Maurice Frazier, youth pastor at Nazarene Missionary Baptist Church (no website) in Indianapolis, Indiana, stands accused of “numerous felony charges of sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography.” Frazier claims he is a “sex addict” and can’t help himself.
A former youth pastor and registered sex offender is accused of molesting a 14-year-old girl.
The United States Attorney announced 51-year-old Maurice Frazier is facing numerous felony charges of sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography.
The suspect met the victim while working with Nazarene Missionary Baptist Church on 38th St.
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According to the indictment, Frazier met the 14-year-old victim through his work as a youth pastor and began communicating with her through social media.
Frazier is alleged to have secretly met with the victim between 15 and 20 times engaging in sexual activity at various locations around Indianapolis, some include his residence, his vehicle and in a church office.
Prosecutors also claim Frazier enticed the victim to produce pornography images of herself through a cell phone and sent them to him.
He is alleged to have sent her numerous images of himself in sexually explicit poses. The indictment further states he said he would leave the area if they were discovered and he could retaliate against her if the victim reported the activity to authorities.
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The exact timeline of the alleged sex crimes with the teen aren’t clear, but Frazier hasn’t worked at the church in years following an arrest in 2011, when prosecutors charged Frazier with sexually assaulting female coworkers when he worked at the Marion County jail.
“He grabbed me and kissed me. I pushed him off,” said one accuser in 2011. “You know anywhere he could get his hands, I was constantly pushing him off and pushing him off.”
According to court records in the 2011 case, Frazier admitted his crimes and went on to say he is “a sexual addict and can’t help it.”
Frazier is already on the states Sex Offender Registry and remains incarcerated…
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Prosecutors say if Frazier is convicted on the new federal charges, he could be facing decades behind bars.
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.
Donald Biggs, youth pastor at Mtn. Church in Medford, Oregon, pleaded guilty Friday to “one count of transporting with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.”
The Mail Tribune reports:
A former Medford youth pastor faces 10 to 15 years in prison after admitting he secretly recorded a juvenile in a bathroom.
In a U.S. District courtroom in Medford filled with youths, parents and church leaders he betrayed, Donald Courtney Biggs, 39, pleaded guilty Friday to a single felony count of transporting with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
The guilty plea spares Biggs, formerly a youth pastor at Mtn. Church in downtown Medford, and dozens of victims Biggs allegedly recorded in secret, from a weeks-long trial that was set to start later this month.
In his green Jackson County Jail uniform, Biggs made no statements and avoided eye contact with the audience. No victims made statements during the hearing, but U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken told victims she will allot as much time as needed to accommodate them at a sentencing hearing currently set for June.
Biggs has remained lodged in the jail since January 2015 following an investigation of inappropriate texting with minor girls in the church, according to earlier news reports.
The reports of inappropriate texting with minor girls led investigators to find recordings of adult and juvenile women in various stages of undress, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Potter, who is prosecuting the case.
The single charge specifies that Biggs recorded a juvenile exiting the shower during a March 2013 church trip to Huntington Beach, California, Potter said. As part of the negotiated agreement, nine other transportation and child pornography charges were dropped.
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Outside the courthouse, Mtn. Church lead pastor and founder Jim Wright expressed a mix of anger, faith in the justice system and the need for forgiving hearts as he supported victims and parents. At his services last weekend, after recent news updates brought feelings about the case back to the surface, he cautioned his congregation not to let healthy anger become bitterness.
“I’ve been walking these families through this for three years,” Wright said, adding later that children in his congregation, many now young adults, “have had to walk through incredibly deep valleys.”
Wright also expressed frustration, which he said was mostly for the families, that Biggs dragged out his case since early 2015. He said he believes Biggs pleaded “under the notion of a deal, not a contrite heart.”
Though Wright put his congregation’s feelings of betrayal far ahead of his own, Wright said Biggs had been someone he trusted. Biggs had been Mtn. church staff for roughly six years, but Wright had known Biggs for close to two decades. Wright started Mtn. Church 11 years ago.
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On February 7, 2018, the Mail Tribune reported:
Three years after a Medford church burglary sparked the seizure of dozens of videos of minors undressing inside his home, a former youth pastor is scheduled to stand trial on child pornography charges in federal court later this month.
A judge denied a motion Tuesday to reschedule Donald Courtney Biggs’ Feb. 26 trial, according to filings in U.S. District Court in Medford. Dozens of witnesses will be called to testify against the former Mtn. (Mountain) Church youth pastor in a trial anticipated to last two weeks.
Recent filings by U.S. attorneys provide new details in the case against Biggs, 39, alleging he secretly took videos of minor girls changing at his home during church events and on church trips to California between June 2012 and March 2014. Biggs faces nine counts of using or attempting to use a minor to produce a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct, and three counts of transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
The more than 40 witnesses federal prosecutors intend to call include minors Biggs had been tasked with supervising at church activities, their parents and church employees.
Minors who participated in church activities are anticipated to testify that Biggs often encouraged “messy” activities or pranks that would require kids to change or shower during church activities, and would advise girls to bring a change of clothes, according to prosecutors. At church camps, Biggs allegedly would design “punishments” such as covering a kid in syrup and flour.
Minor girls and minor boys would use different bathrooms, and boys were often ostracized or isolated from the group, court documents allege.
Other witnesses U.S. attorneys have interviewed describe one-on-one meetings between Biggs and minor girls at the church and coffee shops, the documents say. Biggs would pick up minors from school to take them to lunch without parents’ knowledge or consent, would give girls back and shoulder rubs, would instruct girls to lie to their parents about where they were going, and would buy them clothes, the documents claim. Biggs allegedly texted some girls several times a day with phrases such as “love you to the moon and back,” “You are beautiful,” “I love you” and “Missed you last night,” according to court documents.
Inappropriate text messages sparked the investigation, according to a document filed Monday.
At the end of November 2014, police first investigated Biggs following a report of inappropriate texts between him and a minor, but police prematurely closed the investigation without reading the messages after the victim’s father told police there was nothing wrong.
Police reopened the inquiry Dec. 26, 2014, when the church relayed a letter from a victim’s grandparent alleging Biggs used “coercion techniques,” saying at different times he’d buy the girl clothing, solicit photographs or tell the girl “she made him sad or made him cry.” Biggs allegedly used software to wipe the contents of his phone before submitting the device to a digital forensic search, according to court documents.
When confronted, Biggs allegedly threatened that the church “would go down in flames” if they got him in trouble, according to a church employee prepared to testify. The church placed Biggs on leave by the beginning of January 2015.
Medford police arrested Biggs Jan. 15, three days after he triggered the church’s burglary alarm allegedly to steal computer hard drives. During police questioning, prosecutors say, Biggs made admissions that shifted investigators’ focus toward recordings.
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.
Richard Shaka, retired pastor of All Nations Christian Assembly in Minneapolis, Minnesota , stands accused of drunkenly driving the wrong way on a Minnesota Highway, killing 30-year-old Jenna Bixby.
Today we’ve learned much more about the driver who was going the wrong way down a Twin Cities highway last night when he killed the driver of another car. The wrong-way driver was a pastor of a church. The victim was a 911 dispatcher.
The State Patrol says 30-year-old Jenna Bixby was driving to work at the Minneapolis 911 Center around 8 last night when the crash happened. Investigators say a driver was going north in the southbound lane of 252 in Brooklyn Center.
They say that driver is Richard Shaka, the pastor of a Northeast Minneapolis church — and they believe he had been drinking and driving. He is now in critical condition at North Memorial.
State Patrol officers say when they got on a scene, they smelled alcohol coming from Richard Shaka’s body and they plan to seek a charge of criminal vehicular homicide.
Since Jenna Bixby was a little girl, she’s had a lifelong passion for emergency responders. She got her degree in law enforcement then got a job as a 911 dispatcher with the city of Minneapolis.
“She loved helping other people, that’s why she was working in 911 dispatch,” her husband Dan told WCCO.
From his home, Jenna’s traumatized husband explained what happened Saturday night.
“She was on her way to work to help other people, to answer these types of calls for car accidents and anything else that — other emergencies that people need help with,” he said.
And suddenly an emergency call came in on her behalf. It was too late, Jenna Bixby was gone. The Bixbys have police scanners in their home so Daniel had heard the call himself.
“When the two state troopers showed up at my door, I knew, they didn’t have to tell me,” he said.
It was a fatal accident. A driver was driving the wrong way and hit Jenna head on.
Turns out that 72-year-old driver was well-known in the local faith community. His name is Richard Shaka. Pastor Baba Letang now leads the church he retired from, All Nations Christian Assembly.
“He was the one who started this church, brought so many people together over the years,” he said. “He’s touched a lot of lives including my own life.”
Pastor Baba didn’t know the details of the crash until we told him. His face froze when heard a young woman lost her life.
“This is sad,” he said in disbelief.
Pastor Baba says he never knew of his friend drinking alcohol.
“I would be shocked to be very honest with you,” he said. “I can’t believe it, I mean you mentioning it I can’t believe that alcohol would be an issue here.”
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.
Officers were sent to the 800 block of Beechland Street around 11:30 p.m. Friday for a report of a suspicious vehicle parked outside of a home.
According to a criminal complaint, when the officers arrived on the scene, they could see two men inside the vehicle. Police say one man — identified as 61-year-old George Nelson Gregory, of Munhall — was in the back seat, and the other man was completely naked and bound with nylon rope in the front seat.
The criminal complaint says when officers asked what was going on, Gregory told the officers that they “were just playing” and he and the other man “meet up from time to time to play with each other.” The other man confirmed that what they were doing was consensual.
The man who reported the suspicious vehicle told police that at one point, he saw the second man get out of the vehicle without any clothes on, and he was concerned because the car was parked outside his daughter’s window.
Gregory allegedly told the officers he thought they were in a private place, and when an officer said their vehicle was on a well-lit public street in clear view of several homes, Gregory told police, “I know.”
Gregory, however, says none of that is true and “that conversation never happened.”
“I have nothing to hide. I did nothing wrong,” Gregory said.
He says they were approached by police because they “thought somebody had passed out or something, that’s what the call was.”
“I was counseling a young man with a drug problem,” Gregory said. “It did turn strange, but it wasn’t my doing, OK? And I was adamant that I’m not participating in that way. And so that’s when the police pulled up, and they assume things, but I’m standing by my story. It’s not true.”
According to Gregory, he has been working with the man for a few years, and he and his wife have tried to get him help.
“I won’t deny that he began to take his clothes off and propositioned me, but I will deny, on a stack of Bibles with God as my witness, that I did nothing,” Gregory said.
Gregory says he had his clothes on during the alleged incident, so “there’s no reason for me to be charged with open lewdness.”
According to a criminal complaint, Gregory and the other man will receive summons paperwork in the mail.
Gregory’s church bio page states:
Serves as preacher and teacher at Waterfront Christian Community Church. George grew up in Munhall and graduated from Steel Valley High School. He attended church all of his life, but he actually began his journey with Christ when he was in his early 20s. When he was 25, George set off to become a preacher and attended Johnson Bible College, in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you have ever heard him preach or teach, you will agree that he is definitely using the gifts God gave him. George has a way of presenting messages from God’s Word, the Bible, in such a way that you walk away saying, “Now it makes sense”. He speaks with clarity and conviction. There is no doubt that George believes and lives what he preaches.
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.
Albert Phillips, pastor of New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, was charged Friday with sex crimes against children. Astoundingly, Phillips has been accused of such crimes numerous times over the years, but this is the first time he has been charged with a crime.
A 74-year-old former Sarasota pastor is accused of inappropriately touching children.
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office charged Albert L. Phillips with sex crimes against children and detectives are concerned there could be more victims. Phillips is the former pastor of New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church.
On Dec. 8, 2017, a 15-year-old victim told authorities that she was inappropriately touched on several occasions by Phillips. Some of the incidents happened when she was only 4 years old, a Sarasota County affidavit stated.
Some happened when Phillips and his wife were caring for the girl when she stayed with them at their Tarpon Avenue home.
The victim said she was shown porn in Phillips’ office and he would touch her in private areas and he tried to get her to touch him, too, on several occasions. He would say that it was their secret and there would be consequences if she told anyone, according to the affidavit.
Sarasota police said there were similar reports in 2015 and 2005 with allegations dating back to the mid-1980s.
On Friday, Phillips was arrested and charged with Lewd or Lascivious Molestation of a Victim Under 12, Lewd or Lascivious Conduct on a Victim Under 16 and Lewd or Lascivious Exhibition on a Victim Under 16.
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.
Douglas Rivera, pastor of God’s Gypsy Christian Church in Glendale, California, stands accused of sexually assaulting a preteen girl. The church’s website still lists Rivera as its pastor.
Douglas Rivera, the pastor accused of sexually assaulting a preteen girl at a Covina hotel last week, turned himself in to police Sunday morning and was out on bail by early afternoon, CBS Los Angeles reports. Police have confirmed that Rivera, accompanied by his attorney, turned himself in to Covina Police Department at 11 a.m. local time. He was out on bail by 2 p.m.
Rivera, 40, was accused last week of assaulting a girl visiting from China at the Vanllee Hotel and Suites, located at 1211 E. Garvey Ave. North, Wednesday night.
The pastor of God’s Gypsy Christian Church in Glendale had been on the run since Friday. Later in the day, he posted a video to social media claiming his innocence.
Police said Rivera drove through the parking lot of the Vanllee Hotel late Wednesday, stopping to peer into a room where two girls were staying during a school trip from China.
Rivera allegedly masturbated outside the room, then pretended to be on the phone for about 30 minutes. He then entered the hotel and knocked on the girls’ door. Thinking he was their chaperone, the girls opened the door. Police said Rivera then entered the room and sexually assaulting one of the girls, police said.
After images from the hotel’s security footage were made public, Rivera was identified as a person of interest in the case.
Police raided his Baldwin Hills home Friday, towing a truck similar to the one seen in the security video.
According to a neighbor, Rivera was painting that truck black with a roller and paintbrush Thursday.
Late Friday, Rivera, whose congregation shares a building with Glendale City Church, posted a video to Instagram from inside a vehicle in which he said he “was at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
He went on to say the accusations against him were false, asking people to keep him “in prayer.” He also said he planned to turn himself in to police Wednesday accompanied by his 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.
Garry Evans, pastor of Rushville Baptist Temple in Rushville, Indiana, was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing. He wife, Gay, was also arrested. Readers might remember Evans being arrested last year on charges of child molestation, sexual battery, and child solicitation.
Frank Denzler, a reporter for the Herald-Tribune, writes:
A report of criminal trespass received by the Rushville Police Department Jan. 29 led to the arrest of Pastor Garry Evans, 72, and his wife Gay Evans, 70.
The elder Evans had been released from jail after posting a $20,000 bond following his initial arrest in October 2017 regarding a number of allegations of inappropriate activity with minors, according to earlier editions of the Rushville Republican. A condition of his bond required that Evans be placed on GPS monitoring by the court.
Although innocent until proven guilty, Evans was initially charged last fall with three counts of child molestation, a Level 4 felony; four counts of sexual battery, a Level 5 felony; and five counts of child solicitation, a Level 6 felony.
Additional allegations and charges were filed with the courts in November 2017 when another minor child came forward. Following the second arrest, Evans, the longtime pastor of the Rushville Baptist Temple, unsuccessfully attempted to take his own life and, as a result, was hospitalized for an extended period of time.
The couple’s most recent legal troubles began when the pair appeared Jan. 28 at a Rushville residence stating they wished to see a family member they believed to be inside. The tenant reported they would not leave until they spoke with the individual. The tenant and complainant in the case informed the Evanses that they were not welcome at the property and needed to leave. The couple refused and demanded to speak with the relative.
Following several attempts to get them to leave, the complainant stated that she felt threatened and retreated into the residence, where she retrieved a firearm. The woman returned to the door and again told the couple to leave, but they refused. At this time, Gay Evans attempted unsuccessfully to take the firearm from the resident. The complainant then locked herself inside and stowed the firearm.
A few moments later, the resident observed Garry and Gay Evans looking in a vehicle on the property. The complainant then chased the pastor and his wife off her property with a baseball bat.
As a result of the incident, warrants were issued for the arrest of Garry Evans and Gay Evans for criminal trespass, a Class A misdemeanor.
The pair were taken into custody Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 30. During the course of the arrest, Gay Evans became verbally abusive and physically resistant toward officers and as a result was additionally charged with resisting law enforcement, a Class A misdemeanor.
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.
W. Thomas Faucher, a Catholic priest with the Diocese of Boise, has been charged with sexual exploitation of a child, distributing sexually exploitative material involving children, and felony drug possession.
The Idaho Statesman reports:
Hundreds of images of child pornography and drugs including marijuana, ecstasy and LSD were found in the home of a retired Boise priest, a prosecutor said at a Monday court hearing.
Longtime Catholic Rev. W. Thomas Faucher, 72, was brought into court in a wheelchair Monday evening for his arraignment on 14 different charges.
Most of the crimes involve Idaho’s law against child pornography: He is charged with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a child, and two counts of distributing sexually exploitative material involving children. His last two charges are both for drug possession. All of the charges, except one of the drug counts, are felonies.
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Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Kassandra Slaven offered more context Monday. She said some images on Faucher’s computer involved young children, including infants and toddlers. The images included children being subjected to different sexual acts and torture, she said.
Slaven also described email conversations where Faucher reportedly traded images and talked about his “sexual interest in children.” She said Faucher has a “very sophisticated knowledge” of exchanging and viewing child pornography. And in certain chats investigators viewed, she said, he expressed a desire to molest children. One such chat screen was open on his computer when police served the search warrant, she said.
Faucher talked in the chat about his “desires to rape and kill children,” Deputy Prosecutor Cathy Guzman said at a probable cause hearing earlier Monday.
Judge Michael W. Lojek ordered Faucher held on $250,000 bond — half of what Slaven sought — and directed him to have no contact with any children under 18. He is also forbidden from using the internet.
Faucher’s attorney, Mark Manweiler, argued that his client should be released, pointing to Faucher’s lack of criminal record and “impeccable reputation.” Manweiler said the priest answered five hours’ worth of questions from police, and said there has never been a claim of abuse or impropriety aimed at Faucher despite the “tens of thousands” of children his client has been around.
Manweiler also argued against the no-contact order. He said Faucher was expected to have many community members visit after leaving jail, and he did not want his client to unintentionally violate the order if visitors brought a child with them.
“(Faucher) is well-liked and well-known,” Manweiler said. “He counts among his good friends people at the highest level of both branches, both of state government and our local government and some judicial officials here in Ada County.”
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Faucher grew up in Boise and attended Saint Mary’s as a child. He was ordained in Boise on June 4, 1971, and returned here in 2002 to serve at Saint Mary’s. He joined Saint Mary’s just one month after revelations that a deacon there had viewed child porn.
Faucher has long criticized the Catholic Church’s handling of sexual abuse by its priests. Earlier in 2002, while based at Sisters, Oregon, he told one gathering that the church was looking the wrong way at incidents of molested children, and that Cardinal Bernard Law “should resign” for the events eventually documented in the 2015 movie “Spotlight.”
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.
Barbara L. Fouts, church treasurer for Pleasant Valley United Methodist Church in Dennison, Ohio, has been accused stealing almost $25,000 from church accounts.
The Times Reporter states:
A 56-year-old woman who served as treasurer of Pleasant Valley United Methodist Church for 25 years has been charged with two counts of grand theft, accused of taking more than $24,000 from the church over five years.
Defendant Barbara L. Fouts, of the Dennison area, has pleaded not guilty to the Nov. 20 indictment. Her next court date is March 21, when a pretrial conference is scheduled with Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Judge Edward O’Farrell.
The alleged theft was found after a change in church leadership, according to assistant county prosecutor Scott Deedrick.
“A new pastor was installed at the church and quickly determined that there were issues concerning the finances,” Deedrick told The Times-Reporter in an email. “Inquiries by he and others were unanswered. Certain officers including the defendant ultimately resigned their positions leading to the installation of other officers. The information/documentation that they were able to obtain was incomplete, questions remained unanswered and new questions arose.
“This led to the (church) having a forensic accounting of the records that could be cobbled together.”
The audit investigating the suspected embezzlement covered the five-year period ending Dec. 31, 2016, Deedrick said.
“The accountant found that there were $63,299.60 in disbursements that could not be accounted for due to lack of records,” Deedrick wrote. “There were $43,911.72 of disbursements not authorized by the (church board).”
Of this amount, $33,769.55 was disbursed by Fouts in her role as church treasurer, Deedrick said.
“Of that amount, $24,283.67 is alleged to have been disbursed by (Fouts) to herself or for her benefit,” Deedrick said. “It is this amount that forms the basis for the indictment in this matter. The (church) received insurance proceeds of $10,000.”
Benjamin Petty, a cook at Falls Creek church camp — owned and operated by The Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma — was sentenced to probation for raping a thirteen-year-old female camper. Be prepared to read about victim blaming in the story that follows.
Randy Ellis, a reporter for The Oklahoman, writes:
In an unusual plea deal, a Spencer man has been sentenced to 15 years on probation after pleading guilty to brutally raping and sodomizing a 13-year-old girl at Falls Creek church camp.
Benjamin Lawrence Petty, 36, tied rope around the girl’s wrists, raped her and then threatened her with physical harm if she told anyone, according to the criminal charge. He was at the camp as a cook at the time of the 2016 offense.
Murray County Assistant District Attorney David Pyle, who negotiated the guilty plea, said Petty is “legally blind” and that was a major factor in his decision not to insist on prison time.
Petty was given the suspended sentence by District Judge Wallace Coppedge on Jan. 19 after entering a negotiated guilty plea to first-degree rape, forcible sodomy and rape by instrumentation. All three are felonies.
A woman in Judge Coppedge’s office said he would not be making any statement.
“The big thing is Mr. Petty is legally blind and the parents (of the victim) live out of state and this little girl lives out of state and didn’t want to make all the travels back and forth,” Pyle said. “The plea was negotiated with their permission.”
Petty was already legally blind at the time of the rape, Pyle said. Under terms of the probation, Petty will be required to wear an ankle monitor for 24 months, register as a sex offender and obtain treatment. He had no prior felony convictions, according to plea agreement documents.
Bruce Robertson, an attorney who is helping represent the victim’s interests in a civil case, said the family’s consent to the plea agreement came after “the family was told by the district attorney’s office that the rapist would not serve any meaningful prison time due to his medical conditions.”
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The girl was raped in June 2016, while attending church camp at Falls Creek with a group from Terrell, Texas, according to court records filed in the civil lawsuit.
The rapist was brought to the camp to serve as a cook by The Country Estates Baptist Church of Midwest City, according to that lawsuit.
The First Baptist Church of Terrell is named as a defendant in the lawsuit along with the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma and The Country Estates Baptist Church.
Currently pending in the civil case is a request by attorneys for the Midwest City church to question the rape victim about her “prior history of voluntary sexual activity.”
Oklahoma County District Judge Aletia Timmons rejected the initial request, saying, “I don’t think it has any — even a scintilla of any relevance to anything.”
Attorneys for the church have asked the judge to reconsider her decision, claiming the victim talked with fellow campers about “her sexual activities and history with her then-boyfriend, including her fear that she might be pregnant with her boyfriend’s child.”
The church’s attorneys contend that is relevant because it may have “contributed to her physical and emotional damages.”
Attorneys for the victim claim the rape, itself, is responsible for the girl sustaining physical, emotional and psychological damages.
“We are saddened to see that the church has stooped to victim-blaming,” Robertson said. “While we will not publicly debate the consensual sexual history, if any, of our teenage client, we fail to understand how the church can conceivably argue that any female’s consensual relations are relevant to the trauma suffered as the result of a horrific, violent rape. The church has improperly used information in its motion which we believe is in violation of the court’s protective order and we will not comment further at this time.”
The Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma is a cooperative owned by a partnership of Oklahoma Baptist churches. It owns and operates Falls Creek, which is located in the Arbuckle Mountains in south-central Oklahoma. About 54,000 adolescent campers attend the camp during the summer camping season, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit accuses the churches and Baptist General Convention of negligence, contending they didn’t do a good enough job of checking the backgrounds of workers, failed to adequately supervise sponsors and camp participants, and failed to train them on how to recognize and avoid predators.
