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.
Last year, three Toledo, Ohio Evangelical pastors were arrested and charged with child sex trafficking. Cordell Jenkins, pastor of Abundant Life Ministries in Toledo, Anthony Haynes, pastor of Greater Life Christian Center in Toledo, and Kenneth Butler, pastor of Kingdom Encounter Family Worship Center in Detroit, all face federal charges that could land them in prison for life. Yesterday, Butler pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seventeen and a half years in prison. It is expected that Haynes and Jenkins will also plead guilty.
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.
Daniel Ramos, a youth pastor at Victory Worship Center Church of God in Chicago, Illinois has been charged with possession or exhibition of child pornography, indecent solicitation and grooming. According to the Chicago Tribune, in August 2017 church leaders were made aware of allegations against Ramos and promptly reported them to law enforcement. Kudos to the church for reporting the alleged crimes.
David Poulson, a Catholic priest with the Diocese of Erie, stands accused of sexually abusing two boys over a period of many years. Worse yet, the Centre Daily News reports that the officials with the Diocese of Erie knew about Poulson’s predatory behavior since May 2010, but did not report it to law enforcement until September 2016.
According to the Centre Daily News:
the alleged assaults would usually occur on Sundays, after the boy served as an altar boy during mass. Poulson would then allegedly require the boy to make confession in the church, and confess to the assaults — to Poulson, who served as the priest receiving the boy’s confession.
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Diocese officials then interviewed Poulson, who admitted he owned the hunting cabin and took about 20 trips there — half of which were with young boys. He allegedly admitted he was attracted to young boys, and provided the names of the boys he took to the cabin. The diocese, in cooperation with the attorney general and grand jury investigation, then turned over the names of the boys to investigators.
In addition to the two boys from which the charges stem, the grand jury heard from nine others who recalled Poulson befriending them, flirting with them, joking and wrestling with them when they were minors. Poulson allegedly piled them with gifts, cash, dinners and alcohol. Prosecutors believe a sexual assault occurred in at least one of theses cases, but it was barred on the grounds of statute of limitations.
If these allegations are true, Poulson is one sick man. I hope authorities are looking into criminally prosecuting the Diocese employees who knew about Poulson’s abhorrent behavior and did nothing. They are every bit as culpable as he is.
McCarty’s church objected to my use of his photograph, so I have replaced it with this one.
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.
Dennis McCarty, pastor of Pyburn Street Church of Christ in Pocahontas, Arkansas, will soon face trial for allegedly keying a college student’s automobile. According to KARK, McCarty verbally objected to the college student parking in a handicapped parking space without a permit and then, following in the steps of Jesus, keyed her car.
Pyburn Street’s website states that the church is “lucky” to have McCarty as their pastor.
McCarty’s trial on criminal mischief, a misdemeanor, begins on July 3, 2018.
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.
William “Bill” Randall, pastor of St. Simon Baptist Church in Orange Park, Florida stands accused of sexually assaulting a church girl. News 4 reports that victim told investigators that Randall had been raping and molesting her since she began attending St. Simon Baptist in 2007. The girl also told investigators that the alleged assaults took place after Sunday worship services and during the week when she stopped by to do work at the church.
As is the custom among Evangelicals, some of Randall’s parishioners and ministerial colleagues are astonished by the accusations. According to News 4, Pernell Raggins, pastor of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in New Augustine, Florida, said of Randall ” [he] has served the community well. I’m devastated by the news that you just shared with me, but all I have to say about this man of God is that he has done a lot for the Orange Park area.” In other words, this “man of God” has done a lot of good in the community and that should be considered when weighing the allegations against Randall. What, is there some sort of point system in Christianity that allows so-called men of God to get a pass on sex crimes if they have accumulated enough good works points?
Astoundingly, Randall was released on a $25,000 bond.
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.
David Buser, a deacon and Sunday school teacher at New Hope Freewill Baptist Church in Dover, Florida, stands accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting two minor girls. According to News Channel 8, “abuse of one of the victims had been going on for a decade, deputies claim. Records show that the most recent sexual assault happened two months ago.” According to WFTS News, both victims were first graders when the alleged abuse first occurred. Buser allegedly admitted committing the assaults in a phone conversation with one of the victims while law enforcement was recording the conversion.
Jose Luis Pizarro, pastor Iglesia de Dios Nuevo Amanecer in Mansfield, Texas (now closed) was convicted Thursday of sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl and sentenced to fifty years in prison for his crimes. Pizzaro was also charged in 2016 with sexually assaulting a ten-year-old girl.
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.
Jerry Newton, pastor of Greater Bogalusa Full Gospel Baptist Church in Bogalusa, Louisiana, faces federal charges stemming from his alleged theft of Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits. People receiving SSDI must be totally disabled and meet certain income guidelines. Newton failed to disclose to the Social Security Administration that he had a job and owned two businesses. The Times-Picuayune reports Newton collected $95,316 in impermissible benefits.
U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that JERRY R. NEWTON, age 54, of Slidell, Louisiana was charged yesterday by a Bill of Information for Theft of Government Funds, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641.
According to the Bill of Information, NEWTON applied for Social Security disability benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act. A person receiving disability benefits must truthfully disclose to the Social Security Administration any employment or income while getting the government money. In forms submitted to the SSA, NEWTON failed to disclose that he was the paid pastor of Bogalusa Baptist Church since May of 2007 and that he owned two businesses, Still Dreaming Graphics, LLC and Kclean Sweep, a cleaning service. Due to his concealing of his salary and income produced from his businesses, NEWTON received a total of $95,316 in DIB benefits to which he was not entitled.
U. S. Attorney Evans reiterated that a Bill of Information is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
If convicted, NEWTON faces a maximum penalty of ten (10) years imprisonment, followed by up to three (3) years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000.00, and a mandatory $100 special assessment, as well as restitution to the Social Security Administration
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Carter K. D. Guice, Jr. Assistant U.S. Attorney.
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.
Les Hughey, pastor of Highlands Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, resigned Wednesday after being accused of sexually abusing church teenagers in the 1970s. The alleged abuse took place while Hughey was the youth pastor at First Baptist Church (now Crosspoint Community Church) in Modesto, California.
Prior to his resignation, Hughey released the following statement:
Over 40 years ago, as a church intern in California, I sinned and harmed the most important relationships in my life. I was unfaithful to my God, my wife, and the ministry, and was rightly removed from that church.
I engaged in consensual relations with fellow college-aged staff. With God’s help, my wife’s forgiveness, and discipline and counseling from church authority, I sincerely repented and we put our lives back in order. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to undo what happened, so I instead accept and live with the consequences, even now so many years later.
My family and the authority over me at my church are aware of this history. I thank God for his forgiveness and grace.
Pastor Les Hughey
Of course, Hughey –forty years later — can’t be honest about his past sexual misconduct. The “consensual relations with fellow college-aged staff” was actually with church teenagers. One of the girls was only sixteen.
Carey Fuller was shocked to see the news about Hughey. For decades, she thought she had been the only one to receive one of what Fuller called his “famous full-body massages.” That massage crossed the line when he groped her genitals, she told The Republic.
Hughey, then a youth group leader at Scottsdale Bible Church, was attractive and charismatic, Fuller recounted. He was married and in his late 20s at the time, she said.
“Everyone always wanted to be around him,” she said. “It was always a gift to be around Les.”
Fuller said she was honored to be selected as one of the few who were invited to hang out in the church van one night during a mission trip to Mexico when she was 18.
She happily accepted when Hughey offered her one of his “famous” massages, but she didn’t know what to do when it suddenly went too far, Fuller said. Somehow, no one noticed in the van’s dim light, so she figured it had must have been an accident.
“I wasn’t a strong enough person and I didn’t want to offend anyone there,” Fuller said. “I didn’t think to call him out, so I just laid there.”
Fuller said she didn’t realize that what had happened to her was sexual assault until she saw an article on azcentral.com Sunday.
Within hours, she learned at least five other women she had known during her time in the youth group said they had experienced the same thing, she said.
Her best friend, Juliet Buckner Pekaar, was one of them.
Hughey pulled the same “massage” ruse when they would travel together on band trips when she was 16, Buckner Pekaar said. The abuse continued until she married another youth pastor at the church when she was 19.
“His power was in making you think you were the only one,” Buckner Pekaar said. “Nobody ever talked to each other, so there was just this shame and depression.”
Neither of the women reported the incidents to police, they said.
Buckner Pekaar said she did attempt years ago to tell Scottsdale Bible Church staff members about Hughey’s actions, but she said she stopped after their reaction made it clear they weren’t interested.
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Dare I ask the proverbial rhetorical question: can a leopard change its spots?
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.
Christopher Stutts was the youth pastor at Westwood Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama when he allegedly sexually molested several minor children. According to the Tuscaloosa News, Stutts is being held in the Tuscaloosa County Jail with bond set at $120,000. This is Stutts’ second arrest on sexual abuse charges.
The people you think would never do something like that — may be responsible for things that may be shocking…He [Stutts] was just a very pleasant person, Very friendly. Not over the top. Seemed to have a heart to care for the kids…We saw no hint of this.
Up to this point, we have no indication of any accusations connected with his ministry here at the church. But, we want people to know if they know of anything, to immediately report it to law enforcement and to the church and we stand ready to help with anything.
His wife, from what she told me, was totally caught off guard by this. And they have two small children
