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Black Collar Crime; Evangelical Nikolay Kalka Says I’m a Pastor, I Would Never Sexually Molest a Child

nikolay kalka

Nikolay Kalka, a Pentecostal pastor, is on trial for sexually assaulting a girl in a swimming pool.

Cory Shaffer, a reporter for Cleveland.com, reports:

75-year-old Ukrainian-born pastor testified Tuesday that he did not grope a 10-year-old girl and hold her head under water at the Middleburg Heights Recreation Center pool.

Nikolay Kalka, of Parma Heights, carried his oxygen mask and tank to the stand and told jurors through a translator that the girl and her friend splashed him, so he grabbed her and held her head beneath the stream of a gushing fountain for nearly a full minute to teach the pair a lesson.

“I was doing it out of love because I wanted to show them what it was like to splash at people,” Kalka said through the translator.

He did not, he insisted, grope the girl.

“It couldn’t have even come to my mind to do such a thing,” he said. “I live my life a certain way. I’ve been a pastor.”

Prosecutors on Tuesday presented their entire case against Kalka, who faces more than a decade in prison if he is convicted of gross sexual imposition and kidnapping charges that say he touched the girl with a sexual motivation.

….

The girl and her friend, who each have turned 11 since the March 11 incident, testified that Kalka grabbed and squeezed the girl’s breast and vagina as she struggled to free herself from his grasp.

Grainy surveillance video of the incident showed the encounter, and that the friend grabbed the girl’s arm and tried to pull her free as Kalka continued to hold onto her.

“I was feeling really uncomfortable and unsafe, and really scared,” the girl told jurors after she broke down in tears earlier on the stand.

Kalka’s version of the story — that he had been fed up with the girls splashing him and his denial that he ever touched the girl’s vagina and breast — seemed to contradict his lawyer’s theory in opening statements.

Marein told jurors Tuesday morning that Kalka “probably did” touch the girl’s private parts. The video, which Marein said “speaks for itself,” clearly shows Kalka grabbing the girl and her struggling to get away. But Marein painted the encounter as “horseplay.”

“Could it have happened? Of course it could have,” Marein said. “Am I hear to say that she is a liar? No. I’m here to suggest to you that this was done without any sexual purpose whatsoever, that this was blown incredibly out of proportion and that this is completely inconsistent with the life that this man has led.”

Kalka, a Pentecostal pastor in his home country, came to the U.S. in 1990 to escape religious persecution under the Communist regime of the Soviet Union. He formed a small neighborhood church after settling in Cleveland.

….

But Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Jennifer Driscoll repeatedly pointed to the video, which showed that the girls swam up to him and splashed him in the pool’s whirlpool section. He splashed them back.

The girls later approached Kalka near a fountain in the kiddie pool and start splashing him again. The lifeguard on duty that day, Nathaniel French, testified that the girls looked happy and he thought they were horsing around with Kalka, who he thought may have been their grandfather.

Then Kalka grabbed the girl.

He forced her head under the stream of the fountain. He held her there for nearly a minute. The friend, after failing to rip the girl free, went to summon French.

Kafka let the girl go, walked into the pool’s steam room and sauna, then to the locker room before a police officer at the rec center arrested him.

…..

Driscoll hammered Kalka on cross-examination. She asked if he felt her trying to get away.

“Yes, I could tell she was trying to get away, but I wanted her to get wet from the fountain,” Kalka said through the translator.

Driscoll, in a raised voice, asked if he would approve of a strange man grabbing his grandchild and holding them underwater against their will. When Kalka said he treated the girls as his own grandchildren, Driscoll asked if he ever held his own children against their will and groped them.

“Children when they see me, they just run to me,” a clearly flustered Kalka said.

Driscoll pointed out the girls were trying to run from him, not to him.

“No, they weren’t running away from me,” he replied. “I love them, they love me. And the little ones just run all over me and I have to listen to what they want.”

Update

Cleveland.com reports:

A Ukranian-born pastor who faced a potential life sentence for groping a 10-year-old girl at the Middleburg Heights Recreation Center pool this summer was instead sentenced to five years in prison on Thursday.

Dozens of 75-year-old Nikolay Kalka’s friends and family wailed after Judge Kathleen Ann Sutula sent the ailing man to prison for five years, and exchanged words with the judge over the sobs of Kalka’s wife and children.

“Twelve jurors found him guilty, not this court,” Sutula replied. “Watch the video. God saw.”

Kalka faced a potential mandatory life sentence with his first shot at parole in 10 years after a jury found him guilty last month of kidnapping the child with sexual motivation at the pool on May 11.

But Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley’s office asked Judge Kathleen Ann Sutula to sentence him instead on two counts of gross sexual imposition, which carried a maximum of five years in prison each.

Sutula ran the counts concurrent to one another, “only out of mercy, not because I don’t think you deserve the full 10 years,” she said.

Kalka will also have to register as a sex offender every six months for the next 25 years.

….

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Youth Pastor David Thorne Pleads Guilty to Sex Crimes

david thorne

David Thorne, youth pastor at Goodyear Baptist Church in Picayune, Mississippi, pleaded guilty Monday to “one count of sexual battery and one count of touching a child for lustful purposes.”

The Sun Herald reports:

A former pastor at a Pearl River County church is facing jail time after pleading guilty to two sex crime charges in Hancock County.

The Sea Coast Echo reports that David Matthew Thorne, 35, of Picayune, on Monday pleaded guilty in Hancock County Circuit Court to one count of sexual battery and one count of touching a child for lustful purposes. He will be sentenced Sept. 25.

Thorne was arrested in March 2016 for molesting a 15-year-old girl in a church van while he was the youth pastor at Goodyear Baptist Church in Picayune.

He was also arrested on a charge of sexual battery, his third sex crime charge, in Pearl River County less than 24 hours after his arrest in Hancock County. The alleged crimes came under investigation after the child’s parents notified law enforcement officials.

Hancock County sheriff’s Chief Investigator Glenn Grannan told the Sun Herald the child was first abused Jan. 31, 2016, in Hancock County.

Thorne was relieved of his duties at Goodyear Baptist Church after his arrest.

The Gift of Prophecy: Bruce Almighty Has a Prophetic Dream

cloth diapers

I am a regular reader of the Charisma News website. I read this site, not because I want to, but because it is required reading for the writing I do for this blog. Every day, I skim through or read hundreds of blog posts and news articles posted to Evangelical websites. If I find something that I think might provide fodder for a future blog post, I forward a link to the article to my email inbox. I could, if I wanted to, focus solely on Charisma News. The amount of Jesus/right-wing bullshit they generate each day is astounding.

Charisma loves to feature the so-called prophetic utterances of Charismatic pastors, prophets, and evangelists. In a June 29, 2017 article, Charisma featured a prophecy by John Mark Pool, a man who believes he has been called to “Teaching, Training and Activating the Body of Christ in the Apostolic/Prophetic Five-fold Ministries for the release of the Saints to do the work of the ministry.”  Here’s what Poole, under the influence of the Holy G-h-o-s-t, had to say:

Our nation of America is being shaken! When the enemy’s hand is revealed, the righteous right hand of God will demonstrate His lifting up a standard against evil for His bride. This is dealt with in very visible ways such as recent special elections won for the conservative platform, chaos in Europe and fake news finding nothing in their continual witch hunts in plans to destroy God’s choice for our current president, Donald Trump. What will remain is a shaking that multiplies our country with God’s fruitfulness. Remember, the enemy is now in exposure for God’s closure!

Our nation was birthed to be one nation under God where, in our new land, we could be free to worship God in His kingdom without tyrannical oppression of an earthly king. The enemy has tried everything to take us under a false kingdom of darkness, to overpower us and take our nation out of its destiny. Yet, it has only exposed the deep state of darkness and is being drained, exposed and removed!

God is now answering many thousands of appeals to heaven. We are definitely going to see darkness get darker and are being set up for the intense light of God’s glory to outshine evil. God will now close the door of the enemy’s attempt at overthrowing our founding roots to be a Christian nation! We are now partnering with the King of kings together to advance God’s kingdom in a fresh wind of fire for a new desire!

I heard the Lord say, “The law of God will again override the plans of the enemy!

On the same day, CHARISMA also featured a prophecy by Johnny Enlow:

I believe we are about to see the shift that I said would happen around July 4th (our patriotic songs time) and you will see it much harder for the fowl birds of the “dirty birds” media to sack President Trump. They gave it their all in the first half of the year, but they are now beginning to get “gassed” because of the relentless moving forward of Trump and his administration.

Expect this July 4th shift to be significant even though the enemy will keep attempting against their “swamp being drained.” However, the swamp is going to be drained like an unplugged cesspool. There is still a lot of arguing because all haven’t clearly seen the players at the bottom of the swamp. Some crooks are hiding under other crooks, but even that is not going to work for very long.

It is a monumental overhaul that God has called for at this time and “you ain’t seen nothing yet.” Trump is simultaneously a lead instrument for the overhaul [and] also symbolic of the drastic overhaul coming to everything as we accelerate into reformation days. It is a time of aggressive change towards advanced kingdom purposes. God is on your side only if you are on His side. He loves you unconditionally, even if you are not on His side, but things are not going to go well for you if you stay on your side. It is time to shift to His side.

Recently, I had a dream — dare I say a prophecy — that I want to share with readers. I am uncertain as to what this dream means. I will leave readers to hear the words of Bruce Almighty (my prophet name) and interpret them accordingly. After all, my dreams are every bit as prophetic as Pool’s and Enlow’s and a hell of a lot more entertaining.

I fell into a deep sleep after hours of wrestling with Satan’s emissary — pain.

My mind was taken back to the days when my wife and I were young. Several of our children were in cloth diapers. We visited First Baptist Church in Bryan, Ohio. They were meeting in multi-purpose building. As we walked into the room, we passed by my uncle, Paul Daugherty. He nodded and kept walking. As we neared our seats, Polly turned to me and gave me a soiled diaper she had put in a bread bag. I took the diaper and put in my suit coat pocket.

A short time later, just before the service started, I stuck my hand in my coat pocket only to find that the bread bag had not been tied and now I had baby poop all over my fingers.

I got up and quickly made my way to the bathroom. As I was washing my hands, in walked the twin brothers, Mark and Luke Gray who were serial killers on the TV show The Following.

And then I woke up.

Why do We Dream? at How Stuff Works

Psychology Today article titled, Why Do we Dream?

Note:

My editor wondered if younger readers might not know what the graphic is. For those of you raised on Pampers, those are cloth diapers. If there’s a Heaven above, then my wife, Polly, will certainly gain entrance. Six children, and cloth diapers for every one of them. We had a diaper service for all of two months with our first son. (Again, for younger readers, a diaper service was a company that picked up your dirty diapers, washed and dried them, and then returned them to your home.) After cancelling the diaper service, Polly spent the next fourteen years washing cloth diapers. Surely, if anyone is a saint, she is.

Songs of Sacrilege: Hallelu by The Devil Makes Three

the devil makes three

This is the one hundred and forty-ninth installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.

Today’s Song of Sacrilege is Hallelu by The Devil Makes Three.

Video Link

Lyrics

Nothing is wrong here so I’m climbing up the walls
Trying to kill this silence with gun blasts and alcohol
I’ve been laughing, I’ve been crying, I’ve been living, I’ve been dying
They say tell the truth, they’re lying, Hallelu

Chorus:
Hallelu, Hallelu, praise the lord and pass the ammunition too
They say Jesus is coming, he must be walking, he sure ain’t running
Who can blame him, look how we done him, Hallelu

What will it take to have this place on bended knee
You run to the forest, you can bet I’ll burn the trees
I will poison the water ’cause it’s only getting hotter
And we came for sons and daughters
Hallelu

Chorus

Trials and tribulations, that’s just bread and wine
Getting my hands dirty, that does not take off the shine
On this farm to get your filling, there’s got to be a little killing
So I am ready and I’m willing, Hallelu

Chorus

If you’re waiting on salvation you’ll need candles and libations
Train ain’t coming in the station, Hallelu

They say Jesus is coming, he must be walking, he sure ain’t running
Who can blame him, look how we done him, Hallelu

Christians Say the Darnedest Things: Ouija Board Jumped Out of the Trash and Magically Reappeared in House

ouija board

Dear Parson,

What do you think of Ouija boards? They even have pink ones to appeal to little girls. Should I let my child have one?

These alphabet boards use a planchette, which is a smaller piece on casters which moves by spirit power, pointing out letters and making words.

This is an occult, demonic practice. It is real, wicked, harmful and an abomination which should be avoided at all costs. “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD; and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.” (Deuteronomy 18:10-12) “Neither give place to the devil.” (Ephesians 4:27)

When I first moved to Roanoke in 1976, I preached against such occult practices one Sunday night. A lady from our church went home and threw her Ouija board out in the trash. When she went back in the house, it was back on her kitchen table. She burned it.

Another young Christian girl (not from our church) went to a slumber party where the girls urged her to ask their Ouija board a question. She refused. Finally, after their continued pleas, she asked the board where it got its power. It slowly spelled out S a t a n and then crashed to the floor, breaking in pieces.

— James Bachman, pastor emeritus of Roanoke Baptist Church, Roanoke, Indiana and author of the Parson to Person column that appears in the West Bend News, August 14, 2017 edition

Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry in Liverpool, England Offers ‘Starve Away the Gay’ Program

desmond dele sanusi

Recently, a British undercover reporter, investigated a church offering a cure for homosexuality. Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry in Liverpool, England is pastored by Desmond Dele Sanusi, According to the church’s website, Sanusi is:

….an erudite Bible scholar, spiritual orator, anointed many years ago. He has been instrumental to development of many churches where he preaches the word of God. He also preaches word of God and invited guest speaker on career talk in Universities around the world. He has written many Christian articles and tracts.

He is a trainee brain surgeon who has published many scientific articles and presented in many scientific meetings around the world. He is currently a PhD student in Neuroscience. He is married to Dr. Olusola Sanusi and God has blessed them with growing family. [Sanusi is a medical doctor, currently employed at a hospital in Ireland.]

Mountain of Fire’s website lists numerous behaviors and problems that can be cured through their deliverance ministry:

if you were conceived in adultery or fornication
if your parents contemplated aborting you
if you were abused as a child
if you have been raped or molested
if your mother had a difficult pregnancy
if you almost died during the first few years of life
if you had imaginary playmates in childhood
if you have been chronically ill all your life
if you grew up in a war zone
if you have been ridiculed all your life
if you have a history of sexual perversion in your bloodline (adultery, rape, incest, etc)
if you have been accident-prone all your life
if you have a history of poverty in your life and/or in your family
if you have engaged in a lifestyle of cheating, robbing and theft
if you are afraid of being alone
if you are extremely uncomfortable around people
if you are intensely jealous of others
if you were involved with the occult
if you are attracted to, or have consulted palm readers, satanic advisors and psychics
if you have been involved with abortion
if you have chronic headaches or mental confusion
if you have a difficult time reading the Bible or praying
if you are afraid of trusting people or getting close to people
if instead of going forward, you are moving backward
if you have inexplicable loss of memory
if you should be a winner but you are failing
if your inputs and efforts fail to get success
if you are being governed by a power contrary to your will
if you were formerly rich but suddenly turned poor
if your trials have refused to come to an end
if you have unnatural movements in parts of your body
if you find it difficult to get baptized in the Holy Ghost
If you encounter chain problems
if you are constantly duped
if you have horrible experiences in your dreams
if you have participated in a non-Christian religion
if you have a sick tongue
if you have emotional disturbances
if you suffer from restlessness
if you hear strange voices
if you have unholy fear
if you are operating under evil covenants and curses
if you suffer from unexplainable family breakdowns
if you are engaged in profitless hard work
if you observed that you have inherited problems
if you observed that you are bound by sin or Satan
if you are constantly harassed by evil spirits
if you have an evil trend of problems in your family

While homosexuality is not listed, as the following story shows, Sanusi and Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry definitely believe people can, through prayer and fasting, be delivered from homosexuality.

Josh Parry, a reporter for ECHO writes:

A Liverpool church which offered a “cure” for homosexuality through a “dangerous” three-day starvation programme was uncovered by an ECHO investigation.

The Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry, which has a branch on Breck Road, Anfield, was found offering gay people the chance to “cure” themselves of their homosexuality through a relentless prayer session involving three days without food or water.

An ECHO reporter posing as a member of the public questioning their sexuality was invited for a private counselling session with the church’s assistant pastor, where he was told that being gay is biologically wrong, and that by undergoing prayer therapy it could be corrected to ‘allow him to marry and have children.’

The assistant pastor – who called himself ‘Brother Michael’ – said that in order for the so-called therapy to be most effective, our reporter would have to ‘humble his soul’ by starving himself and not drinking water for 24 hours before taking part in a weekly prayer session. At no point were any physical or medical examinations offered by the church before issuing this advice.

After our reporter confronted the church’s pastor Dr Desmond Sanusi with our findings, he claimed that the church does not discriminate against anyone’s sexuality, and that Brother Michael was not acting under his guidance.

He also claimed that in 20 years of similar programmes running, “nobody has dropped dead”.

He said: “If you come to the church to come and pray to come and know god better you are welcome. We don’t discriminate against people.

“It’s been running for over 20 years and nobody has dropped dead.”

Experts told the ECHO the methods recommended to our reporter were “dangerous” and “extremely concerning”.

Conversion therapy recently hit the headlines after a petition to make it illegal was rejected by Theresa May’s Conservative government – despite all major psychological professional bodies stating it had “the potential to cause harm”.

On his first visit to the church, our reporter was invited to take part in a separate three-day residential programme, where those participating would be expected to pray for up to three hours at a time without eating or drinking until the third day – when they would be given ‘fruits from the church.’ Participants were encouraged not to leave the church during the therapy.

Despite the three-day therapy being advised by assistant pastor ‘Brother Michael,’ the pastor denied claims anyone would be expected to fast for three days.

He added: “What [Brother Michael] discussed with you. It is out of my guidance. I am the pastor of this church. It is not a three-day fasting.”

During the one-to-one session, Brother Michael referred to being gay as a “deceit of Satan” – and claimed people only identify as gay to get ‘celebrity’ status.

He said: “I will say one thing as well, you say all these things about I’m feeling I’m confused about my sexuality. Thank God you say that you are looking for deliverance because you have got your deliverance.

“You need to realise this is a deceit of Satan. How many people are coming out except the singers, the boxers, the sportsmen? The actors that are coming out to say they are feeling this.

“Their reward is the celebrity. That is what you are following in. So many people now want to do it for publicity.

“I thank God that you have come to where you think you will get help and I know you are going to get the help.

“With the help of God, with prayer, with praying, with the help of God you will have children. You will marry and have your children.”

He then went on to suggest the three-day residential session would be more effective if our reporter also attended weekly prayer meetings with a required fasting period of 24 hours – boasting that he himself could manage three days of fasting, and even suggesting it made him look more youthful.

He added: “We have a special programme called deliverance that’s going to take place in September. For three days you will not eat. Can you do that?

When asked why, he said: “Our soul needs to be humbled. And you should start the fasting now.”

After being offered a recording of Brother Michael referring to being gay as a “deceit of Satan,” – which Dr Sanusi refused – he continued to claim the church did not discriminate against anyone based on their sexuality.

He added: “We don’t discriminate against anybody. We’re a church of God. We follow what is in the bible. Jesus did not at any point discriminate against people.

“People come to the church to pray and to know God better and that’s why people come to the church.

“I am speaking as the authority of the church, as the pastor of the church, and I am telling you we are a church that does not discriminate against people.

“As the pastor of the church, any other thing you hear from any other person, either an assistant or members of the church, that does not carry the representation of the church.”

….

As well as the private counselling, our reporter also took part in a prayer session called ‘My Glory Must Manifest’ – which the assistant pastor said would help make his deliverance more effective.

As part of the prayer group, ‘Brother Michael’ repeatedly shouted phrases such as “kill it with fire, die in the fire” while members of the congregation were seen crying, shaking and sweating as they appeared to be speaking in tongues. He told our journalist he should fast for 24 hours before attending each of these prayer sessions.

Children as young as six months were in attendance as well as around 20 adults. However at weekends, assistant pastor Michael told our reporter that anything up to 100 people would attend – sometimes including as many as 60 children.

Although there’s no suggestion that members of the congregation are aware that the conversion therapy is performed at the church, its website publicly displays the details of its ‘deliverance’ programme – claiming it can “destroy the chains of darkness and kill every satanic embargo.”

While being gay isn’t listed on the website, it does carry a list of reasons people may need to undergo the deliverance sessions, including being victims of rape and child abuse, as well as those who have had abortions.

Other ‘ailments’ it claims it can cure include chronic illnesses, fear of being alone, or being ‘intensely jealous of others’.

….

You can read the entire article here.

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor James Harris Convicted of Sex Crimes

pastor james harris

James Harris, pastor of Second Baptist Church in Belle Glade, Florida, was convicted in 2012 of “felony sex crimes involving a 15-year-old boy.”

The Wisconsin Gazette reported:

An evangelical Christian pastor tried to commit suicide in a Florida courtroom moments after a jury found him guilty of felony sex crimes involving a 15-year-old boy.

The Rev. James Harris, 64, formerly the pastor of Belle Glade’s Second Baptist Church, stuffed several pills in his mouth and tried to swallow them before West Palm Beach courtroom deputies pounced on him and ordered him to spit them out. Deputies called West Palm Beach Fire Rescue who removed Harris from the courtroom handcuffed to a gurney, the Sun Sentinel reported.

Harris had sat emotion-less through a three-day trial leading up to the verdict, according to reporters. He faces up to 80 years in prison.

Prosecutors charged Harris with luring his victim by claiming to have professional contacts who could help the boy realize his dream of playing in the NFL. The victim testified that Harris had performed sex acts with him on two occasions.

Prosecutors played a video that Harris made of his victim masturbating according to his directions while watching a porn movie. They played also played a video showing the boy having sex with his 14-year-old girlfriend.

Harris was previously arrested in March 2009 for aggravated assault after attacking a woman with a baseball bat at the Belle Glade Elks Club.

Harris is being held on suicide watch at the Palm Beach County jail pending his Oct. 5 sentencing hearing.

Georgia Newsday reported:

When a disgraced ex-pastor swallowed suspicious-looking white pills in court after he was found guilty of sex crimes against juveniles, a shocked courtroom assumed it was a suicide attempt.

But a toxicology report revealed yesterday that those tablets were, in fact, breath mints.

Rev. James Richard Harris, of Belle Glade, Florida, was placed on suicide watch after a jury convicted him of molesting a 15-year-old boy and videotaping several teens having sex.

The 64-year-old was accused of trapping his young victims by abusing his connection to Glades Central High School’s football program.

He was found guilty of performing two sex acts on a 15-year-old boy he had lured with promises of introductions to football scouts and trainers to further the teen’s chances of NFL stardom.

He videotaped the teen masturbating while a pornographic movie played in the background, according to the Sun Sentinel.

The 64-year-old was also found guilty of filming an unwitting 14-year-old girl and her 16-year-old boyfriend, who is described as Harris’ godson, having sex at his house, according to the Palm Beach Post.

The two victims sat in court last week as the disturbing videos were played in front of a jury

But as a judge told Harris he would be imprisoned until his sentencing on October 5, he grabbed a glass of water on the defense table and attempted to down some pills.

Deputies rushed towards him and tackled him to the ground, shouting: ‘Spit it out! Spit it out!’ according to the Post.

‘Oh, my God, it’s cyanide,’ others whispered.

Harris was escorted out of the courtroom, handcuffed to a stretcher, looking barely conscious, and was placed on suicide watch at the Palm Beach County jail.

He had refused to tell paramedics what he had downed but alleged he would be dead by nightfall.

But, in a bizarre twist, a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office toxicology report revealed yesterday that Harris had merely swallowed mints, according to wptv.com.

‘Yes, mints,’ prosecutor Chrichet Mixon told the channel. ‘My initial reaction was the same as the one I had at the time this happened: Nothing this man does surprises me.

‘It just goes to show that he always has an ulterior motive,’ she added. ‘He clearly had an ulterior motive when he befriended those children, and he had a motive for doing what he did in the courtroom.’

….

The Sun Sentinel reported:

Once a respected Belle Glade pastor and civic leader, James Harris may spend the rest of his life in a jail cell.

Palm Beach County Circuit Judge John S. Kastrenakes on Tuesday said he sentenced Harris, 65, to 30 years in prison for his convictions on six felony sex crimes.

Last week’s sentencing brings closure to the case of a predator whose “insatiable desire for teenage boys” threatened the community for at least a decade, say prosecutors who had urged the maximum sentence of 80 years.

“He was a reverend, a politician, and a supporter of teenage boys having the dream to play professional football,” Assistant State Attorney Chrichet B. Mixon wrote in a memo to the court before Friday’s hearing. “However, Harris’ most suitable title is that of a master manipulator.”

The prosecution involved Harris’ encounters with a 15-year-old boy in 2008 and 2009. He lured the victim, an athlete, with claims of professional contacts such as trainers who could help the boy achieve his dreams of playing in the National Football League.

During the trial in August, the victim testified that Harris performed sex acts on him on two occasions, and took videos. The jury watched two videos: one showed the boy masturbating under Harris’ direction as a porn movie played in the background; the other showed the boy having sex with his girlfriend, 14, who did not initially realize Harris was recording them.

Defense attorney Christopher Haddad argued there was a lack of evidence of Harris’ crimes, aside from the victim’s testimony and deposition, which he called contradictory.

But a jury convicted Harris on all charges: lewd or lascivious battery; unlawful sexual activity with a minor; lewd or lascivious conduct; two counts of promoting sexual performance by a child; and showing obscene material to a minor.

In urging a prison term closer to the 17-year minimum, Haddad said Harris “tried to use his life as a positive force for change and to improve the lives of those around him.”

Harris emerged from a childhood of poverty in Belle Glade, achieved higher education, assumed leadership of a ministry, and became outspoken “against segregation, discrimination and economic inequality,” Haddad wrote in a memo to the judge.

“Although charges involving sexual conduct are very serious, Mr. Harris should not be judged solely upon the misdeeds of this case but by the entirety of his life experience,” Haddad wrote.

….

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Youth Pastor Daniel Hoffman Pleads Guilty to Sexually Abusing Boy

daniel hoffman

Daniel Hoffman, formerly a youth pastor at Alive Ministries in Jenison, Michigan and a former employee of Jenison Public Schools, pleaded guilty last week to two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Wood-8 reports:

A former youth pastor has admitted to sexually abusing a young boy in Jenison a decade ago.

Daniel Hoffman, 31, pleaded guilty last week to two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Authorities say Hoffman was being treated at a Zeeland hospital for a “psychotic break” last autumn when he told a nurse about the abuse. The victim, who used to be neighbors with Hoffman and is now an adult, confirmed to detectives that it happened between 2003 and 2008.

Since the period when the abused happened, Hoffman has worked at Jenison Public Schools and as a youth minister.

….

In May 2017, Hoffman was arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Wood-8 reports:

An Ottawa County man is facing charges more than 10 years after police say he sexually abused a young boy.

24 Hour News 8 has learned that in the time since the alleged abuse, the suspect has held a number of jobs involving children.

Daniel Hoffman, now 31, is charged with two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Court records from March — when an arrest warrant was issued — show the alleged abuse happened over the course of several years from 2003 to 2008. A police sergeant who testified in court in March said the suspect and the victim were neighbors in Jenison.

Before that, in January, an Ottawa County sheriff’s detective wrote in an affidavit for a search warrant that Hoffman was being treated at a Zeeland hospital for a “psychotic break” in October 2016 when he told a nurse that he had inappropriately touched the victim when the boy was 6 years old. Hoffman would have been 17 or 18 at the time.

The detective interviewed the alleged victim, now an adult, who said that from the age of 5 or 6 until he was 10 to 12 years old, Hoffman repeatedly fondled him. The alleged victim said it happened at Hoffman’s house, in his camper and at Camp Ao-Wa-Kiya in Shelby, where Hoffman was a counselor and the boy was a camper.

The alleged victim’s family chose not to talk to 24 Hour News 8 on camera Tuesday, but said the alleged victim has suffered from depression and thoughts of suicide in the years since the alleged abuse. The family released a statement saying that the suspect “has been involved with so many young people that there are possibly more victims.”

The family said they “want parents and children to know that there are people out there like this, more than we think, and they are devious. If you suspect that your child has been abused look for the signs of mood swings, depression, nausea in the morning and a reluctance to be part of society… even with months of therapy our son was reluctant to say anything because this individual had groomed him to think it was OK until going through maturity realizing it was not. There isn’t anything wrong with bringing this to people’s attention. There is help out there and in our case our son has a huge support system that is helping him, but he has been permanently affected by this and his youth was taken away from him. Don’t let people like this destroy your life talk to someone and above all if it does not feel right say no.”

Court records show Hoffman was a paraprofessional at Jenison Public Schools and also a youth minister, most recently at Alive Ministries in Jenison, 24 Hour News 8 learned. Court records show both of those positions have since been terminated. The lead pastor at Alive Ministries said Hoffman was asked to resign in August.

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Update

Wood-8 reports:

A former youth pastor who admitted to sexually abusing a young boy in Jenison a decade ago is headed to a state prison.

In Ottawa County Circuit Court Monday, Daniel Hoffman was sentenced to between 3.5 and 15 years in prison. He received credit for 36 days served.

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Feeling Like a Stranger in My Own Country

flags at henry county fair 2017

I am someone who is committed to social and economic progress for all Americans. I oppose racism, bigotry, misogyny, and xenophobia wherever they are found, including in the groups and political parties I support. Recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia have left me increasingly feeling as if I am a stranger in this blessed land of ours. Nazis, KKK members, and white supremacists — some of whom were armed with assault rifles — marched in the streets as if we still lived in the 1950s. Counter-protesters pushed back at this vile and ugly display of Donald Trump/Steve Bannon-inspired white nationalism, but I was dismayed to see photographs of people who supposedly have much in common Martin Luther King, Jr. carrying firearms and resorting to violence to get their message across.  During President Obama’s eight years in office, great strides were made in areas such as gays serving in the military and same-sex marriage. As a liberal, I thought, better days lie ahead. Thanks to Bernie Sanders and others who hold Democratic Socialist values, the plight of American workers will be improved, health care will be reformed and expanded, and the economic stranglehold the rich and corporations have on the working class will be broken. I naïvely thought that the influence of lobbyists and corporate donations on our political process would finally be ended. Instead, white and Evangelical America rose up and voted Donald Trump into office — the most inept, unqualified man to ever be elected president. Overnight, President Trump has rolled back decades of social progress, dumped billions of dollars of new money into the military-industrial complex, attacked minorities, and used the power of the Federal government to persecute and deport people who are in the United States illegally. Worse yet, President Trump has increased troop levels in the Middle East, threatened to attack Iran and Venezuela, and has us on the cusp of nuclear war with North Korea. And now it is increasingly likely that the President and/or people closely associated with him colluded with Russia to subvert our democratic process.

I find the current state of affairs to be quite depressing, so I try to do things that distract my mind from Trumpmania. Last Saturday, Polly and I, along with our oldest daughter, drove to Napoleon, Ohio to attend the Henry County Fair. We met our two oldest sons and their families at the fair. My sons love tractor pulls, and since Polly and I had never attended such an event, I thought attending the NTPA — (National Tractor Pullers Association) sanctioned tractor pull would be a delightful distraction. Little did I know that Christian nationalism would be front and center at the pull.

It comes as no surprise that the crowd was white. During the four-plus hours I sat in the stands, I saw all of one black person. An Asian family sat in back of us for a short while, but after having their fill of high-horsepowered machines, they got up and left. Prior to the start of the event, I expected the announcer would ask everyone to stand, remove their hats, place their right hands over their hearts, and face the flag as someone screeched out the Star Spangled Banner. While I personally despise the singing of the National Anthem (and God Bless America) at sporting events — a tradition dating back to the World Wars —  I acquiesce, removing my hat and placing it over my heart. Unfortunately, minutes — long, painful minutes — before the singing of the National Anthem, the announcer launched into a diatribe better suited for the brown shirts In Charlottesville who were, at the same time, showing their support for nationalism, militarism, and Christianity.

First, the announcer had everyone stand, remove their hats, and place their right hands over their hearts, not for the singing of the National Anthem, but for the saying of a sectarian prayer to the Christian God. He demanded everyone conform, and then launched into a full-blown — are we at an Evangelical church? — masturbatory prayer to Jesus. The prayer was completed with the announcer saying, and all God’s people said AMEN. The stands reverberated with an orgasmic AMEN! with virtually everyone around me lending their vocal approval. No shock here. This is rural Northwest Ohio, the land of Christian God, guns, American militarism, and overt displays of nationalism.

cash explosion tractor pulling team henry county fair 2017

Having attended countless sporting events over the years, I have had to listen to innumerable inane, stupid — and at times hilarious — Christian prayers. I was not, however, ready for what happened next. Once the prayer was finished, the announcer asked everyone to remain standing for the next ritual, the saying of the Pledge of Allegiance. Before leading the crowd in a profession of fealty to the United States and to the Christian God, the announcer went on a several minute-long harangue about how great America was, how awesome our military was, and how parents need to teach their children the importance of blind, nationalistic patriotism.

Once the Pledge of Allegiance was duly uttered, it was time for the singing of the National Anthem. I thought, finally escape looms near. Unfortunately, everyone in attendance was forced to listen to part three of the announcer’s Ain’t ‘merica Great sermon first, and then the appointed singer sang the National Anthem. Thinking my hell on earth was finally over, I started to sit down, only to find out that the announcer wasn’t done. Since there were Canadians in attendance at the tractor pull, it was deemed appropriate to play the Canadian National Anthem. Thankfully, no one was called on to sing O Canada.

As I always do when attending sporting events, I refused to remove my hat for the praying of the prayer to the Christian God. This God is not my God, and I find such displays of sectarianism at events open to the public offensive. As far as I could see in front of me and to the left and right, I was the only man who refused to uncover his head. The saying of the Pledge of Allegiance elicited the same response from me. I refuse to pledge my allegiance to America, its flag, or the Christian God. I know the saying of the Pledge has its roots in the anti-communist McCarthyism of the 1950s. As a Christian, I refused to say the pledge because my only allegiance was to Jesus. These days, I refuse because of the connection of the Pledge to nationalism and militarism.

I am sure some readers might wonder how, constitutionally, the announcer could get by with the sectarian prayer and sermonizing. Ohio county fairs are actually private events. Agricultural boards rent the fairgrounds from their respective counties and are free to do whatever they want. I learned this years ago when I got into a skirmish in Southeast Ohio with the Perry County sheriff and county fair officials. I had gone, along with a group of people from the church I pastored at the time, to the fairgrounds to hand out tracts and preach. The local sheriff, with whom I had a running battle, threatened to arrest me if I didn’t immediately stop what I was doing and leave the fairgrounds. I refused, threatening both him and the fair board with a lawsuit for violating my first amendment rights. They backed down, but a few weeks later I received a letter from the Ohio Attorney General informing me the Ohio fairs were private events and as such I could be arrested for trespassing if I continued to hand out tracts and preach. Ironically, Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) was permitted to have on fair property a train caboose-like vehicle they used to trap children into watching movies or other forms of entertainment so they then could be evangelized. (At the Henry County Fair, there was a man preaching and handing out tracts. He was allowed to do so unmolested.)

The tractor pull itself was quite entertaining, and both Polly and I enjoyed watching the loud, thunderous machines pull a weighted sled down the track. My sons informed me that this Saturday’s NTPA national event at the Wood County fairgrounds in Bowling Green, Ohio will even be worse when it comes to worship of the Christian God and the promotion of American exceptionalism and nationalism. Not only will there be a prayer and a pledge, there will also be the playing of numerous patriotic country songs. The songs of flag-wavers such as Toby Keith and Lee Greenwood will blare across the pull grounds, as men and women who proudly wear the redneck label thank God for horsepower and the smell of racing fuel. I’ll pass, thank you.

Black Collar Crime: Pastor George Bradburn Guilty of Repeatedly Molesting Boy

george bradburn

George Bradburn, pastor of Queen City Christian Church in Queen City, Missouri, pleaded guilty yesterday to “fourteen counts of committing sodomy in the first degree and deviant sexual intercourse with a person less than 14-years-old.”

Echo Menges, a reporter for nemonews.net reports:

According to court documents, just over one year ago, a young man, formerly of Queen City, MO, told investigators about being sexually abused throughout his childhood by his former pastor, George Charles Bradburn, 69.

Bradburn befriended the boy at age nine, who commonly spent time at the church assisting in various duties such as cleaning or helping out. When the child was 12-years-old, Bradburn began molesting him, which is stated in the Probable Cause Statement filed in the case.

According to the court documents, the molestation began in 2003 and lasted for six years until 2008 when the victim was 18-years-old.

The documents also state, Bradburn went out of his way to stay in contact with the child. After the child moved away from the area, Bradburn maintained contact with the family, often picking up the child for visits, bringing him back to Queen City and continuing to molest him.

On Friday morning, August 11, 2017, Bradburn pled guilty to committing the ultimate betrayal in a plea deal made with the Schuyler County Prosecutor’s Office.

Bradburn has pleaded guilty to two of the 14 felony counts of committing sodomy in the first degree, deviant sexual intercourse with a person less than 14-years-old.

 

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Last year, KTVO reported:

A northeast Missouri minister is charged with a sex crime against an underage boy.

Pastor George Bradburn, 68, of Queen City Christian Church is charged with one count of first-degree statutory sodomy.

Schuyler County Sheriff Joe Wuebker said his office arrested Bradburn at his Queen City home on Tuesday.

The arrest comes after a two-month investigation.

Wuebker originally received a tip from the Kirksville Police Department on April 12, 2016, after the incident was reported to that department.

After speaking with the alleged victim, Wuebker determined, due to particular circumstances with this case, the investigation would be turned over to the Missouri State Technical Assistance Team (STAT).

Brian Bailey with the STAT conducted an interview with the victim on May 3, 2016, regarding the sexual abuse allegation. The victim stated when he was a juvenile, he and his family came to know Bradburn as the pastor of a local church.

The victim then stated at approximately age 9 he began spending time at the church assisting in various duties such as cleaning or helping out, when he and Bradburn became good friends.

The victim described when he was approximately age 12, Bradburn began touching his private parts, both over and under the clothing, with his hands.

The teen recalled this happening “several times per week” until the age of approximately 15, at which time the boy went to live in another part of Missouri.

The victim then stated Bradburn would come pick him up once per month and bring him back to Queen City for visits, at which time victim reported the encounters continued by Bradburn. This cycle continued until the victim turned 18.

The teen reported the incidents normally occurred in the pastor’s home. The victim also stated Bradburn told him not to tell anyone or both he and Bradburn would get in trouble.

On June 14, 2016, Bailey conducted an interview with Bradburn. During this interview, the sheriff’s office says the minister admitted to fondling the victim beginning when the boy was approximately 13 years old.

Investigators say Bradburn admitted to sexual acts with the victim approximately 50 times from the age of 13 until he was 18 years old.

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Update

The Edina Sentinel reports:

The mood in the courtroom in the Knox County Courthouse was stoic as Second Circuit Presiding Judge Russell E. Steele sentenced former Pastor George C. Bradburn, 69, of Queen City, MO, to serve two ten-year terms to run consecutively in prison for molesting a Schuyler County child and parishioner of the Queen City Christian Church, where Bradburn was the Minister.

Bradburn wore a bullet proof vest over his orange jail issued jumpsuit during the sentencing hearing, which was moved to Knox County on a change of venue, and set before Judge Steele on a change of judge from Schuyler County.

Also, there was an increase in the number of law enforcement officers at the courthouse during the hearing. Three to four officers were posted inside the courtroom during court, including one posted directly inside and one posted directly outside the main entrance to the courtroom.

During the court proceeding, the mother of the victim was allowed to read a statement to the court and address Bradburn despite objection from Bradburn’s attorney, Jennifer Richardson.

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The victim’s mother told the court what it was like for her family during the years then Pastor Bradburn was molesting her young son from an early age to adulthood, how the child exhibited exceedingly troubled behavior as his visits with Bradburn persisted and built up to two or three times per week. She was emotional when she told the court her child did not want to go with Bradburn, but she insisted. She thought Bradburn was trying to help her son.

Bradburn also addressed the court prior to being sentenced. He unfolded a piece of paper and read from it for some of his statement. Bradburn eyes left the paper and he looked into the gallery where the victim and his family were seated.

“There are not enough words to express how sorry I am,” said Bradburn. “Yes, it does haunt me and it forever will haunt me.”

Bradburn talked directly to the victim several times while addressing the court and, besides asking for forgiveness, Bradburn asked the victim to “remember the good times we shared” and to remember a talk they had had, when the victim was a child. At several points during Bradburn’s address he seemed to be preaching to the victim and the victim’s family.

The victim’s mother told Bradburn, during her statement, forgiveness would not be given by her family.

“George Bradburn, you are lower than a snake,” said the victim’s mother. “One family was in the church and left, they tried to get you in trouble for what you did to their child. The people in the church (were) convinced by you that it didn’t happen – including me. I had to go to this family and beg them to forgive me for not believing them and tell them it happened to (my son) too. I pray that you think of all the children you have harmed and all the issues you have caused them. George, I often wonder why you moved to Queen City, Missouri, where you didn’t know anyone. Why did you leave Cherryville, Kansas? What were you running from?”

Richardson pressured the Judge to allow Bradburn to serve probation for his crimes or to reduce the agreed upon sentences from ten years to five years on each charge he pleaded guilty to, two felony counts of statutory sodomy in the first degree, which were reduced from 14 counts in exchange for Bradburn’s guilty pleas.

“George did a lot of good in the community,” argued Richardson. “He counseled a lot of children.”

Richardson argued Bradburn was not a threat to the community, which was rebutted by Gravett.

“This is a case where a minister took advantage of his position and molested a child,” argued Gravett. “He told law enforcement he’s always had a fascination with young children, and it’s something he’s struggled with all his life.”

The prosecutor went on to explain Bradburn previously positioned himself to be involved in children’s activities including being an announcer at school basketball and football games.

Bradburn was asked if there were other victims as he was being brought out of the courthouse by Schuyler County Sheriff Joe Wuebker. He did not respond to the question.

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