the victim reported the abuse to police this summer, Hernandez came to the victim’s mother’s home to ask for forgiveness, the affidavit said. She told him to leave, the affidavit said.

His bail has been set at $220,000, and he has also been detained for immigration reasons, jail records show.

GA, Gwinnett County - 12/23/2011
Second Victim Claims Sexual Abuse by Former Youth Pastor

 

A second victim is accusing a former youth pastor and little league coach of sexual molestation stemming from incidents that occurred several years ago in Gwinnett County.

Gwinnett County police confirmed a second victim has come forward and accused a former youth pastor and little league coach of sexual molestation.

Stacy Lee Everett, 42, of Covington, is currently in the Walton County Jail facing several counts each of sexual battery, cruelty of children, false imprisonment and child molestation charges. Everett was charged in the summer following an investigation that began out of state. In that case, the victim was reported to have been 12 and living in the Loganville area at the time of the alleged incidents. Lt. Mike Westbrooks of the Loganville Police Department said additional charges also have been added in the case of that first victim, bringing them up to 17 counts in total.

Gwinnett County police have said they expect to file charges in connection with the second victim by next week. Westbrooks said she is reported to be an adult who lived in Gwinnett County and was under age at the time of the alleged molestation.

Everett's arrest stirred strong emotions on both sides of the issue. Although police say charges such as these are not filed without a thorough investigation first, people are urged to remember that an arrest does not constitute a conviction.

WA, Lacey - 12/21/2011
Lacey man pleads not guilty in child sex case

  Lacey man, who once served as an assistant high school football coach, church volunteer and YMCA youth program director, pleaded not guilty last week to child-sex crimes. Luis A. Rodriguez was charged in King County Superior Court with one count each of third-degree child molestation, second-degree child molestation and third-degree child rape. Judge Mary Roberts on Thursday ordered Rodriguez jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail. Prosecutors have charged Rodriguez with having sexual contact with two boys he met through Champions Centre church between 2007 and 2009. He is not charged with abusing anyone while at jobs with Cascade Christian High School or the YMCA.

NY, Queens - 12/15/2011
Norwalk, CT Minister to Serve 5 Years for Sex Crimes
- Update of 1/7/2010 article

 

A Norwalk minister was sentenced fo five years in prison at Queens Supreme Court for molesting a young relative. The Rev. Phillip Joubert, 50, was facing up to seven years in prison after he was convicted in November of five charges related to the abuse. “Pastor Joubert’s unwillingness to admit guilt or express contrition did not help his case,” said his attorney. “However, it was impossible to answer to the charge in any other way.”

Joubert, the founding pastor of New Light Missionary Baptist Church in Norwalk, was accused if sexually assaulting female relative on two occasions at his Queens, N.Y. home in the summer of 2009.

The rape allegations against Joubert came to light after a Nov. 14, 2009, child abuse incident at Joubert’s Norwalk Home, police said. During the incident, Joubert allegedly hit the female victim in the face and several times about the torso after he came home to find his Lexington Avenue apartment was messy, according to his arrest warrant affidavit.

While officers were interviewing the victim and her mother, the victim revealed that Joubert sexually abuse her at his residence in Queens, police said. Norwalk officers turned the rape investigation over the New York City Police Dept.

New York City Police arrested Joubert on Nov. 24, 2009, as he arrived at J.F.K. Airport after a trip to Israel. Joubert admitted to touching the victim’s breast and vagina during a videotaped interview with N.Y. City police, but the victim alleged that he physically assaulted her and forced her to have sex with him, court documents show.

New York, Brooklyn - 12/13/2011
Haredi sex abuse scandal revealed in NY

 

It happened for a very long time: Eighty-five men from Brooklyn's ultra-Orthodox community are suspected of sexually abusing more than 100 of the community's children and teenagers.

Many, including the victims' parents, allegedly knew about it but chose to keep silent – until one of the community organizations decided to reveal the horrible secret and went to the police.

The affair was reported by the New York Post on Sunday. The New York police are still unsure when the abuse began, but it clearly stretched over several years. Several years of suffering, trauma and perhaps the worst thing of all – a conspiracy of silence aimed at preventing humiliation and shame, all at the expense of the helpless children.

An initiative called Kol Tzedek (“voice of justice") decided to expose the dreadful acts, and as the months went by more and more men were arrested. The organization members located children who fell victim to the abuse and convinced them to complain. The case involves 117 victims – 89 of whom are under the age of 17. The number of arrests is expected to increase as the affair unfolds.

So far, 38 indictments have been filed and 14 of the detainees have already been sent to jail for up to 20 years for rape, sodomy and kidnapping. Another 24 suspects have been released on bail, and the rest are still being questioned.

According to the investigation, in some of the cases parents knew their children were being molested but gave in to community pressure and chose to remain silent.

'Victims were troubled kids' One of the suspects is Andrew Goodman, 27, who worked for Jewish social-service agencies and looks like a movie star. According to the New York Post, many members of Brooklyn’s Jewish community believe he is a monster.

Goodman was already arrested in 2010, but was released on bail. The price of his freedom appears to have been heavy: Since returning home, he hosted dozens of children and allegedly abused them during parties with liquor and child porn. Some of the kids were photographed by neighbors entering and leaving the apartment.

So far, authorities have charged him with sexually abusing two Orthodox boys for years in Flatbush — one from age 11 to 15, the other from age 13 to 16.

According to the 144-count indictment, which alleges numerous violations since 2006, Goodman filmed sex acts with the youngsters on a Web cam. Court papers and source say he also “threatened the life” of a boy who reported him to authorities. Andrew Goodman is known in our community as a lifelong molester who preys on young boys and ruins their lives,” a Talmudic scholar at Congregation Bais Torah wrote to Brooklyn Judge Martin Murphy, who is hearing the case, the New York Post reported.

Rabbi Shea Hecht, of the Hasidic Lubavitch group, accused Goodman on a Jewish radio show of "hunting" for prey. He said Goodman went to yeshiva playgrounds, once offering a reward for any boy who found his “lost glasses". Goodman also pressured boys to recruit others, the rabbi said.

Goodman is currently in detention and has pleaded not guilty. “These were not forceful — no one was held against their will," his lawyer said, adding that the alleged victims were “troubled kids who did not have a good home life.” He claimed that one boy ran away and Goodman “gave him a safe haven."

Wisconsin, Elkhorn - 12/7/2011
Judge drops case against former Walworth minister for failure to report

 

Joseph R. Fultz, 47, a former Walworth minister (now of Milton), is accused of having knowledge of sexual abuse occurring between children at his church and Faith Christian School and not reporting it to law enforcement. He was charged with five counts of failing to report child abuse or neglect.

All those charges were dismissed Monday morning because law enforcement didn't provide evidence that Fultz had contact with any of the children who were allegedly sexually assaulted by other children. Although the complaint failed to state that Fultz had direct contact with the children, it did report that he had several meetings with parents.

Judge Robert Kennedy said Fultz probably should have reported the incidents to authorities, but he didn't legally need to based on the evidence he reviewed.

According to the criminal complaint, six boys, who are now between the ages of 6 and 12, engaged in sexual contact with each other at Faith Christian School, The Abbey Resort and in a restroom at Grace Evangelical Church, where Fultz was a minister. In the case, no adults are suspected of having sexual contact with children.

Kennedy said there are several elements to crime that need to be proven. One of the elements is that the defendant is required to report the abuse. Parents and other adults aren't required to report suspected abuse, but the law requires certain professionals, doctors, police officers, teachers, school administrators and members of the clergy to report suspected abuse.

Kennedy also said Fultz should have had reasonable suspicion of abuse, because he met with parents regarding the incidents. However, Kennedy dropped the case because there was no evidence Fultz had direct contact with the children involved. "I don't see any facts in the complaint that the defendant saw these children in the course of his professional duty," Kennedy said.

According to the criminal complaint, Fultz told investigators he contacted the superintendent of the district church and another unidentified pastor to discuss the situation. He said after discussing the situation, it was agreed the "incident was nonreportable because of the ages of the children," according to the complaint narrative.

An investigating detective also reportedly reviewed a written report by Faith Christian Administrator Craig Skrede referring to a Jan. 7, 2010 meeting with parents about the incident at Faith Christian School. It was agreed that the school would make sure the assaults did not happen again.

GA, Atlanta - 12/7/2011
Pastor Announces Break from Church Amid Child Sexual Abuse Scandal

 

Bishop Eddie Long has announced that he is taking a break from the church – just days after his wife filed for divorce. In front of thousands of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church congregants, Long announced on Sunday that he will take time off in order to focus on his family.

The Atlanta megachurch pastor has been embroiled in a sexual misconduct case with four young men in the last year. Long has made headlines over the past year for a lawsuit filed against him by four young men – all of who used to attend his church – accusing the preacher of abusing his spiritual authority to lure them into a sexual relationship with him.

The case was settled out of court in late May, and the plaintiffs were paid a large sum of settlement money. Long reportedly paid a total of $15 million to the four plaintiffs and a fifth accuser, Maurice Robinson, who was not named in the lawsuit. But in late September, however, Long requested that three of the men – Jamal Parris, Spencer LeGrande and Centino Kemp – repay the settlement money because the men allegedly broke the confidentiality agreement when they spoke publicly about the case.

Eddie and Vanessa Long have been married for 21 years and have three children together.

Iowa, Humeston - 11/28/2011
Pastor Charged with Child Sexual Abuse 2nd Degree
(Daily Iowegan)

 

Pastor Lynn Allen Roberts, 67, of Derby, Iowa, was arrested on a warrant for Sexual Abuse in the 2nd degree, a class B felony. The charges stem from an ongoing investigation that was reported in February of 2011. Roberts was accused of sexually abusing a 9- year-old child on the property of the New Life Full Gospel Church in Humeston, Iowa. He is being held on bond.

California, Oceanside - 11/2/2011
Pastor arrested for alleged sex acts with preteen girl

 

A one-time Marine who founded an Oceanside church was behind bars Wednesday on suspicion of having a two-year sexual relationship with a preteen Riverside County girl. Matthias Anderson, 41, was arrested at the alleged victim's Murrieta home Tuesday morning and booked on suspicion of unlawful sex with a minor and lewd acts with a child under 14.

The girl and her mother are members of New Wine Ministries Church, which Anderson started in 2002 while stationed at Camp Pendleton, according to Murrieta police Sgt. Phil Gomez. Anderson has since retired from the military and become a full-time minister, the sergeant said. The alleged victim and her mother, whose names have not been released, came forward recently with accusations that the pastor had been molesting the girl since 2009, Gomez said.

"The sexual relationship ... occurred multiple times in both Riverside and San Diego counties," Gomez alleged.

Anderson, who lives in Hemet, allegedly would pick the girl up at her home and take her to another location to have sex with her, the sergeant said.

"Based on the investigation, detectives believe there is a possibility of additional victims in the Oceanside area," he said.

Anderson was being held in lieu of $1 million bail at Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta.

Texas, San Angelo - 8/4/2011
Polygamist Leader Found Guilty in Child-Rape Case

 

A jury on Thursday convicted polygamist church leader Warren Jeffs of sexually assaulting two girls he had taken as "spiritual wives." The jury returned its verdict after about 3 1/2 hours of deliberations. Jeffs stood stone-faced as the decision was read. The penalty phase of the trial was to immediately follow. Jeff faces a sentence of up to life in prison. During the trial, prosecutors used DNA evidence to show Jeffs, age 55, fathered a child with a 15-year-old girl and played an audio recording of what they said was him sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl. They also played audio recordings in which Jeffs was heard instructing young women on how to please him sexually.

Jeffs has repeatedly said that his freedom of religion protects his right to practice polygamy, which has been condemned by the Mormon church.

The self-proclaimed "prophet" and leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a banned offshoot of the Mormons that says men have to have three wives to be admitted into heaven, faces 119 years in prison if convicted on both charges. Jeffs had argued that his religious freedoms were being trampled. The FLDS, which has at least 10,000 members nationwide, is a radical offshoot of mainstream Mormonism. The church believes polygamy is the key to heaven and that Jeffs is God's spokesman on earth.

Eleven other FLDS men were charged with crimes including sexual assault and bigamy. All seven of those who have been prosecuted were convicted, receiving prison sentences of between six and 75 years.

PA, Pennsylvania - 7/19/2011
Philadelphia Archbishop Steps Down Amid Scandal

 

Archdiocese has been under fire over accusations it concealed sexual abuse of children. Cardinal Justin Rigali, whose leadership of the Philadelphia Roman Catholic archdiocese has been tainted by a continuing scandal over sexual misconduct by priests, is set to retire Tuesday. The archdiocese, the sixth largest in the United States with 1.5 million Catholics, has been under fire over accusations it concealed the sexual abuse of children by priests to avoid a costly scandal. The archdiocese website announced that Rigali, 76, is to be replaced by Archbishop Charles Chaput, 66, who has been archbishop in Denver since 1997.

The Catholic Church has been rocked by a series of sexual abuse cover-up scandals in both Europe and the United States in recent years. Rigali, archbishop in Philadelphia since 2003, has been struggling to contain the pedophilia scandal in the wake of a Philadelphia grand jury report issued at the beginning of this year. Three priests, a monsignor and a church teacher were indicted as a result of the report.

"We would have assumed," said the grand jury in a report, "by the year 2011, after all the revelations both here and around the world, that the church would not risk its youth by leaving them in the presence of priests subject to substantial evidence of abuse. That is not the case." The grand jury said that it found 37 such priests who have been kept in assignments that exposed them to children. Of that number, 21 were suspended after the report, and three more were placed on administrative leave.

PA, Philadelphia - 3/8/2011
21 Priests put on leave after review of suspected child sexual abuse
- Update of 2/10/2011 article

 

Twenty-one priests have been placed on administrative leave following a review of suspected child sexual abuse by members of the Catholic Church in Philadelphia, according to a statement from the city’s archbishop. The church investigated 37 priests identified in a grand jury report as remaining in “active ministry with credible allegations of child sexual abuse,” according to Cardinal Justin Rigali. In addition to the 21 announced, three other priests have already been placed on administrative leave after the report was released in February, Rigali said.

In February, three Philadelphia priests and a parochial school teacher were charged with raping and assaulting boys in their care, while a former official with the Philadelphia Archdiocese was accused of allowing the abusive priests to have access to children, the city’s DA’s office said.

CNN Senior Vatican Analysis John Allen said the charges against the former church official appeared to be unprecedented and could have national implications. “This is apparently the first time that a Catholic leader has been charged criminally for the cover-up, as opposed to the abuse itself,” he said. “It sends a shot across the bow for bishops and other diocesan officials in other parts of the country, who have to wonder now if they’ve got criminal exposure too.”

PA, Philadelphia - 2/10/2011
Philly Priests, Teacher Charged with Sexual Assault

 

Three priests–Edward Avery, Charles Engelhardt, and a Catholic school teacher, James Brennan, have been charged with raping and assaulting two young boys over the course of several years. A fifth man, Monsignor William Lynn, has been charged with child endangerment for allegedly allowing the abuse to continue. Monsignor Lynn was one of Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua’s top aides. The indictments were made by a grand jury, and it is believed to be the first time a high ranking Catholic official has been accused of being criminally accountable for covering up priest abuse. Advocates for abuse victims celebrated the indictments. “This news means that finally one of the hundreds of complicit Catholic officials who have hidden or are hiding clergy sex crimes might be brought to justice”, said Barbara Dorris, outreach director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

Florida, Orlando - 1/14/2011
Man accused of sex attacks on missionary kids in Africa

 

An Oviedo man with past ties to church missions in Africa was arrested by the FBI on child pornography charges. The arrest of Samuel Shamba Warlick, 39, comes three months after the Presbyterian Church (USA) published a report unrelated to the FBI case accusing Warlick of sexually abusing children at a housing facility for missionary families in the Congo in the late 1980's. The church’s report details inquiries into sexual abuse claims that occurred on 10 Presbyterian mission fields, spanning a 40-year period. He faces charges of possessing and distributing child pornography, and could be sentenced to 30 years in prison if convicted.

When agents searched his home, Warlick told them he has possessed child pornography for the past 10 years, and that he prefers boys who are between 13 and 16 years old. He also admitted to posing online as a 16-yr-old boy, with the goal of persuading boys to send him nude photos of themselves. The nearly 600-page report by the church said that Warlick had participated in activities or was employed by various Presbyterian churches in various states. The report also said that he had ties to a Boy Scout troop in Orlando. The church’s report details inquiries into sexual abuse claims that occurred on 10 Presbyterian mission fields, spanning a 40-year period. The report said Warlick abused children who were sleeping, and his victims were younger, smaller and less able to resist.

CA, Lodi - 12/13/2010
Former priest Oliver O'Grady arrested for child porn

 

Convicted pedophile priest Oliver O'Grady, who served at St. Anne's Catholic Church in the 1970s, was arrested on Friday on charges of possessing thousands of pictures of child pornography, according to the Dublin Times newspaper in Ireland and Catholic canon lawyer Patrick Wall.

O'Grady was arrested at his Dublin hostel just after 7 a.m. Ireland time, the Times reported. Authorities found child pornography photos on O'Grady's laptop and a hard drive, the newspaper reported.

O'Grady, 65, was released from custody on bail that amounts to 500 euro, the equivalent of about $750, Wall said on Sunday. He is next due in court on Friday.

Oliver O'Grady previously served seven years at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione after pleading guilty to four counts of sexual abuse with children under 14 in Calaveras County while he was a priest in San Andreas.

He served at St. Anne's in Lodi from 1971-78 and at parishes in Stockton, Turlock, Hughson and San Andreas from 1979 until his arrest in 1993.

O'Grady was paroled from Mule Creek in 2000 and deported to his native Ireland.

A documentary about O'Grady's life, called "Deliver Us From Evil," was released in 2006. Much of the movie involved interviews with Bob and Maria Jyono of Lodi, whose daughter was sexually abused by O'Grady. The film is available on DVD.

Since being deported to Ireland, O'Grady moved to Holland, where he volunteered at a parish and organized birthday parties at a McDonald's restaurant there, Wall said. He grew a beard and went by Brother Francis (Francis is his middle name), Wall added.

Authorities found videos and still photos of child pornography on his computer, with victims as young as the age of 2, Wall said. O

'Grady had applied for Dutch citizenship, but he returned to Ireland after someone saw him in "Deliver Us From Evil" in Holland and reported him to police, Wall said.

Southern California - 12/3/2010
Trusted Church Servant Living a Double Life

  Per America's Most Wanted:
According to U.S. Marshals, Frederick "Rick" McLean was a Ministerial Servant in the Jehovah's Witnesses and was utilizing his position of trust to commit sexual crimes against young girls, some no more than 5 years old. He was able to keep his crimes hidden for 25 to 30 years before finally being "outed" to the general public and expelled from the religion. Police say his victims were girls between 5 and 12. They were alerted to McLean's crimes after an 18-year-old woman reported past molestations by him to the police in May 2004. When he found out he was under investigation, he sold everything and vanished with the cash. He also left a treasure map of large amounts of cash he had been stashing around his property, which he would reveal in the event he was caught.

California, San Diego - 10/25/2010
San Diego Diocese Sex Abuse Cases: Lawyers Release 10,000 Unsealed Documents

 

After a three-year legal battle, nearly 10,000 pages of previously sealed Catholic church documents have been made public and showed that the Diocese of San Diego long knew about abusive priests, some of whom were shuffled from parish to parish despite credible complaints against them. Attorneys for 144 people claiming sex abuse made the papers public Oct. 24. The records are from the personnel files of 48 priests, who were either credibly accused or convicted of sexual abuse, or were named in a civil lawsuit. They include a decades-old case in which a priest under police investigation was allowed to leave the U.S. after the diocese intervened.

The plaintiffs settled with the diocese in 2007 for nearly $200 million, but the agreement stipulated that an independent judge would review the priest’s sealed personnel records and determine what could be made public.

At least one of the priests, Gustavo Benson, is still in active ministry in Ensenada, Mexico.

The release of records is the biggest so far in a U.S. church case, said Terry McKierman, founder of the website Bishop Accountability.org Lawyers for plaintiffs have been trying to get similar internal church documents from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for years, but have not had success. That diocese settled with more than 500 plaintiffs in 2007 for a record-breaking $660 million in a settlement agreement that also called for the disclosure of priests files. The only other release of church files in California came after a 2005 settlement between plaintiffs and the Diocese of Orange. About 4,000 pages were made public.

Scotland, Edinburgh - 9/16/2010
Victim's Message to Pope: Our Souls were murdered

 

A group of Americans from SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests) protested the Pope's visit by holding up photo posters of themselves as young children who had been abused by priests. One photo showed an 8-year-old girl in her first communion dress with the caption "Raped at Age 8". This woman, Therese Albrecht, said she was sexually abused by a priest from the age of 8 to 11, and also by a nun. Barbara Dorris, director of the SNAP, said that some of these children committed suicide as adults. She said that they want to see a worldwide register of priests who were "credibly accused predators", so parents could find out if their children were at risk. They also want the Pope to hand over internal church documents about sex abuse accusations to local police for investigation, and bishops who were complicit in the "cover-up" of sexual abuse to be disciplined.

Belgium, Brussels - 9/10/2010
13 Suicides linked to Priest Sex Abuse
- UPDATE of 4/24/2010 article

 

Hundreds of sex abuse victims have come forward in Belgium with harrowing accounts of molestation by Catholic clergy that reportedly led to at least 13 suicides and affected children as young as two, a special commission said Friday. It appears the church tried to cover up the abuses, as suggested by: the recent resignation of Belgian Bishop Roger Vangheluwe due to admitted sexual abuse, and over 500 witnesses coming forward with stories of molestation by clergy over the past decades. The chairman of the commission said most of the abuse occurred during the 60's and 70's.

Belgium, Brussels - 6/24/10
Belgian Catholic Church Offices Raided amid Sex Abuse Allegations

 

Police raided the home and office of the recently retired archbishop of Belgium, taking documents and a computer as part of an investigation into the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests. Police and prosecutors would not say if Daneels was suspected of abuse himself or simply had records pertaining to allegations against another person.

California, Rancho Bernardo - 5/12/10
Sex Abuse Lawsuit launched against church

 

A lawsuit was filed Monday against the Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church, alleging that 27-year-old Gregory Starkey sexually abused two teen choir members while he was employed by the church. The families say that when their 15-year-old daughters were sexually abused, instead of addressing the problem, the church looked the other way. The alleged misconduct dates back to 2004. The suit also alleges there was a history of other sexual predators at the church before Starkey, but the church did nothing to train their employees to prevent victims in the future, and even failed to report the earlier allegations to the authorities.

Africa, Sierra Leone - 5/9/10
Catholics sent predator priest to remote village

 

A 40-year-old schoolteacher has charged that the Rev. James Tully, a Catholic priest, abused him and other boys repeatedly during his first stint in Sierra Leone, from 1979 to 1985. While back in the U.S., a seminarian, William Nash, accused Tully of abusing him, and received an out-of-court settlement, though Tully did not admit to any wrongdoing. After a conviction in the U.S. for giving minors alcohol and groping them, the church sent Tully back to Sierra Leone for a second stint from 1994 to 1998. Tully’s religious order finally laicized him in Feb. 2009, after Nash went on a mission to have him defrocked. The schoolteacher said that if victims of sexual abuse by priests were assured they would not be punished for telling the truth, "you would see many, many, many people coming forward."

Canada, Ottawa - 4/29/2010
Ottawa Pedophile Arrest: The Church of England

 

A choirmaster in the Anglican Church of Canada has been re-arrested in Kingston, Ontario for allegedly assaulting a boy between 1980 and 1982. John Galienne, 65, of Ottawa had previously pleaded guilty in 1990 to 20 sex crimes against 13 choirboys form the church. Two of his victims later committed suicide. He served 4 years in prison. He had been banned from serving in a leadership position in the church, but was eventually allowed to participate in the church music program under a "tightened leash".

Brazil - 4/29/10
Brazilian Priest on Pedophilia Charge

 

Brazilian authorities overnight charged a 74-year old Catholic priest with pedophilia after eight children in his church choir accused him of sexual abuse. Father Jose Afonso De is being prosecuted for allegedly assaulting children aged 12 to 16. He has denied the allegations but has been suspended by his diocese. The choir children said the priest invited them into his home on the pretext of Bible studies, but once inside he forced them to kiss him on the mouth and touch his genitals.

Belgium, Brussels - 4/24/10
Belgian Bishop, 73, Admits Molesting Young Boy Decades Ago, Resigns Post

 

Belgium's longest serving bishop, Roger Vangheluwe, 73, resigned after admitting he sexually abused a young boy both as a priest and after becoming a bishop in 1984. His resignation stands out because, while several bishops have resigned amid the abuse scandal, they did so under the weight of accusations that they shielded pedophiles in their roles, not because they themselves abused children.

Vatican City - 4/23/10
Irish, German Bishops Jobs on Line in Sex-abuse Scandal

 

Heads are starting to roll in the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal. Bishop James Moriarty of Kildare, Ireland is the third Irish bishop to step down since December. Two more Irish bishops have offered to resign, and the pope is expected to agree. There are also mounting calls for the country's top prelate, Cardinal Sean Brady, to leave because of his handling of the case of a notorious child rapist.

The German prelate, Bishop Walter Mixa of Augsburg, was accused of hitting children decades ago when he was a priest, as well as financial irregularities at a Catholic orphanage where he served. The most prominent resignation to date in the U.S. was that of Cardinal Bernard Law as Boston archbishop, who stepped down after the U.S. scandal exploded in 2002.

California, Oakland - 4/10/10
Future pope wouldn’t defrock molester priest

 

Newly public documents appear to show that the Vatican office headed by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, did not act on requests by the Oakland Diocese to defrock a priest, Rev. Stephen Kiesle, who had already been sentenced to probation (in 1978) for tying up and molesting young boys. A letter from then-Cardinal Ratzinger expressed his concern about provoking "some scandal among the faithful". Kiesle was 38 at the time. He remained a priest until 1987. Kiesle, now 63 and a registered sex offender, lives in a Walnut Creek gated community, according to his address listed on the Megan’s Law sex registry.

Mexico City, Mexico - 3/28/10
Catholic Order Repudiates its Pedophile Founder

 

The Legion of Christ, a Catholic religious order whose late founder, Marcial Maciel, was revealed to have molested many young seminarians, formally apologized to his victims Friday. After years of defending him, the Legion fully repudiated Maciel, who died in 2008 at age 87. Maciel had a close relationship with the late Pope John Paul II, who praised the Legion of Christ for its orthodox doctrine. The Legion raised millions of dollars and built schools across Latin America. In 1997, nine former Legion seminarians went public about the abuse, and in 1998 filed a formal accusation with the Vatican entity investigating such charges. The entity was headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict. Before taking action against Maciel in 2006, Ratzinger tabled the accusations against him for years, Maciel’s accusers said.

Vatican City - 3/26/10
Pope Defended in Wisconsin Sex Abuse Case

 

The Vatican yesterday strongly defended its decision not to defrock an American priest accused of molesting some 200 deaf boys in Wisconsin and denounced what it called a campaign to smear Pope Benedict XVI and his aides. Church and Vatican documents showed that in the mid-1990's, two Wisconsin bishops urged the Vatican office led by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger- now the Pope - to let them hold a church trial against the Rev. Lawrence Murphy. The bishop admitted that the trial was coming years after the alleged abuse, but argued that deaf community in Milwaukee was damanding justice from the church.

Germany, Berlin - 3/13/10
Pope’s Former Diocese Involved in Scandal

 

A widening child sexual abuse inquiry in Europe has landed at the doorstep of Pope Benedict XVI, as a senior church official acknowledged yesterday that a German archdiocese made "serious mistakes" in handing an abuse case wile the pope served as its archbishop. The archdiocese said that a priest accused of molesting boys was given therapy in 1980 and later allowed to resume pastoral duties, after which he committed further abuses and was prosecuted. Pope Benedict, who at the time headed the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, approved the priest's transfer for therapy. A subordinate took full responsibility for allowing the priest to later resume pastoral work, the archdiocese said in a statement. In the Munich case, a priest from Essen, "despite allegations of sexual abuse, and in spite of a conviction - was repeatedly assigned work in the sphere of pastoral care by the then-Vicar-General Gerhard Gruber," who worked under Benedict when he was the archbishop from 1977 to 1982.

Connecticut, Norwalk - 1/7/2010
Minister Arrested for Rape

 

In November Rev. Phillip Joubert, pastor of Community Baptist Church in Bayside, was arrested on charges of raping a 13-yr.-old relative, possibly his daughter. Joubert has pleaded not guilty. On New Year’s Eve, charges of assault were added in Norwalk, CT, where the Reverend maintains another residence and pastors another church; it is claimed he punched a young girl several times. It is not yet known whether this girl is the same one he is charged with raping.

Ireland, Dublin - 11/27/09
Probe links church and child abuse

 

Roman Catholic Church leaders in Dublin spent decades sheltering child-abusing priests from the law and most fellow clerics turned a blind eye, an investigation ordered by Ireland's government concluded yesterday. Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, who handed over more than 60,000 previously secret church files to the 3-year investigation, said he felt deep shame and sorrow for how previous archbishops presided over endemic child abuse - yet claimed afterward not to understand the gravity of their sins. Yesterday's 720-page report focused on why church leaders in the Dublin Archdiocese - home to a quarter of Ireland's 4 million Catholics - did not tell police about a single abuse complaint against priests until 1995. By then, the investigators found, successive archbishops and their senior deputies–among them qualified lawyers–had compiled confidential files on more than 100 parish priests who had sexually abused children since 1940. Those files had remained locked in the Dublin archbishop’s private vault.

Arkansas, Texarkana - 7/25/2009
Preacher guilty for taking minors across lines for sex

 

Tony Alamo, 74, a one-time street preacher who built
a multi-million-dollar ministry and became an outfitter
of the stars, was convicted of taking girls as young as 9
across state lines for sex. His five victims, now age 17 to 33,
were in court and told jurors that Alamo "married" them in
private ceremonies while they were minors. Prosecutors said
Alamo could face a total of 175 years in prison over violating
the nearly century-old Mann Act, a morality law once aimed
at stopping women from being sold into prostitution.

Roanoke, VA   7/7/2009 – Update of 5/2009 article
Former church Pastor sentenced on sex charges

 

Former assistant church pastor, Daniel Silverman,  pleaded no contest to sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl. A Roanoke circuit court Judge, James Swanson, has given Silverman a sentence of 18 months in prison for the abuse of the girl.

MASS., Salem,  Aug 2001 – Update of 6/22/2000 article

 

Christopher Reardon, 29, a former church worker, YMCA
instructor, and scout leader, who raped and molested boys,
pleaded guilty to 75 counts, including rape, indecent assault
and battery on a child, and disseminating pornography.  He
has been sentenced to a minimum of 40 years in prison.

London-5/21/2009
Irish clergy routinely abused kids in state care

 

Thousands of children were physically and sexually abused by priests and nuns at orphanages and reform schools in Ireland from 1930 to 1990. A nine-year investigation took place which produced a 2,600 page report showing the terrible trend of sex abuse, rape, and frequent assaults to make kids feel worthless. For decades, Ireland educated tens of thousands of orphans and other children ages 5 to 16. These children came from all walks of life, including some with disabilities, others born to unwed mothers, or some with history in petty crimes and truancy. This was a government project that was run by the Roman Catholic church in the Dublin area. The worst part, aside from the abuse is the fact that the "commission said documents found at the Vatican showed that religious orders knew of the numerous abuse complaints but covered them up."

Roanoke-Virginia-5/2009
Former church leaders plead  in sex crimes

 

Two men who held leadership positions in the same Heritage Baptist church are facing time in prison . Dean Harold Stone, a former deacon at the church, pleaded guilty in Franklin County Circuit Court to 12 sex crimes. Stone, 45, admitted to molesting three girls between 2006 and 2008. Two of the girls were 13 or younger, and the third was between the age of 14 and 16. Stone pleaded guilty to three counts of animate object penetration and nine counts of aggravated sexual battery. Stone faces up to 20 years in prison. The second man, Daniel Silverman, was the former pastor at Heritage Baptist church. Silverman, 43, pleaded no contest to touching a 12-year-old girl, sometime between July and August. He is awaiting trial.  

California-Stockton-4/12/2009
Sunday school teacher faces Murder, Rape charges

 

Melissa Huckaby, 28, is the granddaughter of Clifford Lane Lawless; a pastor at Clover road Baptist Church in Tracy City. Huckaby has been living with her grandparents and working in the church as a Sunday school teacher. Huckaby, since getting divorced, has been bouncing back and forth from Orange County to the small city of Tracy. Tracy city is home to 78,000 people and 60 miles east of San Francisco. Huckaby is the main suspect in a brutal murder, rape case involving a Sandra Cantu, who was an 8-year-old neighbor girl. Sandra disappeared March 27, 09 and was found April 6, 09 in a suitcase which is confirmed to be Huckaby's. Her prior involvement with the law was back in 2006 for a property theft conviction, for which she spent time in the Los Angeles county jail. Melissa Huckaby was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and killing Sandra Cantu. She is the only suspect and faces a total charge of murder, rape with a foreign object, lewd or lascivious conduct with a child younger than 14, and murder in the course of kidnapping. She is being held at San Joaquin County Jail without bail.

Alabama-Mobile-1/27/2009
Ex-Mobile Pastor Marshall Seymour pleads guilty in Florida molestation case

 

Marshall Seymour, a youth Pastor at Parkway Assembly of God church in Mobile, is facing up to 65 years in prison. This isn't the first time Seymour has found himself facing child molestation charges. Seymour is being charged with five felony charges that were brought against him in a Florida child molestation case, which involved a Baptist church in Lakeland. Seymour is being accused of molesting a boy back in 2002, at Rain High School. The boy claims that Seymour molested him nine times. A Biloxi pastor has come forward with claims that Seymour quit his job as a youth minister in Biloxi after being caught giving a teenage boy a massage. Seymour had been engaged with the boy sexually in the church parking lot and at the ministers home. These are only a few cases against Marshall Seymour.

Idaho,Bannock County 2/21/2008
Boy scout leader and Mormon youth group leader accused of abusing a boy in Idaho and Oregon.

  This suit was filed in Malheur County. The boy scouts of America and the Mormon church are being sued for $ 5 million. The charges are being brought forth against Larren Arnold, who is a boy scout leader and Mormon youth group leader. He is accused of abusing a boy in Idaho and Oregon between 1967 & 1970. Arnold was convicted in Bannock County, Idaho in 1985 of felony child abuse, which is not related to the current charges. There are at least six more, who are seeking $28 million. A group of brothers have come forth and are targeting the Mormon church as well.

California, Pt. Loma - 3/11/2005
Ex-Pt. Loma Pastor in child porn case is given probation

 

Rev. Gary Holtey, 59, former pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church and Academy, was granted probation yesterday after pleading guilty in February to 10 misdemeanor counts of possession of child pornography. One of the conditions of his probation requires that he complete a year-long offender program. He went on leave from St. Charles shortly after federal agents and San Diego police raided his parish office May 6. A spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego said Holtey has been permanently removed from the ministry. Holtey is one of more than 100 people in San Diego and Imperial counties linked to child-porn sites through credit card transactions in an international investigation. Another condition of his probation required him to register as a sex offender wherever he lives.

Nationwide-1/12/2003
Sex abuse by priests found to be rampant

 

The sex-abuse crisis that engulfed the Roman Catholic Church during the past 12 months has spread to nearly every American diocese and involves more than 1,200 priests. These priests are known to have abused more than 4,000 minors over the past six decades. According to the extensive New York Times survey, it counted 4,268 people who claim publicly or in lawsuits to have been abused by priests. Every region was seriously affected with, 206 accused priest's in the West, 246 in the South, 335 in the Midwest and 434 in the Northeast. ( Some priests were counted more than once if they abused in more than one region.) The survey also showed that 1.8 percent of all priests ordained from 1950 to 2001 had been accused of abuse, Research indicates that the extent of the problem remains hidden.

Massachusetts, Boston - 5/19/2002
Priest depicted as protector was a predator

 

The Rev. Paul R. Shanley made his reputation as a Boston "street priest" in the 1960's and 70's, a crusader for runaways and drifters, drug addicts, and teenagers struggling with questions about their sexual identity. Shanley didn't just have sex with children; he publicly endorsed the concept. Over the years he had been accused of numerous sexual allegations, and church officials, aware of this, rather than report him to police or defrock him, reassigned him to various dioceses. In May 2002, Shanley was arrested in San Diego, where he had been living, and returned to Massachusetts to face 10 counts of child rape and six counts of indecent assault and battery. He was removed as a priest by Pope John Paul II and served jail time. More than 40 alleged victims have now claimed abuse.

In 2005 he was found guilty of the aforementioned charges and sentenced to 12-15 years in jail.

California, Imperial County - 3/3/2002
Calipatria church told of alleged priest abuse

  Parishioners of St. Patrick's Catholic Church were told that a deceased priest molested several minors during his 27-year tenure. In a letter distributed during services, San Diego Bishop Robert Brom, said his investigation found that the Rev. Robert S. Koerner "sexually abused children throughout the years of his pastorate at St. Patrick's, from 1963 to 1990".

Florida 6/26/2001
An associate pastor molesting a young girl and possibly fathering her child

  An associate pastor is behind bars, accused of molesting a young girl and possibly fathering her child. Police say that Rev. Lyndon Howell, who served at the Community Missionary Baptist Church, befriended the victim's family when she was 11 years old. For the next four years, police believe that howell had sex with her. He faces several charges and is being held without bond at the County Jail.

California-Solana Beach- 6/16/2001
Ex-pastor in Solana Beach suspected of molesting 2 boys

 

Micheal Skoor, 54, formerly the senior pastor at Calvary Lutheran Church is suspected of molesting a 12-year-old boy he was counseling over the course of several months. He also is suspected of molesting the boys 9-year-old brother.

California - Los Angeles - 3/15/2001
Volunteer church youth choir assistant charged with 9 felony counts child molestation.

  Ray Love 35, has been charged with 9 felony counts of child molestation. Love molested 3 children he met while volunteering as a church youth choir assistant. Love has been a registered sex offender since 1998. He was convicted for having child porn. In addition to his volunteering with the church, he was a band leader, hockey coach, and involved in working with youth in the L.A. area. Love targeted boys around 12 through 16. He would gain there trust, and have them over to his house. Times

California - Oakland - 2/15/2001
Church deacon gives Bible class student pain medicine, then molests

 

Jeffrey Todd Fines 39, was a deacon at EAST OAKLAND CHURCH. He was charged with molesting a 15 – year – old Bible class student. Investigators suspect additional victims. Fines gave the boy a prescription pain medication that made him groggy. Fines then touched the boy and had the boy fondle him. Connecticut Post

California-San Diego-9/26/2000
Scripps Ranch pastor denies charges
of molesting boy

 

Richard Elliott, 31, a music pastor and associate pastor at Community Bible church in Scripps Ranch, is charged with molesting a boy. Elliott has been charged with molesting a boy on three different occasions. Elliott has pleaded guilty to three counts of molesting a child under the age of 14 and faces a 12-year prison sentence.

Massachusetts-Middleton 6/22/2000
Catholic youth worker, summer camp counselor and boy scout volunteer charged with raping 3 boys

 

Christopher Reardon, 28, served as a Catholic youth worker, summer camp counselor and boy scout volunteer. Reardon was originally charged with raping 3 boy’s, but after authorities looked into his computer they found a list of 250 boys. They found additional tapes and a hidden camera in the church where Reardon was a youth coordinator. CNN

Florida-Apopka 12/4/1999
A minister molested third graders at his church school

  A minister who molested third – graders at his church school couldn't promise that he wouldn't molest again. He received 7 years in prison, and 10 years of probation. David Joe Rich, 55, was the former pastor of Springs Community Baptist Church. Rich had also plead guilty to molesting 2 girls and trying to molest a third during the 1995 – 96 school  year. He fondled the girls, ages 8 and 9 at his desk while other students were in the classroom. A/P

Louisiana,Baton Rouge 10/28/1999
Rev. Alfred Prellop, 61, was arrested after allegedly soliciting sex from an undercover sheriff deputy

  Rev. Alfred Prellop, 61, was arrested after allegedly soliciting sex from an undercover sheriff deputy. Prellop was a minister at Trinity Lutheran Church for 28 years.

Texas - Johnson City - 10/27/1999
Two, a monk and a spiritual leader, charged with indecency with children.

  Jonathan I. Hitt 38, known as Fr. Jeremiah, was convicted on 8 counts of indecency with a child. Hitt was a monk in east Texas. CHRIST OF THE HILLS MONASTERY. Sam A. Greene Jr., a spiritual leader at the monastery has also been charged with indecency with a child. Hitt faces up to 20 years in prison, and a fine of $10,000 Greene has yet to go to trial. A/P

Florida - Tampa - 10/23/1999
Pastor’s daughter turns him in to authorities after finding sex tape showing child being molested.

  Lawrence Kilbourn, 43, was arrested four days after resigning from a pastors position at FOREST HILLS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH. Kilbourn had resigned due to a "sexual addiction". Kilbourns 17 – year – old daughter turned her father into authorities, after finding a sex tape. The tape was homemade and showed a child being molested. More than 200 videotapes and 15,000 computer files were seized from Kilbourns church owned home. A/P

New Jersey - Bergen - 8/14/1999
Salvation Army minister required to register as a sex offender

  Philip Bently 33, was convicted by a jury on counts of child endangerment, criminal sexual contact and lewdness for masturbating in front of 3 young boys. Bently was a minister for the Salvation Army. He spent 180 days in county jail, got 5 years probation and is required to register as a sex offender. Bergen Record

Missouri, Kansas City 10/28/1998
Rev. Gregory Robertson, 40, has been charged with rape and other sexual offenses involving 3 teenage girls.

  Rev. Gregory Robertson, 40, has been charged with rape and other sexual offenses involving 3 teenage girls. He was participating in a school program to counsel troubled youth. Robertson had convinced parents to allow there children to move into his home temporarily to "give them guidance" he said. Robertson has pleaded innocent to charges of, statutory rape, 2 counts of statutory sodomy, attempted statutory sodomy and 4 counts of sexual misconduct. A/P

California-Fallbrook 8/29/1998
Six Year Term Given in Child Molestation

 

Richard T. Quinn, 25, was the roommate and friend of Mark E. Davis, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Both men were found guilty for molesting children they had been baby sitting. Quinn was found guilty and is serving a 6 year prison term. Quinn and Davis were baby sitters for their local Baptist Church in Fallbrook.

California-Fallbrook 7/28/1998
Fallbrook baby sitter faces molestation charges

 

Mark Ethan Davis, 30, a baby sitter at a local Baptist Church has been arrested and charged with 17 counts of child molestation. The victims two boys and three girls range in age from 2 to 12. If convicted on all 17 counts Davis will face a 136 year prison sentence.

Utah-Salt Lake City -11/26/1996
Mormon spokesman guilty of molesting girl

 

Lloyed Gerald Pond, 51, a spokesman for the Mormon Church has pleaded guilty to molesting a 14-year-old girl. Pond is facing up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Pond has been charged with two counts of forcible sodomy.

Utah-Salt-Lake-City- 11/26/1996
Mormon Sex Scandals

 

The Mormon Church in Salt Lake City, Utah has again covered up for there own. A lawsuit of $750 million has been brought forth against the Mormon church leaders. James Adams had told at least three leaders in 1989 that he abused his daughter, then 4 and son, then 8. The Mormon church did not contact authorities, which led to 5 more years of frequent and sadistic abuse. If  the authorities had been contacted, these children could have spared five years of abuse. Adams continued to abuse children until police found a 55-minute video made of his molestations. Adams pleaded guilty to 37 counts of child sexual abuse and was sentenced to 75 years in prison.

Florida-Miami 2/5/1996
WAYSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH was hit with a $4.2 million judgment for negligence in hiring a youth minister who sexually molested nearly a dozen teenage boys.

  WAYSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH was hit with a $4.2 million judgment for negligence in hiring a youth minister who sexually molested nearly a dozen teenage boys. Keith Geren, 32, confessed in 1989 to molesting about 10 boys at the church, pled guilty to 8 counts of lewd assault and 1 count of sexual battery and is serving a 15 – year sentence in state prison. Only one of the victims would bring charges against Geren and also go after Wayside church and pastor. Daniel Artis is suing for negligently hiring and supervising Geren, since Geren admitted to urges of molesting boys to another Baptist church youth minister before being hired by Wayside. Before hiring Geren, there was no formal application process, no background check and no reference checks. Geren would have sleep-overs, where he would abuse several of the youth.

Categories of Child Sexual Abuse Cases (click on the links below to read cases.)

 
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