The Black Collar Crime Series focuses on criminal misconduct—primarily sex crimes—by clergy members. Started in 2017, the series has more than 1,000 stories as of today.
Today, a reader sent me the following email:
I have some questions for you. When you submit story of someone being arrested and having charges against them, do you believe it is your responsibility to later report if the charges were proven and what the sentence is or if the charges were dropped. Do you believe in innocent until proven guilty or do you feel charges are enough for guilt to shame someone whether or not the court finds them guilty? I’m very curious on your thoughts about that.
Here’s my response:
When you submit story of someone being arrested and having charges against them, do you believe it is your responsibility to later report if the charges were proven and what the sentence is or if the charges were dropped?
Charges are rarely dropped. When they are, they are typically dropped because victims refuse to testify. This does not mean the perpetrator is innocent. All it does mean is that victims do not want to relive the horrors of the crimes perpetrated against them. Often, papers do not report what happens after a clergy member is arrested. I use Google Alerts to track these cases. I receive 100-250 alerts per day, many of which are duplicates or fake news.
I should note that just because a clergy person is found not guilty does not mean he or she is innocent. All it means is that the judge (in a bench trial) or a jury found the evidence insufficient to convict the perpetrator.
Yes, clerics are, on rare occasions, accused of crimes they did not do. Our legal system generally does a good job of separating guilt from innocence. Not perfect, but it is the best system we have. Keep in mind, far more acts of sexual misconduct go unreported than are prosecuted. Clerics often wield a lot of power and control. Victims know this. Fearing retribution, they often suffer in silence. That’s why some victims wait until they are adults to report their attacks and assaults.
Do you believe in innocent until proven guilty or do you feel charges are enough for guilt to shame someone whether or not the court finds them guilty?
Of course I believe in innocent until proven guilty. Every Black Collar Crime post starts with this disclaimer:
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.
I only know of a handful of preachers who were found not guilty. Many of them plead guilty, angling for reduced sentences. Since most of these crimes are sex related, prosecutors tend to take their time building a case against the alleged perpetrator. On occasion, prosecutors make mistakes. Our legal system is not infallible.
I rarely make personal comments about Black Collar Crime stories. I just report what credible newspapers and other institutions write. If I make a mistake, I promptly fix it. If someone is found innocent, if the alleged perpetrator asks, I will remove the story or add an addendum that shows they were found not guilty. The perpetrator must show proof of the not-guilty verdict.
On occasion, lying preachers (and their supporters) will contact me, saying they are innocent or their charges have been dismissed. Not wanting anyone to be wrongly accused, I ask for evidence for their claim — news stories or court orders. More often than not, no evidence is forthcoming. Why? The offending preacher is a liar. hoping that I will remove the story about him so it will no longer show in search results.
It is impossible for me to keep up with the disposition of every case. If the disposition shows up in a Google Alert, I will update the relevant post. On occasion, readers such as Brocken will track down what happened to a specific preacher, and I update the post. The goal is to always report the most accurate information possible.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.
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I met three perverted clergymen between the ages of 11 and 16.
Grew up in a small town with few church options. If they were bold enough to be gropers or worse in that small environment, it’s not a surprise that they’re everywhere.
Telling everyone else not to give in to carnal urges but doing whatever the hell they want.
Abstinence makes the church grow fondlers.
If the story gets into the news, the clergy is already going to be shamed. Bruce is only reporting what is already in major publications. Insisting that nothing be reported until a guilty verdict is reached is disrespectful to the victims of the crime. They don’t do this for other criminals, why should clergy be the exception? Because people cannot (will not) face the fact that their beloved churches are full of sexual predators?
From what I’ve seen of these stories, most clergy feel no shame. In fact, they double down, claiming they are the true victims. Or else, they just say “Jesus forgives me, so should you.” If the churches feel shame, then they should. They have probably been covering for their pervert clergy for years.
Nothing against Bruce, but I have a beef with media that will present a story when it is new charges, and then ignoring the outcome of the case (sometimes months or years later). This is particularly salient in the case of black collar criminals. The same collar that got them trusted access to children also gives them mitigation for their crimes as they are perceived as doing the public good by virtue of being “reverends”. Then, when the media does not follow through with the trial/plea bargain and sentence we never find out just how easy they got off. I’m not saying the “preacher pass” always works in court, but I’ve seen it enough times to know it isn’t a bad card to play at sentencing. (You’d think violating the trust that the collar entails would get more serious punishment, but that isn’t how it works.)