General discussions - The priests abuse scandal...

WORCESTER, MA. A former pastor Andrew J. Bierkan, 54, at the First Congregational Church of Sutton who now heads a church in Ohio has been indicted here on charges of unnatural rape of a child and posing a child in a state of nudity. He is now pastor of St. Paul United Church of Christ in Cincinnati, according to Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte. (Worcester Telegram & Gazette, August 13, 2003)
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/bierkan1.htm - - Church Worker, Coach Enters Plea In Sex Abuse Case
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/mayberry2.htm - - Child molester pleads guilty

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Visalia, CA -- A 38-year-old Visalia man who was a leader in a local Jehovah's Witness congregation may face up to 16 years in prison on charges of sexually molesting a 12-year-old congregation member. Louis Anguiano served until last year as an elder at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses at 5310 Caldwell Ave. He is accused of continuous sexual abuse, over a two-year period, of a girl who attended the same congregation. (The Fresno Bee, January 30, 2003)
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/anguiano1.htm - - Minister charged with child rape

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Long Island, NY. James Taylor, also known as Bishop J. Andre Taylor among his Provision of Promise Pentecostal Church congregation, was charged with second-degree sodomy and second-degree sexual abuse. (Newsday, December 24, 2002)
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/taylor1.htm - - Youth pastor charged with criminal sexual conduct with a minor

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Teenager Terry Eads, a church youth pastor of Evergreen Alliance Church, was sentenced to prison for raping a 4-year-old boy; and another church pastor, Eads, 18, hung his head through the sentencing hearing before District Judge Stewart Stadler as his 6-year-old victim's parents testified about the damage Eads wreaked. Said the boy's father, Eads "raped my son with me in the house. He raped my son in our church" probably 40 times, the tearful father said. "He should go to prison for a minimum of 15 years." The abuse lasted for two years, from 2000-02 when Eads was 15-17 years old and the boy was 4-6. (Nov. 22, 2002, Daily Interlake)
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/eads1.htm - - pastor in court on sex crimes
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/toavs2.htm - - Youth Minister Sentenced To Jail For Abusing Young Boys

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Tagbilaran, Philipines. A HIGH school sophomore has formally accused a pastor of sexually molesting him repeatedly since July 6 this year. The 16-year-old boy, a native of Jagoliao island,Getafe town identified the suspect only as one Pastor Jun de Jesus of the New Tribes Mission in Tagbilaran City. (The Bohol Times, November 11 - 17, 2002)
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/Jun%20de%20Jesus1.htm - - Accused Minister hired by another Church

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Sacramento, CA. A 48-year-old man was convicted Wednesday in Sacramento Superior Court of bigamy, spousal abuse and molesting a daughter of one of three women he was living with.The prosecution said that Gonzalez told people he was a bishop with the Mormon Church and was later excommunicated when the church learned of his multiple wives, but that was never substantiated. He later formed his own church, calling it Jesus Christ of the United World Order, Cochrane said. (Sacramento Bee, July 11, 2002)
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/Gonzalez1.htm - - Victim Sues LDS Church, Sex Abuser

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ST. PAUL, Minn. Two Minnesota women who say they were sexually abused by a Jehovah's Witness filed a lawsuit Tuesday against him, their congregation and the church's parent organization in New York. (July 2, 2002, St. Paul Pioneer Press)
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/Lindala1.htm - - http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/living/religion/3592576.htm

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LDS Bishop Luis Gonzales has been charged with 20 counts of child molestation, battery, rape, bigamy, stalking, and fraud. The victim, alias Tammy Doe alleges, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has been fully aware of this man 's illegal activities since 1998 and failed to do anything until the child molestation became public." The trial is being held in the Sacramento County Court House, Department 26 located on H Street. Nancy Cachrane is the Deputy District Attorney for Sacramento County, and is prosecuting this case against Luis Gonzales. (Tapestry Against Polygamy, July 2002)

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Baton Rouge, LA. A Baker minister accused of molesting four children is being sought after failing to surrender to East Baton Rouge sheriff's officials Thursday. Benny McFarland, 41, 9240 Pettit Road, Baker, may be "holed up," Sheriff's Col. Mike Barnett said. "He's very aware of the indictment," Barnett said. "We'd like to get him in custody." The indictment accuses McFarland of performing sex acts with four children from 1990 through 1998. The children ranged in age from 8 to 16. Prosecutor Kim Brooks said McFarland initially met the children while working as a minister at Hightime Evangelistic Center in Baker. He was arrested in 2000 after he was accused of improperly touching a boy in his church office between 1993 and 1999. (The Baton Rouge Advocate News, 06/14/02)
http://www.progarchives.com/forum/mcfarland1.htm - - PASTOR ADMITS TO MOLESTATION

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COURT OF APPEALS MORROW COUNTY, OHIO upheld district court conviction of youth minister Timothy L. Cook of Mt. Gilead Church of Christ as a "sexual predator." (Court opinion, May 16, 2002)
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/cook1.htm - - Cult Leader Ignored His Own Rules
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/york2.htm - - Jehovah's Witnesses expel parents of alleged abuse victim
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/05/11/jehovahs.witnesses.ap/index.html - - Local Minister Arrested for Sex Abuse

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RAPID CITY, SD. The Rev. James A. Forsythe, a Protestant minister in South Dakota, has not registered as a sex offender as required by law. Forsythe, 47, pleaded guilty in 1989 to attempted indecent liberties with a child. A Johnson County district judge said Forsythe was a pedophile and ordered him to have no contact with teen-age boys - a restriction the judge later lifted. SForsythe, who told The Kansas City Star on Friday that he did not know he needed to register in South Dakota, pleaded guilty Dec. 8, 1989, to attempting indecent liberties with a child. Since January 2000, Forsythe has been minister of the Metropolitan Community Church of the Black Hills in Rapid City, S.D. The church is part of a growing denomination that serves predominantly gay and lesbian worshippers. Forsythe said he had remorse for what happened in Kansas, but that he did not pose a threat to teen-agers today. Church officials said that they were aware of Forsythe's past and that there had been no allegations of sexual misconuct against him since he joined the denomination. When he was appointed here, we were told by the district liaison," said Charles White, a lay delegate at the Rapid City church. "We've talked about it, but it's behind him now. He's a wonderful pastor. He made a mistake. It's all done and over." Even so, Forsythe said he had never told the whole congregation, which numbers about 12, of his past. (5/5/2002, AP)
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/3203505.htm - - Protestant Minister unregistered as sex offender in South Dakota

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Robert Leroy Tolle, 65, minister, was indicted by an Orange County grand jury on charges of raping his daughter and stepdaughter between 1965 and 1970. A trial date is pending. Police ignored repeated admonitions over a period of 10 years by sisters to bring charges. Tolle has been convicted of lewd-behavior charges involving adult women in Utah. (NewsChief, February 19, 2002)
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/tolle1.htm - - lawsuit allege converup by Jehovah's Witnesses

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RUSSELLVILLE, AL. A minister already charged in two rapes of young girls has been accused in another sexual abuse case involving one of the rape victims at age 4. Russellville Police Lt. William Nale said the additional first-degree sexual abuse warrant was issued Thursday against John L. "Bill" Anderson, 61, of Carbon Hill. Anderson already faces first-degree sexual abuse charges in Russellville as well as first-degree rape charges in Texarkana, Ark. He's being held in the Franklin County Jail on $150,000 bail. The rape victims were ages 9 and 7. (Montgomery Advertiser, Jan. 19, 2002)

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ALEXANDER Trevor John, 40 Melbourne Wesley College singing teacher. Receives 4 year and 6 month jail sentence in Melbourne County Court after being convicted on 10 charges of indecent assault, including sexual penetration, against schoolgirl, aged 14, between 1996 and 1997 while teacher at Wesley College Glen Waverley campus, in Melbourne's southeast. Court hears Alexander, of Ashwood, seduced victim at his East Brighton home after suggesting it was better for victim to lose virginity with experienced older man. Court told Alexander abused victim during threesome involving wife Elspeth McKENZIE who also taught at Wesley. Both Alexander and McKenzie classified by judge as serious sexual offenders. (Victoria, Australia, 2002).

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DOBBS Geoffrey Robert, 48 QLD Sunday school teacher, church youth leader and "highly regarded" church member. Pleads guilty in QLD District Court to 116 charges, including indecent dealing and recording indecent visual images, involving 62 girls, aged 1 to 15, between 1972 and 1999. QLD Attorney-General labels Dobbs state's worst pedophile. Left QLD in 1998 for VIC where he was arrested in Melbourne in 1999 after leaving video camera containing pornographic footage for repairs at video shop. In 2000, Dobbs receives 2 year and 6 month jail sentence in Melbourne County Court after pleading guilty to 8 sex charges, including 5 counts of performing indecent act, 1 of committing unlawful sexual intercourse, 1 of making child pornography and 1 of possessing child pornography, involving children as young as 6 months. Police allege Dobbs committed more than 300 sex offences against 100s of children over 30 year period. Court hears during 1999 raid of offender's home, police found 177 video tapes containi ng 500 hours of recordings of Dobbs' abuse of juvenile girls. Court told Dobbs "true predator" who preyed on children he met at Sunday schools or youth camps. (Queensland, Australia, 2002).

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DUNNE James Paul, 46 Melbourne Seventh Day Adventist primary school teacher. Receives maximum 7 year and 2 month jail sentence in Melbourne County Court after pleading guilty to 30 counts of indecent assault and 1 of sexual penetration against boy, aged 11 to 14, over 3 year period between 1984 and 1987 while teacher at Nunawading Seventh Day Adventist primary school, in Melbourne's east, where abuse occurred. Court hears Dunne, of Lilydale, used his religion to control boy and often prayed with him after abusing him "probably hundreds of times". Report reveals church tried to buy victim's silence with bribe of $125,000.(Victoria, Australia, 2002).

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FLORIS Adrian Cornelius, 56 Melbourne Harvest Christian Church property manager and pastor's husband. Receives 2 year and 11 month jail sentence in VIC County Court after pleading guilty to 8 child sex charges, including sexual penetration and indecent assault, against male foster child, aged 13, in 1998 while property manager of Harvest Christian Church, Dingley, in Melbourne's south. Court hears Floris, of Mornington, assaulted boy in spa on Christmas Day and later told him abuse was "our little secret". In 1994, Floris received $2000 fine after pleading guilty to assaulting teenage girl. 2002 report describes Floris as "God-fearing". (Victoria, Australia, 2002).

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JACKSON George Arthur, 65 Ipswich Uniting Church elder and Sunday school teacher. Receives 4 year suspended jail sentence in Ipswich District Court after pleading guilty to 14 charges of indecent dealing against girl, aged 8, over 8 year period between 1979 and 1987. Court hears defendant had been victim's Sunday school teacher and molestation had progressed from touching to showing child pornographic movies and sexual contact. (Queensland, Australia, 2002).

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SMITH Raymond Colin, 40 Newcastle Mercy Ships Christian charity voluntary youth worker. Pleads guilty in Newcastle District Court to molesting 2 girls, aged 6, in 1999 while working with Mercy Ships Ministry Of Youth With A Mission Christian charity in Manila, Philippines. Court hears Smith lured girls into room where he photographed their genitals and sexually assaulted them. In 1997, Smith received 18 month suspended jail sentence and 3 year probation in Brisbane court on pornography and indecent dealing charges involving girls as young as four. Court told Smith committed latest offences while on probation for earlier convictions. In 2002, Smith also ordered to appear in Newcastle District Court to face charges of possessing more than 2700 images of child pornography found during raid by Australian Federal Police at his parents' home at Newcastle, north of Sydney. (New South Wales, Australia, 2002).

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Tulsa County, OK. An award-winning Christian musician was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday for having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl. Ja'Marc Davis pleaded guilty last month to three felony sex offenses, including rape by instrumentation, lewd molestation and sodomy. Prosecutors dismissed seven charges as part of a plea deal.(Tulsa World, 12/19/2001)
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/davis1.htm - - Former pastor sentenced for sex with stepdaughter

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MANHATTAN, KS. -- A judge ruled Thursday that a man who was allegedly molested years ago by a Manhattan minister will be allowed to testify at the minister's trial, where he will face charges that he molested a teen-age boy.

Brian N. Savage, of Manhattan, was bound over for trial in July. He faces two counts of aggravated criminal sodomy, two counts of criminal sodomy, two counts of aggravated indecent solicitation of a child and one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child.

According to court records, Savage, 44, met the then-13-year-old victim at the Seventh Day Adventist church in Manhattan where Savage was a pastor and the victim attended. Savage took on a fatherly role, according to court documents. After a relationship developed, Savage began engaging in sexual acts with the boy, the records say. In at least one instance, Savage gave the boy $100 for oral sex. Some of the molestation took place at the church. (The Topeka Capital journal, Oct. 12, 2001
http://www.progarchives.com/forum/beliz1.htm - - http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/2002/0123/story5.html

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RICHMOND - A Detroit minister found guilty of having sex with a 15-year-old girl could face up to 50 years in prison, but police have to find him first. Rev. Larry A. Flake, 55, was found guilty of sexual misconduct with a minor. The court also ruled him a habitual offender. Flake has two previous felony convictions. Flake did not show up for his jury trial on two counts of sexual misconduct and one count of rape. AP, 8/30/01

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Minister convicted of abusing boys charged again. A suburban minister serving a probation sentence for sexually abusing three teenage boys has been accused of molesting another youth, this time at his summer home in Michigan. James Errant, 68, formerly of Hinsdale, has been on probation since October after he pleaded guilty to aggravated criminal sexual assault in DuPage County. Errant, who lives in LaGrange, was a prominent member and volunteer of Union Church of Hinsdale last year when a young man told police Errant had molested him years ago while the victim was a teenager. The ensuing police probe uncovered nine people who also accused the one-time ordained minister of sexual abuse that, in some cases, stretched over many years. Years ago, Errant also served as a minister at St. Paul United Church of Christ in Palatine, Lyonsville Congregational Church in Indian Head Park and Seminary Avenue Federated Church in Chicago. Errant is being sued by parents of the victims. The suit, which also names Union church and one of its ministers, accuses the church of failing to act on complaints lodged against Errant. Charges: Parents sue church for failing to act. (July 20, 2001)

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Jayess, MS. Valley of the Kings Church patriarch David Earl King, 66, and Nathan Paul King, 32, believed to be King's adopted son, were indicted in April on charges of sexual battery, conspiracy to commit sexual battery and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. (AP, 8 Jun 2001)
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/king1.htm - - Youth minister charged with lewd conduct

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SAN DIEGO, CA. A former music pastor at a Scripps Ranch-area church who admitted to molesting a 14-year-old boy last year was allowed to withdraw his guilty plea Thursday, after a judge told him he would face prison time instead of probation. When Richard Abram Elliott, 31, pleaded guilty in December to child molestation charges, Superior Court Judge Roger Krauel told him a six-year prison sentence would remain suspended as long as he remained in a counseling program. Elliott resigned as an associate music pastor at Community Bible Church after allegations arose that he molested the boy three times between May 1 and July 14 last year. Elliott had just completed a one-year, church-imposed probation following complaints by female parishioners about inappropriate sexual remarks he made. (The Californian, 3/16/01)
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/elliot1.htm - - Sex Offender Arrested for Child Molestation

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NZHELELE, Zaifre. Siloam Hospital nurse, Mr Nngwedzeni Joseph Ramavu (37) who also serve as a Pastor for the Nzumbululo Church in Siloam near Makhado Township has appeared in the Dzanani Magistrate Court on Monday on the charge of statutory rape. (zoutnet.co.za, March 2, 2001)
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/Ramavu1.htm - - Judge orders Mormons to provide sex-abuse records

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Milwaukee, WI. Dr. Matthew Tyler, formerly a teen basketball coach for a local church, was sentenced to seven years in prison for molesting boys in four states over a 20 year period. In 1979 Tyler had been accused of performing strip searches and "hernia checks" on boys at the Louisiana residential facility where he worked. Tyler molested several boys at church functions. (02.07.01, TheMilwaukeeChannel.com)

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Mira Mesa, CA. Richard A. Elliott, a music pastor at an unnamed church, pleaded guilty on five counts of "committing a lewd act on a child under 14." Elliott had just completed a one-year probation imposed by his church for making lewd comments to female parishoners. Elliott faces six years in prison, though counseling is being considered as an alternative. He had been convicted in 1991 in a murder-for-hire plot. (02.01.01, AP)
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/elliot1.htm -

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MILLS Ronald Albert, 69 Orange Mormon and senior Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints member. Receives 3 year jail sentence in NSW District Court after being convicted on 3 counts of unlawful sexual intercourse against girl, aged 12, in 1982 at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints chapel in Orange, central NSW. Court hears Mills, of Orange, molested girl during maintenance work at church. (New South Wales, Australia, 2001).

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NAME SUPPRESSED, age 34 Brisbane Sunday school teacher and church youth group leader. Ordered to appear in Brisbane court on 335 sex charges amid allegations he abused 324 girls, aged 6 months to 13 years, over 15 year period in QLD, NSW and VIC. Police allege accused, who lived in Brisbane's south, took children on interstate church camps and videotaped himself defiling "100s" of girls. In 2000, accused received 2 year and 6 month jail suspended sentence after VIC police arrest him on 40 child sex offences following tip-off from video repairer. Name SUPPRESSED BY COURT ORDER to protect daughter, whom accused also abused. (SM TS HS 010624). (Queensland, Australia, 2001).

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NAME SUPPRESSED, age 45 Ipswich practising Mormon. Receives 7 year jail sentence in Ipswich District Court after being found guilty on 2 counts of raping his stepdaughter, aged 14 to 16, between 1986 and 1989. Court hears defendant, who quoted Bible passage concerning lust to support his case, forced victim to have sexual intercourse so he could show her "how it was done". Name SUPPRESSED BY COURT ORDER to protect stepdaughter. (CM 020817) (Queensland, Australia, 2001).

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LAISHKOCHAV Alistah Elijah, 71 Bells Beach Judeo-Christian cult leader, aka Ian Francis Lowe and Ariel Abraham Enki. Receives 7 year and 6 month jail sentence in VIC County Court after being convicted on 21 child sex offences, including 17 counts of indecent assault and 4 of committing unlawful sexual intercourse, against 4 girls, aged 7 to 11, between 1987 and 1991 while leader of Judeo-Christian cult at Bells Beach, near Geelong, VIC. Court hears Laishkochav, of Fitzroy, had 9 wives and 63 children living in "harem" arrangement. Prosecutor says gratification of sexual appetite seemingly cult leader's only interest. Judge describes acts as "abhorrent". (Victoria, Australia, 2001)

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NOBBS Stephen Enoch, 69 Norfolk Island Seventh Day Adventist senior deacon, fund-raiser and "pillar of community". Receives suspended 12 month jail sentence in Norfolk Island Supreme Court after being convicted on 6 child sex offences, including 2 counts of indecent assault and 4 of performing indecent act, against 2 girls, aged 7 and 13, in 1981 and again in 1996-8 at Norfolk Island. Report says up to 90 members of island's 1800-strong community affected by case and that conviction may be "tip of iceberg" of "long-repressed tradition of sexual abuse". (NORFOLK ISLAND, 2001).

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REID Ronald Edward, 70 Brisbane preacher, charity worker and Blue Nurses state director. Receives 6 month jail sentence in Brisbane District Court after pleading guilty to 4 charges, including 2 counts of unlawful stalking, 1 of indecent dealing and 1 of improper use of carriage service, against girl, aged 12, between 1998 and 2000 in Brisbane. Court hears Reid, of Brisbane's northside, made obscene and threatening phonecalls to victim, describing graphic sexual situations and claiming he had sex with her friend. Court told Reid had been preacher at northside church since 1947 and Blue Nurses state director for 30 years. (Queensland, Australia, 2001).

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Pastor Solicits Sex With Fed Agent Posing as 14-Yr-Old: STATE COLLEGE - The 12-member council of Faith United Church of Christ voted Sunday to accept the resignation of a pastor accused of soliciting sex over the Internet and to approve the appointment of a new pastor to take his place. The 53-year-old Rev. William Cabell, Faith United's pastor since 1990, was arrested June 28 at a Piscataway, N.J., strip mall and charged with using the church's America Online account to solicit sex with a federal agent posing as a 14-year-old boy. (Centre Daily Times, July 17, 2000)

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SOUTER Robert Leslie, 46 Wollongong Jehovah's Witness church member. Receives maximum 5 year jail sentence in Wollongong District Court after pleading guilty to 5 sex charges, including 1 count of buggery and 4 of indecent assault, against 2 teenage boys between 1978 and 1980. Court hears Souter, who attended Jehovah's Witness Corrimal congregation at Balgownie, assaulted victims while on beach and Blue Mountains church outings. Court told church elders told of offences in 1990 but failed to contact police. Judge criticises church for failing to report criminal activity, saying church may have spiritual responsibility but it does not exceed state authority. (New South Wales, Australia, 2000).

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Gwinnett, GA. Gwinnett police say a man who claims to be a street preacher is also the bus stop rapist. Cyril Ramsley 33, is accused of raping a 15-year-old girl and sexually assaulting a 27-year-old woman. He allegedly abducted them from bus stops during attacks a month apart. On Tuesday, the victims picked Ramsley out of a lineup, said Gwinnett police Detective Curtis Clemons. (The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, 11-24-1999)
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/ramsley.htm - - Lawton pastor faces sexual abuse charge

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BRISCOE Phillip Martin Lawrence, 53 Adelaide Salvation Army member. Fined $1200 in Adelaide District Court after pleading guilty to possessing, in late 1997, 2 sets of pornographic photographs of 2 foster girls, aged under 12, entrusted to his care. Court hears Briscoe, of Valley View, Adelaide, photographed victims in shower and in adult clothes. Judge says images showed "little sensitivity" to girls. (SA, Australia, 1999).

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BLENNERHASSET Earl Ross, 27 Melbourne Seventh Day Adventist. Pleads guilty in Melbourne County Court to 7 charges, including 3 counts of physical assault and 1 of child stealing, against girl, aged 12, in 1999 at Seventh Day Adventist church in Melbourne. Court hears Blennerhasset, of Croydon, grabbed girl after asking her to go to toilet with him during church service. (Victoria, Australia, 1999).

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CURNUCK Lawrence Joseph, 74 Busselton Seventh Day Adventist youth leader. Receives 12 year jail sentence in Bunbury Supreme Court after pleading guilty to 20 child sex offences, including 14 counts of unlawful sexual intercourse, 5 of indecent assault and 1 of indecent dealing, against at least 2 girls, aged around 14, during 1970s at Busselton, south of Perth. Court hears Curnuck, of Busselton, took young girls on camping trips and other activities where he raped and molested them. Judge says Curnuck abused his authority by sexually abusing girls in church group settings. Court told Curnuck earlier received 18 month jail sentence for indecently assaulting child, aged 14, in 1951. (Western Australia, Australia, 1999).

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Grass Valley/Nevada City, Cal.: A former youth pastor and Bear River High School soccer coach pleaded innocent Thursday to charges stemming from an alleged intimate relationship with a 16-year-old female student-athlete. Appearing for the first time with an attorney - Greg Hodges of the Public Defender's Office - Dan Jimerfield, 42, entered a formal plea to the 28 criminal counts against him. He is accused of engaging in an affair with a girl he coached on a school soccer team then recruited into a church youth group he headed. (The Union, May 22, 1998)
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/Jimerfield1.htm - - FORMER MINISTER SENTENCED AFTER PLEADING GUILTY TO RAPE

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Antioch, CA. Police arrested Duanne Dee Shoemake, 55, in September 1998 on five felony counts of molestation. He was accused of sexually abusing two girls to whom he is related. He was a deacon at Harvest Time Assembly of God in Brentwood. "This has split up the family, and split up the church," said the mother about the molestation allegations. (Sept. 1998)
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/shoemake1.htm - - Registered Sex Offenders

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DALLAS, Tex. - A youth minister at a Texas church has been arrested and charged with distribution of harmful material to a minor. Police allege that Matthew Washington sent nude pictures of himself from a computer at the Hillcrest Church of Christ, Gainesville Texas over the Internet to a teen age girl whom he had contacted in a chat room. (Jan. 8, 1998)

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MIKKLESEN Raymond, 71 Sydney Seventh Day Adventist church member. Receives 3 year $5000 good behaviour bond in Sydney District Court after pleading guilty to 2 counts of indecently assaulting girl, aged 12, between 1982 and 1987. Court hears Mikklesen, of Clovelly, Sydney, assaulted girl on 2 occasions resulting in victim suffering from severe depression, inability to work, low self esteem and weight problems. Report in 1998 says Mikklesen attended Seventh Day Adventist Church at Woollahra, Sydney. (New South Wales, Australia, 1998).

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JAMIESON Keith, 47 Newcastle Pentecostal born again Christian, youth group worker and Assemblies of God charismatic church member. Convicted in Newcastle District Court on 16 sex charges against young men, aged 10 to 17, between 1981 and 1996 while helping with Newcastle Assemblies of God youth group. Court hears Jamieson, of Newcastle, befriended young men and abused them after building up trust. Judge says Jamieson acted out desires in predatory way. (New South Wales, Australia, 1998).

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SARGENT Haydn Gerald, 62 Sydney Pentecostal born again Christian, Church of Christ charismatic church minister and Brisbane talkback radio host. Charged with 12 child sex offences, including 2 counts of committing unlawful sexual intercourse and 10 of indecent assault, against boy, aged under 16, between 1959 and 1960 in Sydney. Charges dropped in 1999 on grounds victim allegedly disturbed. (New South Wales, Australia, 1998).

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SCHMITT Raymond George, 67 WA Christian missionary. Receives 3 year and 6 month jail sentence in WA court after being convicted on charge of indecent dealing with boy, aged 14, under his care in WA. (Western Australia, Australia, 1998).

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SMEDLEY Derek Neil, 44 Perth Jehovah's Witness church member. Receives 9 year jail sentence in WA District Court after being convicted on 5 counts of indecent assault against stepdaughter, aged 12 to 14, between 1984 and 1987 at Gnangara, Heathridge, Kingsley, Northam and Wanneroo, WA. Court hears Smedley, of Heathridge, sexually assaulted stepdaughter at Northam during construction of Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall. (Western Australia, Australia, 1998).

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Buford, GA. A Buford couple who coordinated youth activities at a local church were arrested Tuesday and charged with numerous counts of child molestation for allegedly engaging in illicit sex acts with a 14-year-old girl whom they had met through the church, authorities said. Warrants for the arrests of Marcus Ray Bellew and Janice Bellew, both 21, allege the couple had engaged in a kind of menage a trois with the teenager on several occasions dating back to July. (The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, 11-26-1997)
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/bellew1.htm - - Ex-Pasco pastor pleads guilty to child molestation

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Fort Wayne, IN. MOLESTING PASTOR GETS 28 YEARS HE DRUGGED AND FONDLED YOUNG BOYS. A Huntington youth pastor who admitted molesting 10 juvenile boys ages 11 to 17 between 1993 and February 1997 was sentenced to 28 years in prison Monday.Mark Kline, 33, admitted eight felony counts of child molesting, seven felony counts of sexual misconduct with a minor and seven misdemeanor battery counts. Some of the incidents, which involved fondling the boys, took place in Kline's apartment at Good Shepherd United Brethren Church, where he worked as a youth minister. The youth pastor told police he ``drugged'' many of his victims with a sleeping aid, a Huntington police report states. Mark A. Kline told police he bought the sleeping aid in a gel cap, which he punctured, squeezing its contents into a nighttime beverage for his young victims.``The sleeping aid would cause the person to be drowsy and most of the time unaware of the sexual contact that Kline was having with them,'' (July 29, 1997, The Fort Wayne, IN. Journal Gazette)

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Richard Peter Gilliland is accused of sexually molesting a 17-year-old male in West Allis, Wisconsin, on March 14, 1997 while working as a minister of a church.
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/gilliland1.htm -

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LANE John Henry, 68 Brisbane Sunday school teacher and Salvation Army officer. Receives 12 month jail sentence in QLD District Court after being convicted on 1 charge of indecent dealing with girl, aged 7, in 1970s during Sunday school class in Brisbane. Court hears Lane, of Brisbane, worked as hospital chaplain at time offence occurred. (Queensland, Australia, 1997).

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COTTON Pastor Victor Clifford, 56 Adelaide pastor. Appears in Adelaide District Court charged with 3 child sex offences, including 2 counts of unlawful sexual intercourse and 1 of indecent assault, against teenage boy in 1995 while pastor of Adelaide northern suburbs church. Court hears victim former member of Cotton's congregation. (SA, Australia, 1997).

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NAME SUPPRESSED, Reedy Creek Pentecostal born again Christian and Reach Out For Christ International youth pastor. Appears in Southport District Court charged with committing unlawful sexual intercourse with girl, aged 16, while independent church youth pastor at Reedy Creek on Gold Coast, QLD. (ER 00) (Queensland, Australia, 1997).

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NAME SUPPRESSED, age 41 QLD church elder. Receives 4 year jail sentence in Brisbane District Court after pleading guilty to adultery-related charges, including unlawful carnal knowledge and maintaining sexual relationship, against sister-in-law, aged 15, in QLD. Court hears defendant, who had been married 18 years, was excommunicated after committing adultery with wife's sister but readmitted by church hour later. Court told victim ostracised by community instead of perpetrator. Name SUPPRESSED BY COURT ORDER to protect sister-in-law. (W Howell 971127; DT 971128; HS 971128; ER 00) (Queensland, Australia, 1997).

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O'CALLAGHAN Kevin James, 39 Rockhampton Pentecostal born again Christian, Assemblies of God charismatic church member and secondary school teacher. Appears in Rockhampton Magistrates Court charged with 8 child sex offences, including indecent dealing, indecent assault and aggravated sexual assault, against 2 girls, aged 15, between late 1996 and early 1997 at Rockhampton and Yeppoon, north of QLD. Court hears O'Callaghan, of Rockhampton, allegedly committed offences while teacher at Assemblies of God Cathedral of Praise Christian College, Rockhampton. (Queensland, Australia, 1997).

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SMITH Major Charles Alan, 65 WA Salvation Army officer. Receives 15 year jail sentence in Perth District Court after pleading guilty to 39 child sex charges, including gross indecency, carnal knowledge and indecent assault, against 9 boys, aged under 17, during 1960s and 1970s in WA. Judge describes Major Smith as "true pedophile who preyed on young boys and used them as sexual playthings". (Western Australia, Australia, 1997).

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A youth minister who fled the state with a 14-year-old girl is expected to arrive in Ohio by Tuesday to face charges of child stealing and corruption of a minor. A private security firm on Saturday picked up Keith Luecke, 35, in South Carolina to bring him to Clermont County for prosecution. Luecke and Alecia Campbell disappeared April 10. They were found June 28 in a motel in Hanahan, S.C. A diary - written by both the girl and Luecke - was left at the motel when Luecke was arrested. (July 7, 1996, The Fort Wayne, IN. Journal Gazette)

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KAY Stephen, 56 (Queensland, Australia, 1996). Brisbane Mormon school teacher, scoutmaster and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints member. Receives 15 month jail sentence in Brisbane District Court after pleading guilty to 5 child sex charges, including 3 counts of indecent treatment and 2 of indecent dealing, against 3 school students, aged under 12, in 1993 while teacher at southside Brisbane school. Court hears Kay assaulted boys on school premises. Also receives additional 6 month sentence in 1996 for indecent assault of boy, aged under 16, in 1993 at boy scout camp, QLD.

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DEBOO Vivian Frederick, 51 SA Pentecostal born again Christian, Uniting Church member, caterer and Christian Camping Association president. Receives 6 year jail sentence in Adelaide Supreme Court after pleading guilty to 10 child sex charges, including 9 counts of indecent assault and 1 of committing unlawful sexual intercourse, against 3 boys, aged 14 to 16, between 1989 and 1990 while caterer at Aldgate, Carrickalinga, Normanville and Victor Harbour, SA. Court hears Deboo, of Victor Harbour, committed many offences while active member of Christian Gospel church group and caterer at St Joseph's Convent, Aldgate. Victim's mother tells court she thought she did "right thing" allowing "good Christian man" to become involved with son. (SA, Australia, 1996).

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BURTON Pastor Keith John, 55 Brisbane Protestant church associate pastor and children's ministry leader. Receives 7 year jail sentence in Brisbane District Court after pleading guilty to 7 child sex charges, including 5 counts of indecent treatment, 1 of maintaining sexual relationship with minor and 1 of permitting himself to be sodomised, against 2 brothers, aged 12 and 14, between 1985 and 1993 while associate pastor at North Brisbane Protestant church. Court hears Burton, of North Brisbane, committed offences after offering boys "sports" massages during church outings, fishing trips and Bible classes. Judge accuses pastor of "stunning hypocrisy" and says he could not recall more gross breach of trust. (Queensland, Australia, 1996).

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MOWDAY Darryl Lindsay, 43 QLD Christian youth group leader. Receives 7 year jail sentence in Brisbane District Court after pleading guilty to 8 child sex offences, including indecent dealing and carnal knowledge, against girl, aged 13, between 1992 and 1994 at locations in QLD. Court hears Mowday, from Sydney, had sex with girl in parks, car and in his home while wife away. Report describes youth leader's affair with girl as "torrid". (Queensland, Australia, 1996).

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HORNE Raymond Kenneth, 49 Brisbane City Mission volunteer worker. Receives 12 year jail sentence in Brisbane District Court after being convicted on 14 child sex charges, including 9 counts of indecent dealing, 3 of committing unlawful sexual intercourse, 1 of maintaining sexual relationship with minor and 1 of taking indecent photographs, against 2 boys, aged 13 and 15, between February and April, 1995. Court hears Horne, of New Farm, preyed on street kids and molested them in his flat. (Queensland, Australia, 1996).

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SMITH Edwin James, 69 Brisbane Plymouth Brethren children's home boarding master and handyman. Receives maximum 7 year jail sentence in Brisbane District Court after pleading guilty to 21 child sex charges, including 12 counts of indecent dealing and 9 of gross indecency, against orphan boy, aged 10, over 5 year period between 1959 and 1964 at Plymouth Brethren Silky Oaks Children's Haven, Manly, Brisbane. Court hears victim suffered 5 years of torture including being sexually assaulted while waiting for ambulance after breaking arm. Home described in court as "pedophile's paradise for sick religious zealots". (Queensland, Australia, 1996).

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COLUMBIA, S.C. Former youth minister Donald Baston pleaded guilty in January 1996 to 17 counts of criminal sexual conduct against young boys. (AP via NewsEdge, 1996)

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West Sacramento, CA. The Word of Life Assembly of God church of West Sacramento, 2 ministers and the Assemblies of God Northern California and Nevada District Council Inc. are being sued by the parents of a teenage girl who was involved in a sexual relationship with a minister. Donald Wisdom pleaded no contest to 11 counts of sex with a minor and was sentenced to 1 year in jail. Wisdom reportedly induced the girl, then 15, into a sexual relationship from October '94 until July '95. The civil suit claims that church officials knew about the relationship, refused to remove the minister, and attempted to silence the family. The suit seeks $10 million in punitive damages plus general and specific damages for battery, sexual battery, sexual harassment, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, slander and invasion of privacy. (The Sacramento Bee 12/27/95)

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Miami, FL. Unitarian Universalist church vice president David Reed Whitehead, 32, was charged with lewd and lascivious assault. According to allegations made to police, the youth counselor engaged in sexual activity at least 3 times with a boy, 15. The last incident was said to have occurred Dec. 3 when the teen stayed overnight at Whitehead's home. Whitehead taught a sexuality course for teenagers. (The Miami Herald; Chicago Sun-Times 12/13/95)

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Florida. Harold Ragin was charged with sexual battery on a child in familial or custodial authority. According to reports, a teacher contacted authorities after a girl told her of a Nov. 24 incident in which Ragin, 47, assaulted her. Ragin told police he was an associate pastor of Life Tabernacle Ministries and that he and his wife were watching the girl, 13, while her mother was at work. He blamed the girl for the incident, but admitted penetrating her with his finger. (The Daily Commercial 12/1/95; 11/30/95)

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Lock Haven, PA. Pastor of the First Church of Christ in Lock Haven attempted suicide at a city park last June and 5 admitted in a written confession to repeatedly raping a girl, 8, between Nov. '94-May '95. Darran Andrew Chick, 32, pleaded guilty to 3 counts of rape, 1 count each of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and aggravated indecent assault. He was sentenced to 14-62 years in prison. Chick was originally charged with 56 counts each of rape and statutory rape, and 20 counts each of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and indecent assault. (The Patriot-News 11/28/95)

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Lancaster County, PA. A volunteer for the Lancaster Brethen in Christ Church was charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and endangering the welfare of a child. Andrew Lee Tonsager, 18, was arrested in November when allegations surfaced that he performed oral sex on a boy, 4, in the church. Tonsager defaulted on $10,000 cash bail and has been committed to Lancaster County Prison until a district court hearing is scheduled. (New Era 11/21/95)

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ON, Canada. Rev. Joanne Thompson-Millar, 37, a youth pastor for the Victory Christian Centre, was charged with sexual exploitation, sexual assault and sexual interference. A girl, 15, said she was assaulted by Millar at the pastor's home and at a trailer park in north-central Ontario. (The Ottawa Citizen 10/7/95)

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Montgomery County, PA. Minister Sneaks Into Girl's Bedroom. Montgomery County YouthQuest executive director Rev. Stephen E. Aiken, 37, was charged with corruption of a minor after forcing himself on a girl, 17, about 15 times in the course of 4 months, beginning in April 1994. The teenager and her infant daughter moved in with Aiken, his wife and their 3 girls after she was referred to Aiken by an educational program for teenage mothers. The girl reported that Aiken had come into her room while she was asleep, undressed her and began to rub her breasts. "Sometimes I would say, 'no,' and sometimes I would just let it go because I didn't know what to do," the woman, now 19, said. (The Philadelphia Inquirer 10/6/95, 9/24/95)

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McIntosh, AL. A McIntosh pastor has been indicted by a grand jury of having sexual relations with a female minor. Rev. Floyd Wilson Reynolds, 67, was released on a $5,000 bond after his July arrest. Records state that Reynolds, pastor of Magnolia Holiness Church, stopped on the roadside when taking the girl home, saying he had to use the restroom. He then told the girl to remove her underwear and attempted to have sexual intercourse with her, she reports. (Birmingham Post-Herald 9/11/95)

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Barry William Katzer, 32, is charged with a 2nd degree sex offense involving an underage victim, possession of child pornography and unnatural and perverted sex acts. He was held in lieu of $50,000 bond. Katzer was arrested after an anonymous caller asked police to check on the welfare of a boy who was with Katzer at a motel. Police found pornographic magazines and tapes in the room. Katzer gave officers a business card that identified him as the pastor of the Butler-Richland Seventh-Day Adventist Church pastor. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 8/28/95)

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Minister Willie Crawford (a.k.a Willie Brown) who is serving time in prison for raping a learning-disabled woman in '93, has recently been convicted of sexually abusing his daughter. Crawford was acquitted on charges of rape, but was convicted of incest and endangering the welfare of a child and using his daughter in a sexual performance. The conviction stems from photographs of Crawford sexually abusing his daughter, which police found in his home. The photos were discovered while police were carrying out a search warrant issued as part of the investigation into the rape of the learning-disabled woman, who was the daughter of a friend. Crawford was convicted last year of raping and sodomizing the woman, 21, and was sentenced to 8-16 years in prison. During his court appearance on that charge, he was arrested on the charges involving his daughter. The girl said that she had been abused from age 9 until 14. Crawford, former minister of Bethesda Temple Church, pleaded guilty to attempting to sexually abuse 2 of his other daughters, then 13 and 14. He was sentenced to 5 years probation. He faces 7 1/2 to 15 years for the count of using his daughter in a sexual performance. (Newsday, 8/19/95)

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Birminghan, AL. The pastor of Bon Secour Assembly of God, Marshall David Cumbie, 37, has been accused of sexually abusing a teenage boy and was arrested on similar charges with another boy. Cumbie has been charged with 2 counts of 2nd degree sodomy and 1 count of 2nd degree sexual assault. Cumbie was also arrested earlier the same month on charges of 2nd degree sodomy and 2nd degree sexual abuse and was freed on bond. (Birmingham News 5/28/95)

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Upland, CA. Upland Church of Christ Pastor Alan Wilson, 35, pleaded no-contest to 1 count of misdemeanor child annoying after a Superior Court Judge dismissed a felony charge of child molestation against Wilson. Commissioner J. Michael Welch granted the motion to dismiss by the defense because the incident did not involve sexual contact. A boy, 15, reported that Wilson gave him a massage on a bed in the pastor's home after a private singing lesson. Wilson was arrested when he suggested performing a sexual act on the boy during a phone conversation which was monitored by police. (Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) 4/26/95)

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NAME SUPPRESSED, age 29 Ballarat youth leader. Receives 12 month good behaviour bond in Ballarat Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to 2 counts of indecent assault against boy, aged 12, between August and September 1984. Court hears defendant drove boy to secluded bushland where he engaged in mutual masturbation with boy. Court told defendant's offences largely "extension of perversion" perpetrated by notorious pedophile priest Father Gerald RIDSDALE, who sexually abused defendant as youth. (R McIndoe 951005; AG 951006) (Victoria, Australia, 1995).

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NAME SUPPRESSED, age 55 Brisbane Mormon school teacher, scout master and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints minister. Receives 15 month jail sentence in Brisbane District Court after being convicted on 3 child sex charges, including 3 counts of indecent assault and 2 of indecent dealing, against boy, aged 12, at Mt Cotton scout camp, south of Brisbane. Court hears defendant, of Manly West, Brisbane, assaulted boy at scout camp. (CM 951209) (Queensland, Australia, 1995).

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THORNE George Frederick, 67 Melbourne Christian school music teacher. Convicted in VIC court on 14 child sex charges, including 11 counts of indecent assault, 2 of gross indecency and 1 of carnal knowledge, against girl, aged from 7 over 13 year period between 1969 and 1982 while teacher at Scotch Uniting Church College. (Victoria, Australia, 1995).

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PA. Rev. Joel Williams, 39, pleaded guilty to repeatedly raping the teenage daughter he called his "pride and joy" from March 1990 until she ran away 4 years later at age 17. Prosecutors said the abuse began a week after the death of his wife, the girl's mother. (Tribune-Democrat, 11/18/94)

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Jackson, MI. A Mormon bishop's clerk, Bruce A. McAskill, 66, with a past rape conviction, faces a minimum sentence of 5 years in prison after a judge found him guilty of kissing and fondling a boy, 8, whom he was babysitting. The boy's mother attended McAskill's church. A police officer who was called to the scene said McAskill told him "he didn't see any problem" with an adult sleeping naked with a child. (Jackson Citizen Patriot, 10/25/94)

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Utah. The first Native American named as a Mormon general authority, George P. Lee, 51, pleaded guilty to attempted sexual abuse of a girl, now 17. He entered his plea as he was on the verge of being tried on a felony charge of aggravated sexual abuse of the girl, who lived across the street from him. Lee was sentenced to 18 months' probation, fined $1,850, and ordered to undergo counseling and pay for his victim's counseling. Brother Lee told her he had fallen in love with her, and that it was OK with God, the girl reported. (Arizona Republic, 10/12/94; Salt Lake Tribune, 10/11/94)

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Linwood,NJ. A Linwood minister who had been in charge of children's activities at the 250-member Mainland Assembly of God Church for 9 years pleaded guilty to molesting a girl parishioner. Richard L. Kim, 29, admitted he molested the girl, 16. (Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/9/94)

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Cocoa, FL. A teacher, athletic director, counselor and coach at Bethel Christian Academy in Cocoa was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison, followed by 10 years probation for the kidnapping and sexual battery of a student, 13. Daniel Perdue was arrested outside a motel in Vero Beach. Perdue must pay for his victim's counseling and is forbidden to ever hold a position of authority over minors. (Florida Today, 8/9/94)

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Missouri. The leader of a religious commune in Clay County has been convicted of kidnapping, raping, sodomizing and restraining the daughter of one of his followers. The recommended sentence for Nelson DeCloud, 53, is 220 years in prison. (Centre Daily Times, 8/5/94; AP, 8/4/94)

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Aurora, IL. An Aurora mail-order minister who also owned Hal's Lock & Key locksmith business will be under prison lock & key after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a girl, 10. Harvey Lee "Hal" Sechler, 53, who operated Universal Life Church out of his home, admitted to molesting the girl whom he babysat in 1993. Sechler had previously admitted having repeated sexual relations with his daughter when she was 4-12 years old. Although no charges were ever brought in that case, his daughter was placed in a Kane County orphan home. Records also show that Sechler once sold child pornography at Hal's Food Store in Montgomery before child pornography was illegal in Illinois. (Chicago Tribune, 8/3/94)

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Scottsdale, AZ. A Mormon bishop, Arlo Kay Atkin, 38, who was excommunicated from the church for sexual misconduct, is being sued by a Mesa woman who says their sexual relationship beginning when she was 15 resulted in a pregnancy and a child, now 4. The suit alleges negligence by the church in trusting him with minors. Atkin, now of Ventura, CA, pleaded guilty in February 1991 to sexual contact with the woman and was sentenced to 4 months in jail. Source: Arizona Republic, 7/8/94

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Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. An Anglican minister and Boy Scout leader was sentenced to 6 years in prison for sexually abusing 16 boys between 1976-81. More boys are expected to come forward. Ralph Rowe, 54, of Thompson, Manitoba, pleaded guilty to 28 charges. Rowe received police protection due to death threats. (Star Phoenix [Saskatoon, Saskatchewan], 7/2/94; Chronicle Herald, 7/94)

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Auckland, NZ. A widowed former leader of an Aukland religious sect was sentenced to 9 months in jail for raping and assaulting 7 girls, including 1 of his daughters. (New Zealand Herald, 6/18/94)

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SALVATION ARMY VERDICT CONTROVERSIAL. For being sexually abused by Salvation Army _Bible_ teacher Gary Hallock, 4 boys and their parents were awarded over $500,000 in compensatory damages for the years of therapy needed, but only $1 each for punitive damages. Although an officer of the Army knew of Hallock's pedophilia years ago, the Army was not held responsible for the abuse. Hallock is serving a 36-72 year jail term, and has admitted to abusing 30 children. The plaintiffs' lawyer was seeking $4 million in the case, and accused jurors of wanting child abuse to continue because they did not award high punitive damages. Source: _Tribune_ 2/18,22/94; _Tribune-Democrat_ 2/94.

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For the crime of "LEWD ACT UPON A CHILD" Anton William Hein pleaded no contest in Jul 1994 in San Bernardino County Municipal Court and spent about 6 months in jail filed in July 1994. After his release from Prison, Mr. Hein moved to Holland.

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NAME SUPPRESSED, age 66 QLD Jehovah's Witness church member. Appears in Brisbane Magistrates Court charged with 24 sex offences, including incest and indecent assault, involving adolescents, dating back to 1960s. Court hears defendant had allegations made against him at church meetings in 1972, 1993 and 1994. Judge told 6 elders, who attended these meetings, refused to give evidence in court on grounds they were "religiously bound" not to divulge "privileged" information. Judge rejects claims. In 1994, defendant's wife, 62, also appears in Brisbane Magistrates Court charged with carnal knowledge against nature and deprivation of liberty. (R Quinlan CM 941103) (Queensland, Australia, 1994).

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NAME SUPPRESSED, age 62 WA Brethren church elder and secondary school deputy principal. Appears in Bunbury Supreme Court charged with 42 incest-related offences, including committing unlawful sexual intercourse, indecent assault and deprivation of liberty, against 2 daughters, aged from 3, between 1964 and 1989. Described as one of AUS most unusual trials. Court hears father sadistically abused daughters with knives, screwdrivers and hammers and tortured them with snakes, cockroaches and dead rabbit. Bizarre rituals involved sexual assault with crucifixes, daughters being hung upside down, crosses being drawn on their chests in blood and one where knife held over daughter, aged 3, while family chanted about "lamb that was slain". Prosecutor describes family as "normal, church-going family" but with "terrible secret". Name SUPPRESSED BY COURT ORDER to protect daughters. (HS 941113) (Western Australia, Australia, 1994).

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Park Hills, Missouri. Reverend Richard Jones of Family Life Church: molested boys and told them the Bible sanctioned the abuse (source unknown, 1994)

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RICHARDSON Robert John, 44 Melbourne YMCA youth leader and scoutmaster. Receives 10 year jail sentence in VIC County Court after being convicted on 41 child sex charges, including 32 counts of indecent assault, 7 of performing indecent act and 2 of committing unlawful sexual intercourse, against 12 boys, aged 11 to 16, between 1973 and 1993 in VIC. Court hears Richardson, of Brunswick, used position to win trust of children and parents. Judge says Richardson's crimes numbered "about 100" and at least 3 victims suffered psychological damage. Originally faced 41 child sex charges. (Victoria, Australia, 1994).

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Navajo Mormon Tried For Molesting Girl. In August 1989 George P. Lee was charged with the sexual abuse of a girl, 12, his daughter's friend. He surrendered to police but was released with orders not to have contact with anyone under 18. He appeared in court in September and asked for more time before his preliminary hearing. He is accused of fondling the girl, now 16, in her home and on trips. Lee contends he is innocent and the charges are part of a big plot by the church to excommunicate him, which they did in 1989 for polygamy and immorality and later apostasy, before the current charges were brought forward. Lee was also dismissed as high school principal in Tuba City for insubordination. If convicted, Lee could be sentenced to life in prison. Source: Sunstone, 12/93

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PASTOR ADMITS ABUSE OF GIRLS. Admitting having intercourse with a female teenager and indecently touching another, Rev. Larry G. Johnson pleaded guilty to 2 counts against him dating from 1977-79 while pastor of Buffalo Wesleyan Church. He recently resigned his position as superintendent of the Dakota District of the Wesleyan Church Source: _Rapid City Journal_ 2/28/93.

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MENNONITE REV. RAPED DAUGHTER? The Rev. Eugenio Matos, 61, was charged with 18 counts of repeatedly raping his daughter over an 11- year period. The pastor of the Spanish Mennonite Church in Trenton has 12 children. He is accused of sexually assaulting the girl when she was 5 in 1981, continuing the abuse until his arrest in March, 1992. Source: _Trenton Times_ 2/4/93.

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NAME SUPPRESSED, age 49 Adelaide church member. Appears in Adelaide Magistrates Court charged with 15 sex-related offences, including unlawful sexual intercourse, indecent assault and possession of pornographic material, involving children, aged under 15, between 1990 and 1993. Court hears defendant, who headed pornographic ring, chose up to 30 victims from church and disabled groups before subjecting them to masochistic behaviour involving leather. Court told police monitored defendant over 4 month period before seizing photographs and videos during raids on Enfield home, Sydney, and SA properties in Adelaide's northern and southern suburbs. (S O'Connor 930910; AG 930911) (SA, Australia, 1993).

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HOLMES Garry William, 48 Perth Pentecostal born again Christian, New Day Ministries elder, Rhema Family Church missionary and former Jesus People mission director. Receives 4 year and 6 month jail sentence in WA District Court after pleading guilty to 30 child sex charges, including 29 counts of indecent assault and 1 of indecent dealing, against boy, aged 13, over 3 year period between 1983 and 1986 while elder of New Day Ministries. Court hears Holmes, of Rivervale, Perth, masturbated boy after inviting him to spend nights at tery. Also worked as Jesus People mission director in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and with Aboriginal communities in WA, QLD and NSW. (Western Australia, Australia, 1993).

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PITTS Kevin, 42 Sydney Pentecostal born again Christian, independent church member and Sunday school teacher. Receives 3 year jail sentence in Penrith District Court after pleading guilty to 12 charges of indecently assaulting boy, aged 9, and girl, aged 10, over 10 year period while Sunday school teacher at Werrington Community Church, Sydney. (New South Wales, Australia, 1993).

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MORMON TEACHER GETS 30 YEARS. Sobbing Mormon Sunday School teacher John Allen Midgett asked for God's forgiveness before being sentenced to 30 years in state prison for molesting & terrorizing 8 girls, ages 5-10. A parent testified Midgett turned her cheerful, trusting daughter into a frightened, scarred recluse. He was also ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution Source: _San Diego Times Union_ 1992, _Los Angeles Times_ 9/12/92.

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In Ventura, David L. Campos, a convicted child molester was arrested At the King's Chapel for failing to register as a sex offender, and on suspicion of molesting 2 girls in bible study class. His Pastor, Gary Rice was also arrested, charged with felony obstruction for trying to prevent the girls from testifying. San Luis Telegram-Tribune 7/16/92

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CLERIC FACES INCEST, RAPE CHARGES. Rev. Eugenio Matos of Spanish Mennonite Church, Trenton, father of 12, was charged in March with raping his daughter from the time she was 5 to 15 years. In April he was charged with endangering welfare of a child and 2 counts of aggravated sexual assault when a 23-year-old woman told investigators he repeatedly raped her while she was between the ages of 8 and 10. Source: _Trenton Times_ 4/28/92.

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CHURCH VOLUNTEER CHARGED WITH CHILD PORNOGRAPHY. Church volunteer Seven Jon Long, 41, was arrested for sodomy and taking pornographic pictures of young girls under 12 from Assembly of God Church in Rogue River, where he was a youth volunteer. He told detectives his pictures were art. Source: _Daily Courier_, Grants Pass, 4/17/92.

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MINISTER GUILTY. Murrayville minister L.G. Gilsrap pleaded guilty to 2 counts of child molestation after the state high court in 1991 overturned a 1989 conviction for molesting young boys at church. Source: _USA Today_ 3/6/92.

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BOSSE Pastor Harry, 37 Adelaide pastor, former scoutmaster and former police constable. Receives suspended 12 month jail sentence and 250 hour community-based order in VIC County Court after pleading guilty to 16 child sex charges, including 12 counts of indecent assault and 4 of gross indecency, against 2 boys and 1 girl, aged 8 to 14, between 1973 and 1978 while scoutmaster at Apollo Bay, Brunswick, Ivanhoe, Northcote, Preston and Watsonia, VIC. Court hears Bosse, of Parafield Gardens, Adelaide, joined Church of Nazarene in 1978 before being transferred to Adelaide where he served as pastor until police interviewed him in 1990. (Victoria, Australia, 1992).

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NAME SUPPRESSED, age 43 VIC Pentecostal born again Christian and charismatic church member. Receives 3 year and 9 month jail sentence in VIC County Court after pleading guilty to 14 counts of incest and 1 of indecent assault involving stepdaughter, aged 13, between 1984 and 1989. Court hears defendant visited victim's bedroom despite becoming heavily involved in Pentecostal church and being "born again" during period of offending. Name suppressed to protect stepdaughter. (920115; HS 920116) (Victoria, Australia, 1992).

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REID Malcolm "Happy Harry", 24 Orange church youth group leader. Receives 18 month jail sentence in Wollongong Local Court after being convicted on charges of committing acts of indecency against 2 boys, both aged 14, at his Orange home, central NSW. Reid known as "Happy Harry" to readers of Illawarra Mercury. (New South Wales, Australia, 1992).

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SEDDON Phillip Andrew, 25 Melbourne Christian church member and technical officer. Receives suspended 12 month jail sentence and 3 year good behaviour bond in VIC County Court after pleading guilty to 7 child sex charges, including 4 counts of indecent assault and 3 of committing unlawful sexual intercourse, against girl, aged 2, over 4 year period in Melbourne. (Victoria, Australia, 1992).

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Church Choir tenor and dole fraud investigator Ian MacKenzie, 35, was jailed for four years for sexually assaulting boys aged between 12 and 14. MacKenzie forced them into felatio after making them shackle him with chains and rope and then thrashing him with a horsewhip. (1991, England)

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Church Organist Vincent Smith jailed at Leeds Crown Court for repetitive sexual abuse of a 9 year old boy which extended over a six year period. (1991, England)

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Slough Christian Social Worker sentenced to jail at Old Bailey for taking indecent photographs of a mentally retarded 8 year old boy. His job was to look after handicaped children to give parents a break. (1990, England)

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Jehovah's Witness Thomas Rosserr, 38, pleaded guilty to two sexual intercourse with a 13 year old girl at Bible Classes and was sentenced to 21 months at Teeside Crown Court. (1990, England)

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Rev. Stephen Horkin pays rent-boy to sadistically abuse him whilst dressing up as the devil. (1990, England)

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An undisclosed out-of-court settlement was made by the Mormon Church to Cynthia Brown of Mesa, Az., who accused the church of failing to report to law enforcement authorities that a man had molested her daughter, age 2. A July 1988 ruling by the Arizona Court of Appeals had compelled two Mormon bishops and another church official to testify about conversations they had with RICHARD KENNETH RAY about molesting children. Ray, 47, was sentenced in Sept. 1984 to 61 years in prison for molesting 5 girls, including Brown's daughter. (Arizona Republic, 1/11/90)

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1990, Solihull, England. Pentecostal Minister D. Stenhouse jailed on 5 charges of indecent assault on boys aged 12 to 15.

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Salvation Army Captain William Douglas is convicted of molesting, sodomizing and sexually terrorizing young Indian boys in a village in British Columbia. Douglas was acquitted of similar charges in 1985; the judge said he could not accept that a minister would lie. (1990)

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The Salvation Army would not remove its minister, Gary Hallock of Pennsylvania, from his duties teaching children bible stories, even after he had been arrested for sexually abusing children at his church! The "captain," an equivalent of minister, had victimized seven children, ages four to 15, and even a profoundly retarded 15 year old boy. He was sentenced in 1990 to up to 72 years in prison. Meanwhile, a civil suit was launched against the Salvation Army for their negligence by parents of victims. (1990)
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/hallock1.htm -

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Robert D. Campbell, 20, a Mormon missionary from Idaho, was CHARGED with sexually assaulting two Tennessee sisters, ages 7 and 9, at a prayer meeting. David Campbell, of Nashville, president of the missionary program, told the press "That's not true." The thirty two year old woman said "I'll probably be excommunicated over this." She said David Campbell advised her not to call the police, although he denies that too. She also said church officials called her an hour after the missionary's release from jail asking permission for her daughters to "take a lie detector test." Said the mother: "He can deny it all he wants to. He told me not to tell anybody, and not to report it... He said the church's attorneys would look into it. (Idaho Statesman July 21, 1988)

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Gilbert Crowell, 27, commander of the Salvation Army in Burbank and an ordained minister with a wife and 3 children, was CONVICTED on July 1 of molesting 3 girls inside the Army's office. He was CONVICTED of 4 misdemeanor counts of child molestation and two counts of battery but was acquitted by a jury of 7 related charges. (Scrantonian Tribune 6/29/88 and Los Angles Times 7/2/88)

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Former Mormon missionary Arthur Gary Bishop, 36, was executed on June 10th in Utah for killing 5 boys (ages 4-13) for sexual gratification, saying he was "misled by Satan." (New York Times 6/10/88)

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1988, Lancashire, England. Congregational Church Minister Garvock convicted of raping 4 yr. old girl.

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Rev. Donald VanLiew, pastor of the First Christian Church, Kentland, Indiana, was sentenced to 300 hours of community service and five years informal probation for one count of child molestation. He was given such a light sentence because he had no prior record. Originally, his sentence was proposed as a $1 fine and court costs! That his friends and family did not regard the offense as a serious reflection on the minister was indicated by his mother's comment to the press: "This isn't easy for us to take. We have a reputation to maintain, and it's not true anyway." (Source: Journal and Courier, Lafayette-West Lafayette, Indiana, 12/23/87)

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Rev. Bill Peckham, of Springfield, Illinois, known nationally for his work with the poor and homeless through Contact Ministries, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and a reduced misdemeanor charge of sexually abusing a 14 year old boy. The victim, a ward of the state, reported the abuse on January 1, 1986. He was then "wired" to secretly tape-record conversations with the minister, which led to Peckham's arrest on January 5. Peckham also founded the Holy Fools Clown Ministry, which has chapters all over the nation. Although Peckham could have received three to seven years imprisonment for the felony charges, he was given only four years' probation, and was sentenced to a year in jail for the misdemeanor charge. (Sources: [Alton, Illinois] Telegraph, 12/3/87; Peoria Journal Star, 1/7/88)

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Ron J. Steckbauer, an Ocean Beach, California video arcade owner who ran a bible study group for boys and chaperoned them on weekend trips to Arizona, was arrested on molestation charges. Police believe there may have been more than a hundred individual molestations committed against 15 boys between the ages of 10 and 14 years. Steckbauer was also charged with failure to register with local police as a convicted sex offender. The bible study was reported to be his modus operandi and cover for finding victims. (Source: Los Angeles Times, 12/10/87)

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Rev. Billy Walker of Sheepfold Ministries shelter home for transient and displaced workers in Lamar, Colorado abused his position of trust in order to molest a seven year old girl. He received eight years in prison. He had fled the state upon discovery, but was arrested later in Lake City, Florida. The judge recommended that Walker receive counseling and treatment in prison for pedophilia. Walker had three prior felony convictions for child sexual abuse. (Source: Rocky Mountain News, 10/25/87)

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Rev. Robert Henry, of San Luis Obispo, California, a married man with two grown children, was accused of seven felony counts of child molestation, resigning from his position as Ventura church rector and dean of a school. Described as a "well-known and respected community figure," he was charged with molesting two boys in 1984 and 1985 during private counseling sessions at the school and church office. (Source: Los Angeles Times, 10/23/87)

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Rev. William Bosley of Kenosha, Wisconsin, was sentenced to 55 years in prison for sexually abusing a six year old girl in his church while her blind mother was cleaning the building. Bosley founded the Sunrise Church of God in Christ, Waukegan, Illinois, in 1969. He also pleaded guilty to sexually abusing the child's 12 year old sister in the home of their grandmother. The sentencing took into account Bosley's recent conviction for firing a gun into a car. He had served a 28-month sentence for sexual abuse of an 11 year old girl in Washington state 20 years before. Sentencing Judge Walter Block stated: "He took his position, duty and responsibility and used it to facilitate his criminal behavior." Assistant state attorney Victoria Rossetti, of Lake County, stated: "These people trusted him. He helped them, but he continuously violated these young girls." (Source: Chicago Tribune, 10/22/87)

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Rev. William Henwood, pastor of the Jericho Independent Church in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, pleaded no contest to charges of sexual contact with a 10 year old girl. He had molested her in his own home, as well as on the school bus he drove for the church. The little girl explained to investigators, "He'd drive with one hand." (Source: Scranton Times, 10/9/87)

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Rev. David Ray Miller was indicted for sexually molesting a little girl from his congregation for two years. "We can't weigh the damage," said Police Chief Larry Barmore. Yet her parents were so intimidated by the prestige of their daughter's assailant that they had to be talked into pressing charges. The exposure came none too soon. Miller had been in the process of opening a church elementary school. (Source: [Smithville, Texas] County Times, 9/24/87)

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Church elder Edward Scott Hartley of Community Chapel and Bible Training Center in Burien, Washington, had been told that a 12 year old girl had been sexually molested by her stepfather since she was four, but did not report this information to the proper authorities. The stepfather was eventually sentenced to 10 years in prison, no thanks to Hartley. Hartley was found guilty of violating Washington state law requiring that suspected child abuse cases be reported. King County Superior Court Judge Faith Enyeart ordered him to enroll in a 16-hour program on how to deal with family violence and sexual assault, and to report to her what he learned. (Sources: Peninsula Daily News, 9/18/87; Seattle Post-Intelligencer 12/2/87)

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Rev. Simon Douglas Jr., a minister at an East Spencer, North Carolina church, was charged with murdering a 13 year old girl. Her body was found gagged and bound with wires in a church parking lot. Douglas's record involved a sexual offense in Alabama in 1976. At that time, a babysitter wrote a testimonial that he was a "warm, gentle and courteous Christian-hearted young man who loves his wife and family." (Source: Charlotte Observer, 8/8/87)

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A minister in Santa Barbara, California was accused of sexually preying upon women molested as children, by offering them "special services" ostensibly to overcome painful childhood memories. (Source: Santa Barbara News-Press, 8/1/87)

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A lawsuit against a clergyman who failed to report sexual child abuse was dismissed by a Denver judge. A young girl who was being assaulted by her adoptive father went to Rev. Lou Montecalvo for counseling. He told her to "get on your knees and pray for forgiveness" for violating the sanctity of her parents' marriage. The father eventually was sent to prison. The girl's attorney called the minister's behavior "an outrageous, intentional infliction of emotional distress on the girl." (Source: Denver Post, 6/3/87)

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Rev. John S. Lower received three years unsupervised probation for molesting a girl, under age nine, during bible studies at her "home school." (Source: Tulsa World, 4/15/87)

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Vicar Cecil Rothery, 63, sentenced to probation at Retford for indecently assaulting a teenage boy. 1987.

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Jehovah's Witness given 8 years at Chelmsford for raping two girls. Yeates chanted "Satan. Satan" whilst raping them and claimed the devil made him do it. 1987.

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Christian psychologist Charles Markham Berry, a married man with children, esteemed in his community as a war veteran and upstanding Christian, was convicted of child molestation and child pornography in Atlanta. He had founded his own Christian-oriented counseling clinic, where he preyed on troubled boys and orphans from the Christian City Home. He assured them that their parents or guardians were aware of his "treatment" methods. He took boys to a warehouse where he kept a camera, tripod and a mattress on the floor. When "treating" a convicted molester, Markham forced him to use his own name to order child pornography from Europe for Markham's use. He kept detailed accounts of his molestations on a computer. As US Attorney Stephen Cowen said: "He wrapped himself in religious piety, used his position in the church and the community to shield himself . . . to find children . . . to seduce them." (Source: Atlanta Constitution & Journal, 7/18/86)

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Rev. Gilbert Hewlett was convicted of the rape, assault and sexual abuse of his 16 year old daughter. The mentally retarded girl had scars covering her face and body. (Source: Dothan Eagle, [Alabama], 6/28/86)

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A mother in Tampa, Florida walked in on Rev. Fonville Gandy when he was placing his hands on her son's genitals. She accepted his (unacceptable) explanation that he was "discussing anatomy" with the youth. This mother realized the truth when Rev. Gandy was later arrested for other molestations, and she testified against him at his trial. Gandy was sentenced to five years in prison for molesting another 11 year old at the Ecumenical Counseling Center. (Source: Tampa Tribune, 6/26/86)

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Army chaplain Lt. Col. Anthony Longval was convicted of sexually abusing young women whom he hypnotized before abusing. "He's a hypocrite who prayed on Sunday, and preyed on young women during the week," said the Army prosecutor. (Source: Yakima [Washington] Herald Republic, 6/8/86)

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Rev. Gordon Taylor of Keizer, Oregon was indicted for sodomy, sexual abuse and furnishing obscene material to minors. His reported victims were teenagers at a home for "wayward kids" which he directed. Charges were dismissed but prosecutors said they would reopen the case pending the location of a teenaged boy considered a key witness. (Source: Oregonian, 5/3/86; 6/17/86)

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Mormon Sunday school teacher Thomas Eugene Dawkins was accused of "the worst case of sexual abuse I've ever seen during my 30 years in law enforcement," according to Richard County Sheriff Frank Powell of Elgin, South Carolina. "I'm not sure how a child can cope with something like this." Dawkins was accused of brutally torturing and raping a girl over a two-year period starting when she was 13, terrifying her into submission by cutting her, showing her body parts he kept in jars, and threatening to dissect her. Much of the abuse occurred during church outings, or during privately arranged meetings. Dawkins denied guilt, instead, according to reports, "praying and reading from the Book of Mormon." South Carolina Circuit County Judge John Hamilton Smith termed the abuse of a "sadistic and macabre nature." Dawkins was found guilty and sentenced to 60 years in prison in November 1986. (Source: [Columbia, South Carolina] The State, 4/25/86; 11/8/86)

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Rev. James Britton Myers, a Kenosha, Wisconsin minister, was convicted of the heinous crime of raping a little girl at his Christian school over a five-year period, starting when she was age five. Yet his Christian supporters from three states filled the courtroom, and one member of his congregation called the crime "one drop of ink in crystal clear water." (Source: Milwaukee Journal, 4/23/86)

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Roswell, GA. The Rev. Rance Wellborn, the Roswell Minister accused of a murder prosecutors suspect is homosexually related, had been arrested twice in the past for sex crimes, but charges were dropped in both cases, witnesses testified Thursday. In one of the previous cases, the alleged sexual molestation of a teenage girl, authorities dropped the charge after pressure from influential members of Wellborn's church, witnesses said. (The Atlanta Journal and Constitution 05-23-1986)
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/wellborn1.htm -
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/lucas1.htm -
http://www.reformation.com/CSA/armstrong1.htm -

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A Louisville, Kentucky pastor convicted of sodomy and sexual abuse of young boys testified anonymously before a Senate subcommittee in April, 1982, about hunting boys for sex. He recounted how he had cruised areas where teenaged boys congregate in St. Louis, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Cleveland and Louisville. He received a suspended sentence in March 1982 of 10 years in prison and was given five years' probation. (Source: Lexington Herald, 4/2/82)

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Mormon Sunday school teacher Art Phillips, 43, of Arizona, was arrested in March and arraigned in April for fondling a 15-year-old girl and "solicitation to commit commercial sexual exploitation of a minor."

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A plaintiff identified as "E.R.B." and his parents claimed the New Life Fellowship Church of God in Longview and its governing body failed to properly investigate associate pastor Rick Shaw's conduct after numerous allegations were made against him. Shaw was accused of sexually abusing E.R.B. for five years, beginning in 1985 when E.R.B. was 14 years old.

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Jacksonville, FL. Trinity Christian Academy teacher Thomas Rake, 35, pleaded guilty to 1 count of lewd and lascivious conduct for fondling a girl, 13. (Jacksonville Times-Union)

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Jury awarded a Colorado woman $1.2 million in a judgment against the Diocese of Colorado and then-Bishop William Frey in 1991 (Frey was named as ecclesiastical authority).

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Grangetown, England. A senior Church in Wales vicar has been remanded in custody by magistrates in Cardiff charged with serious sex offences against a young man more than 10 years ago. Canon Lawrence Davies, Vicar of St Paul's Church in Grangetown in Cardiff and an area dean of the city, is charged with the rape of a man, indecent assault of a boy under 16 and gross indecency with a boy under 16.

http://www.reformation.com/CSA/variousabuse.html -

Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: April 03 2010 at 20:14

Werneflo wrote:

"It would be better for him to have a millstone tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these [children] to sin."
- Jesus (Luke 17:2)

well now, that's an extreme viewpoint, no wonder Christianity became as much terrorism as religion when the leader says such irresponsible things. Jesus would be shocked today to see what's being done in his name? Hmm, not so sure based on that

Posted By: jampa17
Date Posted: April 03 2010 at 20:24

Ok... let's put things in the right proportion Ok? is there any official proof against the Pope in this... or is it an especulaton...? I understand the anger... I do hate children abuse, but don't take it out of proportion, you know that there are many interests on attacking in the Church, don't you think this is a sensasionalist news? why do you think it jumps out to headlines precisly during the Holy Week...? one thing is that someone did some real awful thing and another to believe in all the attacks just because you don't like the Church... just imagine... this guy, the priest suppose to rape 200 children? do you really believe that you can do that or have enough time to do it... to 200!!! I tend to believe the half of the information in the media... but in cases where are political and power interests involved, I tend to believe less than a 10% of the information...

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Change the program inside... Stay in silence is a crime.

Posted By: Werneflo
Date Posted: April 03 2010 at 20:25

Atavachron wrote:

well now, that's an extreme viewpoint, no wonder Christianity became as much terrorism as religion when the leader says such irresponsible things. Jesus would be shocked today to see what's being done in his name? Hmm, not so sure based on that

Talk about being quick to judge. It's followed by this:

"Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him."

(With seven being a metaphor for any number. Some translations use "seventyseven times seven" or similar to make this point more obvious.)

Also, note that he says "would be better to" and not "should" be thrown in to the sea, which means it's a metaphor or a comparison. Christ never called for violence against anyone.

Posted By: Ivan_Melgar_M
Date Posted: April 03 2010 at 20:31

This is to Drew, who acuses Catholic Church so easily.

The list I copied (The site authorizes to copy it if credited)

If you quote from this, please check (if possible) and acknowledge the ORIGINAL source

http://www.reformation.com/ - http://www.reformation.com/

Also makes informs this:

Welcome to a collection of news reports on ministers who have sexually abused children:

http://reformation.com/CSA/allabuse.html - ALL Protestant denominations - - - Ministers

http://reformation.com/CSA/baptistsabuse.html - 147 Baptist Ministers

http://reformation.com/CSA/bibleabuse.html - 251 "Bible" Church Ministers (fundamentalist/evangelical)

http://reformation.com/CSA/episcopalianabuse.html - 140 Anglican/Episcopalian Ministers

http://reformation.com/CSA/lutheranabuse.html - 38 Lutheran Ministers

http://reformation.com/CSA/methodistabuse.html - 46 Methodist Ministers

http://reformation.com/CSA/presbyterianabuse.html - 19 Presbyterian Ministers

http://reformation.com/CSA/variousabuse.html - 197 various Church Ministers

http://www.reformation.com/ - http://www.reformation.com/

And ,makes an incredibly honest statement:

We would be naïve and dishonest were we to say this is a Roman Catholic problem and has nothing to do with us because we have married and female priests in our church. Sin and abusive behavior know no ecclesial or other boundaries." Rt. Rev. William Persell, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, Good Friday Sermon, 2002.

http://www.reformation.com/ - http://www.reformation.com/

So please, don't speak of santity and acuse one Church, this is a general problem among Priests, Pastors, parents, foster parents, teachers, family members etc, and all of them IF FOUND GUILTY BEFORE A COURT OF LAW, must go to jail.

But judging a whole religion for this acusations and asking their members to switch, is hypocritical to say the less.

Iván

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Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: April 03 2010 at 20:32

^^ I stand by what I said. Not everyone reads things as they should, or in whole, and things like that instigate violence. It's just that simple.

Quick to judge? Then next time post the whole damn quote.

Posted By: Equality 7-2521
Date Posted: April 03 2010 at 20:37

Yes someone could possible misinterpret a part of a quote that has been translated several times over two millennia which was originally written by someone who never heard Jesus speak. Damn that Jesus guy.

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"One had to be a Newton to notice that the moon is falling, when everyone sees that it doesn't fall. "

Posted By: jampa17
Date Posted: April 03 2010 at 20:41

Equality 7-2521 wrote:

Yes someone could possible misinterpret a part of a quote that has been translated several times over two millennia which was originally written by someone who never heard Jesus speak. Damn that Jesus guy.

Yeah... fun... but, what that have to do with the current topic...? really... I don't see any link at all with the current subject...

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Change the program inside... Stay in silence is a crime.

Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: April 03 2010 at 21:17

Well, I'm all for a fair trial for all those accused. If found guilty, string them up from their holy f***ing ballsacks. If the pope is 'proved' to have been complicit in covering up the actions of paedo priests, then he should be taken out and shot in St Peters square before all his adoring masses.

That will then be a detterent to all those who believe they can hide behind 'The Lord' when raping children.

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Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy!

Posted By: debrewguy
Date Posted: April 03 2010 at 21:24

I've not bothered to read any other post. But here goes, replace "the Catholic Church" with "IBM: , Apple", "Microsoft", "Boy Scouts" or any other big organization - would heads be rolling if any one in authority knowingly hid pedophiles, in some case by simply re-assigning or re-locating the offenders ?

Any & all priests, bishops, cardinals, Vatican officials, and yes, even the Pope who can be proven to have known and approved of such actions should be held legally liable & responsible.

Nuff Said !

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"Here I am talking to some of the smartest people in the world and I didn't even notice,” Lieutenant Columbo, episode The Bye-Bye Sky-High I.Q. Murder Case.

Posted By: Henry Plainview
Date Posted: April 03 2010 at 21:25

I don't think you're going to find anybody in the world who would say that priests should have the ability to molest with impunity.

One thing to keep in mind with these reports, though, is that in most cases the abuse doesn't come out until decades later, when it's sort of too late. I can't say for certain, but it was my understanding that Ratzinger and the others didn't bother to defrock the Wisconsin guy because he was already dying, which think is why the police also didn't prosecute. Presumably the victims themselves went to the police, and I don't see how the Church could shield him once people were speaking out: the Pope may be the head of a sovereign state and therefore more or less immune from prosecution, but some guy from Wisconsin isn't.

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if you own a sodastream i hate you

Posted By: Chris S
Date Posted: April 03 2010 at 22:15

I think that is wrong......of all the people he would be ashamed of these atrocities. Divine intervention should have happened a long time ago. Major creative flaw in the fabric of existence.

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<font color=Brown>Music - The Sound Librarian

...As I venture through the slipstream, between the viaducts in your dreams...[/COLOR]

Posted By: seventhsojourn
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 05:51

Ivan,

I realise your posts were intended for Drew, however... I think most people will accept this isn't a problem solely for the Catholic Church, but the issue here is that there was an attempted cover-up by the Vatican. The Vatican has defended Cardinal Ratzinger, stating he did more than anyone to have these beasts brought to justice. It has also stated that abuse of minors is among the most serious of sins... as if any decent human being wouldn't know that already!

The spiritual leader of English Protestants has attacked the Catholic Church in Ireland, and the Free Church of Scotland sees the Pope as the anti-Christ. As citizens we should be concerned for all children regardless of creed. However, as I previously stated, I question the wisdom of these attacks and i think your post adds weight to that argument. Still, this doesn't change the fact that there are those within the Catholic Church that have allowed beasts to move from parish to parish abusing children. There can be no more cover-ups, but I doubt we will ever know the truth about how high these allegations go.

Posted By: toroddfuglesteg
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 09:00

Henry Plainview wrote:

I don't think you're going to find anybody in the world who would say that priests should have the ability to molest with impunity.

Unfortunate, you are wrong. But those who advocate this view just use some other words for it. Words and views that many others, who abhor child molestations, would agree with.

Child molestations is not only restricted to religious movements. Political movements also have their fair share of this problem. It was rife in Rogue Khmer under Pol Pot in Cambodia. Mao Tse Tung shared bed with very young girls. Various fascist movements have had their scandals. Mostly with young boys.

Organised sports also had a big child molestation problem until some very nasty crime cases put this on the agenda. That's why everyone who is involved is thorough vetted by the police. And rightly so.

What angers me with organised religion is all the cover ups and their disdain for the most basic principles of their respective religions. That goes for all nominations and all religions. That's why I have a Christian faith, but do not want to be a part of anything organised. I am in peace with God and that's it.

Posted By: The Doctor
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 09:23

I don't think the coverup is just a problem with the church. Yes, it is reprehensible, but how many spouses who know their husbands are molesting their children turn a blind eye. How many neighbors highly suspect another neighbor of child abuse but do nothing. I think the problem is that the law provides no penalties for those who know or have evidence of abuse but do not act. At the very least, if a child comes to you and reports abuse, and you do not report it to the authorities, it shouldn't matter if your the suspects spouse, a priest, a bishop or a neighbor, you should be prosecuted for aiding and abetting child abuse. Children are unable to defend themselves and often turn to adults they think they can trust for help. Failure to provide that help, by reporting it to the authorities, is almost as reprehensible as those who perpetrate their depraved acts against the defenseless. Those who knew what was going on in the church but did nothing and covered it up should be prosecuted, but its not just a problem with the church. It is a problem with all of society.

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I can understand your anger at me, but what did the horse I rode in on ever do to you?

Posted By: toroddfuglesteg
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 09:47

I totally agree with The Doctor.

Let me also make it clear that I have no problems with the catholics or the Catholic church whatsoever. I respect them and I treat them with the utmost friendliness. But as with alcoholics; a good friend does not give the alcoholic more alcohol. A good friend tries to cure the illness.

Posted By: ExittheLemming
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 09:53

The Doctor wrote:

I don't think the coverup is just a problem with the church. Yes, it is reprehensible, but how many spouses who know their husbands are molesting their children turn a blind eye. How many neighbors highly suspect another neighbor of child abuse but do nothing. I think the problem is that the law provides no penalties for those who know or have evidence of abuse but do not act. At the very least, if a child comes to you and reports abuse, and you do not report it to the authorities, it shouldn't matter if your the suspects spouse, a priest, a bishop or a neighbor, you should be prosecuted for aiding and abetting child abuse. Children are unable to defend themselves and often turn to adults they think they can trust for help. Failure to provide that help, by reporting it to the authorities, is almost as reprehensible as those who perpetrate their depraved acts against the defenseless. Those who knew what was going on in the church but did nothing and covered it up should be prosecuted, but its not just a problem with the church. It is a problem with all of society.

Although I agree with the broad gist of your post I do think there is an aspect to this that has reared its ugly head in the past. During the early 90's I lived and worked on Orkney (a small island off the north coast of Scotland) where 9 children from the remote village of South Ronaldsay reported ritualistic abuse to social workers and were subsequently forcibly taken into foster care via a dawn raid of their respective homes. When the case came to trial it was found that there was not a shred of evidence to support the claims of the children and that many of the social workers who conducted the interviews were found to be culpable of wilfully extracting false testimonies from their interviewees. (You have to remember that the media hysteria re Satanic Child Abuse was at its peak at this time and the UK care professions were awash in theoretical literature from the US outlining the detection of such abuses)

I certainly would not condone in any way dismissing such claims out of hand and like everyone who has posted in this thread, find the actions of such individuals utterly repugnant. However, you must appreciate that everyone becomes a witch during a witch hunt. It would be practically impossible to implement legislation that compelled an individual to report to the authorities their suspicions, however remote, as to possible abuses. The concept of hearsay is still applicable in law i.e. in a criminal case it does not (without some notable exceptions) constitute evidence.

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Posted By: Equality 7-2521
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 10:38

jampa17 wrote:

Yeah... fun... but, what that have to do with the current topic...? really... I don't see any link at all with the current subject...

Really? I thought it was a direct response to that post right above that.

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"One had to be a Newton to notice that the moon is falling, when everyone sees that it doesn't fall. "

Posted By: Ivan_Melgar_M
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 11:18

The Doctor wrote:

I don't think the coverup is just a problem with the church. Yes, it is reprehensible, but how many spouses who know their husbands are molesting their children turn a blind eye. How many neighbors highly suspect another neighbor of child abuse but do nothing. I think the problem is that the law provides no penalties for those who know or have evidence of abuse but do not act. At the very least, if a child comes to you and reports abuse, and you do not report it to the authorities, it shouldn't matter if your the suspects spouse, a priest, a bishop or a neighbor, you should be prosecuted for aiding and abetting child abuse. Children are unable to defend themselves and often turn to adults they think they can trust for help. Failure to provide that help, by reporting it to the authorities, is almost as reprehensible as those who perpetrate their depraved acts against the defenseless. Those who knew what was going on in the church but did nothing and covered it up should be prosecuted, but its not just a problem with the church. It is a problem with all of society.

That's a good point:

I found this statistics in the Children Health Encyclopedia under rape

Demographics

The 2000 Victim, Incident, and Offender Characteristics, published by the National Center for Juvenile Justice (NCJJ), analyzed sexual assault data collected by law enforcement agencies over a five-year span. The following characteristics were found to be significant among victims of sexual assault:

Age: Over two-thirds of reported victims of sexual assault were juveniles under the age of 18. Adolescents aged 12 to 18 years represented the largest group of victims at 33 percent; 20 percent were between the ages of six and 11; children younger than five years old and adults between 18 and 24 years of age each constituted 14 percent of victims. One out of every seven victims surveyed in the study was under the age of six.
Gender: Females were more than six times more likely to be a victim of sexual assault than males; more than 86 percent of victims were females. The great majority (99%) of the victims of http://www.progarchives.com/topic/forcible - forcible rapes were women, while men constituted the majority (54%) of the victims of http://www.progarchives.com/topic/forcible-sodomy - forcible sodomy (oral or anal http://www.progarchives.com/topic/intercourse - intercourse ). Females are most likely to be the victim of sexual assault at age 14, while males are at most risk at age four.
Location: The residence of the victim was the most commonly noted location of sexual assault (70%). Other common locations included schools, hotels/motels, fields, woods, parking lots, roadways, and commercial/office buildings.

Similar statistics were gathered by the NCJJ regarding the perpetrators of rape and sexual assault. These characteristics included the following:

Age: Over 23 percent of offenders were under the age of 18; juveniles were more likely to be perpetrators of forcible sodomy and fondling. The remaining 77 percent of offenders were adults and were responsible for 67 percent of juvenile victims. For younger juvenile victims (under the age of 12), juvenile offenders were responsible for approximately 40 percent of assaults.
Gender: The great majority of all reported offenders were male (96%). The number of female offenders rose for victims under the age of six (12%), in contrast to 6 percent for victims aged six through 12, 3 percent for victims aged 12 through 17, and 1 percent for adult victims.
Relationship with http://www.progarchives.com/topic/offender - offender : Approximately 59 percent of offenders were acquaintances of their victims, compared to family members (27%) or strangers (14%). Family members were more likely to be perpetrators against juveniles (34%) than against adults (12%). In contrast, strangers accounted for 27 percent of adult victims and 7 percent of juveniles.
Past offenses: In 19 percent of juvenile cases, the victim was not the only individual to be assaulted by the offender, compared to only 4 percent of adult cases.

So, 70% of the rapes to minors happen IN THEIR OWN HOUSES (Family, friends, teachers, etc), Churches, parrishs, etc aren't even mentioned.

But people place emphasis on the Catholic Church, not only any Church, but a specific one, when parents and friends are more likely to be rapists.

This doesn't excuse the rapist priests, but proves what the Doctor said, the problem is in human nature, no matter what the occupation of the rapest is.

There are 10 times more teachers ACCUSED of rape than priests, but nobody talks about closing schools, the number of rapist parents is incredibly higher, but nobody talks about taking all the kids from their parents.

Lets put things in it's place, rape happens anywhere,but a Catholic Priest sells more in a country like USA where the Catholics are a minority and when some "self proclaimed Churches" live to attack the Catholic Church.

There's another problem, the biggest scandals are in USA, where courts pay millions for anything, parents settle with rapists for a large amount of money or even worst innocent public figures pay millions to avoid scandals....I don't know if Michael Jackson was guilty or not...But would any of you would send your kid to sleep to a house of man suspicious of raping?

Don't you believe this people sent their kids praying they were molested and gain a lot of money?

I studied in a Catholic school as nearly 10% of Lima students go to Catholic schools, but there's NOT ONE CASE OF RAPE, maybe because our courts pay sh¡t to victims.

Iván

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Posted By: The Pessimist
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 11:22

Right, here's the deal.

Paedophilia, as the vast majority agree, is wrong.

Priests, no matter what your belief is, are no better than the rest of us.

Meaning, we should all get the same treatment.

Making the fact that priests get away with paedophilia, and a member of the public gets a lengthy prison sentence, disgusting.

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"Market value is irrelevant to intrinsic value."

Arnold Schoenberg

Posted By: Ivan_Melgar_M
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 11:41

The Pessimist wrote:

Making the fact that priests get away with paedophilia, and a member of the public gets a lengthy prison sentence, disgusting.

About 1,200 priests were taken to courts in USA because of Paedophilia, less than 2% were convicted,

This means

41,406 (2006) Priests in USA
1,200 accused 2.89% of the total number
Less than 2% OF THE ACCUSED were convicted or settled
This means 0.04% of the USA priests were convicted or settled
We talk about 34% of rapist family members

You say a member of the public gets a lenghty prison..You live in fantasy, as lawyer I know this, only zbout 10% of the rape cases reach court, and I'm talking about general public, because kids hardly will accuse their parents, friends and family, plus the public humliation they suffer.

Iván

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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 11:45

Innocent until proven guilty, but you have to go to trial...
Hiding behind your religion, unacceptable.

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Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

Posted By: Ivan_Melgar_M
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 12:03

Slartibartfast wrote:

Innocent until proven guilty, but you have to go to trial...

Starti, please tell me what's the chance of a priest accused of rapé to get a fair trial?

The public has convicted them before the trial
The media accuses them publicly

Some churches like the Westboro Baptist Church publish aberrations like

Priests Rape Boys: an air-tight, three word case against the Catholic church. The Catholic Church is the largest, most well-funded and organized pedophile group in the history of man! http://www.godhatesfags.com/

Other Churches like Jesus is Saviour publish aberrations like http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Roman%20Catholicism/high_aids_toll_among_priests.htm - http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Roman%20Catholicism/high_aids_toll_among_priests.htm (Priests have 4 times more AIDS than general population )
Or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6yDuxzjpxE - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6yDuxzjpxE

People read this in daily bases so why amazes you that some priests have to settle?

They won't get a fair trial in many cases.

Iván

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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 12:08

Ivan_Melgar_M wrote:

Slartibartfast wrote:

Innocent until proven guilty, but you have to go to trial...

Starti, please tell me what's the chance of a priest accused of rapé to get a fair trial?

Iván

The more well you're known, the harder it is to get a fair trial. The poorer you are, it's just the same. If you're stuck in the middle you're f**ked. Still I support our judicial system warts and all.

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Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

Posted By: lazland
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 13:04

Slarti's quote from Lord Acton re absolute power corrupting absolutely, and also Micky's comments resonate with me a lot.

People need to think that it is not the religion or the beliefs themselves that are intrinsically rotten and corrupt, it is the institution of the church itself.

There is a famous quote from the 19th Century (I forget who by) by an English Protestant when, visiting the Inquisition chambers in Europe, turned to his companion, a devout Catholic, and said; "I really believe that there must be a divine and beautiful purpose to the universal church, one that carries an insurmountable truth, because only such a truth could escape such barbarity and cruelty".

That is, of course, from memory, but you get the gist. It's the people who are evil and the institutions where they ferment power, but I do still believe in the overall message of goodness and redemption, in spite of all that the world has to throw at us.

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Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org

Posted By: Garion81
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 13:13

Any person in a position of trust and care of children that abuses that trust must be tried and put away if guilty.

Any organisation that would impair or block the pursuit of justice and truth are accessories. I do not limit this to the churches.

The biggest problem with abuse is that for the most part is that is passed from generation to the next. Until we as a society decide enough is enough than this will continue.

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"What are you going to do when that damn thing rusts?"

Posted By: Ivan_Melgar_M
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 13:26

Garion81 wrote:

Any person in a position of trust and care of children that abuses that trust must be tried and put away if guilty.

Any organisation that would impair or block the pursuit of justice and truth are accessories. I do not limit this to the churches.

The biggest problem with abuse is that for the most part is that is passed from generation to the next. Until we as a society decide enough is enough than this will continue.

I agree 100%, burn them if guilty, but first you need evidence, not just press articles or testimonies without prove.

In the same way I believe that if a Priest, teacher or whatever is accused and hung by the press (as it usually happens), the same press should clean the name of the person in first page if found innocent.

But this doesn't happen, I read rapist priest hundreeds of times in first page, but when 98% of this accused are found innocent...The same press says nothing.

A rapist priest sells, an innocent one doesn't.

Iván

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Posted By: Garion81
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 13:35

^ Agreed Ivan, tried in the press happens way to often. Still there is the underlying evil that if not brought to light will continue to haunt society and it's children. We have to be better, all of us, press, criminal justice systems, lawmakers and citizens.

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"What are you going to do when that damn thing rusts?"

Posted By: A Person
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 13:50

Garion81 wrote:

The biggest problem with abuse is that for the most part is that is passed from generation to the next. Until we as a society decide enough is enough than this will continue.

I don't think mankind will ever be free from abuse of any kind.

Posted By: Chris S
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 14:11

wow...........................what a fine species we are. Let's all give ourselves a congratulatory pat on the back

This topic has virtually run it's course, may the guilty child molesters burn wherever for eternity. If you are a priest and you worry that you may be persecuted because facts show about 98% of those on trial are innocent, maybe find a new career. Same goes for teachers, parents. I know and hear that many church/denominations are concerned about their ' flocks' diminishing. I can see why. Shame on the Catholic Church and the Vatican, and shame on any other organisation or individual guilty of such atrocities.

Yahweh.........your time is nigh.

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<font color=Brown>Music - The Sound Librarian

...As I venture through the slipstream, between the viaducts in your dreams...[/COLOR]

Posted By: Henry Plainview
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 18:34

Garion81 wrote:

The biggest problem with abuse is that for the most part is that is passed from generation to the next. Until we as a society decide enough is enough than this will continue.

And many child abusers were abused themselves. Should we start sterilizing the victims too?

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if you own a sodastream i hate you

Posted By: Garion81
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 19:05

^ I don't know that answer HP but you backed up my point. I have my own reasons to be concerned about the subject of child abuse and I try and be objective about what I say and feel. I really feel until we understand it better and how to treat it these people should be separated from the general population when possible.after their first offense It is either that or accept the fact that someones child maybe your own will fall victim to this and most likely to continue to spread it when they get older. I am unwilling to do that.

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"What are you going to do when that damn thing rusts?"

Posted By: micky
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 19:13

your post Brian reminds me of a terrible period of my life... and what ended up wrecking what was left of my previous marriage.. which wasn't much I suppose

makes me wonder what happened to the 14 year old that sexually assaulted my 5 year old daughter.... his family picked up and moved west after the court date... I remember, though of course he couldn't be prosecuted... he was supposed to get 'treatment'

upstanding family... we knew them and had used them for daycare for years... the father was a county trooper... great guy...

face it... there is no 'root' of evil... it is simply a fact of life...

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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip

Posted By: Henry Plainview
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 21:20

Garion81 wrote:

^ I don't know that answer HP but you backed up my point. I have my own reasons to be concerned about the subject of child abuse and I try and be objective about what I say and feel. I really feel until we understand it better and how to treat it these people should be separated from the general population when possible.after their first offense It is either that or accept the fact that someones child maybe your own will fall victim to this and most likely to continue to spread it when they get older. I am unwilling to do that.

Fair enough, but you have to realize that if one instance of sexual abuse is life without parole, you're going to have some problems, besides the obvious one of ending somebody's life for a crime that didn't end anybody else's.

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if you own a sodastream i hate you

Posted By: Garion81
Date Posted: April 04 2010 at 21:52

^ True but they just ruined them psychologically and possibly sexually for the rest of their lives. It isn't like stealing something that can be replaced. I never said life without parole I said separate possibly hospitals but not in mainstream society. We have to keep from hiding from it and keeping it secret. this is a world wide disease.

Just for the record I have one daughter raped by another teenager, another possibly molested or raped after being drugged (she doesn't remember what happened but tested positive for the date rape drug) and now a niece raped and murdered. I think I have had enough of giving these people another chance. I think they are predators and have little good in them and if my girls still break down and cry and have their confidence stripped form them I am not going to shed one thought that this guy is separated form society for the rest of his life. Still I would let them live just not near me anymore. But yet many of you would say these are isolated cases. Ivan is right they need to have evidence and go through due process but I live in the reality that none of these guys who harmed my family will ever be found and they are free to continue their lives like nothing happened. Possibly to continue to molest and rape and kill. Maybe your family member is next.

So what am I just going to sit here and accept it? Is this okay for you?

And as for your signature quote College BB at Michigan was ruined becasue of the Fab 5 and the coach there. Not all college BB is the same. Well maybe wherever John Callipari coaches. Wink

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"What are you going to do when that damn thing rusts?"

Posted By: jampa17
Date Posted: April 05 2010 at 10:35

Vibrationbaby wrote:

Can't believe nobody has been offended yet on this one. ne thing that I would like to know. Why is it always little boys. If itwere some dirty whore then I could deal with it a bit easier. Was it Jimmy Swaggart that got caught with a dirty whore about 20 years ago? Then he started to make $$$$$. I think these Catholocs like scandals just so they can say "we still have faith".

I'm not sure if you're sarcastic or what, but I have to tell you, as a Catholic active member of an active community I can tell you that WE DON'T LIKE SCANDALS. Everyone that I have talk about it are really mad at it, but we don't miss the point that some things are not true or at least are manipulated by the media... so, first of all, we can't judge if we are sinners just like anyone else... and if there's a real "proof" of this current topic, I could be the first in asking a death penalty to the priests, but at the end... what do you know for true? are you sure the Pope is involved? I don't buy it, really, there are too many interests in atacking the Church and I think is not a secret to anyone... but well... Catholics don't like scandals... period...

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Change the program inside... Stay in silence is a crime.

Posted By: seventhsojourn
Date Posted: April 05 2010 at 10:39

Vibrationbaby wrote:

Can't believe nobody has been offended yet on this one. ne thing that I would like to know. Why is it always little boys. If itwere some dirty whore then I could deal with it a bit easier. Was it Jimmy Swaggart that got caught with a dirty whore about 20 years ago? Then he started to make $$$$$. I think these Catholocs like scandals just so they can say "we still have faith".

Which Catholics... the priests or the ordinary people? It's not the fault of the faithful if some priests are hypocrites. The faithful try to do as the priests say, not as they do.

Posted By: Atkingani
Date Posted: April 05 2010 at 10:40

I think that it's better to post here after refreshing ideas inside your heads, gentlemen - this way the present thread will survive IMO.

Thanks!

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Guigo

~~~~~~

Posted By: jampa17
Date Posted: April 05 2010 at 10:45

seventhsojourn wrote:

Vibrationbaby wrote:

Can't believe nobody has been offended yet on this one. ne thing that I would like to know. Why is it always little boys. If itwere some dirty whore then I could deal with it a bit easier. Was it Jimmy Swaggart that got caught with a dirty whore about 20 years ago? Then he started to make $$$$$. I think these Catholocs like scandals just so they can say "we still have faith".

Which Catholics... the priests or the ordinary people? It's not the fault of the faithful if some priests are hypocrites. The faithful try to do as the priests say, not as they do.

Agreed... it's in the Bible, words of Jesus: "Do what they say but don't imitate their actions..." precisely refering to those hypocrites priests of the Temple... I think Rob can give us the accurate quote of that part and it makes a lot of sense...

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Change the program inside... Stay in silence is a crime.

Posted By: seventhsojourn
Date Posted: April 05 2010 at 10:48

Atkingani wrote:

I think that it's better to post here after refreshing ideas inside your heads, gentlemen - this way the present thread will survive IMO.

Thanks!

Why plural?

Posted By: Vibrationbaby
Date Posted: April 05 2010 at 11:33

I think I struck a nerve. I was just kidding. Sorry.

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Posted By: Easy Money
Date Posted: April 05 2010 at 13:44

A post has been hidden and it's repetition, probably some more need to be hid, but I need to go to work.
Please people, there is absolutely nothing funny about any of this, treat this topic with extreme respect or it will be closed.

Posted By: jampa17
Date Posted: April 05 2010 at 13:49

Easy Money wrote:

A post has been hidden and it's repetition, probably some more need to be hid, but I need to go to work.
Please people, there is absolutely nothing funny about any of this, treat this topic with extreme respect or it will be closed.

Oh... I can edit my post so it will not need to be taken away... that should be Ok?

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Change the program inside... Stay in silence is a crime.

Posted By: Vibrationbaby
Date Posted: April 06 2010 at 09:19

There are offensive things everywhere you look in life. I just brush these things off and say to myself, " The planet has gone wacky." I just saw a rather offensive letter to the editor in the Montréal Gazette this morning ( I found it rather amusing myself ) . We also have a weekly rag called the Montréal Mirror that is crammed with offensive material that is available for free on street corners, libraries, coffee shops, everywhere.

It's more than obvious that this thread has run it's course and the head of the Catholic Church has a bit more on his plate than more that a few twisted clergymen. So, I'll just take a box seat for the duration.

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Posted By: npjnpj
Date Posted: April 08 2010 at 06:56

I'm pessimistic about the whole business.

We live in a society that does its best to protect criminals in the name of justice and ignore the victims, so why should the church be any different?

The church is just doing what it and any large corporation or even states have always done: It sits still until the whole thing goes away on its own. It always does.

Posted By: ExittheLemming
Date Posted: April 08 2010 at 07:37

npjnpj wrote:

I'm pessimistic about the whole business.

We live in a society that does its best to protect criminals in the name of justice and ignore the victims, so why should the church be any different?

The church is just doing what it and any large corporation or even states have always done: It sits still until the whole thing goes away on its own. It always does.

Although I don't necessarily disagree with you here, you might want to lend a little substance to such a sweeping statement methinks...erm, care to cite some examples that illustrate your point ?

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Posted By: npjnpj
Date Posted: April 08 2010 at 08:25

How about the banks after last year? Promises of changes and rigid controls were made and has anyhing changed?

How about we're actually all supposed to be dying of BSE by now?

How about a multitude of political plans as a result of similar scandals in the past and in the present concerning child care, education, healthcare, infrastructure, jobs, tax laws, crime prevention etc.?

I've got more, but whatever they are, it all goes away given time and the new scandal that replaces the old one completely. I often wonder what's up with peoples' memories.

Posted By: ExittheLemming
Date Posted: April 08 2010 at 09:49

npjnpj wrote:

How about the banks after last year? Promises of changes and rigid controls were made and has anyhing changed?

How about we're actually all supposed to be dying of BSE by now?

I've got more, but whatever they are, it all goes away given time and the new scandal that replaces the old one completely. I often wonder what's up with peoples' memories.

Although I can't comment on new or altered legislation being lobbied for re controls on the finance sector, the remainder all strike me as requiring investment i.e. our money and sadly, as you point out, the loudest righteousness is soon muzzled with the threat of an tax invoice to foot the bill. (Voters are like Scotsmen: Love Beer - Hate buying it Wink

)

Yesterday's scandal is today's litter and people's memories are about as short as their tempers.

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Posted By: jampa17
Date Posted: April 08 2010 at 13:35

it's not about peoples mind... is about media interests... They only care if it's new a fresh noise to sell... anything else takes smaller places in the newspapers as the days pass and people get bored about it... just that...

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Change the program inside... Stay in silence is a crime.

Posted By: The T
Date Posted: April 08 2010 at 18:04

jampa17 wrote:

it's not about peoples mind... is about media interests... They only care if it's new a fresh noise to sell... anything else takes smaller places in the newspapers as the days pass and people get bored about it... just that...

You're a little too quick to dismiss this problem entirely just because it affects priests of the religion you follow man...

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Posted By: jampa17
Date Posted: April 09 2010 at 11:11

The T wrote:

You're a little too quick to dismiss this problem entirely just because it affects priests of the religion you follow man...

No, I'm a journalist and I know how the agenda works in the media... from inside out... that's why... and is just like the other guy said: today was priest, before was Tiger Woods, before was the war, before corruption... is just what can sell more newspapers or pick out more audience... in most cases, the information is distorded to try to reach more and more people... that's all...

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Change the program inside... Stay in silence is a crime.

Posted By: A Person
Date Posted: April 09 2010 at 11:15

jampa17 wrote:

The T wrote:

You're a little too quick to dismiss this problem entirely just because it affects priests of the religion you follow man...

No, I'm a journalist and I know how the agenda works in the media... from inside out... that's why... and is just like the other guy said: today was priest, before was Tiger Woods, before was the war, before corruption... is just what can sell more newspapers or pick out more audience... in most cases, the information is distorted to try to reach more and more people... that's all...

I agree to a point, it's only a pressing issue(pun intended) until the next big thing comes up.

Posted By: JJLehto
Date Posted: April 09 2010 at 18:04

Didn't hear about this story, been living under a rock this semester.

I guess what can be said? Nothing that I havn't said before: Organized Religion.......... what a surprise

Posted By: Ivan_Melgar_M
Date Posted: April 10 2010 at 09:34

JJLehto wrote:

Didn't hear about this story, been living under a rock this semester.

I guess what can be said? Nothing that I havn't said before: Organized Religion.......... what a surprise

Nobody justifies the abuse of some priests, but you say organized religion...The you must mention parenthood (34% of the rapes are by parents as I quoted in a report) family members, teachers, friends schoolmates, etc that are incredibly higher.

Why don't you talk about school system with rapist teachers and students?

But press ignores them, because it's easy to accuse a priest, but what is worst, they create the scandal when a priest is accused, they hang him, but don't say a word when 98% are declared innocent, because an innocent priest doesn't sell newspapers.

That's what we criticize.

Iván

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Posted By: JJLehto
Date Posted: April 10 2010 at 10:46

Nah it all happens too, and I agree with you 100%

Still doesn't change what I said.... but you are right.

Posted By: The T
Date Posted: April 10 2010 at 11:56

All of that is true. But the pedophiles in church must be burned anyway. Investigated and then, if convicted, burned. The same if the main priest in Rome covered it up.

The same for people in all walks of life of course, with or without Roman hat.

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Posted By: Vibrationbaby
Date Posted: April 10 2010 at 12:54

When I said i would take a box seat to this thread then I' sorry ILIED!!! ( just as Arnie would say! ).

Children are the hope of the future or , what we have left of it. They are precious. This hiding behind the facade of religion ha worn too thin on me. Jesus Christ is a composite, Any fool can see that. The biggest case of the Emporers New Clothes. My dear old dad agreed with me. He allowed me to discover that for myself. The way Joe The Rat is running the Vatican makes a mockery out of mankind itself. And if any of the self-ritcheous editors want to hide this then be my guest. in the military I dealt with chaplians ( and authotity ) who were very open minded and unbiased if that's any coparison to a MUSIC wbsite who emloys THOUGHT police.

i have a good friend with whom I share breakfast with occasionally who is the age of 89 years and some of the plans for these "priests" are unprintable here on "Progarchives Geoorge Orwell General Di

scussions.com".

We spent the Easter holiday with my twin nieces and nephew and my sister said that she would not let them anywhere near any church of any faith. The kids play sports, swimming, skating, hockey and my nephew even wants to be a pilot. Take your divinity and shove it. Really. Has lost any meaning for me.

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Posted By: Vibrationbaby
Date Posted: April 10 2010 at 12:57

Vibrationbaby wrote:

When I said i would take a box seat to this thread then I' sorry ILIED!!! ( just as Arnie would say! ).

I have a good friend with whom I share breakfast with occasionally who is the age of 89 years and some of the plans for these "priests" are unprintable here on "Progarchives Geoorge Orwell General Di

scussions.com".

We spent the Easter holiday with my twin nieces and nephew and my sister said that she would not let them anywhere near any church of any faith. The kids play sports, swimming, skating, hockey etc. and my nephew even wants to be a pilot. Take your divinity and shove it. Children are pecious.

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Posted By: Ivan_Melgar_M
Date Posted: April 10 2010 at 15:38

The T wrote:

All of that is true. But the pedophiles in church must be burned anyway. Investigated and then, if convicted, burned. The same if the main priest in Rome covered it up.

The same for people in all walks of life of course, with or without Roman hat.

I agree with you, if a priest rapes...hang him.

But I don't understand the hatred against Catholic Church,

In the report I posted you can see that

http://reformation.com/CSA/bibleabuse.html - 251 "Bible" Church Ministers (fundamentalist/evangelical)
http://reformation.com/CSA/baptistsabuse.html - 147 Baptist Ministers
http://reformation.com/CSA/episcopalianabuse.html - 140 Anglican/Episcopalian Ministers

HAVE BEEN CONVICTED, and they represent a much smaller percentage of Catholic Priests accused, and even ten times higher than the Catholic priests convicted, but the press ignores this.

Just imagine that the FundamentalistEvangelical represent only 1.2 % of the Christians ibn USA, Baptists represent 16% of Christians and Anglicans only 1.7% while Catholics represent a large 24% oif Christians in USA and they have a very high of CONVICTED pastors.

Another site says:

Priestly celibacy is not the issue - married men are more likely to abuse children than unmarried

Most child abuse takes place within the home.

All religious groups have pedophile scandals, and the Catholics (while the largest religious group) are at the bottom of the list statistically.

Child abuse is prevalent in all areas of society: schools, youth organizations, sports, etc.

Statistically, of all the professions, Christian clergy are least likely to offend. Doctors, Farmers and Teachers are the professions most likely to abuse children--not clergy.

Among clergy offenders Catholic priests are least likely to offend.

Catholic cases of pedophilia make more headlines because of anti Catholic prejudice and because the Catholic Church is bigger and more lucractive to sue.

http://mommylife.net/archives/2010/03/pedophile_pries.html - http://mommylife.net/archives/2010/03/pedophile_pries.html

But press attacks Cathollic Church, because the Pope is in a different country and are the biggest Christian Church in the world.

Iván

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Posted By: Vibrationbaby
Date Posted: April 10 2010 at 15:47

I am against anything that uses religion as a facade.

I just invented a religion that requires me to walk down the street with a loaded AK 47. There!

These guys make the KKK look like Saints.

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Posted By: akamaisondufromage
Date Posted: April 10 2010 at 16:11

Ivan_Melgar_M wrote:

The T wrote:

[quote]

Priestly celibacy is not the issue - married men are more likely to abuse children than unmarried

Most child abuse takes place within the home.

All religious groups have pedophile scandals, and the Catholics (while the largest religious group) are at the bottom of the list statistically.

Child abuse is prevalent in all areas of society: schools, youth organizations, sports, etc.

Statistically, of all the professions, Christian clergy are least likely to offend. Doctors, Farmers and Teachers are the professions most likely to abuse children--not clergy.

Among clergy offenders Catholic priests are least likely to offend.

Catholic cases of pedophilia make more headlines because of anti Catholic prejudice and because the Catholic Church is bigger and more lucractive to sue.

http://mommylife.net/archives/2010/03/pedophile_pries.html - http://mommylife.net/archives/2010/03/pedophile_pries.html

But press attacks Cathollic Church, because the Pope is in a different country and are the biggest Christian Church in the world.

Iván

Child abuse as you say goes on in all walks of life - Education Medical and of course most often in the family.

What is the issue with the Catholic Church is not that abuse occurs but that it has been hidden - covered up systematically. Instead of reporting abusers to the police which is what happens in the other cases you mention. The Church just moved abusers to somewhere else so they could carry on their abusive behaviour. Its probably 'least likely to offend' because noone reports anybody.^

The Press smell blood yes. But the behaviour of the Catholic Church has been so apalling that it deserves this scrutiny. The Church needs to catch up with the 21st C.

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Help me I'm falling!

Posted By: Epignosis
Date Posted: April 10 2010 at 17:40

Logic:

People from nations do evil things.

Therefore, belonging to a nation is evil.

Geek

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https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays" rel="nofollow - https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays

Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: April 10 2010 at 17:48

Epignosis wrote:

Logic:

People from nations do evil things.

Therefore, belonging to a nation is evil.

Geek

What? You didn't get the memo.

Look religion should never be a cover for doing evil deeds. Far too often it is and I'm not going to point fingers.

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Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

Posted By: Epignosis
Date Posted: April 10 2010 at 17:54

Slartibartfast wrote:

Epignosis wrote:

Logic:

People from nations do evil things.

Therefore, belonging to a nation is evil.

Geek

What? You didn't get the memo.

Look religion should never be a cover for doing evil deeds. Far too often it is and I'm not going to point fingers.

And I do not support anyone who uses religion to hide evil ambitions (ever heard of the Pharisees?).

My point is that if, for example, a US soldier molests a child, and his commanding officer covers him, I will not discredit the entire US military.

Kinda funny really, if you think about it...

Here in America, some Muslims destroyed our buildings and murdered thousands of people, and yet you get criticized severely for even insinuating that the Islamic religion is a cover for violent acts. Ermm

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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: April 10 2010 at 18:07

I'm looking back at my post and it seems a bit harsh, so I apologize. I was attempting to inject into a little humor .into an unfunny subject. But you're on the money and as you have outlined you beliefs I can't see a less than honorable person.

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Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

Posted By: Epignosis
Date Posted: April 10 2010 at 18:13

Slartibartfast wrote:

I'm looking back at my post and it seems a bit harsh, so I apologize. I was attempting to inject into a little humor .into an unfunny subject. But you're on the money and as you have outlined you beliefs I can't see a less than honorable person.

And your entrenched political opinions masquerading around as humor have done nothing but two things:

1. Made me feel. ( Angry

)

and

2. Made me think. ( Geek

)

Whereas Tull could only do one, you've done both. Wink

You're a good man, Slarty Brown! Big smile

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Posted By: akamaisondufromage
Date Posted: April 10 2010 at 18:19

Epignosis wrote:

Slartibartfast wrote:

Epignosis wrote:

Logic:

People from nations do evil things.

Therefore, belonging to a nation is evil.

Geek

What? You didn't get the memo.

Look religion should never be a cover for doing evil deeds. Far too often it is and I'm not going to point fingers.

It does appear as if the cover up of abuse in the Catholic Church has been institutional. And members of the church trusted priests with their children you wouldn't trust a soldier in the same way with your child.

The Church covered this abuse not the religion.

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Help me I'm falling!

Posted By: Epignosis
Date Posted: April 10 2010 at 18:23

akamaisondufromage wrote:

Epignosis wrote:

Slartibartfast wrote:

Epignosis wrote:

Logic:

People from nations do evil things.

Therefore, belonging to a nation is evil.

Geek

What? You didn't get the memo.

Look religion should never be a cover for doing evil deeds. Far too often it is and I'm not going to point fingers.

The Church covered this abuse not the religion.

I won't presume to answer for Catholics since I am not one of them and there are several here, but your point is well taken.

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https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays" rel="nofollow - https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays