The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser

Welcome

  • Why I Ask for “Evidence” From Evangelicals

    bible is inerrant and infallible

    When it comes to supernatural or extraordinary claims, I always ask for evidence to justify said claims. When someone makes a religious, historical, political, or science claim, I expect them to justify their claim . People should expect the same from me. I never expect someone to take my word for any substantial claim I make.

    Granted, some things don’t matter in life, so evidence is unnecessary. That said, we should want to believe as many true things as possible. When I am confronted with things I know little about, I tend to rely upon and trust experts. I mean real experts; men and women who either have relevant academic training or have committed themselves to an apprentice program where people learn by doing. Both are a path to expertise.

    As a religion writer, I frequently interact with Evangelicals who disagree with me — all well and good. I don’t expect anyone to take my word for it, though it would be nice that when they do disagree me, they would interact with me on an academic or evidentiary basis instead of sharing personal testimonies or opinions. Part of the problem is the result of Evangelicals being unable to distinguish between evidence and opinion (personal interpretation). The Bible is a book of claims, not evidence. It makes all sorts of supernatural and extraordinary claims. Just because the Bible makes a claim doesn’t mean it’s true. The truthfulness of a claim requires evidence, which, for the most part, Evangelicals are unable to provide. Proof texts and cross references don’t cut it. Want to convince a skeptic of the veracity of a religious claim? It will take more than quoting Bible verses or following apologetical manipulations of the Biblical text. As you might know, Evangelicals have an explanation for every error, mistake, or contradiction in the Bible. Not good explanations. but they do have them.

    Before engaging Evangelicals on this or that claim, I suggest debunking the claim that the Bible is inerrant and infallible first. This is a claim that can be easily debunked in five or so minutes. It only takes one error, mistake, or contradiction to overturn the claim that the Bible is without error. Of course, when you succeed, that doesn’t mean Evangelicals will agree with you. Conditioning and indoctrination keep them from seeing things as they are. When your family, church, and pastors repeatedly make supernatural or extraordinary claims, it is difficult not to believe them, even when evidence is lacking. Why would someone’s family, church, or pastors lie to them? Lost in the discussion is the fact that religious indoctrination and conditioning is often multi-generational. People raised in church tend to embrace the beliefs taught to them by their pastors or other authority figures. In the Gerencser family, four generations of people believed the Bible was inerrant and infallible. I was the first person in the family to ask for evidence for this claim, but none was forthcoming until I stepped outside of the people I trusted. If Evangelicals want me to believe the Bible is the Word of God; that it is without error and true in all it says, they will have to do more than quote proof texts or provide doctrinal statements.

    I am not an anti-theist, though there are days when I think I would be better off if I were. That said, I am open to evidence for the central claims of Christianity. It is unlikely that such evidence will be forthcoming, but as a skeptic I am more than willing to have my beliefs challenged. As I stated previously, I want to believe as many true things as possible. Want me to believe Jesus is the son of God, that he was a miracle worker who was executed and came back to life three (or was it two?) days later before he ascended back to Heaven — never to be seen again? Don’t quote me Bible verses. Show me actual evidence for these claims; evidence, as of this date, that is unavailable. I’m not holding my breath.

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

    Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

  • Why Do Babies Cry?

    mother neglects baby

    You would think that most of us know the answer to the question, “Why do babies cry”? My partner and I were blessed to have six children, now ages 46, 44, 41, 36, 34, and 31. We heard a lot of crying back in the day. Most of our children cried for one of four reasons:

    • They needed their diapers changed (Polly used cloth diapers for all our children)
    • They were hungry (Polly nursed all six of our children, on demand)
    • They were sick or injured
    • They wanted attention

    When our babies cried, we fed them, changed them, took their temperatures, or picked them up. Yes, Momma, in particular, indulged her young ones. Babies need their mothers, and Polly was a first-rate mother. She had to be, since her husband was rarely home to help with domestic responsibilities. I regret this, but there’s nothing I can do about it other than make up for it with my grandchildren. As most grandparents learn, grandchildren are a do-over of sorts; an opportunity to do better now that we have maturity and wisdom.

    Years ago, our church took in a homeless couple who was expecting their first child. We provided them housing, food, and gasoline. All we asked is that the husband get a job and go to work every day. Sadly, he was unable to fulfill this responsibility, and they were asked to move.

    One day, I went to the church building where they were living and I heard their newborn boy screaming. I mean, not just crying, but screaming, as only a baby can. The child was beside himself. I asked them what was wrong with their baby. I got a shrug of the shoulders. The mother said, “He will wait. We are busy eating.” I angrily told them, “STOP eating, and pick up your child. It is evident he needs your attention.” I feared child neglect, so the next day I had a social worker come to the church and talk to them about their parental obligations and responsibilities.

    Why they treated their child this way was rooted in what they had been taught in Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) churches:

    • Babies are enemies of God
    • Babies are broken sinners
    • Babies often cry because they want their own way
    • Babies often cry, not out of necessity, but because they want the undivided attention of their parents
    • Most crying is a result of sin, and not need

    IFB preachers teach parents to ignore their babies’ “rebellion” against God, ignoring them until they settle down and stop crying. And babies WILL eventually stop crying out of exhaustion, but is this really how children should be treated? I think not. I was a strict disciplinarian — especially with my three oldest children — but not when it came to babies. I believed then, and still do today, babies want and need the attention of their parents, especially their mothers. Fortunately, I married a hot, sexy woman who was also a wonderful mother.

    Sadly, this kind of thinking often leads to abuse. I knew parents who thrashed their babies/toddlers if they disobeyed, giving them “something to cry for.” Imagine taking a switch or wooden spoon to the tender skin of a eighteen-month-old toddler or swaddling them so tightly that they can’t move.

    Don’t tell me that some forms of religious expression don’t cause abuse. They do, especially in their fundamentalist forms. Are these parents “evil”? Not necessarily. I spanked (beat) our children because I believed God commanded me to do so. I was obligated to use a switch to beat the “rebellion” out of them. Were my children, at times, rebellious? Sure, but more often than not, they got spanked, not because of rebellion, but because they pissed me off or did stuff that normal kids did. It took me a long time to learn the difference between rebellion and “boys being boys.”

    Can you spoil a baby? I suppose it is possible to do so, but I’ve never seen it. I’ve concluded that while it is certainly possible to spoil older children, that’s not true when it comes to babies. They need our undivided attention, and if parents can’t give it to them, perhaps they reconsider having children. (I speak broadly. I know that life can give us all sorts of twists and turns that might affect our parenting abilities.)

    Were you taught similar things about babies? Did your parental skills/discipline evolve over the years? Did you see child abuse under the guise of discipline? Please share your experiences in the comment section.

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

    Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

  • Black Collar Crime: Understanding Legal Terms Used in Criminal Court Cases

    preacher innocent

    Recently, an Evangelical pastor threatened me with legal action if I didn’t immediately remove a Black Collar Crime post about him. I shook in my boots as I read his threats. 🙂 I asked him for evidence for his claim of innocence, which he provided. Innocent, he was not. His charges were expunged. Whether he was guilty was never settled. I asked this preacher to send me court documents showing his expungement, which he did. I gladly removed the post. Afterward, I thought I would ask Carolyn, my editor, to write a post about the various legal terms related to Black Collar Crime stories. Far too often, preachers will lie to me about their crimes, so I do not remove posts unless the alleged offender provides evidence to justfy its removal. I have removed a handful posts over the years. Ninety-nine percent of Black Collar stories are accurate as published

    Guest Post by Carolyn, my editor and friend

    Introduction

    Bruce has asked me to write a piece defining a few legal terms. Before I start, I thought I should give you my credentials, so you will understand that sometimes I know what I am talking about, or I’m close, at any rate.

    I became an attorney in 1992, having attended law school at Louisiana State University. I was much older than most of my classmates, and I turned 40 just before I sat for the bar exam. I practiced mostly family law and personal bankruptcy law, although I did 2-3 years, part time, of indigent defense work, for those who cannot afford an attorney. I retired in 2008 and moved with my husband to France in 2010.

    I stumbled onto Bruce’s blog in 2015 and immediately fell in love with it. Such delightful writing, with so many errors! So I offered to edit his work, and he accepted. So most of the errors you find today are the result of my carelessness, not his.

    Now on to legal terms. 

    Guilty, Not Guilty, Innocent

    First, let’s talk about guilty, not guilty, and innocent. The first two are legal terms, the third is a journalism term. 

    In a criminal trial, a defendant, or perpetrator, faces charges of crimes or wrongdoing against the state. It is always the state – there are not private prosecutions. When he goes to trial, the outcome is usually GUILTY or NOT GUILTY. There are other outcomes, such as a hung jury or a mistrial, but those don’t arise as often, and they are beyond the scope of this work. The prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did, in fact, do what he is accused of doing. If a defendant is found guilty, it means that the prosecutor has done a good enough job of laying out the charges of wrongdoing against the defendant, along with sufficient evidence produced by witnesses, that the jury believes the defendant did what he is accused of doing. The result of a guilty charge is usually that the defendant goes to prison or pays a fine, or both. A few result in the death penalty, but in the grand scheme of trials, there are very few death penalty, or capital, cases. By the way – a defendant may be tried before a jury or before a judge (called a bench trial). It is up to the defendant and his attorney to make that decision.

    If the jury finds that the state prosecutor did not meet his burden of proof, then the jury returns a NOT GUILTY verdict. I would like you to understand, that if a defendant is found not guilty, it does not mean he did not commit the crime! It means merely that the jury did not believe, based on the evidence produced at trial, that the defendant committed the crime. Therefore, there are sometimes people found NOT GUILTY who are, indeed, guilty of the crime, but the prosecutor didn’t lay out a good enough case, or there was ambiguous evidence or the jury chose not to believe a witness or witnesses. A person who has been found GUILTY is said to have been convicted of the crime. 

    INNOCENT is primarily a journalism term. I say that because, early in the newspaper game, editors discovered that it was too easy for a typesetter to omit the very important word NOT, and the newspaper was stating in, say, the headline, that the defendant was found guilty when the reverse was actually true. Can you imagine!? So newspapers moved to calling a NOT GUILTY verdict INNOCENT in an effort to forestall any typesetting or copywriting errors. The term INNOCENT obscures the fact stated above that the defendant was not actually found innocent, but was only found NOT GUILTY, and may have actually committed the crime with which he is charged. 

    A trial is not meant to determine whether a defendant did not commit a crime. It is only concerned with determining whether he did commit a crime. In life, plenty of people “get by” with something they did for which they do not receive due punishment. Sometimes that happens in the courtroom as well as in everyday life. 

    Guilty verdicts may not happen only before a jury. A defendant may plead GUILTY to charges if he, in conjunction with his lawyer (hopefully), believes that the outcome of a trial would lead to a finding of GUILTY, and he might believe he would get a better deal in a plea bargain with the district attorney who is prosecuting the case than he would get before a judge or jury. 

    Expungement

    In most cases, a GUILTY verdict stays with the guilty party for the rest of his or her life. On certain occasions, a person who has been convicted of a crime can have the record of his conviction EXPUNGED. Expungement is a legal process by which a convicted party’s record is cleared or sealed. If this is done, the convicted individual can then answer truthfully on job applications, housing applications or other business situations. There are only a few cases in which an expungement can be done. 

    Expungement is a legal process to clear or seal criminal records, treating them as if they never happened, allowing individuals to deny arrests/convictions and improve job or housing prospects. A person desiring an expungement must file a petition with the court where his conviction took place, and he must prove that he meets certain criteria, such as juvenile offenses, having completed probation or a diversion program, or that the charges were dropped. A judge will review the petition, and may call for a hearing. If the petition is granted, the court issues an order to seal or destroy records. Obviously, expungement is more complex than it seems here, but this gives the reader a basic overview. 

    Dismissal

    Sometimes a prosecutor or a defendant may move for a dismissal of charges. If the latter files a motion to dismiss, there must be a hearing on the issue and the judge will decide whether to dismiss the charges. If the prosecutor moves to dismiss the charges, the judge will ask the defendant if he objects. The defendant almost never does; after all, he’s about to be a free man with no charges pending. A prosecutor will generally dismiss a case if he believes he has insufficient evidence to prosecute a case. This may be because a witness cannot be located, a witness is unreliable (he’s a convicted felon, for instance, or has changed his story while meeting several times with the prosecutor or his team), or any of a number of other reasons that the prosecutor feels he cannot put a reasonable case before a judge or jury. It often happens in domestic cases, where one week the spouses love each other and will not testify against one another, and the next week they hate each other, but there are plenty of other cases where evidence and witnesses are shaky or unreliable. 

    Cases are dismissed with prejudice and without prejudice. When charges are dismissed with prejudice, the dismissal is a final court order ending the prosecution permanently. Dismissal without prejudice is a procedural pause, often to fix issues like missing evidence or witnesses, leaving the door open for future prosecution later.  

    I hope none of Bruce’s readers ever has to worry personally about these terms. 

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

    Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

  • Letter to the Editor: Why Do Local Evangelicals Attack My Children and Grandchildren?

    letter to the editor

    Submitted to the editor of the Defiance Crescent-News.

    Dear Editor:

    I am troubled by the increasing hostility of Evangelicals towards those who hold opinions and beliefs different from theirs. It seems that every issue, no matter how insignificant, is a hill to die on. Thus, my recent letter about Lifewise Academy was seen as a personal attack. This was not my intent. Unlike some folks, I understand the difference between critique and personal attack. When people don’t understand the difference, they attack the person, not the idea.

    Over the past twenty years, I’ve had countless Evangelicals personally attack me for something I’ve written or said. Most often, I am threatened with hellfire and brimstone, though I have received death threats too. Worse, I have had Evangelicals attack my partner, children, and grandchildren. One fine Christian even suggested that our daughter with Down syndrome deserved to be assaulted.

    I know more than a few local school administrators and teachers read my letters to the newspaper. I know this because my grandchildren tell me that administrators and teachers call on them, both privately and in class, to defend what I have written. My children have experienced similar behavior at Northwest State Community College and their places of employment. In what world is it proper to question and berate grandchildren over something their grandfather said or did? I stand on my own two feet. My words are my own. My family knows I don’t expect them to defend me. In fact, I have let them know it is okay for them to disown me if it makes life easier for them. So far, none of them has done so.

    I told my children and grandchildren to tell their interlocutors to contact me directly if they have questions or want to challenge something I have said. I am a public figure; well-known, and easy to find. If school administrators and teachers want to put me in my place, I suggest they not use children to passive-aggressively make a point. I am more than happy to respond to any questions people have. I told my one granddaughter to tell her high school teacher that I would be more than happy to speak to his class or engage him in a formal debate. He, of course, refused to engage. It’s easy to berate kids lacking theological, philosophical, and historical foundations. Not so with someone like me, and I suspect that’s why he ignored my challenge.

    Bruce Gerencser
    Ney, Ohio

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

    Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

  • Evidence That God Does NOT Answer Prayer

    god answering prayer

    Ask the average Evangelical “Does God answer prayer?” and he will emphatically say YES! However, in short order I can show that this claim isn’t true.

    I’ve been blogging for eighteen years. Millions of people have read my writing, including countless Evangelical Christians. Thousands of God’s chosen ones have let me know that they are praying for me; either for my destruction or my salvation.

    Yet, thousands and thousands of prayers later, these calls for judgment and salvation go unanswered. Either God is deaf to the prayers of Evangelicals or he doesn’t exist. I remain an unrepentant atheist, impervious to the prayers of righteous, holy people. This evidence suggests that, at the very least, God doesn’t answer prayer, and from my perspective, he doesn’t answer prayer because he can’t.

    Pray away, Christians, but your fervent petitions to the God of the Bible don’t affect me in a measurable way.

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

    Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

  • Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor’s Wife Stacy Simmons Accused of Felony Financial Crimes

    stacy simmons

    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.

    Stacy Simmons, the wife of Pastor Mike Simmons of New Beginnings Crossroads Fellowship in West Salem, Ohio stands accused of:

    Count 1: Grand Theft (fourth-degree felony) — alleging that between Oct. 4, 2019, and Dec. 14, 2023, she knowingly obtained or exerted control over $20,893.77 without consent, with the alleged victim listed as (REDACTED). The indictment states the value falls between $7,500 and $150,000.

    Count 2: Telecommunications Fraud (third-degree felony) — alleging a scheme to defraud during the same 2019–2023 time frame, using telecommunications to further that scheme, with the value of the benefit/detriment also listed as between $7,500 and $150,000.

    Count 3: Forgery (fourth-degree felony) — alleging that on or about April 22, 2024, she forged a document described as a “Verification Of Receipt Of Fund By Minor” without authority, with the indictment again citing a value/loss between $7,500 and $150,000.

    ACP News reports:

    Stacy Lee Simmons, identified in court records as a resident of Ashland County and the wife of Pastor Mike Simmons of New Beginnings Crossroads Fellowship, has been indicted on three felony counts and entered not guilty pleas in Ashland County Common Pleas Court.

    ….

    The materials provided state Simmons was arrested Dec. 12, 2025, and booked into the Ashland County Jail. During a video hearing for arraignment and bond on the Common Pleas case, the court identified the case as State of Ohio v. Stacy Lee Simmons and noted the hearing was conducted by video with the state represented by Assistant Prosecutor James Reese and Simmons represented by defense attorney Norman Miller.

    During arraignment, defense counsel indicated Simmons had received a copy of the indictment, waived defects in time or manner of service, and waived a formal reading. Counsel then entered a not guilty plea to all charges, which the court accepted.

    ….

    On bond, the state asked for a $22,000 cash bond, citing the alleged theft amount and the desire to ensure appearance. Defense requested a recognizance bond, arguing Simmons has lived in Ashland County for more than 20 years, has no criminal history, is married, works locally, and was aware of the allegations without attempting to leave.

    The court imposed a two-part bond structure:

    Personal recognizance bond (promise to appear), and

    $10,000 posted bond with a 10% option (with posting options described on the record).

    No contact whatsoever with the alleged victim

    As with all criminal cases, an indictment is an allegation, and the charges must be proven in court.

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

    Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

  • Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Kenneth Edwards Jr. Accused of Sexually Assaulting Minor Girl

    pastor kenneth edwards jr

    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.

    Kenneth Edwards Jr., a minister at Church of Living God in Del Ray Beach, Florida, stands accused of multiple counts of lewd or lascivious behavior and obscene communication with a minor girl.

    Channel 12 reports:

    A Delray Beach minister is behind bars after he allegedly received nudes and performed oral sex on a teenage girl in exchange for vape pens. 

    According to an arrest affidavit from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBSO), the investigation began on Friday, Dec. 12, after the Boynton Beach Police Department contacted the sheriff’s office about the crime. 

    At PBSO headquarters, detectives spoke with the victim’s mother, who explained that the previous day she had confiscated her daughter’s phone, and while searching the phone, she found a hidden Instagram account, the arrest affidavit says. The mother went through the Instagram account and discovered her daughter was having a conversation with a man, identified as Kenneth Edwards Jr., PBSO later confirmed he was a minister at the Church of Living God, the arrest report reads. 

    The arrest report says the messages included sending nude photographs of herself and allegedly allowing Edwards to perform oral sex on her in exchange for vape pens.

    Detectives made contact with the 15-year-old girl, who told law enforcement that she met Edwards Jr. while shopping at DD’s Discount store. The arrest report says Edwards Jr. allegedly approached the victim and asked if they could be friends, and obtained her Instagram.

    The two allegedly began messaging each other on the app, the arrest report says. The affidavit says, according to the messages, he asked whether she attended Boynton Beach High School, to which she responded that she was enrolled at another institution.

    Edwards Jr. allegedly expressed a desire to see her again, and she agreed to meet with him again, but requested he bring a vape pen to the meeting, the arrest report says. 

    The report says the two met on a Friday morning. She entered his vehicle and gave him the vape pen he had requested. In exchange, he attempted to perform oral sex on her, which she allowed. According to the criminal complaint, the encounter lasted only a few minutes before she exited the vehicle.

    The two continued to communicate through Instagram, where she allegedly sent him nudes, the arrest report says. The two met again a week later at Ninja Kids Trampoline Park, where he gave her a vape in exchange for oral sex, the arrest report continues. 

    On Saturday, December 13, the victim participated in a controlled video call where they discussed Edwards Jr. performing oral sex on her and discussed their age gap, the arrest report says. Edwards Jr. said if he had known the victim was 15, he would have never touched her, the affidavit says. 

    The arrest report alleges that Edwards Jr. later contradicted himself, stating that when he first met the victim, he was attracted to her and believed she was 18. 

    The criminal complaint says that after discovering her age, he said their relationship was going to have to end. The report continues that during the controlled video call, he admitted to meeting with her on two separate occasions, the first time being in the parking lot where she does volunteer work, and the second time at the Ninja Park. Both times he admitted to performing oral sex on her, the arrest report reads. 

    A criminal complaint says detectives met Edwards Jr. at his home, where he gave a full confession. 

    Edwards Jr. was booked on counts of lewd or lascivious behavior and obscene communication.

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

    Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

  • Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Youth Leader Andrew Apple Pleads Guilty to Sexual Assault, Sentenced to Decades in Prison

    andrew apple

    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.

    Andrew Apple, an Evangelical youth leader in Bentonville, Arkansas, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting minor church girls and was sentenced to thirty-two years in prison.

    NWA reports;

    A former volunteer at a Bentonville church accused of multiple criminal charges has been sentenced to more than three decades in prison, according to court documents.

    Andrew Apple, 28, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree sexual assault on Monday as part of a plea agreement, Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Josh Robinson confirmed to KNWA/FOX24. He was sentenced to 32 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections.

    Court documents filed in February said Apple was a volunteer at a church where incidents of sexual assault took place on church grounds.

    The affidavits do not specify which church Apple volunteered at, but a pastor at Calvary Church in Bentonville previously confirmed to KNWA/FOX24 that Apple was a youth volunteer before his arrest.

    Calvary Church Lead Pastor Chantry Dean issued a statement on Feb. 26 about Apple’s arrest.

    “It is with deep sorrow that we address a situation affecting our church family,” Dean said. “We have been made aware of serious allegations against Andrew Apple, a former volunteer at our church.”

    Dean said Apple was serving as the church’s media coordinator “around three or four years ago” when the alleged incidents took place.

    In January 2024, Apple became a volunteer youth mentor and was in that role until Feb. 1, 2025, after the church was made aware of the allegations and removed him.

    Dean said the church was cooperating with law enforcement on the case.

    A probable cause affidavit said the investigation began when police received a child abuse hotline tip from Arkansas State Police on Feb. 4, 2025, alleging inappropriate behavior by Apple.

    As the investigation unfolded, two victims came forward with accounts of prolonged abuse.

    The first victim, whose identity was redacted, reported that the abuse started when they were around 13 years old while volunteering with Apple at the church.

    A second victim, also a minor at the time, disclosed an alleged pattern of abuse that escalated over time.

    When interviewed by police, Apple reportedly admitted to some of the accusations and having “a sexual relationship” with the second victim since they were 13 years old, according to a probable cause affidavit.

    ….

    Apple was previously facing rape, second-degree sexual assault and sexual indecency with a child charges. His trial was scheduled to begin on Dec. 16.

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

    Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

  • Black Collar Crime: Baptist Pastor Clarence Hungerford Solicits Photos from Minor Church Girl

    pastor clarence hungerford

    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.

    Clarence Hungerford, pastor of Aurora Baptist Church in Benton, Kentucky, stands accused of soliciting nude photos from an eleven year old church girl.

    The Roys Reports reported in June 2025:

    A Kentucky pastor remains jailed after confessing to soliciting photographs of a preteen and trying to destroy the evidence, according to the Marshall County, Kentucky, Sheriff’s office.

    Clarence Barry Hungerford, 58, of Mayfield is being held on $10,000 bail, the sheriff’s office said Friday.

    He was arrested Wednesday on charges of unlawful use of electronic means with the commonwealth to induce a minor to engage in sexual or other prohibited activities and with tampering with physical evidence.

    These came after telling authorities he destroyed his cellphone to try to prevent law enforcement from searching the contents of his phone, a press release stated.  

    ….

    The sheriff’s office said the allegations surfaced when the family of an 11-year-old girl contacted them after the child reported she had been solicited for photographs of her body by her pastor.

    WPSD reports:

    The case against Clarence “Barry” Hungerford was continued to January during a Tuesday, Dec. 9, court appearance.

    Hungerford was charged in the summer with tampering with physical evidence and unlawful use of electronic means within the commonwealth to induce a minor to engage in sexual or other prohibited activity.

    During the Dec. 9 court appearance, no new information was made available, and the case was continued to Jan. 13, 2026.

    Charges were first brought against Hungerford in late June 2025. On June 25, a report was made by the family of an 11-year-old girl. The family reported to the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office that she had been asked for pictures of her body by the pastor of her church. Following a brief investigation, it was determined that Hungerford was the one to send the messages.

    According to a news release, Hungerford was arrested the same day, and admitted both to contacting the girl and to destroying his cell phone in an attempt to prevent the contents from being accessed.

    Hungerford is a resident of Mayfield, Kentucky, but was a pastor of a church in the Aurora community of Marshall County, and kept a part-time residence in Marshall County. It is believed that he was at that residence when the messages were sent.

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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