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Category: Black Collar Crime

Black Collar Crime: Church Chief Financial Officer Nikki Shelton Accused of Stealing $78,000

Bruce Gerencser 2 Comments

theft cartoon

Nikki Shelton, the chief financial officer of Bethlehem First United Methodist Church in Bethlehem, Georgia, stand accused of embezzling $78,000 from the church.

Fox-5 reports:

A Loganville woman was arrested in Barrow County for allegedly stealing tens of thousands of dollars from her church in Bethlehem.

The Barrow County Sheriff’s Office said 28-year-old Nikki Shelton was writing checks to herself from various accounts of the Bethlehem First United Methodist Church.

Church members were emotionally broadsided to learn Shelton, the church’s Chief Financial Officer, had been arrested for allegedly stealing approximately $80,000 from the church.

“Well, I’m concerned, anyone would be. It’s a lot of money,” said church member Bonnie Deal.

Deal and others headed to choir practice Wednesday night were surprised and disheartened to learn of the arrest of Shelton.

Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said church leaders contacted him about a week and a half ago after finding financial discrepancies.

“What we have confirmed is she was simply writing checks to herself out of the accounts,” said Sheriff Smith.

The sheriff said his investigation revealed Shelton had been writing checks to herself for about 13 months.

“Easily. You do a thousand dollars at a time you could do it at $78,000 if that’s the case,” said Sheriff Smith.

The sheriff said Shelton is facing 78 counts of theft by taking, one count for each check written.

Most church members were reluctant to speak. Others in Bethlehem, which has its Prayer Mile and Christmas themed streets, wondered about the loss of trust.

“It’s sad you can’t trust somebody in charge of a church,” said Alan Heath who works at the Big H store near the church.

“They probably all know her and they’re gonna probably look at her and say wow I can’t believe this I can’t believe this,” said Betlehem resident Lawrence Moon.

….

 

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor James Johnson Enters Alford Plea on Sexual Battery Charges

Bruce Gerencser 0 Comments

busted

James Johnson, associate pastor of Mountain Valley Baptist Church in Martinsville, Virginia, was convicted and sentenced to eleven years in prison for sexual battery and distributing child pornography.

Paul Collins, a writer for the Martinsville Reporter, reports:

A former Henry County associate pastor will spend 11 years in prison, as his sentence in a child pornography case.

James Arthur Johnson, who had previously served as associate pastor at Mountain Valley Baptist Church, had been convicted June 30 of the charges, including four counts of aggravated sexual battery and one count of distributing child pornography. At the time, the 58-year-old entered an Alford plea in Martinsville Circuit Court. In an Alford plea, a defendant maintains his innocence but admits that sufficient evidence exists with which the prosecution likely could convince a judge or jury to find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The prosecution nolle prossed (dropped but could reinstate) five other charges of aggravated sexual battery against Johnson at that time.

The charges stem from incidents that took place between April 2014 and February 2015 at Johnson’s residence in the 200 block of Martinsville and then in the 200 block of Pine Street, after he moved. The victim, who was 12 to 13 years old at the time, said Johnson would inappropriately touch her when she visited his house. Johnson was a friend of the girl’s family and their neighbor for part of that time. Johnson would also have neighborhood boys visit him at times and, according to the testimony, would instruct them to inappropriately touch the girl as well. The girl testified that at the time, Johnson said he would hurt her if she told anyone what was going on.

Johnson also filmed the girl touching herself and then showed the video to another person between Jan. 1, 2015 and July 28, 2015.

During Thursday’s sentencing hearing, the victim, now 16, read a letter she wrote about how she had been traumatized and suffered some mental health issues. She said she knows now not to trust people like Johnson and added that she hopes he burns in hell.

Keith Fender, testifying as an expert in sexual offender treatment, said one concern he had when evaluating Johnson is that the man is not convinced he needs treatment. The evaluation, Fender said, showed that Johnson has pedophilic disorder. That refers to adults who have a sexual desire for young children.

Johnson’s lawyer, Roscoe Reynolds, called several people who testified as character witnesses for his client. They described Johnson as a good worker, reliable, of good conduct to their knowledge, someone who helped and encouraged other people, active in church and preached in nursing homes. Several of the witnesses said they were shocked to learn of the charges against him. Johnson’s sister also testified, saying that he has some serious health issues and asked the judge to take that into consideration. Prior to this case, Johnson also had no criminal record.

….

Greer sentenced Johnson to 85 years in prison, with 74 of those suspended under conditions including indefinite supervised probation and good behavior for life. Greer also ordered Johnson to register as a sex offender upon release from incarceration.

Black Collar Crime: The Sordid Story of Catholic Priest and Sexual Predator Arthur Perrault

Bruce Gerencser 3 Comments
ken wolter arthur perrault
Arthur Perrault with one of his victims, eleven-year-old Ken Wolter

Olivier Uyttebrouck, a writer for the Albuquerque Journals details in the following excerpt the sordid thirty year story of Catholic priest and sexual predator Arthur Perrault:

St. Pius X High School leaders were hit with a “bombshell” in 1970 when they were told of allegations of sexual abuse against the Rev. Arthur Perrault, a teacher at the Archdiocese of Santa Fe’s flagship high school.

Those allegations remained secret for decades, but documents released this week pull back the curtain on how those school leaders and the archbishop responded.

And the documents show that, once again, a priest was simply moved to another post where he had access to new victims. They also show that Perrault was sent to St. Pius in the first place as a “good test period” to allow the archbishop to observe the 20-something priest after he was released from a Jemez Springs center that treated pedophile priests.

He was at the school four years and was later accused of molesting 11 victims during that period, from 1966-1970.

In 1970, St. Pius board members were approached by the father of a student, who asked to meet with them because “one of his sons that was at Pius had been involved with Father Perrault,” a board member recalled in a 1992 deposition. The father said that as a result of the abuse, his son “was so messed up that he had been thinking about suicide.”

The father, who is not identified in the deposition, said he discussed the abuse with then-Archbishop of Santa Fe James Davis. The allegations were electrifying, the board member said, because Perrault was chairman of the theology department at the archdiocese’s flagship high school.

“Look, we’ll take care of this but we can’t have any publicity,” Davis reportedly told the boy’s father. “We must be Christian about this.”

New details about the careers of Perrault and two other former New Mexico priests became public this week after a judge ordered the disclosure of nearly 1,000 pages of church records that had been sealed under a previous court order.

The records contain letters written by three archbishops of Santa Fe and other church officials, legal settlements, deposition transcripts, psychological reports and other records provided by the archdiocese to Albuquerque attorney Brad Hall, who has filed more than 70 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of children by priests.

Among them is the deposition of a former St. Pius board member whose name was redacted from the transcript.

The board member said that Archbishop Davis wavered about how to respond. He at first agreed to remove Perrault, but later changed his mind. “It’s under our control and it’s our problem. Not yours,” Davis told four board members.

The father who made the allegation warned the board member that if Davis took no action, he would file a “sodomy suit” against the archdiocese, according to the deposition.

 

The threat prompted the board member to seek a private meeting with the archbishop, where he told Davis that the archdiocese faced a lawsuit if Perrault remained at St. Pius.

“I remember to this day what Archbishop Davis did,” the board member recalled. “He put his right arm on my shoulder and said, `We can’t have that. I’ll honor my commitment.’” Three days later, Perrault was dismissed from St. Pius.

Davis then authorized Perrault to work as chaplain to the student community the University of Albuquerque, a now-defunct Catholic college operated by the archdiocese.

The incident at St. Pius was not the first time, nor the last, that allegations of Perrault’s sexual attacks on boys would reach the ears of an archbishop of Santa Fe.

Perrault had been accused of sexual attacks before he arrived in New Mexico in January 1966.

The Archdiocese of Hartford, Conn., where Perrault was ordained in 1964, ordered him to undergo treatment at a facility in Jemez Springs operated by the Servants of Paraclete. The now-closed Via Coeli facility received priests from across the U.S. accused of sexually molesting children.

Perrault, then 28, was sent to Jemez Springs after “two alleged incidents of homosexual approaches to some of the young men with whom he was working,” in Connecticut, Via Coeli psychologist John Sanchez told Archbishop Davis in a 1966 letter.

….

Court records show that Perrault is accused of sexually abusing 38 children during his years in New Mexico.

Of those, 11 alleged attacks occurred during Perrault’s tenure at St. Pius High School from 1966 to 1970. The alleged attacks occurred at St. Pius, in Perrault’s home, or at two churches where he worked on weekends.

He has never been charged with a crime.

Letters written in the early 1980s show that later allegations against Perrault prompted then-Archbishop Robert Fortune Sanchez to order that he undergo a psychological evaluation.

That evaluation found that Perrault “acted out his homosexual orientation only with youngsters and has never had an ongoing, adult homosexual relationship,” psychologist Joseph VanDenHeuvel told Sanchez in a June 1981 report.

The psychologist said Perrault “made mention of the fact that he had `been in trouble’ because of illicit sexual activities with students,” VanDenHeuvel told the archbishop.

….

Just seven months after receiving the report, Sanchez assigned Perrault to a pastoral post at an Albuquerque parish.

“I am pleased herein to assign you to St. Bernadette Parish for weekend assignment to assist the pastor,” Sanchez told Perrault in a Jan. 6, 1982, letter.

“Thanking you, Father Arthur, for your service to the good people of St. Bernadette Parish, and to the Pastoral Center, while wishing you all the Lord’s Blessing throughout this New Year,” Sanchez wrote.

Perrault became the pastor at St. Bernadette in 1985 and remained there until he fled New Mexico in 1992, just days before an Albuquerque attorney filed a lawsuit alleging that he sexually assaulted seven children.

Perrault turned up last year in Morocco working at an English-language school for children, from which he was subsequently fired. It is not clear where he is now.

….

In early 2017, a judge handed down a $16 million judgment to one of Perrault’s victims. Olivier Uyttebrouck reports:

A judge handed down a $16 million judgment this week against a former New Mexico priest for failure to respond to a lawsuit filed by a man who alleges he was sexually abused by Arthur Perrault in the early 1990s.

Second Judicial District Judge Denise Barela-Shepherd handed down the default judgment Thursday after she found that Perrault had been properly served with the civil lawsuit, but failed to defend himself against the allegations.

She ordered Perrault to pay $1 million in damages and an additional $15 million in punitive damages. The Archdiocese of Santa Fe was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Perrault, who vanished from his Albuquerque parish in 1992, was tracked last year to Tangiers, Morocco, where he was teaching at an English language school for children.

Perrault was fired in May when school officials learned of the allegations, the director of the American Language Center in Tangiers told the Journal .

Kenneth Wolter, 35, filed the civil lawsuit last year alleging he had been sexually abused by Perrault at least 40 times in the early 1990s. Wolter was 10 or 11 at the time, and serving as an altar boy at St. Bernadette Parish, where Perrault was the pastor.

Unknown is whether Wolter will be able to collect any portion of the $16 million judgment from Perrault, said Levi Monagle, one of three Albuquerque attorneys who represent Wolter.

“Money wasn’t the point of this for us,” Monagle said Friday. “Ken (Wolter) didn’t do this for the money. The message made on behalf of the victims was Ken’s main priority.”

Wolter testified at a hearing in January that he wanted to send Perrault a message on behalf of his 38 known victims “and the silent people who haven’t come forward.”

He asked Barela-Shepherd to award a total of $38 million in damages, or $1 million for each alleged victim. Barela-Shepherd did not explain in her order why she handed down a $16 million judgment.

Perrault, 79, sent Barela-Shepherd a letter in November denying that he had abused Wolter, court records show. He also said that he had no assets and could not afford to hire an attorney, or to return to Albuquerque to attend the January hearing.

….

 

Black Collar Crime: Baptist Pastor George Waddles Sr. Pleads Guilty to Sexually Abusing Teenager

Bruce Gerencser 0 Comments

george waddles sr

George Waddles Sr., a former president of the National Baptist Congress and pastor of Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago,Illinois, pleaded guilty today to sexually abusing a fifteen-year-old church girl. Astoundingly, Waddles Sr. will serve NO jail time for his crimes. Waddles was investigated in the 1990s over similar allegations. No charges were filed.

ABC-7 reports:

With little of the fanfare that surrounded his charismatic preaching career, one of Chicago’s most prominent churchmen pleaded guilty on Friday to sexually abusing a 15 year-old-girl, the I-Team has learned.

The Rev. George Waddles Sr., a former president of the National Baptist Congress and ex-pastor of Zion Hill Missionary Church on W. 78th St, appeared in Cook County criminal court. Since being charged two years ago Waddles has been fighting the allegation. On Friday he pleaded guilty to aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

However, despite having abused a minor girl, he will not go to jail.

Cook County Judge James Obbish sentenced Waddles to 30 months’ probation and the 69 year old minister must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Prosecutors had asked for jail time, especially considering Waddles sexually assaulted the teenager during a counseling session at the church.

In court on Friday the young woman who was sexually abused presented an emotional victim impact statement, saying that the Rev. Waddles had tried to manipulate her family-who were longtime parishioners.

“You called my mom every Sunday to see if you could meet with me again, see if I forgave you, and not press charges” she said.

Although Waddles was charged with molesting only her, the victim told Judge Obbish that there were other girls abused by Waddles.

“I’m the only victim who has come forward since he’s been raping, molesting and assaulting minors. George thought I would give up by now, but little did he know, I can’t be suppressed” she said. “Even through my suicidal thoughts, self-loathing, dwelling, disappointments, anger, weakness, doubt and confusion, God is still so good.”

….

In September of 2015, Chicago Tribune writer Steve Schmadeke reported:

A longtime South Side pastor was charged with sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl in his office during a counseling session in 2014.

Prosecutors said the alleged victim and her mother confronted George Waddles, 67, who heads Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church, and secretly recorded his admissions to inappropriately touching the teen.

Waddles turned himself in to Chicago police Tuesday and made “a positive disclosure” to a detective that was consistent with the girl’s story, said Assistant State’s Attorney Tara Pease-Harkin. He was charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse, a Class 2 felony that carries a sentence of up to seven years in prison or probation on conviction.

Judge Donald Panarese Jr. ordered Waddles released on his own recognizance but barred him from any contact with minors.

Waddles’ wife, daughter and son attended the bond hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building along with other pastors and supporters.

Waddles’ attorney, Lewis Myers Jr., blasted the case, saying a Department of Children and Family Services investigation did not sustain the girl’s claims and that she and her mother continued to attend church and counseling after the alleged incident.

“These charges should never have been filed,” Myers later said outside the courtroom.

Myers said in court that Waddles has been preaching for 35 years and holds a master’s degree in social work. He founded a training conference for those involved in Christian education called the Biblical Exposition Conference, according to an online biography. He is past president of several Christian education groups, including the Baptist General State Congress of Christian Education in Illinois and the National Baptist Congress.

Pease-Harkin said that Waddles had been investigated in the 1990s on allegations he had sexually abused a young girl in his office but that no criminal charges were filed against him.

Prosecutors said the alleged victim has known Waddles since she was 3 and started to be counseled by him when she turned 13 in 2011.

A year later, he told her he had dreamed about her and asked her to lift her shirt up for him, but she refused, Pease-Harkin said.

He tried to give her a hug and kiss her neck on five to 10 other occasions when she was in his church office at 1460 W 78th St., according to the prosecutor.

Once, in 2014, Waddles asked the girl to sit on his lap, and when she did, he kissed her neck and touched her underneath her underwear, Pease-Harkin said. The girl then left his office and about a month later told her mother what had happened, she said.

The two then confronted Waddles in a meeting at the church. He allegedly confessed and apologized, according to the prosecutor.

At a second meeting between July 2014 and February 2015, the girl and her mother met with Waddles and his wife and recorded his alleged admission, Pease-Harkin said.

Waddles asked them not to contact police, the prosecutor said.

Matt McCall, also a writer for the Chicago Tribune, had this to say about Waddles and his latest victim:

For more than a decade the modest Gresham neighborhood church was the center of the family’s life.

The mother was a church council member, praise leader and Sunday school teacher. Her daughter was in the youth ministry.

They said they felt the Rev. George Waddles Sr., the charismatic pastor and leader of Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church, was a true man of God. Three to four days a week, the family served the church in some way.

That ended in 2014 after the then 15-year-old daughter alleged Waddles had abused her during a counseling session in his office, according to court records.

Waddles was charged in September with aggravated criminal sexual abuse after turning himself in to police, a Class 2 felony that carries a sentence of up to seven years in prison. He later pleaded not guilty. Under Waddles’ bond conditions, he is allowed to preach at the church but is barred from contact with minors when adults are not present.

The victim’s family is concerned that Waddles is still at the church and a group that advocates for sexual assault victims is asking that he step down from his leadership position while the case is pending.

The family said they have been shunned by parishioners and receive intimidating phone calls at least once a week. Waddles still preaches at the 100- to 200-member church at 1460 W. 78th St., and a little more than a month after the charges were filed, church members threw an anniversary celebration in Waddles’ honor.

“Overall, you don’t need to be a Christian to understand right from wrong,” the girl said. The Tribune is not naming her or her parents because she is the alleged victim of a sexual assault. “That’s why I feel they are doing something wrong. When you’re so wrapped up in it, it’s hard to see the truth. They see him as God. They don’t do what God says. They do what he says.”

Hunched over in a chair, she stared at the door in the corner of a closet-size room at a Chicago public library recently, an earbud nestled in her left ear. Her father, who was at work, monitored the conversation on a phone placed on the table in front of her. It crackled when he could no longer contain his frustration.

“There was no sensitivity and care for my daughter at all,” he said. “You can imagine her, a 17-year-old girl, with the weight of this on her. As a father, it adds fuel to the fire.”

Her mother, who sat beside her daughter, said the teen has been shamed by the congregation when it should have applauded her.

….

Marc Pearlman, a veteran clergy sex abuse attorney providing legal counsel to the family, said the girl has been treated as a perpetrator for tarnishing the pastor’s reputation, rather than as a potential victim of abuse.

“Tell me any other responsible organization that, when authorities would have enough evidence to charge one of their employees with this crime, that would continue to allow them to work at their place of business,” Pearlman said. “Forget a parish. What about a 7-Eleven?”

….

Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests want the pastor removed “for the safety of other kids.” But unlike the hierarchal Catholic church, Baptist churches typically are independent and only parishioners or a church council can remove their pastor.

An official with the National Baptist Convention said Baptist policy states that each church is autonomous and not subject to management from a national or regional organization.

When Barbara Blaine, president and founder of SNAP, attempted to hand out leaflets at the church on the day of the anniversary service, security guards blocked her from talking to parishioners entering the church.

“We shouldn’t take a risk with any children ever,” Blaine said earlier this month. “So at the bare minimum he should step down while the case is pending.”

Black Collar Crime: Methodist Pastor Clinton Brackett Accused of Sexual Assault

Bruce Gerencser 0 Comments

clinton brackett

Clinton Brackett, Director of Student Ministries at First United Methodist Church in Lindale, Texas, stands accused of sexual assault.

The Tyler Morning Telegraph reports:

The Director of Student Ministries at First United Methodist Church in Lindale has been arrested for sexual assault.

Clinton Brackett, 32, of Lindale was arrested Thursday on a warrant out of Runnels County and taken to the Smith County Jail.

The arrest was the result of information obtained from a Texas Highway Patrol trooper’s traffic stop in Runnels County, according to a statement from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

….

First United Methodist Senior Pastor Rick Ivey released a statement saying Clinton Brackett, an employee at the church was arrested Thursday for charges of sexual assault that happened in Runnels County.

Ivey said the incident did not happen at FUMC Lindale or in the Lindale community.

“Clint Bracket’s employment with our church has been terminated,” Ivey said.

Brackett’s social media page indicates he was previously employed as the First Baptist Church in Ballinger. In a social medial post on Dec. 6, 2015, Brackett wrote that he accepted the position of Student Minister at the First United Methodist Church in Lindale and would be leaving the church in Ballinger after four and half years as a minister and member of the First Baptist Church family.

Brackett was held on a $100,000 bond which he posted on Thursday, according to Smith County Judicial records.

Black Collar Crime: Youth Pastor Albert Lavador Jr Accused of Sexually Assaulting Church Teen

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albert lavador jr

Albert Lavador Jr, youth pastor at Broadway Baptist Church and a teacher at Houston Gateway Academy, both located in Houston, Texas, stands accused of sexually assaulting a church teenager.

ABC-13 reports:

A youth pastor is accused of taking a teen from his congregation to a motel and sexually assaulting her, according to court documents.

Court documents allege Albert Lavador Jr., 48, met the girl at Broadway Baptist Church in southeast Houston.

He is accused of taking the 16-year-old to a motel where they had sexual contact on two different occasions in June, a probable cause statement said. He allegedly took the girl to McDonald’s for a snack after one incident.

The girl reached out to a friend about the incidents, Lavador was interviewed last month by officers in South Houston, where court documents claim he confessed.

Court records show Lavador was charged with sexual assault of a child under the age of 17.

ABC13 has reached out to Broadway Baptist staff to find out of if Lavador is still a pastor there but has not yet received a response.

Houston Gateway Academy, which is feet away from the church, said they had an Albert Lavador Jr. work as a teacher there, but he resigned in 2016. A school representative said there were no accusations of wrongdoing at that time.

Text from dated Tripod website for Albert Lavador Jr:

Similarly, encourage the young men to have control. In everything you do set an example by doing what is right.                In your teaching show Integrity, Seriousness and know what       you are saying scripturally.  So that those who listen cannot talk behind our backs and say he did not know what he was talking about.   Titus 2: 6-8

It takes $150,000 to raise a child from infancy to a age eighteen.  But it takes more than money. Lots more!  It takes the wisdom of Solomon, the patience of Job, the strength of Sampson and and the protection of thousands of gaurdian [sic] angels.

Of my years in the ministry,  I realize that the youth of today live in a completely different world than we do.  Peer pressure is at an all time high.  The youth of today are searching for the truth.  Some believe any thing they hear!  Are we listening to our kids?  Let’s listen to what the youth are telling us!  I am a Youth Minister!

Hello, my name is Rev. Albert Lavador Jr.  I have been in the ministry for 15 yrs.  Youth Ministry and Recreation are my specialties!  I was licensed by Trinity Baptist Church in Corsicana, Tx in 1992.  I attended Criswell College in Dallas, Tx.  I also studied at Houston Baptist Univ, Cy Fair and HCC.  I have preached at many events, youth outings, lock-ins and youth nights.  God has blessed me with the ability to play guitar and sing!  I have led in congregational hymns and contemporary worship.  I have seen many youth come to know the Lord and know this is my calling! I have been married to my lovely wife ***** for two years and we have a beautiful daughter named  *****. [names removed to protect the innocent]

I am available to speak or sing at your event!  Also, if interested I can bring a rap group, rock or praise and worship band to get the kids excited. Please call me or e-mail me with the date and time of your event.  I will confirm your event with a reply or phone call. I come by love offering and believe the Lord to bless in this way!

Black Collar Crime: Church of Christ Preacher Robert Davis Convicted of Sex Crimes

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pastor robert davis

Robert Davis, pastor of Henrietta Church of Christ in Henrietta, Texas and a teacher at Wichita Christian School in Wichita Falls, Texas, was convicted Monday on one count of sexual abuse of a child younger than fourteen.

The Times Record News reports:

A former Henrietta pastor and teacher accepted a plea bargain and pleaded guilty Monday to child sex abuse in the 97th District Court.

Robert Todd Davis, 51, was sentenced to eight years deferred adjudication after his plea on one count of sexual abuse of a child younger than 14.

The 97th District Attorney’s Office confirmed Thursday morning that the Davis case was closed and he had accepted the plea offer, which includes registering as a sex offender for 10 years.

A jury trial was scheduled to begin Tuesday but Davis accepted the deal Monday before the trial started.

Davis turned himself in to the Archer County Jail in May 2016, after a warrant was issued for his arrest. His bail was set at $250,000 and he was released on bond the same day he turned himself in.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office said they began an investigation on Davis after an outcry from the victim. The investigation was turned over to the D.A.’s office in February 2016.

The incidents charged in the indictment against Davis happened between May 2009 and May 2013. The allegations included one act of sexual penetration and two acts of indecency with a child.

Davis was employed at Henrietta Junior High School as a science teacher but left the school in 2011.

He was also employed with Wichita Christian School as a high school Bible teacher and was one of their cross-country coaches. The school confirmed he was no longer employed there in 2016, according to a previous Times Record News article.

Davis was a pastor at the Henrietta Church of Christ prior to the warrant in 2016. The church’s website no longer lists him as a minister or pastor.

Black Collar Crime: IFB Pastor Garry Evans Accused of Sexually Molesting Children

Bruce Gerencser 0 Comments

pastor garry evans

Garry Evans, pastor of Rushville Baptist Temple in Rushville, Indiana, stands accused of molesting several church children. I previously reported this story here.

RTV-6 reports:

A 72-year-old pastor in Rush County is accused of molesting multiple young children in his congregation.

Garry Evans, Pastor of the Rushville Baptist Temple was arrested Wednesday evening during a traffic stop.

According to court documents, the investigation began after a 3-year-old child who attends the church told her mother that Evans had taken her into his office to give her candy then “pulled his pants down” and made her touch his genitals.

Shortly after the investigation began another mother came forward saying her 7-year-old and 5-year-old claimed they had also been touched by the pastor. Both girls told investigators that “The Pastor” gives the kids candy when they go into his office alone, and touches them or makes them touch him. The youngest girl told investigators that it started happening after she started kindergarten in August.

And another mother with two young girls at the church also came forward with a similar story.

Rushville Police Chief Craig Tucker said a woman also came forward and said she had been molested by Evans decades ago, in a different community. That woman helped police pursue the new cases, but it is unclear if charges can be sought in hers.

Evans is charged with three counts of child molestation, four counts of sexual battery and five counts of child solicitation. He is currently being held without bond at the Rush County Jail.

….

Update

A November 3, 2017 WISHTV-8 report states:

A Rushville pastor last month arrested and charged with child molestation on Friday faced additional criminal charges.

Rush County Prosecutor Phil Caviness said he filed a motion Friday to amend the charging information. He filed two more charges — child molestation and child solicitation — after another victim who is 6 years old came forward.

The pastor, Garry Evans, 72, now faces a total of 14 charges, the prosecutor said. One alleged victim was a 3-year-old. He had previously been accused of molesting three girls ages 3 to 7.

On Friday morning, a Rush County judge also ordered the pastor to be put on a GPS device to keep track of his whereabouts, the prosecutor said.

….

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Klint Bitter Charged With Sexual Assault of a Child

Bruce Gerencser 1 Comment


Klint Bitter, pastor of kids and student ministry at Christ Community Church in Omaha, Nebraska, was charged today with first-degree sexual assault of a child.

WOWT-6 reports:

A former youth pastor at a west Omaha church is now in jail, accused of having sex with a 15-year old prostitute.

Klint Bitter turned himself in at the Sarpy County Jail Tuesday. He’s charged with first-degree sexual assault of a child. The 34-year-old allegedly answered an online ad posted by a sex trafficking suspect in Bellevue.

Bitter was a pastor of kids and student ministry at Christ Community Church near 108th and Harney. Church officials said Bitter has been fired from that position.

KETV-7 adds:

Sarpy County authorities say Klint Andrew Bitter, 34, is held without bond on one felony count of sexual assault.

A criminal complaint says the victim is 15-year old girl and that Bitter assaulted her in the parking lot of an abandoned supermarket in Bellevue on February 27th, 2017.

….

KETV NewsWatch 7 has learned Bitter’s arrest is part of a wider investigation into human trafficking. In March 2017, a Bellevue West High School student was charged with first-degree sexual assault and human trafficking based on an investigation that began on February 27th.

The Omaha World Herald reports:

A 34-year-old former youth pastor will stand trial in the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl.

Klint Bitter appeared in Sarpy County Court on Wednesday morning and waived his right to a preliminary hearing. Judge Robert Wester set Bitter’s bail at $1 million and ordered Bitter not to have contact with anyone 18 or younger.

….

Sarpy County Deputy Attorney Phil Kleine told the judge Bitter contacted DeArch Stubblefield online to set up a meeting with the girl. In asking for a high bail, Kleine compared Bitter’s case to co-defendants Stubblefield and Jason Gibson.

….

Thomas Petersen, Bitter’s attorney, asked for a $150,000 bail and told the judge Bitter saw the ad on Craigslist and then emailed to ask if the girl was 18.

Update

Today, October 20, 2017,  the Bellvue Leader reports that Bitter has been released from jail after posting ten-percent of his $1 million bond:

Bitter, 34, of Omaha, appeared in Sarpy County Court on Wednesday morning and waived his right to a preliminary hearing. Judge Robert Wester set Bitter’s bail at $1 million and ordered Bitter not to have contact with anyone 18 years or younger. He was released later Wednesday after posting 10 percent of that bail, $100,000.

Sarpy County Deputy Attorney Phil Kleine told the judge that Bitter contacted DeArch Stubblefield, then 18, to set up a meeting with the girl. Bitter’s attorney said he was responding to a Craigslist ad. A criminal complaint said the offense took place near the intersection of Fort Crook and Childs Roads on Feb. 27.

That same day, Bellevue police said they began an investigation into a report of possible human trafficking, which led to the March arrest of Stubblefield.

In asking for a high bail, Kleine compared Bitter’s case to co-defendants Stubblefield and Jason Gibson, who was charged March 9 with the same offense as Bitter. Stubblefield was initially held on no bail and Gibson was held on $2 million bail.

Gibson, 41, later pleaded no contest to attempted first-degree sexual assault of a child. He will be sentenced next month and faces up to 50 years in prison.

And on Wednesday, Stubblefield pleaded guilty to attempted human trafficking, attempted aiding and abetting first-degree sexual assault of a child, and possession of child pornography. Prosecutors dropped an additional charge of child abuse. He faces a maximum of 72 years when sentenced in December.

Thomas Petersen, Bitter’s attorney, asked Wednesday for a $150,000 bail amount. He told the judge that Bitter emailed after seeing the Craigslist ad to ask if the girl was 18.

n asking for a lower bail amount, Petersen also said his client is married with children, owns a home, is college educated and until recently was employed as a pastor.
Mark Ashton, lead pastor at Christ Community Church, said Bitter worked for the church for seven years and was in charge of the church’s kids and student ministries.

….

Update

Bitter’s co-defendant, Jason Gibson, pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree sexual assault of a child and received a six-month jail sentence. Gibson must also serve five years probation and register as a sex offender.

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastors John Wilson and Laurence Peterson Guilty of Sex Crimes

Bruce Gerencser 3 Comments
john wilson mary wilson laurence peterson
Pastor John Wilson, Mary Wilson, Pastor Laurence Peterson

John Wilson and Laurence Peterson, pastors of Liberty Pentecostal Church in Keighley, Bradford, England, along with Wilson’s wife, were recently convicted of multiple sex crimes.

Last year, Keighley Online reported:

A clergyman and his wife have been charged with sex crimes against worshippers at a Keighley church.

Rev John Wilson, 69, his wife Mary, 78, and assistant pastor Laurence Peterson, 58, are accused of a string of historic offences at the Liberty Pentecostal Church, in Sunderland Street.

Rev Wilson and Peterson had previously appeared in court for alleged sexual attacks on females

But, today both men, and Mrs Wilson, appeared together at Bradford Magistrates’ Court after two more women made complaints to the police following earlier publicity.
Mrs Wilson, who lives with her husband in Shann Avenue, is accused of sexual assault on a female between January 1985 and January 1986, in that she aided and abetted , counselled or procured John Wilson to indecent assault.

Rev Wilson is accused of five counts of indecent assault against the same complainant between 1985 and 1990. He also faces two fresh charges of rape and three counts of indecent assault against another woman between 1990 and 1998.

Peterson, of Eric Street, is accused of indecently assaulting one of those alleged victims four times between 1986 and 1990. Rev Wilson and Peterson had previously appeared in court for alleged sexual attacks on three females.

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Silver-haired Wilson is charged with sexually assaulting a woman at the Liberty Pentecostal Church between January and December 2010.
He is also charged with three counts of indecent assault on a schoolgirl between October 1985 and October 1987 when she was under 16 years old.
Wilson is charged with continuing the abuse against her for a further eight years after she turned 16. He faces eight counts of indecent assault on the same parishioner between 1987 and 1995.

Wilson and Peterson are charged with five counts of conspiring to rape the same victim between 1985 and 1995. Both men are also charged with conspiring to rape another under aged female member of the congregation between July 1980 and July 1984. Wilson is also charged with two offences of indecently assaulting the same child at a location in Kensington Street, between July 1980 and July 1982.

The alleged crimes span 30 years from 1980 to 2010.

….

In June 2017, the defendants pleaded not guilty. The court set a July 24, 2017 trial date.

In August 2017, John and Mary Wilson and Laurence Peterson were found guilty of sexually assaulting and abusing numerous women. The Yorkshire Post reported:

A church minister who sexually abused six vulnerable women has been warned by a judge he faces “a very substantial” prison sentence.

Pastor John Wilson, 70, carried out a series of indecent assaults under the pretext of being commanded by God to rid the complainants of evil spirits. The sexual abuse took place over more than two decades while Wilson served at the Liberty Pentecostal Church in Keighley.

Following a trial lasting more than a month Wilson, of Shann Avenue, Keighley, was today found guilty on more than a dozen charges of indecent assault and further allegations of sexual assault and conspiracy to commit indecent assault after the jury deliberated for about 15 hours.

The abuse was said to have taken place between the mid-1980s and 2010 with victims, who cannot be identified, being assaulted during one-to-one “deliverance sessions”.

At the start of the trial in July prosecutor David McGonigal told the jury that the case involved sexual abuse “in the name of religion”. “John Wilson was purporting to rid the women of evil spirits by sexually touching them,” he said. “It is the prosecution’s argument that he was doing for his own sexual gratification.

“They were taken under the wing of Mr Wilson and he would blame the abuse on evil spirits inside of them. These were vulnerable women.” Wilson’s wife Mary, 79, was also convicted on two charges of aiding and abetting him to commit indecent assault while his assistant Laurence Peterson, 59, of Eric Street, Keighley, was found guilty on similar aid and abet charges and further allegations of conspiring with Wilson to commit indecent assault.

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John Wilson was sentenced to 21 years in prison. His wife Mary was sentenced to 22 months imprisonment, suspended for two years. Laurence Peterson has not yet been sentenced.

Bruce Gerencser