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.
On June 1, 2023, Sarah Ann Mock-Butler, the finance director for Pikes Peak Christian Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, was arrested and charged with hundreds of financial crimes.
Sara Ann Mock-Butler, a former financial director of Pikes Peak Christian Church, is accused of allegedly stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the church.
The arrest affidavit alleges that during Mock-Butler’s unchecked or supervised time as financial director from 2017 to 2022, she stole thousands and attempted to delete evidence of this theft shortly before finding work elsewhere.
The investigation was raised after lead Pastor Ross had asked Mock-Butler to resign and the new financial director found discrepancies between bank account numbers and financial dashboards from the church records.
According to the affidavit, the discrepancies amounted to a $200,000 deficit in their operating account forcing the church to lay off employees and cut specific ministries.
The internal investigation by church officials revealed unexplained transfers from the church’s operating account to the church’s credit union credit card account not related to church business. Pastor Ross said Mock-Butler falsified the approval form documents often double-signing them herself, against church policy.
It was determined by Detective Williams that Mock-Butler forged three signatures of church leaders to use on authorization forms.
The church provided lead El Paso County Detective, Marissa Williams with an itemized spreadsheet of unauthorized charges made by Mock-Butler. Detective Williams has determined that Sara Mock-Butler spent a total of $341,519.25 of Pikes Peak Christian Church’s funds on unauthorized and personal charges.
The affidavit alleges Mock-Butler conducted a total of 527 charges using the church’s financial information. Of these, 339 transactions were electronic, with 296 of these missing authorization forms or had them intentionally omitted.
The affidavit goes on to give six examples from the investigation of Mock-Butler’s alleged theft, the first being the writing of two checks totaling more than $6,000 from the church to her personal and mother’s joint account to pay on her home mortgage.
A cash withdrawal totaling $16,000 that was allegedly spent on home improvements for Mock-Butler’s home.
The third example laid out by Detective Williams was the transfer of $15,000 to Mock-Butler’s credit union account which was used to make a down payment on a 2020 Ford F350 Truck and another $19,800 transfer that would be later used to purchase a boat which Mock-Butler would later sell for $22,500.
The affidavit alleges Mock-Butler spent $3,007.03 in funds on personal vacations, and another $1,878.88 in payments to Colorado Springs Utilities on Mock-Butler’s personal utility bills.
The final example of theft was through Mock-Butler’s personal purchases from Amazon, where the affidavit alleges Mock-Butler made 10 orders totaling $1,644.31.
An investigation with Colorado Department of Revenue Agent Melody Kirscht determined that Mock-Butler was liable for six counts of felony Tax Evasion after the unreported income from Mock-Butler was reviewed.
Mock-Butler faces the following charges:
Theft, class 4 felony (1 count)
Cybercrime, class 3 felony (1 count)
Money Laundering, class 3 felony (296 counts)
Identity Theft, class 4 felony (527 counts)
Forgery, class 5 felony (61 counts)
Tax Evasion, class 5 felony (6 counts)
Filing a False Return, class 5 felony (5 counts)
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
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.
A Modesto man who stepped down from his role as a church youth leader a month before his arrest has pleaded guilty to molesting a family member.
Michael Sasser, 41, was arrested in April on suspicion of three counts of child molestation for acts that occurred during a period of months in 2022.
On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty to the continuous sexual abuse of a child and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. As a result of the plea, two other counts of child molestation were dropped.
“It was in the best interest of all parties involved that this case be resolved quickly, as opposed to being long and drawn out,” said Sasser’s attorney Rebecka A. Monez. “The plea represents the reality of the crimes, and the defense is content with the resolution.”
The prosecutor on the case said in court that she talked at length with the victim about giving an impact statement, but the victim ultimately declined.
Sasser was co-leader of the student ministry at Redeemer Church on H Street in Modesto before stepping down Feb. 28, about a month before his arrest, lead pastor Patrick Nagle said in April. Sasser cited “personal reasons” and “to focus on himself and his family,” the pastor said. Sasser also previously served as a church elder. Both were volunteer roles, Nagle said.
Police said there was no evidence to suggest that anyone in the youth group was a victim. Nagle said the church was notified about the criminal investigation sometime in March before Sasser’s arrest. “We notified parents that there was an issue that took place in the home and CPS (Child Protective Services) and police were involved,” Nagle said in April. “We made it clear as well to parents that he is no longer allowed to serve in any capacity here or allowed in the building.”
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
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.
Tana Reneau, a youth leader with North Whatcom County Young Life and a mother of six children, stands accused of first-degree child rape, second-degree child rape, third-degree child rape, and four counts of second-degree child assault. She also faces one count of drug possession involving prescription drugs that did not belong to her.
Probable cause documents released by Whatcom County Superior Court detail the alleged child abuse by a Blaine mother of six, who is a former teacher and current candidate for the Blaine School Board.
Tana Perkins Reneau, 51, was arrested by Whatcom County sheriff’s deputies Friday, June 2, on charges of child rape and child assault.
The prosecutor’s office intends to formally charge her with first-degree child rape, second-degree child rape, third-degree child rape and four counts of second-degree child assault, according to court documents. She also faces one count of drug possession involving prescription drugs that did not belong to her.
The arrest came after Whatcom County detectives were assigned the investigation through the state Child Protective Services. Three female children ranging in age from 7 to 14 and one male child over the age of 10 known to Reneau came forward with allegations that she had been physically and sexually abusing them as punishment, documents state.
“Horrific is a good word for it,” Whatcom County Superior Court Commissioner Jonathan Richardson said regarding the allegations during Reneau’s first appearance in court on Monday.
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Child forensic interviews conducted by staff at Brigid Collins Family Support Center found that some of the physical pain suffered by the children “was equivalent to that produced by torture.” Medical exams by a nurse found scarring and markings consistent with abuse. Two of the children were found to have chipped teeth, the documents state.
Some of the children were forced to sleep naked in the shower, in the garage or without blankets or pillows. All four children were forced to run laps, the documents state.
The children were physically abused using closed fists and household items including boards, cords and a shovel, the documents state.
One child was severely beaten and then, upon examination of the injury, sexually assaulted by Reneau, the documents state. One child was sexually assaulted as punishment for perceived stealing, according to the documents.
Three of the children are Black and reported that Reneau called them racial slurs, according to the documents.
“It’s a very egregious case,” said deputy prosecuting attorney David Graham “(The probable cause document) has some very specific and very disturbing allegations and, in the state’s view, there is a community safety concern.”
The court issued a domestic violence no-contact order that protects the four unnamed victims. Reneau’s bail was set at $500,000. She remained in custody as of June 6, according to jail records.
Reneau has six children, four of whom are adopted.
Reneau taught in the Kennewick School District for 13 years before moving to Blaine in 2011. It’s unclear whether she ever taught in Blaine schools, but she served on multiple curriculum and technology adoption committees.
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Reneau has filed to run for an open seat on the Blaine School Board and will face two other candidates in the Aug. 1 primary. She previously ran unsuccessfully for the school board in 2019.
She also has been involved with North Whatcom County Young Life ministry and as a leader in a program called YoungLives, which aims to offer guidance, resources and support to teen mothers.
In 2021, Reneau opened a candy company called Better Buttermint Co., where she employed young adults with developmental disabilities.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
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.
Scott Asalone, a former priest at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Purcellville, Virginia, pleaded guilty to a single count of felony carnal knowledge of a minor in December 2022. Yesterday, he was sentenced to eight years in prison.
A former Loudoun County priest has been sentenced to eight years in prison for sexually abusing a minor nearly 40 years ago.
On Tuesday, Virginia’s Attorney General Jason Miyares announced Scott Asalone, a former priest at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Purcellville, has been sentenced to prison on a charge of felony carnal knowledge of a minor.
“Today’s sentencing brings long, overdue justice to the brave victim who came forward and told their story. My office will continue to aggressively prosecute child offenders and I encourage anyone who has been a victim of clergy abuse to contact the Virginia State Police or local law enforcement,” said Miyares in a statement.
Asalone was convicted of sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy in 1985 when he was 29.
In 2020, when charges were first brought, D.C. Council member David Grosso came forward and identified himself as the victim in an interview with The Washington Post.
The victim in the case is former D.C. Council member David Grosso, who publicly identified himself as Asalone’s victim when the charges were filed in 2020.
Grosso previously said he wrote a letter in 1992 to Asalone, and the priest responded by admitting his misconduct. Grosso said the letter served as evidence to convict Asalone in a case that stretched back to 1985.
“I love the fact that justice never stops in Virginia,” Grosso said last December.
“Today’s sentencing brings long, overdue justice to the brave victim who came forward and told their story. My office will continue to aggressively prosecute child offenders and I encourage anyone who has been a victim of clergy abuse to contact the Virginia State Police or local law enforcement. I’d also like to commend the Virginia State Police and my Major Crimes and Emerging Threats Section for their outstanding work on this case,” said Attorney General Miyares in a statement Tuesday.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
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.
Kevin Straughan, pastor of Agape Ministries Church in Ossipee, New Hampshire, stands accused of strangulation and sexual assault.
A former New Hampshire minister is accused of strangulation and sexual assault and is being investigated for similar charges in Florida.
Ossipee police said at the time of the allegations, Kevin Straughan, 67, was the head minister of Agape Ministries Church in Ossipee and Moultonborough.
Straughan has been indicted on several charges, including four counts of sexual assault and second-degree assault. Police said the victims are people he knew, including children.
Police said Straughan is no longer preaching at the church but is still involved there. He is also under investigation in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Police said they worked with multiple agencies as part of the investigation, which started in October. Liz Kelley-Scott, executive director of the Child Advocacy Center, said she couldn’t speak to the specifics of the case, but she said the organization’s role is to make sure children are protected throughout such investigations.
“That’s why we really work as a team, to have an open line of communication between law enforcement and prosecutors and our child protective services, but also to make sure all the needs of the kids are being met,” she said.
People at the church said they had no comment on the investigation. News 9 left a message at a phone number for Straughan but has not heard back.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
By now, regular readers of this blog who follow the Black Collar Crime Series know that Evangelicalism has a Catholic church-sized problem with sexual assault, sexual abuse, and rape. For years, Evangelical churches and pastors pointed fingers at the Great Whore of Babylon — the Roman Catholic Church — condemning its ever-growing sexual abuse scandal, all the while ignoring the increasing number of sex-related scandals in their own ranks. It is clear, at least to me, that Evangelicals have no high moral ground when it comes to sex crimes; that Evangelical pastors, evangelists, missionaries, youth pastors, deacons, elders, Sunday school teachers, Christian school teachers, bus drivers, worship leaders, and choir directors can and do rape, assault, and abuse children, teenagers, and vulnerable adults. Add to this the consensual affairs, cavorting with prostitutes, and being “addicted” to porn, and it seems, despite all the preaching against sexual sin, that so-called men of God are not practicing what they preach.
I am in no way suggesting that a large number of Evangelical pastors are sexual predators. I have no doubt that many pastors are true to their marital vows, don’t prey on children, and generally try to practice what they preach. (Please read Is Clergy Sexual Infidelity Rare?) That said, many Evangelical churches do a poor job of keeping congregants — especially children and teenagers — safe from abuse at the hands of men given the responsibility and authority to lead them. Churches wrongly think that if they do a one-time background check and it comes back clean, they have done their due diligence. However, background checks only show past criminal convictions, and if not done regularly, such checks would not catch convictions after the original background check was performed. Churches should annually run thorough background checks — both state and federal. When interviewing men for open pulpits, churches should call the candidates’ previous churches to see if there were any whispers of sexual misconduct. It is astounding how many churches hire men with checkered pasts, not bothering to check on whether they have left behind at their previous jobs allegations of sexual impropriety or other criminal misconduct.
Evangelical churches are often quite sensitive to how they are viewed in their communities, knowing that rumors about sexual scandals could damage their reputations. This is why, instead of obeying reporting laws and putting the needs of victims first, many churches, when they hear of sexual misconduct, investigate it themselves and try to cover it up. In doing so, churches often violate state sexual abuse reporting laws. Sadly, prosecutors have been hesitant to prosecute pastors and church leaders for not reporting abuse. Imagine how different things might be if a few pastors were sentenced to a year in the county jail for failing to report sexual abuse. I bet that would get their attention, and result in more churches following the law. (Please read How Should Churches Handle Allegations of Abuse?)
Many Evangelical churches are independent or part of loosely affiliated sects such as the Southern Baptist Convention. Since each church governs itself, there is no central authority that handles claims of abuse or disciplines pastors accused of criminal behavior. Every church is its own final authority, and far too many churches have been willing to shove clergy sexual misconduct under the proverbial rug rather than see their pastors criminally prosecuted and victims receive justice. Even worse, victims are often shamed into silence. Jesus forgave us, shouldn’t we forgive others? victims are told. Pastor said this was all a big misunderstanding, and he promises, before God himself, that he will never, ever do anything like this again! Will you forgive him? And by doing this, churches abuse victims all over again and predator pastors are free to continue trolling the church membership (or a new church’s membership) for fresh victims.
The Southern Baptist Convention is the largest Protestant denomination in America, yet, as of this date, they refuse to establish a centralized database that tracks allegations and prosecutions of pastor/church leader criminal conduct. Southern Baptist leaders say that they must protect pastors from false allegations, and developing a database of accusations would “convict” pastors without the benefit of a trial. While false allegations are always possible, they are actually very, very rare. At the very least, a database of allegations would help when looking for patterns of misconduct. Using the “where there is smoke there is fire” approach, when a pastor has several accusations lodged against him, it is likely that he is up to no good.
An overarching problem in Evangelical congregations is that people are naïve and too trusting. I have posted numerous Black Collar Crime reports detailing congregations who refused to believe that their pastors could ever do such terrible things. Often, they will defend their pastors, accusing me of trying to smear or discredit their churches. After all, I am an atheist, a tool of Satan, so anything I write can’t be trusted. However, the content for the Black Collar Crime Series comes from news and police reports. I only report what can be verified. As a result, offended church members, in time, learned my reports were correct and their pastors were indeed capable of everything from rape to murder to theft. Pastors are not above the fray morally or ethically, and as long as the sheep think they are, predator clergy will continue to prey on and fleece the flock.
Six years ago, I posted an article about Mitch Olson, pastor of Grace Ministry Center in Kimball, Michigan, being accused of sexually assaulting a woman during an anointing ritual. When confronted by church leaders, Olson said his hand must have slipped in the anointing oil. (Please read Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Mitch Olson Accused of Sexually Assaulting Church Member.) The woman Olson allegedly abused is an adult who had been a member of Grace since sixth grade. When people read stories such as this one — especially readers who were never Evangelicals — they often wonder why the woman just didn’t say NO or fight back. Surely, as a grown woman, she knew that it was wrong for her pastor to be “anointing” her breasts, buttocks, and genitals. Shouldn’t she bear some culpability in what happened? Isn’t this really just a matter of consensual behavior gone awry? (Olson was never charged with a crime, but his victim sued him and won an undisclosed amount of money.) I can hear the defender of sexual predators Dr. David Tee shouting a loud AMEN!
Pastors are, by law, considered authority figures, and as such are held to a high standard of moral and ethical conduct. Because pastors are often intimately involved in the lives of their parishioners — much like doctors, lawyers, and counselors — there is always a danger of people being manipulated and controlled, leading to abusive behavior and sexual misconduct. Pastors often know the dark, deep secrets of their parishioners, and this gives them power over their congregants. Professional lines can quickly become blurred, resulting in criminal misconduct. While pastors can and do have consensual sexual affairs with women in their churches, often these affairs are actually abuses of authority and should be treated as such.
In the case of Mitch Olson and Justine Morden, the victim had spent her formative years in Grace Ministry Church, with Olson as her pastor. Morden deeply respected and trusted Olson. I am sure she never thought that Olson would sexually take advantage of her. Remember, most Evangelicals are taught that their pastor/pastors/elders are their spiritual leaders and guides. Called “men of God”, these divinely chosen pastors are often viewed as the rulers of their churches. Given great power, authority, and control, Evangelical pastors can, with impunity, misuse and abuse their congregations. In some Baptist circles such as the Southern Baptist Convention and the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church movement, pastors often have absolute control over their churches, acting more like kings and potentates than humble servants.
It should not come as a shock to the reader to learn that, because congregants are often raised in such authoritarian, controlling churches, many of them lose their ability to discern harm or misbehavior. Why, Pastor Bob would never, ever harm me. He loves and cares for my soul and prays for me daily! When congregants lose discernment abilities, it is not hard, then, for a pastor to manipulate church members into doing whatever it is he wants them to do. This is especially the case for women who have spent their lives being taught that God commands them to be submissive to male authority — their fathers when they are young, their husbands when they are married, and their pastors when it comes to spiritual matters. Totally disarmed and subservient to men, women become easy targets for pastors to take advantage of.
It is clear that many sexually abused Evangelical women didn’t “let” their abusers do anything. Thanks to their immersion in cult-like teachings and behaviors, along with misogynistic, patriarchal views of the fairer sex, it is evident that many women are like lambs to the slaughter, easy marks for those out to take advantage of them. As Justine Morden and countless other Evangelical women have learned, just because a man calls himself a pastor doesn’t mean he should be trusted. While scores of predatory clergy are exposed and convicted every year, countless others fly under the radar, using their positions of power and authority to take advantage of trusting, unsuspecting women. Until churches and sects are willing to out these predators and publicly burn them at the stake — so to speak — they will continue to wreak havoc and destruction.
Note
This post is focused on women because the overwhelming majority of Evangelical clergy sexual abuse consists of male pastors abusing female teenagers and women. This does not mean I am ignoring male-on-male abuse or child sexual abuse. Those too are a problem, but for this post alone, I have focused on the question raised in the title.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
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.
Andre Johnson, a coach at Sumter Christian School in Sumter, North Carolina stands accused of 1 count of sexual exploitation of a minor in the first degree, 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor in the second degree, disseminating obscene material to a person under 18, assault and battery in the third degree, and incest. Sumter Christian is a ministry of Sumter Bible Church — a congregation similar to Independent Baptist churches.
A former coach at a South Carolina Christian school, who was accused of sexually exploiting a minor, now faces over 20 new charges for allegedly committing other sex crimes involving minors.
The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office announced on Facebook on May 24 that 54-year-old Andre Girard Johnson of Dalzell had been rearrested on additional charges, having previously been accused of disseminating obscene material to one person under the age of 18 in March.
Charges include 11 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor in the first degree, 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor in the second degree, disseminating obscene material to a person under 18, assault and battery in the third degree, and incest.
The alleged crimes involve two juveniles and authorities do not believe there are any other victims.
“Of the many cases our investigators work, the crimes against the most vulnerable in our society, like children, are always the hardest,” Sheriff Anthony Dennis said, as quoted by WIS News 10.
In an earlier report, WIS reported that Sumter Christian School’s administration had initially reported to law enforcement in March that Johnson had been sending inappropriate text messages to a minor.
The minor reportedly told school administrators about the messages as they made her feel uneasy, investigators confirmed. Investigators stated that Johnson also sent pornographic images and sent a text message to the victim telling her that he wanted to have sex with her.
Deputies said Johnson surrendered himself on March 20 and was then transported to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office Detention Center. At the time, he was then released on a $5,000 surety bond.
Over multiple weeks, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office continued to conduct a full and in-depth investigation, bringing to light over 20 additional alleged sex offenses carried out by Johnson against minor victims.
Johnson was rearrested on May 23 and reportedly transported to Sumter County Sheriff’s Office Detention Center. He later posted a $28,000 surety bond and was subsequently released on Tuesday, May 24.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
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.
Caleb Toney, a youth pastor at several unidentified Iowa Evangelical churches, stands accused of two counts of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse, as well as two counts of supplying alcohol to a minor involving the same teen and one other.
A former youth pastor is facing charges in Polk and Story counties for allegedly sexually abusing teens and providing them with alcohol.
Twenty-six-year-old Caleb Toney of Elkhart is charged with two counts of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse, one count of assault, three counts of supplying alcohol to persons under the legal age, and one count of permitting minors to consume alcohol.
Cmdr. Dan Walter with the Ames Police Department said the first charges stem from incidents in the fall of 2017 at a residence where Toney lived at the time. Toney is accused of giving a 15-year-old alcohol and once the teen was intoxicated Toney allegedly touched him in an “unwanted, insulting, and offensive” manner. Court documents show he provided alcohol for a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old on multiple occasions and allowed them to drink at his Ames residence.
The other incidents are alleged to have happened in Ankeny and Elkhart between January 2019 and May 2020. In court documents, the victim alleges Toney got into bed with him and touched his genitals when he and an underage friend spent the night at his home in Elkhart. Toney is also accused of touching the victim’s genitals while the two were sitting on a couch at an apartment where Toney lived in Ankeny.
Police in Ankeny and Ames did not have information immediately available about which church or churches Toney was a youth pastor at when the alleged abuse occurred.
Toney was arrested on Monday and bonded out of the Polk County Jail on Tuesday night. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on December 16th for the charges in Polk County.
A former youth minister from Elkhart has been sentenced to probation for sexually abusing an underage student.
Caleb Toney, 27, was arrested by Ankeny police in December. According to Polk County court complaints, Toney on multiple occasions had sexual contact with a teen boy, then a high school student, in 2018 and 2019. The teen told police that Toney was his youth pastor at the time.
Toney was charged with two counts of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse, as well as two counts of supplying alcohol to a minor involving the same teen and one other.
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In April, Toney pleaded guilty to two reduced charges of lascivious conduct with a minor and the two alcohol charges, all serious misdemeanors. On May 18, he was sentenced to two years of probation in lieu of a four-year prison term.
Toney also was ordered to register as a sex offender and remain on supervision for 10 years. As part of his probation, he was ordered to stay off Craigslist and other online personal ad or escort services.
He must pay a fine of $1,720 on top of other court costs and surcharges.
Toney also was charged last year with assault in a separate Story County case. According to that complaint, Toney provided alcohol to a 15-year-old boy at a residence in Ames, then after the boy was intoxicated, began touching the boy’s body until the teen stopped him and moved away. That charge was dismissed at prosecutors’ request in January.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
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.
Raymond Chang, the pastor of Resurrection Church and an employee of Sweetser Adult Crisis Residential Facility in Rockport, Maine, stands accused of sexually assaulting a child.
Raymond K. Chang, who is both a pastor and works at a Sweetser crisis unit, was arrested by the Knox County Sheriff’s Office on a warrant charging him with felony unlawful sexual contact and misdemeanor unlawful sexual touching.
Chang was taken to the Knox County Jail in Rockland. Judge Sarah Gilbert set bail Wednesday, May 31 at $2,500 cash during Chang’s initial appearance in the Knox County Court in Rockland. The judge also ordered Chang to wear a GPS monitor, not have contact with the victim or her mother, and to have no unsupervised contact with people younger than 18 years old.
Assistant District Attorney Mari Wells had asked for bail to be set at $5,000, citing the seriousness of the charges.
Defense attorney for the day Daniel Purdy had asked for bail of no more than $1,200 which is the amount he said Chang could raise.
Chang is a pastor at his church and operates a Sweetser facility, Purdy said.
Sweetser Communications and Public Relations Director Justin Chenette said Chang works at a Sweetser adult crisis residential facility in Rockport but does not run it. Chang is on unpaid administrative leave, the spokesman said.
The affidavit filed in the court by the Sheriff’s Office stated that the victim said Chang had been kicked out of his last church and started a new one in Rockport called “Resurrection Church.”
The affidavit stated that the victim reported being sexually assaulted by Chang multiple times from when she was 12 to 14 years old. The initial criminal complaint filed by the district attorney’s office lists two counts in 2019.
Chang was not asked to enter a plea at Wednesday’s hearing because one charge is a felony and that must first be presented to a grand jury.
The affidavit quotes the victim as saying that she reported the sexual abuse to a family member and in response the family got together with members of the former church (which is not named in the affidavit) and she was told she needed to apologize and that both needed to forgive each other.
The victim reported the matter to police in early April and the Sheriff’s Office began its investigation.
The victim and her mother obtained a temporary protection from abuse order against Chang on April 21 from a state judge in Lewiston, citing sexual and physical abuse, according to the affidavit.
The Sheriff’s Office contacted Chang by telephone on April 27 and he referred Detective Justin Twitchell to his attorney. Chang said he did not have a contact number for the lawyer, and hung up. The man’s attorney Adam Sherman of Lewiston then called the detective back moments later, according to the affidavit.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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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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.
Josh Price, pastor of Southside Baptist Church in Lexington, North Carolina, and his son Matthew stand accused of growing marijuana in the church building. According to news reports, the church closed sometime during the Pandemic. Price and his son, however, kept serving the Lord by growing weed.
A former pastor and his son have been charged with growing marijuana at his former church.
Josh Price, 50, and Matthew Price, 28, were arrested after an investigation that recovered approximately 13 pounds of marijuana and 20 plants as well as other drugs at the former Southside Baptist Church south of Lexington, the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office said. The church has been closed since the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the investigation, it was determined Josh Price, who lives in the fellowship hall behind the church, was growing marijuana, the sheriff’s office said.
On May 28 officers with the patrol division and detectives with the Special Investigations Division conducted a search at the church building at 1014 Floyd Church Road. In addition to the marijuana, deputies found about 32 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, 41 THC vape pens (THC is the psychoactive chemical in marijuana) and about 2 pounds of marijuana wax, a dense, highly potent form of THC. Investigators also recovered grow lights, potting soil, fertilizer and several growing bins, the sheriff’s office said.
The Prices were both charged with felony manufacturing marijuana, felony trafficking in marijuana, felony possession with the intent to manufacture, sell or distribute a Schedule VI (THC wax) controlled substance, three counts of maintaining a dwelling for the distribution or sale of a controlled substance, felony possession with the intent to manufacture, sell or deliver a Schedule I controlled substance (psilocybin mushrooms), felony possession with the intent to sell or deliver marijuana, felony conspire to traffic in marijuana and misdemeanor possession of marijuana paraphernalia.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
