Barbara Snyder, an accounting clerk at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in Onalaska, Wisconsin, was convicted of stealing more than $800,000 from the church, using the money to gamble.
The former accounting clerk at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in Onalaska was convicted Friday of two federal charges that accused of her stealing more than $800,000 from church donors and falsifying her tax return.
Barbara Snyder, 59, between January 2006 and December 2015 received weekly church donations and paperwork documenting the amount collected. She was responsible for retaining the paperwork, depositing collections and maintaining accounting records reported annually online to a financial services company with a server based in Ohio.
During her tenure, Snyder misappropriated $832,210 for “the purposes of wagering such funds at nearby casinos,” falsified accounting records and bank deposit slips and covered her misconduct by throwing out paperwork that documented actual church donations, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Madison.
Snyder reported an income of $162,949 on her 2015 tax return, although prosecutors contend her income “was greater than that reported,” the complaint reported.
She pleaded guilty to wire fraud and making false statements on tax returns and agreed to make restitution as part of the agreement.
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Yesterday, Snyder was sentenced to four years in prison.
A former accounting clerk at a church in Onalaska has been sentenced to four years in federal prison for stealing from her congregation.
Fifty-nine-year-old Barbara Snyder, of West Salem, was accused of stealing more than $800,000 from St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church when she was responsible for depositing church collections and maintaining accounting records between 2006 and 2015. Authorities said she used the money to gamble at casinos.
A teacher at a Christian day school has been charged with 84 separate counts of sexual abuse after allegedly sexually exploiting numerous students, according to a statement Wednesday from the school.
Curtis Van Dam, a 36-year-old fifth-grade teacher in Iowa, sexually abused an unknown number of his students from August 2013 until last month, when he was finally discovered, according to the statement. Some of the crimes allegedly even took place within the Sioux Center Christian School, where Van Dam worked.
“We have been told from the beginning that additional charges for a former teacher at Sioux Center Christian would be coming. Today, Mr. Curt Van Dam, was charged with 101 felonies and 39 misdemeanors,” said the statement by Josh Bowar, a representative of the school.
Bowar then thanked God for shining a light on this horrific situation.
[WHAT A LOAD OF GRADE A BULLSHIT] “Kids, we want you to know that we consider you brave for telling your parents, the police, and the interviewers what happened to you. We praise God that your testimony has brought to light a dark secret that none of us adults knew was there. Please know that thousands are lifting you before the throne of your Father in heaven…. Trust Him to restore you completely,” Bowar wrote. “Our focus at Sioux Center Christian continues to be the Christ-centered education of our students, while also providing daily support and guidance to students as needed through their teachers and professional counselors.”
Cheryl Haan, an administrative assistant at the school, told Newsweek Friday that the exact number of students affected is unknown, but that the number continues to change as more students come forward with their stories.
The school is also offering students and their parents special therapy sessions with a Christian pastor.
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Teachers at the school in Iowa said they hope the recent accusations against their teacher will bring the community closer to God.
“In the midst of this hurt, we proclaim hope. Hope in our sovereign God, who is so very trustworthy and true in His promises of life and healing,” said the statement. “He gave His only Son, who lived as one of us, died on the cross, rose again, and reigns on high, so that we could enjoy eternal life in Christ’s unfolding Kingdom.”
Mitchel McCaskell, a pastor (church elder) for The Summit Church in Durham, North Carolina, has been accused of secretly recording church women using the toilet and showering.
Thomasi McDonald, a reporter for The News&Observer, writes:
Police are trying to determine whether a Wake Forest pastor used his church computer to download photos and videos of female congregation members he’s charged with secretly recording.
Investigators on Monday obtained a search warrant to review the digital files of an Apple laptop computer that belongs to The Summit Church in Durham. The computer was used by Mitchel Rivers McCaskell, 31, who worked at the church until he was fired on Sept. 18, “due to grievous, immoral actions, which involved filming three women who were unaware that their personal privacy had been violated.”
McCaskell’s firing was followed by criminal charges last week, when investigators charged him with two felony counts of peeping using a photographic imaging device. He was taken into custody at the Wake County jail and released the same day after posting a $7,500 bond, a jail spokesman reported.
Investigators have accused McCaskell, the married father of of a toddler daughter, of using his cell phone camera to secretly record two women who visited his home along and a third woman during a mission trip to the Middle East, according to a search warrant made public at the Wake County Clerk of Courts Office.
McCaskell confessed to videotaping the women to members of the church’s leadership staff after one of the alleged victims, who also works at the church, reported an incident that she said happened at McCaskell’s home in late July, according to the search warrant.
McCaskell claimed to have deleted all of the videos, according to a second search warrant application made public Thursday.
The church’s leadership staff first focused on the Apple laptop after the victim on the overseas mission trip told them that she found McCaskell’s phone in a bathroom set up as if to record her. The woman also told the church leaders that McCaskell downloaded his photos from the trip to his Summit Church Google Drive and used the Apple computer to perform the task, according to the search warrant.
The church’s information technology specialist searched through the files of the laptop and reported that he did not find any pornographic material or any evidence related to the secret recording of the three woman. But the IT specialist did notice during his examination of the computer that the device had been linked to several Cloud-based storages, including Google Drive, Apple iCloud and Drop Box, according to the search warrant.
The IT specialist also reported that he looked into the accounts and found “numerous photographs and other digital media” that were easily accessible by McCaskell’s laptop.
The Apple computer was the only one used by McCaskell, said J.M. Hale, a Wake Forest detective.
The Archdiocese of St. Louis has received an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against Father Dennis B. Zacheis. The acts are alleged to have occurred while he was an associate pastor at St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Parish in Mehlville from 1975 to 1979. Father Zacheis denies the allegation.
Archbishop Robert J. Carlson, in consultation with the Review Board of the archdiocese, made the allegation known for the sake of openness and transparency.
Father Zacheis retired from ministry without priestly faculties in 2010 due to alleged irregularities in finances for which he was responsible as pastor of St. Anthony in Sullivan. He currently resides in a private residence.
Father Zacheis served as associate pastor at St. Mary Magdalen Parish in south St. Louis from 1979-85, Christ, Prince of Peace in Manchester from 1985-88 and St. Matthias in Lemay from 1988-92. He was pastor of St. Gertrude Parish in Krakow from 1994-2003, St. Alban Roe in Wildwood from 2003-04 and St. Anthony in Sullivan from 2005-09.
As pastor of the parish in Sullivan, Father Zacheis also was known for a large number of new Catholics joining the faith in a town that is largely non-Catholic.
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In 2010, Tim Townsend, a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, wrote:
A lawyer for a Catholic priest said Friday that his client bears no responsibility for a $60,000 shortfall at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church that has divided the Sullivan parish and triggered a reimbursement from the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
John Kilo, a lawyer who represents the Rev. Dennis Zacheis, said the priest “denies any wrongdoing whatsoever.”
A prosecutor, meanwhile, said his decision not to bring criminal charges against the priest follows seven months of investigation in which the archdiocese cooperated fully.
“If I’d had enough evidence to file criminal charges, (the archdiocese) would have been 100 percent on board,” Franklin County prosecutor Robert Parks said. “As far as I am concerned, the investigation is closed.”
That’s not good enough for some parishioners who feel the $60,000 is only a portion of what the church of 300 families lost during Zacheis’ tenure between 2005 and April 2009, when the archdiocese removed him “for reasons of health.”
Those same parishioners question why their former priest had the church pay for a variety of expenses incurred at Lake of the Ozarks, where he owned a waterfront home.
Financial irregularities at the parish led St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson to take the extraordinary step of visiting the parish personally Wednesday to announce that $60,000 would be restored to St. Anthony’s through the archdiocese’s insurance fund and to pray for healing.
Parishioner Tammy Emily said at the meeting, “There were several people up there saying that this money was unaccounted for. No one would say it had been taken.”
Carlson did say that a routine audit of parish finances in 2009 turned up an off-the-books bank account that included $300,000 in disbursements. Nearly $240,000 of the money “came back to help the parish in a variety of ways,” Carlson told parishioners.
Nonparishioners were asked to leave the meeting before parishioners began asking questions, but those who were there said someone asked how the rest of the $240,000 from the off-the-books account came back to benefit the parish.
According to those parishioners, Carlson detailed some of the expenditures, saying $100,000 was used to renovate the parish rectory (a priest’s residence) and another $90,000 was used for updates to the church. The archdiocese’s internal auditor, Mike Duffy, later told the Post-Dispatch that about $100,000 was for rectory improvements, and $70,000 was for heating and cooling for the church.
Walter Korte, a former St. Anthony’s parishioner and friend of Zacheis’, said he was “totally disappointed” in the meeting because of the “personal attacks” on the priest by angry parishioners.
“I went there for a healing service, and I felt like I’d walked into a crucifixion,” Korte said. “Some of us are grateful he’s in our lives. I had no idea what that meeting would turn into.”
Kilo said Zacheis “has many supporters and he’s done a lot of good for the parish. He engaged in capital improvements and helped the parish out financially.”
The archdiocese said Zacheis’ primary residence since leaving St. Anthony’s is Regina Cleri, a home for retired priests on its Shrewsbury campus. Recently, he has been living at Rochester Treatment Center for Clergy and Male Religious in Minnesota. A woman who answered the telephone at the treatment facility Thursday said Zacheis had checked out that morning, and did not know whether he would be returning.
Former St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke assigned Zacheis, 63, to St. Anthony’s in 2005 after a stormy 17-month assignment at St. Alban Roe in Wildwood that ended in the priest’s resignation.
The first two years of Zacheis’ tenure at St. Anthony’s were excluded from any criminal investigation because a three-year statute of limitations on theft meant police could investigate only back to early 2007, Parks said.
….
Members of the parish also raised questions about church petty cash and a credit card used to pay expenses at Lake of the Ozarks.
“Parishioners have no proof of where their money is going, but I can pretty much guarantee no one donated money for (Zacheis) to go have a good time at the lake,” Emily said.
The archdiocese’s audit details disbursements from a petty-cash checking account and a building-fund checking account, some of which went to payments for Zacheis’ waterfront home at the Lake of the Ozarks, including personal property taxes on his 26-foot PlayCraft tritoon boat.
Other items from the audit include church credit card payments to a variety of retailers and services in Lake Ozark and Osage Beach, Mo., including at the Horny Toad Bar & Grill at the Camden on the Lake resort, just across Workmen Hollow Cove from the priest’s Horseshoe Bend lake house.
The audit lists credit card expenditures from Lake of the Ozarks retailers such as Target, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Hy-Vee Foods and Sam’s Club; restaurants from McDonald’s to high-end lake spots like the Blue Heron and Bentley’s; and numerous clothing stores such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister and American Eagle Outfitter.
It also lists hundreds of dollars in credit card and bank late fees, overdraft fees and finance charges.
Carlson told St. Anthony’s parishioners Wednesday that the archdiocese had notified civil authorities of financial discrepancies in two other cases recently, neither of which involved Zacheis.
The first involved about $40,000 missing at the Cathedral Basilica. The second involved “improper documentation” of expenditures by an outside vendor working on three construction projects for three different parishes and $95,000 missing, according to Duffy.
Vince Owens, pastor of Household Of Faith Empowerment Temple in Aurora,Colorado, faces a lawsuit that alleges he ran a pyramid scheme that bilked people out of thousands of dollars.
Pastor Vince Owens runs a tiny church in Aurora, but critics say he talked a big game when it came to ViSalus.
A class-action lawsuit calls the company “a failed pyramid scheme” that persuaded people to sell weight-loss shakes, vitamins and energy bars, and preferably to recruit others beneath them to sell the products.
“Nobody wants to buy this stuff that’s in my cabinet,” Caprece Byrd said.
The 51-year-old Aurora woman is one of the plaintiffs suing the founders of ViSalus and her former Pastor Vince Owens. Byrd says Owens convinced her ViSalus would make her easy money, lots of it.
“Six protein bars is $25,” said Byrd, who said looking back, realizes the prices bordered on the ridiculous.
But in 2015 and 2016, Byrd said she and other distributors were promised equity in ViSalus at seminars held in the basement of the Household Of Faith Empowerment Temple owned by Owens.
In seminars across the country the lawsuit states: “Stage-managed ‘get rich like me’ performances enticed innocent, unsophisticated people to buy distributorships, only to learn that the only way to make money from the distributor rights was to recruit others. Almost 400,000 people in the United States, including over 200,000 just in 2012 paid money to become a distributor and participated in a massive operation.”
Byrd said she would pay $1,000 for a startup kit that included shakes, vitamins and other products to be sold to friends, family, neighbors and anyone else she could convince.
Once she bought $25,000 worth of product, she supposedly gained “equity in ViSalus that she was told would lead to a big payday in April.
“My pastor is saying that this is something that he himself purchased the church outright and his home, his children’s home, college funds and I wanted that for my family,” Byrd said.
Like any multilevel marketing firm, Byrd was supposed to recruit distributors beneath her so her brother Bryant Watts was selling ViSalus too.
“I would like a mobile home. I would like to go on on trips. I want to take my family to Disneyland,” said Watts, mentioning all the things he said Owens told him were possible if he sold ViSalus products.
Instead, Watts told the Problem Solvers he ended up losing more than $25,000 in his bid to get “Equity” status with ViSalus.
Renea White said she too was swept into the operation by Owens.
“I believe him,” White said. “I was promised something, a legacy for my kids that I`ll never have.”
White said she also ended up spending more than $25,000 on products she had trouble reselling.
As for the big “equity” payout in April, the three distributors said it turned out to be a hoax.
That was the aha moment that convinced Byrd, Watts and White to joined the class action lawsuit.
“I’m out thousands of dollars. I spent my son’s college tuition,” said Byrd, who admitted she took out a $100,000 home equity loan and gave the money to ViSalus believing the company would pay her a bigger amount back based on her “equity” in a company she was told was worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
In late October, Owens was approached outside his church, just minutes before he was to host a ViSalus seminar.
Question: I’d like to ask you if ViSalus is a pyramid scheme?
Owens: I don’t know.
Question: You don’t know if Visalus is a pyramid scheme?
Owens: I don’t know.
Question: Can you tell me, did you misuse religion to recruit people to join ViSsalus?
Owens: How could you do that?
Question: You tell me.
Owens: I don’t know.
Question: The people that are suing you, are they ever going to get their money back?
Owens: I have no idea.
Question: Do you think you deceived people?
Owens: Thank you, (walking away) Thank you.
Question: Vincent what happened to the big payout?
Owens: Have a nice day.
Question: Did you make $600,000 off of ViSalus?
Owens: Have a nice day sir.
In a 2015 YouTube promotion video made with Nick Sarnicola, the founder of ViSalus, Owens bragged he made “over $600,000 in equity with ViSalus so I admire you guys right now. There`s equity on the table right now. Run for it like a man with your hair on fire.”
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.
Jordan Baird, director of music and youth pastor (the church disputes the charge that Baird was its youth pastor) at The Life Church in Manassas, Virginia will soon stand trial on charges of “indecent liberties with a child by a custodian” and “sexual offense with a minor by computer.”
A new jury trial date has been set for Jordan Baird, the Warrenton-based pop star and son of Manassas megachurch leaders accused of having an inappropriate relationship with an underage girl in his congregation.
Baird, 27, is facing seven counts of indecent liberties with a child by a custodian and was recently indicted for one count of sexual offense with a minor by computer. The former model was scheduled for trial Sept. 6, but the trial was postponed after someone came forward the night before it was to begin with a recording of the victim reportedly making her first allegation against Baird at a prayer circle, according to court records.
Both the prosecution and the defense agreed they needed time to process the new evidence.
Baird is now schedule to face a jury trial Jan. 8 through Jan. 10 in Prince William County Circuit Court.
All of the charges Baird face relate to one victim who attended The Life Church. The new indictment is based on the same set of facts, but a new legal theory, according to attorneys in the case.
Prosecutors will likely try to introduce testimony from other women who say Baird used his position of power in the church to make sexual advances toward them, according to a motion filed by Fredericksburg Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Kevin Gross, who has been appointed special prosecutor in the case. The motion does not stipulate if the women were underage at the time of the alleged encounters.
Baird is accused of touching the victim and asking her to touch his genitals, among other allegations, according to a criminal complaint filed in circuit court
Baird has maintained he is innocent since the allegations went public, according to his attorneys.
Prosecutors say Baird was a youth pastor at The Life Church in Manassas and was in a supervisory role over the girl during several alleged acts of sexual abuse between January and September 2015.
However, his attorneys say Baird was the church’s director of music and was never employed as a youth pastor.
A second teenage victim has claimed a 25-year-old church employee had inappropriate sexual contact, exposed himself and made inappropriate statements inside a popular Manassas church.
Jordan Baird, of Warrenton was charged Tuesday with one count of indecent liberties by a custodian, in addition to two previous counts of the same charge, after incidents at the Life Church, located on Balls Ford Road in Manassas.
A 17-year-old victim came forward, after media reports of Jordan Baird’s arrest for inappropriately touching a 16-year-old female on more than one occasion between January and September of 2015, according to Prince William County police.
Jordan Baird is the middle son of the church’s senior pastor, David Baird.
“Jordan is the worship director of the church — he oversees the music for all of our services,” his father told WTOP.
The father disagreed with the notion that Jordan Baird is a youth pastor.
“The charge said he was a youth pastor, and that’s what’s been reported by the media,” said David Baird. “We’ve not been able to tell our side of that — Jordan has never been a pastor in our church.”
The senior Baird said the charge facing his son is not appropriate, given his son’s employment in the church.
“He’s not ordained as a pastor,” said David. “He’s an employee of the church, but he’s not a pastor, and he’s not the youth pastor of the church.
“That’s very important because the charge said he was in a custodial oversight of these students,” David said. “He was not in a custodial position over these students.”
David said he first heard of the police investigation into his son in July when Prince William County detectives came to the church asking if he had heard allegations that Jordan had been sending inappropriate text messages.
“The church was made aware by the parents of the first victim that there was improper texting by Jordan to the 16-year-old in 2014,” said David. “Immediately the church put Jordan on a leave of absence, pending its own internal inquiry.”
David said he recused himself from the church’s inquiry into his son’s activities.
“The outcome of the internal inquiry was that no criminal activity had occurred, but we have kept Jordan on a leave of absence, pending the outcome of the legal investigation,” said David, referring to the criminal charges against his son.
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According to a January 12, 2018 news report, Baird was found guilty and awaits sentencing. InsideNoVa reports:
The Prince William County Circuit Court jury found 26-year-old Jordan David Baird guilty on five counts of indecent liberties with a minor by a custodian, delivering the verdict Jan. 11 after two days of deliberations. The jury declined to convict Baird on two other counts of the same crime, in addition to a charge of electronic solicitation of a minor.
Prosecutors described Baird as a “deceiver, a manipulator and a sexual predator” over the course of a three-day trial, accusing him of repeatedly groping and propositioning a 16-year-old girl who worshipped with him at the Life Church in Manassas. Baird’s father, David, is the lead pastor of the large church, while Jordan Baird helped coordinate music services and mentor young people.
Fredericksburg Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Kevin Gross, who was tabbed as a special prosecutor in the case, told the jury that Baird “exploited” his relationship with the girl to abuse her, and “thought he could get away with it” because he was the son of a powerful church leader.
The teen, who is now 19, testified that Baird repeatedly groped her at the church over the course of 2015, including two incidents where he rubbed his genitals against her body. She also detailed his history of propositioning her for sex through messages in a trivia app.
InsideNoVa is not identifying the girl because she is a victim of sexual assault.
Baird’s attorney, Todd Sanders, argued that those messages “did cross an emotional line,” but didn’t amount to a crime. He also suggested to the jury that the girl’s story was unreliable, as she initially told church leaders that Baird touched her leg, and only later provided more graphic details to police.
In particular, Sanders argued that the girl’s family likely pressured her into embellishing her story, considering the rift that these accusations prompted with the Baird family. He also claimed there was “absolutely no corroboration” for the teen’s claims.
But Gross pushed back forcefully against Sanders’ claims in his closing argument, noting that the girl had “everything to lose” by accusing Baird of misconduct. He noted that she had attended the church since she was 7, and considered the Bairds a “second family.”
“She knew the defendant for years; this was not some random guy groping her,” Gross said. “This is where she grew up. She spent the formative years of her life at the church. You can understand why she didn’t want to come forward immediately.”
Gross also pointed to Baird’s long history of sexually suggestive messages to the teen as evidence of his intent. He convinced the girl to download the “Trivia Crack” app, then used it to frequently ask her if he could be her “first kiss” or “first time,” urging her to meet him in a hotel room so as to avoid suspicion from his wife.
A former youth leader of a Manassas megachurch who was convicted of having a sexual relationship with an underage girl in his congregation was sentenced to spend eight months in jail today.
Prosecutors allege Jordan Baird, 26, of Warrenton, used his position as the son of the leader of the Life Church and as a Christian pop singer to manipulate young girls and women into having inappropriate relationships with him. Baird was found guilty of five counts of indecent liberties with a minor by a custodian, all of which were related to one victim, after a four-day jury trial in Prince William County Circuit Court. Jurors recommended Baird serve five months in jail for those convictions.
The jury couldn’t reach a verdict on one charge—using electronic means to commit a sex crime with a minor. As part of a plea deal, the charge was amended to electronic solicitation of a minor and Baird pleaded no contest to it today.
“You kept me silent for a year-and-a-half and I want you to know you no longer have control over me,” the victim said during Baird’s sentencing hearing. “This is not your story. This is my story and I will use it to help other victims. You picked the wrong girl to mess with. Thank you for empowering me to stand up and fight for what is worth fighting for.”
Prosecutors said Baird is a “deceiver, a manipulator and a sexual predator” who groomed the girl for abuse, sent her sexually-suggestive messages and groped her multiple times at the Life Church between January and September 2015. The teen testified during the trial she refused Baird’s unwanted sexual advances and told him what he was doing was wrong on more than one occasion.
Judge Burke F. McCahill sentenced Baird to five years in jail, with all but three months suspended for the solicitation charge and five months for all of the indecent liberties charges. McCahill said the law did not allow him to impose a higher sentence than the one the jury recommended, even though the state sentencing guidelines were between one and five years in prison for each indecent liberties charge.
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During the trial, Special Prosecutor David Gross tried to introduce the testimonies of three other women who say Baird used his power in the church and his notoriety as a Christian pop singer to manipulate them into having inappropriate relationships and performing sex acts in the church. One of the girls was underage at the time of the alleged misconduct, the prosecutor said. But the judge wouldn’t allow the women’s testimonies because he said the information would be highly prejudicial in the criminal trial, citing case law.
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According to testimony presented at trial, the girl’s family initially asked the church to bring in a third-party to investigate what took place. But the church selected Steve Dawson, a close friend of the Bairds’ who was once a co-pastor at the church who does not have a background in law enforcement or investigations.
Gross suggested Dawson left out key details he learned during his internal investigation when he was interviewed by police and refused to hand his notes over to law-enforcement officials. Gross also suggested the Life Church’s law firm instructed Dawson through his investigation.
The teen’s father said he recorded a meeting with Dawson in which he told the pastor Baird touched his daughter. On the stand, Dawson said he didn’t “recall” the father saying this.
The girl and her family said they have been “shunned” by the church since they came forward. They said the teen’s childhood friends were “stolen” from her and she was mocked and ridiculed by people she once considered family.
“Many people have abandoned them to align with you,” said McCahill as he handed down his sentence. “They were victimized a second time by this.”
Sibusiso Makhyana, pastor of Abandoned Life Fellowship in South Africa, was sentenced last month to four years in prison for kidnapping and assault.
News 24 reports:
Greytown Regional Court Magistrate, Mr Masikane, said, “this is the saddest day of my career having to sentence a man of God”.
Pastor Sibusiso Makhyana was sentenced to four years’ direct imprisonment for kidnapping and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily.
At the same court hearing on October 31, one of the pastor’s co-accused, Lindokuhle Mhlongo, was sentenced to an effective 18 months imprisonment and the other three co-accused, Kwandile Zondi, Spephelo Chonco and Thabiso Zondi, were given suspended sentences.
According to the evidence, Makhanya claimed his house in Enhlalakahle was broken into and certain items stolen.
He alleged he had received information who had committed the theft and chose not to report the housebreaking to the police, but rather take the law into his own hands.
Makhanya, with the four co-accused, undertook a manhunt – they kidnapped a man, took him to the pastor’s church “Abandoned Life Fellowship” where he was severely beaten and burnt.
The man, who subsequently brought a case of kidnapping and assault with intention to do grievous bodily harm against the accused, continuously denied he had been involved in any housebreaking.
He was eventually rescued by his sister who heard his cries for help and taken to Greytown Hospital where his injuries and burn wounds were treated.
The state proved, beyond reasonable doubt, that Makhanya and his co accused kidnapped and assaulted the complainant with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. All accused were convicted on both counts.
In delivering sentence, Mr Masikane stated that not only had Makhanya brought shame to the church, but had embarrassed his congregation, adding that his co-accused were doing his bidding due to the power he held over them.
Kwandile Zondi and Sphephelo Chonco of his congregation relied upon Makhanya for financial, spiritual and other assistance.
Accused number five is a sentenced prisoner in a housebreaking case and while his housebreaking case was pending he committed this offence.
The state argued for a custodial sentence in this matter taking into consideration the gravity of the offence and the fact that vigilante justice cannot be condoned by the courts as this would lead to pure anarchy if persons such as Makhanya had such a hold on people.
The defence argued for a correctional sentence, however, the court found this sentence was not suitable as all accused expressed no remorse for their actions.
This story is about two criminals — a school janitor convicted of statutory sodomy and his pastor who said the man was a Christian with good character. The child molester will serve time in prison, but his partner in crime, his pastor, will continue to serve up religious bullshit without facing any consequences. The man’s pastor is a criminal in the sense that he sells forgiveness from God as a way to reboot your life, no matter what you have done. I have no doubt that this pastor thinks that since Jesus has forgiven the child molester, so should everyone else. Slap him on the wrists, judge. Jesus has forgiven him and he promises to never, never sexually molest children again.
Karl Lawrence, a former school janitor, was convicted last week of two counts of statutory sodomy.
A Greene County jury convicted a former janitor at Willard Public Schools of two counts of statutory sodomy last week.
Karl David Lawrence, 51, sexually abused a girl twice in 2012.
During Lawrence’s sentencing hearing, prosecutors said Lawrence abused multiple children over several years.
None of the abuse had any apparent connection to Willard Public Schools, where a district spokeswoman said Lawrence worked from 2006 to 2014.
Lawrence was charged in 2016, four years after the abuse of the girl took place.
According to a probable cause statement filed by Republic police, three girls accused Lawrence of sexually abusing them in Republic and in Florida.
The statement said one girl disclosed that when she was 12 or 13, she was in a garage in Republic when Lawrence came up behind her, put his hand down her pants and touched her genitals.
According to the statement, the girl said Lawrence “stuck his fingers inside me” a different time and she told him to stop.
Lawrence allegedly replied: “Why?”
The girl said Lawrence grabbed her breasts often, according to the statement.
Family of both the victim and Lawrence attended the sentencing hearing Thursday, filling three pews in the courtroom.
Dawn Diel, an assistant Greene County prosecuting attorney, said Lawrence has “fooled his family for all these years.”
The first person to testify at the sentencing was the victim, who prosecutors say is now 18.
“I am scared all the time,” the victim said, her voice breaking. “I have been diagnosed with severe anxiety. I get panic attacks. My mom has tried to help me though it.”
She said she has been put on medication for anxiety.
“When I see headlights behind me, I think they’re following me,” the victim said. “I feel like I’m always going to be scared because of what happened to me.”
Several people took the stand on behalf of Lawrence.
His mother called him “one of the most caring, loving people in the world.”
His wife, who broke down crying multiple times, said they got married in 2013, a year before the allegations surfaced.
“He’s a wonderful husband. He’s a wonderful father,” Lawrence’s wife said. “He provides for us. He takes care of us.”
She started crying.
Lawrence’s pastor testified that Lawrence and his wife are faithful attendants of church and Bible study. The pastor described Lawrence as a “man of good character.”
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“The fact that even his own family and people around him … think he has good character shows his true danger because he has that ability to manipulate and he was able to create such devastation in plain sight,” Chapman said. “Every day that he’s out, children are going to be at risk.”
The jury recommended a sentence of 15 years on both counts of statutory sodomy.
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.
John Ware, a Sunday School teacher at First Baptist Church of Pine Castle in Orlando, Florida was charged Tuesday with the sexual battery of a child.
An Orange County Sunday school teacher faces charges of sexual battery on a child under 12 years old, deputies said.
John Maxwell Ware, 53, who works at First Baptist Church of Pine Castle, was arrested Tuesday, deputies said.
Investigators were notified Monday that Ware abused the child Saturday at a fall festival at the church at 1001 Hoffner Ave. in Orlando.
The child said the child’s legs were tired from setting up for the festival, so Ware asked the child to sit in his car, investigators said.
Ware began driving to the back parking area and tickling the child on the upper thighs and sexually battered the child, investigators said. The child told Ware to stop, but he kept going, investigators said.
Ware denied the sexual battery to the child’s parent and investigators, deputies said.
Ware later admitted it’s possible he may have touched the child.
“It’s possible because the child was squirming (during tickling), but it wasn’t on purpose,” Ware told the parent.
Ware is being held without bail at the Orange County Jail.
It’s unclear if there are more victims, but investigators urge anyone who may have been a victim to come forward.
Ware was arrested in 1997 and pleaded guilty to prostitution or lewdness, according to court documents.
A Central Florida Sunday School teacher already charged with molesting a young girl on a church campus may soon face more charges.
John Ware, 53, could face more charges for sex crimes in addition to a charge stemming from a prior investigation of him.
Ware is currently facing one count of sexual battery on a child under age 12, but that list could grow.
Since that time, we have had several victims come forward and they are working with our sex crimes detectives,” Jane Watrel, of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, said.
Deputies said they want more people to look closely at Ware’s mugshot.
Detectives said the alleged new victims told a story similar to that of a young girl who claims she was molested by Ware, a volunteer Sunday School teacher at First Baptist Church Pine Castle.
The girl said Ware gave her a ride to the back parking lot during the Fall Festival on Nov 5.
According to the arrest affidavit, the girl said Ware reached his hands into her “blue jean shorts.”
“Several have come forward, but they (detectives) do believe there are more and that is very troubling to us,” Watrel said.
Ware was investigated for an incident involving a child, by the sheriff’s and state attorney’s offices seven years ago.
WESH 2 News has obtained information from local law enforcement that indicates the alleged incident in 2010 happened at the Lake Gloria Shores community. His arrest affidavit and property records show Ware lives there.
Greg Bolusan, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Las Vegas, Nevada, was arrested for robbing a Vegas casino three times since August.
Channel 8 reports:
A local man was arrested for robbing the M Resort a total of three times since August. Henderson Police said Gregory Bolusan has stolen more than $63,000 from the casino.
According to officers, Bolusan showed a gun each time he allegedly robbed the casino cage. Police say the incidents happened on Aug. 24, Sept. 10 and Oct. 28.
The first time the cage was hit, Bolusan fled the scene without any money because when he showed the gun and demanded money, the employee took off. The second time, he got away with $29,000.
The third time was the charm for police because although Bolusan allegedly robbed the casino of $33,000, he was caught by security at the M Resort. That’s when authorities discovered Boluson’s gun was fake, police said.
Bolusan who was taken into custody by Henderson Police faces burglary, attempted robbery and robbery charges. Police say Bolusan is a pastor at a local church.
ABC-13 reports that Bolusan’s wife wife worked at the casino during the time of the robberies.
Greg Bolusan is the Senior Pastor of Grace Bible Church Las Vegas, a multi-generational church committed to loving God, loving people and making disciples. He has a heart to raise leaders in the next generation of young people. Pastor Greg believes that the city of Las Vegas, also known as the city of sin, needs people who will take time to build authentic relationships winning the lost into a relationship with Jesus.
Prior to becoming a pastor, Greg served as the Operations Director at Grace Bible Church Pearlside. Born and raised in Hawaii, Pastor Greg now resides in Las Vegas, NV with his wife Lea and their daughter ****. Their oldest, son ****, continues to reside on Oahu, HI where he is currently serving as the Youth Pastor for Grace Bible Church Pearlside.
