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Tag: Black Collar Crime

Update: Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Youth Leader John Brownlow Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Sexual Exploitation of Minor

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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.

In 2022, John “Jay” Brownlow, formerly a youth pastor at St. Patrick Presbyterian Church in Collierville, Tennessee, and an administrator at Westminster Academy in Memphis, Tennessee, was accused of grooming a Westminster student.

Channel 5 reported:

A former Mid-South church leader and Christian school administrator is accused of persuading a high school student to engage in sexual activity online, and then recorded that activity without the victim’s knowledge.

John “Jay” Brownlow, 32, allegedly groomed the teen, a Westminster Academy student, at the peak of the pandemic, and installed cameras in the boy’s bedroom without him knowing.

The Action News 5 Investigators have been watching Brownlow’s case move through a Shelby County courtroom since September when he pleaded not guilty to seven felonies and one misdemeanor.

The Investigators were tipped off about the arrest, and have since been corresponding with the teen’s family.

According to a nine-page indictment, Brownlow also stalked and spied on the victim.

A now-deleted online post states that Brownlow was a bookkeeper at Westminster Academy and was promoted to Chief Financial Officer in September 2021. According to the post, Brownlow enjoyed “playing board games and tackling tech projects.”

At the same time, Brownlow was allegedly using technology to “expose a minor to material containing sexual activity” and to “directly induce” that minor to engage in sexual activity that Brownlow recorded.

The defendant’s attorney, Leslie Ballin, wouldn’t let us speak with Brownlow, but did sit down with the Action News 5 Investigators to talk about the case.

“You pleaded not guilty on his behalf in court. Is your client innocent?” The Investigators asked Ballin.

“The allegations are indeed shocking,” he said. “Does it mean it’s accurate and true? Not for me to decide.”

It will be for a jury of Brownlow’s peers to decide, if the case goes to trial, or a judge to decide, if there is a bench trial. Prosecutors could also possibly reach a plea deal with the defendant before either.

Ballin says he has seen the prosecution’s evidence, and while he wouldn’t go into details, said the “not guilty” plea stands. He does say the evidence he saw lines up with the contents of the criminal indictment.

According to the indictment, the alleged crimes occurred between June 2020 and January 2022. That’s when Brownlow was an employee at the Christian K-12 school Westminster Academy on Ridgeway Road.

Westminster’s Headmaster wrote in an email that they learned about the allegations when the crimes were reported in January 2022, and that they contacted police, fired Brownlow and banned him from their campus.

The Action News 5 Investigators corresponded with the alleged victim’s parents, and with other parents aware of the allegations against Brownlow. They said they trusted Brownlow around their children and are concerned there may be more alleged victims who were groomed by Brownlow who have not yet come forward.

In October 2023, Brownlow was sentenced to six years in prison for aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor.

Fox-13 reported:

A former administrator at a Christian school in Memphis has been sentenced to six years in prison for attempted especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, according to Shelby County court records. 

Former school administrator at Westminster Academy John Brownlow, 32, was arrested in July of 2022 and charged with especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, soliciting sexual exploitation of a minor, aggravated burglary, aggravated unlawful photographing of a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor, soliciting sexual exploit of a minor, aggravated stalking and observation without consent. 

On Monday, October 2, 2023, Brownlow entered a plea agreement and pled guilty to the lesser charge of attempted especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and was sentenced to six years in prison. As part of that plea agreement, the other charges against Brownlee were dismissed. 

Court documents at the time of Brownlow’s arrest stated that the 32-year-old entered a person’s home with the intent to spy and obtain unlawful images of a minor and that the former school administrator stalked a teen and used technology to “expose a minor to material containing sexual activity.” 

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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: Ohio Evangelical Pastor William Dunfee Found Guilty for His Part in January 6 Insurrection

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The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.

William Dunfee, pastor of New Beginnings Ministry in Warsaw, Ohio, was found guilty of participating in the January 6 insurrection.

The Columbus Dispatch reports:

An Ohio pastor has been found guilty of criminal charges in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for his actions in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

William Dunfee, 58, of Frazeysburg, Muskingum County, was found guilty Monday of two felony charges of obstruction of an official proceeding or aiding and abetting a civil disorder, and a misdemeanor charge of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Washington.

Dunfee, who was not charged with entering the Capitol building during the failed attempt by President Trump supporters to stop the certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory, is scheduled to be sentenced on May 24.

The pastor of the New Beginnings Ministry in Warsaw, Coshocton County, Dunfee was arrested in October 2022 and accused by federal prosecutors of twice pushing a metal barricade against Capitol Police officers and using a bullhorn to rally the crowd, based on video evidence entered into court evidence.

“The election has been stolen right out from underneath our noses and it is time for the American people to rise up. Rise up. Rise up,” Dunfee is accused of saying over a bullhorn. “Today is the day in which it is that these elected officials realize that we are no longer playing games. That we are not sheeple.”

Prior to traveling to Washington for the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, the Department of Justice alleges in court records that Dunfee tried to fire up members of his congregation to make the trip. Dunfee is accused of posting a video on Dec. 27, 2020, telling his congregation: “The government, the tyrants, the socialists, the Marxists, the progressives, the RINOs (Republicans In Name Only), they fear you. And they should. Our problem is we haven’t given them any reason to fear us.”

A criminal complaint contained in court records states that a tip to federal authorities helped lead to the arrest of Dunfee, who while at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was wearing a baseball cap with the name and logo of the company he co-owns, Cross Builders, LLC in Coshocton.

Years ago, Dunfee was known for his pickets of area adult entertainment businesses — especially The FoxHole, a local strip club. The owner and the strippers at The FoxHole returned the pickets in kind — except for the fact that the strippers picketed topless on Sundays in front of Dunfee’s church. 🙂

The New York Times reported at the time:

To shield churchgoers from the topless protesters, curtains are hung around the parking lot of New Beginnings Ministries. The pastor, Wiliam R. Dunfee, said families including children have been entering through a back door.

Still, the pastor vowed to go on with his vigils at a strip club that led to its dancers picketing at his church.

“I have no intention of looking away from evil,” said Mr. Dunfee, who has read the Bible aloud and buttonholed patrons outside the strip club, the Foxhole, for nearly nine years.

He said he has talked husbands into returning home to their wives and attracted out-of-state supporters to what he calls his “ministry” outside the Foxhole — though he has not succeeded in closing it down.

The pastor has both fans and critics here in east central Ohio, a nub of the Bible Belt where Amish schoolgirls play baseball in long dresses, but many people believe a lawful business should be free from churchgoers pestering clients and employees, sometimes loudly, until midnight on weekends.

“Interrupting people and whatever, there’s really no call for it,” said Paul Wilson, a trustee of New Castle Township (population: 450), where the club is located, nine miles up the road from Mr. Dunfee’s flock. “As far as the church goes, they ought to go back to where they came from and stay there.”

Mr. Dunfee said he was acting on behalf of “victims” of the Foxhole, who in his view, include the “lost souls” who gyrate around the dance poles, the wives of men who by ogling the dancers are breaking their wedding vows, and even aborted babies that might result from “the enticement of irresponsible sex.”

But in this long-running standoff, the lines are not always where they appear to be. Mr. Dunfee is an admitted adulterer who was forced to resign from a church he had led. The strip club’s owner, Thomas George, called the pastor hypocritical for “telling me my place is breaking up marriages.”

“It has been outright harassment going on nine years,” said Mr. George, whose club is a windowless boxcar of a building with peeling plywood sides. “I decided to show them, you don’t want it behind closed doors? We’ll bring it right out in the open and see how you like it.”

And so half a dozen topless dancers with hand-lettered signs began showing up at Mr. Dunfee’s church on Sunday mornings last month. The pastor acknowledged that they cannot be arrested since courts have interpreted indecency laws to mean that female breasts are not genitalia and can be bared in public.

County officials are at wit’s end. The sheriff, the county prosecutor and the law director for the City of Coshocton, the seat of Coshocton County, sent a letter to the pastor and club owner this month asking them to cease and desist.

….

At a protest outside the club on Sept. 5, Mr. Dunfee was accused of trespassing too close to the Foxhole and was arrested. In response, the pastor filed an assault complaint against Mr. George, accusing him of shoving him from his parking lot.

Mr. Skelton, who prosecutes misdemeanors, declined to pursue charges against either man.

The pastor has drawn supporters to his Friday night vigils from Illinois, Iowa and North Carolina. He wrote to Mr. Skelton demanding an apology “to all the gentle Christians” who have been trampled on by overzealous law enforcement.

In an interview at his church, which has grown steadily since he founded it in 2001, most recently adding a 250-seat sanctuary, Mr. Dunfee said, “There’s never going to be a compromise.”

“We have taken a proactive approach to dealing with evil in our community,” said the pastor, who has also demonstrated at gay pride parades in Columbus. He cited the biblical responsibility of pastors “to be the watchmen on the wall” in defense of families and community.

….

But Mr. Dunfee denied that his long crusade connected to his own history of infidelity. In 2000, he resigned as pastor of Black Run Church of God in Frazeysburg, Ohio, because of a relationship outside his marriage, the pastor acknowledged.

“It was a form of adultery,” he said, one which brought him “a great deal of shame.” He said he had he repented and asked forgiveness from many people, including his wife of 31 years, Connie. “I have received forgiveness,” Mr. Dunfee added. “Because of my past, I’m more capable to help other men.”

Mr. George, who founded the Foxhole in 1999, was not so forgiving. He said the church’s vigils, which he said sometimes featured Mr. Dunfee on a bullhorn, “have run my business into the ground.” He has sought two legal injunctions to keep the pastor 100 feet from his building. Both were denied. He said he has no more money to waste on lawyers. So he has been fighting back creatively, including a radio ad that invited listeners to visit the Foxhole to see why it is the pastor’s “favorite weekend hangout.”

The idea of a topless protest at the church came after the club’s dancers, while confronting church members outside the club, removed their tops and saw that it upset Mr. Dunfee’s supporters.

Robin Kimbrough, one of Mr. George’s longtime employees, defended her line of work. “Morally that is my decision to make,” said Ms. Kimbrough, who started as a dancer and now manages Mr. George’s club in Zanesville, which has also been protested. “It is my burden to God to bear,” she said. “I’m aware of what I do. My husband and I have eight children together. It happens to work for our family.”

Even though the topless protests have not dissuaded Mr. Dunfee to stand down, Mr. George said the controversy has at least reminded people he was still in business. On Tuesday, he hung new blue siding on his club, whose sign is faded and whose concrete steps are crumbling. He acknowledged that Mr. Dunfee’s moral certainty would likely outlast the stamina of his dancers to march at the church. “I imagine he’ll go on with it,” he said. “I’ll go away at some point. It’s going to get cold.”

Truly an example of “tit for tat.” 🙂

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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 Pastor Trent Rogan Found Guilty of Statutory Rape

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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.

Trent Rogan, a youth pastor at Community Church at Hendersonville in Hendersonville (Gallatin), Tennessee, was recently convicted of raping a seventeen-year-old boy.

The Gallatin News reports:

A once prominent community leader who was serving as a children’s pastor at a Hendersonville church when he was charged in 2022 with having sex with a 17-year-old male, was found guilty on Thursday of five counts of Statutory Rape by an Authority Figure and four other charges.

A jury convicted Trent Rogan, 31 of Gallatin of nine charges that included two counts of Especially Aggravated Exploitation of a Minor and two counts of Exploitation of a Minor by Electronic Means, after a three-day trial in Sumner County Criminal Court.

Assistant District Attorneys Nathan Nichols and David Vorhaus presented testimony from several witnesses, including the victim who is now 19.

Although the victim testified in open court and spoke openly with a reporter after the verdict, the Hendersonville Standard does not identify victims of sex crimes.

The victim testified that he met Rogan in the fall of 2021 after applying to and being accepted into the Leadership Sumner Youth Program, a leadership development program for high school juniors that is no longer in operation.

Shortly after the two met, Rogan, who was a chaperone and co-director of the program, initiated a sexual relationship with the victim, and often supplied him with drugs and alcohol, the victim testified. The sexual abuse occurred on five separate occasions – including twice in Rogan’s Gallatin home. 

After the victim cut ties with Rogan and divulged the two’s encounters to a friend, the Gallatin Police Department and the Department of Children Services opened an investigation in April of 2022.

Rogan was arrested and charged with five counts of Statutory Rape by an Authority Figure and two counts of Exploitation of a Minor by Electronic Means on June 6, 2022. A grand jury returned a nine-count indictment in August of that year that included two counts of Especially Aggravated Exploitation of a Minor.

Rogan was working at the time as the Kids Pastor at Community Church of Hendersonville. He has since resigned. Before that, he was the NextGen Ministry-Children’s Director at Gallatin First United Methodist Church from Dec. 2017-Feb. 2020. Rogan also served on the boards of several non-profit organizations including Gallatin Cares and the Gallatin Chamber of Commerce where he was the board’s chairman-elect.

In his closing arguments to the jury, Nichols pointed out that the victim identified himself as a member of the LBGTQ community on his Leadership Sumner Youth application and that as one of the co-directors Rogan helped select the victim for the program.   

The victim applied to the program to better himself while Rogan saw it as an opportunity to prey on him, Nichols added.

“He didn’t join [the program] to have sex with Trent Rogan but Trent Rogan saw that application and saw it as an opportunity to have sex with him,” he told jurors.

Rogan’s attorney Paul Walwyn acknowledged the two had sex and sent pictures to each other, but argued that Rogan was not an authority figure to the teen.

 “This case is about whether or not he used his authority or power to control [the victim] – and the answer is no,” argued Walwyn. “There’s nothing except for a title. [The victim] never said he felt compelled or coerced or anything to be in a relationship with Mr. Rogan… There’s nothing about control in this case.”

Jurors disagreed, convicting Rogan on all nine counts.

Nichols said after the verdict that the case is “the very poster child for why these cases should be prosecuted vigorously and why General [Ray] Whitley and all the other prosecutors and myself are dedicated to prosecuting them to the fullest extent of the law.”

“This young man had his life altered in an extremely negative, terrible way because of Mr. Rogan’s actions and it set his life on a course that he never intended for it to go,” Nichols added.

Vorhaus said the case needed to be prosecuted not just for the victim but for the collateral damage Rogan did to the community.

“He did a lot of damage to the community,” agreed Nichols. “He did a lot of damage to his church, and to Leadership Sumner Youth, which doesn’t even exist because of him.”

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.

Real Christian Pastors Don’t Lust After Women

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Several years ago, Godfrey Migwi, pastor of House of Hope Church in Nairobi, Kenya, and a clinical psychologist, addressed the temptations pastors face from “skimpily dressed” women. Migwi stated:

At times we’re tempted by skimpily dressed women who come to church to make advances on us in the name of counselling. We are human beings and have feelings.

Migwi is admitting that pastors are human; that they can be “tempted” just like anyone else. Pastors aren’t immune from sexual want and desire. As if we needed him to tell us this, right? Those of us who spent years in Christian/Evangelical churches know that pastors, deacons, evangelists, missionaries, worship leaders, youth directors, and Sunday school teachers can, and do, not only commit sex crimes, but also engage in consensual sexual relations with congregants. It is also true, that there are women (and men) who develop sexual feelings for their pastors, and, at times, act on those feelings. I had several occasions over the course of twenty-five years in the ministry where it became crystal clear to me that a female congregant had an interest in me beyond my Bible knowledge. Counselors, doctors, and others who have close intimate relationships with people face similar problems.

It is also true that pastors can develop sexual feelings for one or more congregants. (Please see Is Clergy Sexual Infidelity Rare? and Stop with the “Few Bad Apples” Rationalization When Excusing Clergy Misconduct.) To admit this is stating the obvious: pastors and other church leaders are normal human beings, subject to the same wants, needs, and desires as their congregants. The difference, however, is that pastors have a moral and ethical obligation — let alone a commitment to their spouses — to refrain from acting on their desire to be sexually intimate with congregants. Migwi, as is common for Evangelicals to do, blames women for pastors being sexually tempted. If women would only dress “properly,” men of God wouldn’t be tempted to fuck congregants. We have heard this before, right? This is nothing more than an attempt on the part of clergy to evade personal responsibility for their sexuality. Pastors preach personal responsibility and accountability, yet when it comes to their own moral weaknesses and failures, they blame others.

Jeff Maples, of DISNTR fame, has a completely different take on this issue. Here’s what Maples had to say about Pastor Migwi’s statement about “skimpily dressed” women:

Of course, sexual immorality is rampant in Pentecostalism and the denomination is where the majority of clergy who fall to sexual immorality end up when they are “restored” to ministry.

It’s difficult to discern whether what this pastor says is actually true or not — in Africa, the climate is different. Perhaps, in Africa, pastors who preach the Word of God, stand on the authority of Scripture, and are devoted to making converts and baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are typically sought out to be fawned over by underdressed women and seduced into one night stands.

Perhaps.

But, perhaps, these pastors — particularly the ones who preach the false Pentecostal Word of Faith gospel and lead people into the idolatry of money — are actually tempted because they are, well, largely false converts.

First, Maples states, “sexual immorality is rampant in Pentecostalism and the denomination is where the majority of clergy who fall to sexual immorality end up when they are “restored to ministry.” Maples would have readers believe that clergy sexual misconduct is a big problem in Pentecostal/Charismatic churches, and exposed sinning pastors usually are later “restored” to the ministry. Maples is largely right. However, he seems to be oblivious to the fact that his own corner of the Evangelical tent has the same problem; that clergy sexual misconduct is common wherever people gather to worship the Christian God. As the Black Collar Crimes series makes clear, Evangelical pastors can be and are sexual predators. Imagine if I started a series that focused on Evangelical pastors and their consensual affairs and sexual dalliances. Why, I wouldn’t have time to write about anything else. (Is Clergy Sexual Infidelity Rare?)

Second, Maples does what Christian Fundamentalists do when trying to distance themselves from “sinning” brethren: he says they aren’t True Christians®. Maples says, “perhaps, these pastors . . . are actually tempted because they are, well, largely false converts.” Migwi and his fellow Pentecostals/Charismatics are Evangelical theologically. Yes, lots of crazy shit goes on in Pentecostal/Charismatic churches. But the same can be said for Evangelical churches in general. What’s “crazy” is in the eye of the beholder.

If the sexual temptation Migwi speaks of is, as Maples says, due to the tempted pastors not being True Christians®, can we not then conclude that Maples is saying, that True Christian® pastors are not sexually tempted, nor do they commit sexual “sins”? Maples, and others of his ilk, believe Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible are talismans of sorts that ward off Jezebels who want to bed “godly” pastors. Jesus is a chastity belt for pastors, or so Maples would have us believe anyway. However, as anyone who is paying attention to what goes on in Evangelical circles knows, sexual scandal is not uncommon among God’s chosen ones. Evangelical salvation does not inoculate pastors from sexual desire and temptation. I just wish that Evangelicals would admit that they have the same wants, needs, and desires as the unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines of the world; that pastors can and do have sexual affairs. Wouldn’t it be refreshing for a “sinning” pastor to admit that he desired a woman who was not his wife, pursued her, and bedded her for no other reason than because he wanted to? Stop with all the excuses and misdirections, and just admit your humanity, fallibility, and frailty, oh “men of God.” Time to climb off your high horse and own your sexuality.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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 Pastor Corey White Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charges

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The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.

Last October, Corey White, a youth pastor at Redeemer Midland in Midland Texas, was arrested on child pornography charges.

Fox-West Texas reported:

Thirty-three-year-old Corey White, who according to members of the congregation was a youth minister at Redeemer Midland, has been charged with access with intent to view child pornographic materials.

According to court documents, the charges were stemmed from an investigation in Nassau County. New York. The Nassau County Police Department initiated an investigation after receiving 15 National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) cybertips from 2018 to the present.

These tips involved the upload of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) videos and images via “Skype” from an IP address in Seaford, New York. 

A search warrant was executed which resulted in the seizing of this material from electronic devices. Upon further investigation, a New York man had been communicating with numerous adults and minors using the video chat site “Omegle”. During these interactions, the New Yorker used a screen sharing program to transmit the CSAM videos in real time to participants, followed by screen recording the interactions.

In most cases, participants were observed engaging in various sexual acts while watching the CSAM, while sometimes engaging in lewd acts by the request of the New Yorker. 

On March 16, 2022, a screen recording showed the New Yorker sharing various videos with an adult male in his early to mid-thirties. The man was seen masturbating on screen while the video is playing.

This male was identified as Corey White, and during the recording requests CSAM involving a mother and son. The New Yorker accommodates this request, to which White said he enjoyed. 

Based on this, a Special Agent with Homeland Security Investigation obtained a search warrant for White’s electronic devices at his Midland home. 

On Oct. 23, White was detained and transported to MPD for questioning. He told detectives he used Omegle for “sexual things” and to find people willing to show their genitalia. White said he had an interest in incestuous porn involving mothers having sexual contact with their sons. 

Later, White told officers that he rarely sought out CSAM, however, said while browsing Omegle he would flip to another user who was showing it or offering to show it which he would accept. He said he wasn’t seeking it out, but it excited him. Having a ‘fetish’ for incest pom, White said he preferred when the ‘real thing’ was offered, claiming mainstream porn merely involved ‘actors’.

When asked when he most recently viewed this material, White said it was when his wife went on a work trip but didn’t know how long ago this was. Law enforcement confirmed this was between May 8 and May 11, 2023 in Midland, which White further estimated was the timeframe.

If convicted, White faces up to ten years in prison, up to life of supervised release, a $250,000 maximum fine and a $100 special assessment. 

Last week, White pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly accessing images of child pornography with visual depictions of a minor.

Fox — West Texas reports:

A former Midland youth pastor pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of knowingly accessing images of child pornography with visual depictions of a minor.

Our sister station, NewsWest 9, had a reporter in the courtroom Wednesday afternoon for a status conference/re-arraignment of 33-year-old Corey White.

….

In October 2023, NewsWest 9 reported the charges stemmed from an investigation in Nassau County. New York. The Nassau County Police Department initiated an investigation after receiving 15 National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) cybertips from 2018-2023.  

The tips involved uploading child sexual abuse material (CSAM) videos and images via Skype from an IP address in Seaford, New York. 

After an extensive investigation and seizure of electronic devices from his Midland home, White was indicted by a grand jury in November 2023 for sexual exploitation of children and possessing or accessing child pornography with visual depiction of an actual minor.

White is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge David Counts April 4 and faces up to 10 years in prison, as well as supervised release for life and up to a $250,000 fine. 

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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 James Randolph Accused of Sexual Assault

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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.

James Randolph, a pastor at Living Word [International] Church in Midland, Michigan, stands accused of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a relationship, four counts of second-degree CSC, and one count of accosting children for immoral purposes. Living Word is operated by Mark Barclay Ministries. Randolph is Barclay’s son-in-law.

Our Midland reports:

Living Word International Church minister Rev. James Randolph was arrested and charged Tuesday with first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a relationship, four counts of second-degree CSC and one count of accosting children for immoral purposes for crimes allegedly occurring in 2011.

Randolph is charged with seven felony counts and is out of jail on a $500,000 cash bond. His second-degree CSC charges include one allegedly with a person under 13-years-old and two involving a relationship. Randolph was arraigned on the charges in Midland County District Court Tuesday afternoon and is set for a probable cause hearing at 1 p.m. Dec. 7.

Randolph is the son-in-law of Mark Barclay of Mark Barclay Ministries which operates Living Word Church. He has been placed on administrative leave from the church. 

….

Randolph is the second person associated with the church to face arrest this year. In July, church volunteer Brandon Saylor, 44, was charged with six counts of criminal sexual conduct and three counts of accosting children for immoral purposes for crimes allegedly occurring in 2010, according to court records. He is being held in the Gladwin County Jail on a $500,000 cash/surety bond. 

Saylor’s charges include four counts of second-degree CSC with three victims under 13, two counts of CSC with relationship, and three counts of accosting children for immoral purposes.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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 Missionary Adam Pepper and His Wife Sentenced to Years in Prison for Sexual Assault

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adam and tracee pepper

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.

Adam Pepper and his wife Tracee, missionaries to the Dominican Republic with Commission to Every Nation in Kerrville, Texas, were sentenced to seven and five years respectively for sexually assaulting two minors and possessing child pornography.

The Public Prosecutors Office in the Dominican Republic reports (translated from Spanish to English):

The Second Collegiate Court of La Vega sentenced two Canadians to seven and five years in prison and suspended from work, for sexual assault and threat against two minors in the El Mirador sector of Jarabacoa. Adam Eric Pepper and his wife Tracee Lynne Pepper (Tracee Lynne Plett), both 35, were also given the payment of 10 official minimum wages and the criminal costs of the trial. The case was submitted by the Comprehensive Care Unit for Victims of Gender-Based Violence, Domestic and Sexual Offences of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of that jurisdiction. The first was serving in pretrial detention since February 2021 in the public prison of La Vega and was sentenced to seven years deprivation of liberty, while his wife was given five years suspensive of work, an impediment to leaving the country and refraining from teaching in educational establishments. The complaint was filed with the Public Prosecutor’s Office by the mother of a child under the age of 12, after finding images on her son’s cell phone given to him by Adam Eric Pepper, where the accused is visualized by sexually assaulting him, which he recognized for the pants he was wearing. The defendant, whenever he committed the criminal act, threatened the minor that if he said anything he would fall prisoner and then he would not be able to continue giving gifts. The child ' s mother stated that the accused told him to leave the minor to be with him longer alone and to sign a paper stating that if anything happened to her, he and his wife stayed with the child. Tracee Lynne Pepper is also accused of touching the child and recording sexual images of the boy with another 13-year-old girl, so she was also accused by the youngest’s aunt, who stated that Plett told her that if she dared to say what she was doing she and her family, she would kill her and her family.After a raid on the defendants’ home in April 2021, the Public Prosecutor’s Office occupied them with USB memorabilia, a professional camera with their accessories, a suitcase with high-definition recording equipment, a small digital camera with their accessories to use underwater, among other belongings. Videos with images of minors in sexual activity were found on cameras. The legal qualification granted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office to this trial against the accused is for violation of several articles of the Dominican Criminal Code that criminalize and punish the association of criminals to commit sexual threat and assault, as well as sexual, commercial exploitation and the provision of images that violate the honour and dignity of children, in addition to violating articles punishing the production, marketing, acquisition, and possession of child pornography.

The Roys Report adds:

A Canadian missionary couple was sentenced to several years in prison by Dominican Republic authorities for sex crimes involving children, according to a press release by the country’s attorney general last Monday.

Adam and Tracee Pepper, missionaries with the missions organization, Commission to Every Nation (CTEN) Canada, were convicted of sexually assaulting and threatening two minors in Jaracaboa, Dominican Republic. The couple, both age 35, are also convicted of possession of child pornography.

Police began investigating the Peppers in 2021 when a mother reported that she found photos on her son’s phone of Adam Pepper assaulting the boy, who was under 12 years old, according to the press release. Pepper reportedly threatened the minor not to reveal the abuse by saying he would stop giving the child gifts. Pepper had previously given the boy a cell phone.

The mother alleged that Adam and Tracee Pepper continually pushed for more alone time with the minor. She added that the couple even had the mother sign a document that stated if the mother were physically unable care for her son, the Peppers would assume custody of him, the press release said.

Tracee Pepper was also convicted of sexually touching the boy and recording sexual images of the boy with a 13-year-old girl. The girl’s aunt told investigators that her niece and family were threatened by the Peppers with harm if they spoke out.

….

The couple began working with the missions organization CTEN Canada, an affiliate organization of CTEN, in August 2020, according to Adam’s LinkedIn profile.

When the organization learned of the accusations against the couple, they were decommissioned, Rick Malm, Founder and CEO of CTEN told the The Roys Report (TRR).

Malm said the organization was shocked by the news as CTEN staff thoroughly vetted the Peppers before they joined and found no red flags. CTEN interviewed the couple, the couple’s pastor, and other friends of the pair to conduct a background check, he said.

“My gosh it’s just really heartbreaking,” Malm said. “This is just totally out of the blue.”

Since decommissioning the couple, CTEN notified the Peppers’ church and donors, Malm said. CTEN offered to help the Dominican Republic government with its investigation, but he said the government didn’t ask for any help.

….

The Peppers had done missionary work in the Dominican Republic periodically since 2018, according to Adam Pepper’s Facebook page.

….

Pepper previously served as a youth leader at both Steinbach Evangelical Mennonite Church from 2005 to 2009 and at La Broquerie Youth Group from 2008 to 2012, according to his LinkedIn.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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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Black Collar Crime: Southern Baptist Pastor Segio Guardia Accused of Stalking a Woman

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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.

Sergio Guardia, pastor of Nuevo Amanecer — a Spanish ministry at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, and director of Hispanic Ministries for the Southern Baptist Convention of Virginia, stands accused of stalking a woman and breaking into her home.

The Biblical Reporter reports:

A pastor previously employed with the Southern Baptist Convention of Virginia (SBCV) is facing multiple charges, including stalking.

Sergio Guardia was arrested on Nov. 10 with a stalking charge and a separate count of breaking and entering an occupied house to commit a misdemeanor. Another count of the latter was added the next day, according to court records.

A hearing has been set for Feb. 7.

An online search for Guardia lists among the results that he was the director of Hispanic Ministries for the SBCV, working among both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking churches. When the link is clicked, however, a missing page response appears. SBC Workspace lists him serving as campus pastor of Thomas Road en Español-Lynchburg from November 2013 to August 2019.

Guardia also was an occasional columnist for BP en Español, Baptist Press’ Spanish-language website.

Baptist Press left multiple messages for the Lynchburg Police Department for further comment, with none being received by press time.

“Sergio Guardia is no longer employed by the SBC of Virginia,” a convention representative said last week. “He resigned in November. We have been made aware that he is dealing with legal matters, and because of the legalities involved we have no further comment.”

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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 Elbert “Buddy” Goins Accused of Offering Money to Have Sex With Minor

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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.

Elbert “Buddy” Goins, pastor of Mount Hope Christian Church in Mount Hope, West Virginia, stands accused of offering money to have sex with a minor.

WOAY reports;

The now former lead pastor of Mount Hope Christian Church has been arrested on charges of patronizing a minor victimized by sexual servitude.

Elbert Eugene Goins, known as Buddy Goins, was arrested on December 8 in Beckley. According to the criminal complaint, he had been talking to an adult about having sex with the adult’s purported minor child.

“During the conversations, Goins discussed meeting with the child’s purported guardian and the purported minor child with the intent to pay for sexual services with the minor,” the complaint reads.

When Goins arrived in Beckley to meet who he thought was the adult and the child, members of law enforcement including the West Virginia State Police were waiting.
He was arrested and taken to the Beckley Detachment, where he agreed to an interview with state troopers.

The complaint says that he “advised he was communicating with an adult” about having sex with the adult’s minor child.

According to the complaint, Goins suggested that he was hoping to have sex with the adult, but it also says that he knew what could be assumed from that conversation.

The board of the Mount Hope Christian Church has released a statement about the arrest to Newswatch. It says Goins was terminated from his role as lead pastor the next day, Dec. 9.

The board says that they were “shocked” by the arrest. Their statement emphasizes that Goins was not arrested at the church and says that members of the congregation are not involved.

….

According to the criminal complaint, the investigation and arrest happened in Raleigh County in Beckley. Mount Hope Christian Church is located in Fayette County.

Goins posted a $50,000 bond. According to records obtained at the Raleigh County Courthouse, his preliminary hearing is set for December 28.

The charges of patronizing a minor victimized by sexual servitude carry significant penalties. He faces at least three years behind bars if convicted, with a maximum sentence of 15 years. He could also face a fine of up to $300,000.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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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You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Seferino Tosie Accused of Raping Church Children

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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.

Seferino Tosie, pastor of Missionary Memorial Church in Aurora, Oregon, stands of accused sixteen counts of rape, sexual penetration, sex abuse, and sodomy.

KOIN reports:

A Washington County pastor was arrested and indicted for sex crimes, including rape, for alleged incidents that began in 2008.

Seferino Tosie, 46, was indicted by a Washington County grand jury following a 2-month investigation with the Canby Police Department that identified multiple juvenile victims.

Detectives say Tosie’s victims likely attended Missionary Memorial Church in Aurora, where he worked as a pastor.

So far, the cases reported have occurred in Washington, Clackamas, and Marion counties between 2008 and 2016, authorities said.

Tosie was indicted by a grand jury on 16 charges.

However, detectives with the Violent Crimes Unit say they also believe there are other victims yet to come forward, as Tosie has worked in other churches in the area, as well as in Kansas, Minnesota, Hawaii and Iowa. Officials said one more victim came forward after Tosie’s indictment.

NewsBreak adds:

Detectives of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office Violent Crimes division say a pastor, Seferino Tosie, 46, has been indicted on multiple charges of alleged sexual assault.

Officials are looking for more victims.

Since Tosie’s indictment on Dec. 13, a third victim has come forward with similar allegations. The alleged victims were members of Missionary Memorial Church in Aurora, where Tosie served as a pastor. The alleged abuse reported so far took place in Washington, Clackamas and Marion counties between 2008 and 2016.

So far, all of the alleged victims have been of Micronesian descent. Court records show the three victims were all under the age of 14.

The charges stem from a two-month joint investigation with the Canby Police Department. Detectives identified multiple juvenile victims during the investigation, and the case is still ongoing.

Detectives believe Tosie’s victims attended Missionary Memorial Church, where he worked as a pastor. Investigators say Tosie also has worked at many other churches in the area, as well as in Kansas, Minnesota, Hawaii and Iowa.

A Washington County grand jury on Dec. 13 indicted Tosie on multiple counts of the following crimes:

Rape in the first degree (three counts)Sodomy in the first degree (six counts)Sexual Abuse in the first degree (four counts)Sexual Penetration in the first degree (three counts)

Tosie has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Meanwhile, a co-defendent is listed in the court records, Jerony MJ Simina, 23, of Tualatin. Simina was arraigned Dec. 6 on six counts of first-degree sodomy and three counts of first-degree sexual abuse. Records show the men may have abused at least two of the same children.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.