The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Kevin Straughan, pastor of Agape Ministries Church in Ossipee, New Hampshire, stands accused of strangulation and sexual assault.
A former New Hampshire minister is accused of strangulation and sexual assault and is being investigated for similar charges in Florida.
Ossipee police said at the time of the allegations, Kevin Straughan, 67, was the head minister of Agape Ministries Church in Ossipee and Moultonborough.
Straughan has been indicted on several charges, including four counts of sexual assault and second-degree assault. Police said the victims are people he knew, including children.
Police said Straughan is no longer preaching at the church but is still involved there. He is also under investigation in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Police said they worked with multiple agencies as part of the investigation, which started in October. Liz Kelley-Scott, executive director of the Child Advocacy Center, said she couldn’t speak to the specifics of the case, but she said the organization’s role is to make sure children are protected throughout such investigations.
“That’s why we really work as a team, to have an open line of communication between law enforcement and prosecutors and our child protective services, but also to make sure all the needs of the kids are being met,” she said.
People at the church said they had no comment on the investigation. News 9 left a message at a phone number for Straughan but has not heard back.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Connect with me on social media:
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.
Strangulation? Why, it’s the embrace of God’s Love (TM)!
He kind of looks like a real – life version of Homer Simpson, but without the laughs. There’s not much detail as to what he’s guilty of, but just strangling someone is more than enough !
He sexually assaulted and strangled several victims, adults and minors, one minor under 13 years of age. This low-life was a FOSTER PARENT (note none of the articles say this)
I deleted most of your comment because it was pretty inflammatory and conspiratorial. Publishing it could open me up to civil liability. If you have actual evidence for your claims, I will gladly publish them.
I appreciate your understanding on this matter.
Bruce
https://www.firehouse.com/community-risk/news/10466110/dozens-of-goats-sheep-killed-in-nh-farm-fire
Note “foster kids”….this was the second fire of suspicious origin for this “Church”. The information, regarding what I previously posted, is a matter of police and court record….not “conspiracy”. CPS has a long history of questionable activity and affiliations with criminal elements. Since I posted, you have probably heard that 85,000 children that crossed the border were given to probable child traffickers…the news about pedophile child trafficker and FBI/CIA “informant” Jeffrey Epstein who committed “suicide” in jail after running a blackmail operation and his cohort Maxwell (good friends of the Clintons) who was arrested in N.H., ect…
Rest of comment unrelated to post deleted.
Please don’t post conspiracy theories. Take the 85,000 missing children. I found no evidence that they were given to sex traffickers.