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Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Youth Pastor Gary Spear Sentenced to House Arrest and Probation for Sex Crime

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pastor gary spear

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.

Gary Spear, youth pastor at Mitchell Church of Christ in Mitchell, Indiana, was sentenced Wednesday to 1 1/2 years of house arrest and 1 1/2 years of supervised probation for child seduction. I’m shocked by the fact that Spear received no jail time for inappropriate sexual behavior with a minor he was counseling.

In October 2016, WBIW reported:

A Mitchell man was arrested Friday after police say he made sexual advances against a teenage girl while he was a youth minister at Mitchell Church of Christ.

Police arrested 45-year-old Gary Spear on a felony charge of child seduction.

According to a Lawrence County Superior Court II probable cause affidavit, on May 2 a woman reported to the Lawrence County Police Department that she had been assaulted by Spear. The incidents happened between 2011 and 2013 when she was between 16 and 18 years old.

In 2010, the teen was receiving counseling from Spear because her parents were getting a divorce. The victim told police that the alleged incidents happened during those weekly counseling sessions when Spear was the youth minister at Mitchell Church of Christ.

Spear told the girl that he considered her as his daughter and, as a daughter, she should give him hugs and kisses. The woman reported Spear would lay on top of her and he would have her sit on his lap while he kissed her. She also claims Spear fondled and touched her inappropriately during these incidents that happened several times a week in the church, at his home and in his truck.

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Spear served as the community engagement facilitator for the Mitchell Community Public Library. He was also the co-host and director of Hoosier Hometown Live, a popular variety radio show. He is no longer employed at the library.

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Spear describes himself this way on his blog bio page:

Hi! I’m Gary. Thanks for stopping in for a read. I’m writing from a place I’m glad to call home here in southern Indiana. I grew up just down the road, then wandered away to two different colleges before settling down back here, near home. I’m a Youth Minister with a church family dedicated to being the body of Jesus in this hurting world through serving and loving people. My parents showed me how to love God and now my wife and children teach me about God in ways I could never learn alone. I’ve also been blessed to write for some publications and speak many interesting places. Some thoughts on this blog are from past publications or presentations but most will be what I’m thinking of as I prepare for the future. I like traveling to share my thoughts but I mostly long to be home these days; in Mitchell and more for Heaven.

Feel free to add me on Facebook if you know me personally want an easier way to chat than here on the blog. You can click above in the first paragraph where my name is to open my profile.

Until we get home, I’m excited about every new day’s journey with the Ancient of Days.  God is ever present and amazing as He saves us as Son, walks with us as Spirit and waits for us as Father. He calls us to journey and He is the journey. These are the eternal truths and mysteries I hope to ponder here: that the great I Am has chosen to delight in Me.

In a 2012 blog post, Spear wrote:

At the very least today, think about how you value sexuality in your life and how you’re guiding and influencing the people around you. Be intentional in your example, attitude and guidance. The young people in your life will grow up to thank you for helping them have less emotional baggage to take into adulthood.

I wonder how much emotional baggage Spear’s victim is carrying thanks to his predatory behavior?

Does Evangelical Christianity Inoculate People From Committing Sex Crimes?

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roy mooreIf you are familiar with vampire lore, you know that pure silver and garlic can protect you from vampires. Vampires are real, dammit. I watched all seven seasons of HBO’s hit series True Blood, and I am currently watching the final season of From Dusk till Dawn: The Series. After watching these shows, I have absolutely no doubt that vampires are real.

I’ve lost my mind, right? Anyone with a bit of common sense and reason knows that vampires died out with the dinosaurs. Okay, I am just pulling your leg. Vampires aren’t real. I have been reading all the defenses of Roy Moore, along with the emails I receive from Christians saying their pastor couldn’t have committed the crimes he is accused of in the Black Collar Crime Series, and I am starting to wonder if Evangelicals think Christian salvation — being born from above — is some sort of talisman that protects Christians from committing sex crimes.

I frequently receive emails from people who object to one of my Black Collar Crime stories. One woman told me her pastor couldn’t have committed sex crimes. Why? He’s a man of God, and true men of God don’t sexually molest girls. I didn’t respond to her, knowing that any attempt to talk sense into her Bible-addled mind would be futile.

As you know, Evangelical darling and Alabama senate candidate Roy Moore has been accused of sexually assaulting minor girls back when he was a thirty-year-old district attorney. He has also been accused of having a creepy obsession with female teenagers when he was younger. Moore is now married. His wife Kayla was in her early twenties — fifteen years younger than Moore — when they married. Moore’s wife says they met at a Bible study and she considers him to be one of the nicest men she has ever known. He certainly couldn’t have done what these women are accusing him of.

Dean Young, a Republican political consultant who calls himself Roy Moore’s “number one adviser,” resolutely believes that Moore is innocent of sexual misconduct. Why? Young believes that the fact Moore is a Christian inoculates him from doing such things. Young is quoted in the Washington Post as saying:

“Who says you all aren’t paying someone to do that? Go pay more people to say stuff. It’s a waste of money because people here know Judge Moore and we know he does believe in a Christian God, so that fake stuff doesn’t work with us.”

Evidently, much like vampires with garlic and silver, asking Jesus to save Evangelicals from their sins immunizes them from committing crimes. Yet, every day in the Fake News are stories about pastors, missionaries, evangelists, TV preachers, parachurch leaders, Sunday school teachers, deacons, worship leaders, church workers, and Christian family values politicians committing crimes — including rape, child abuse, sexual assault, and sexual harassment.  Based on the evidence at hand, it is clear that Christianity does not provide immunity from committing crimes; that Evangelicals can and do behave no differently from the unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines of the world. Character, not Christianity, is what inoculates people from doing the things Moore is accused of. One need not believe in Jesus to treat women with respect. One need not be washed in the blood of the lamb to keep his hands off of children. All Evangelical Christianity does for perverts, predators, rapists, voyeurs, and child molesters is give them a façade to hide behind as they commit their crimes. Knowing that Christians are inherently naïve and quick to forgive and forget, these perverse men of God and followers of Jesus act with impunity, quickly explaining away whispers about their behavior. Much like vampires in the light of day, many Evangelicals cannot or will not see what is right in front of them. Their unwillingness to see things as they are only emboldens abusive Christians, leading to greater depths of depravity. This kind of thinking must cease, with Christians being brutally and critically honest about their culpability in the explosion of Evangelical sex crime stories.

It’s time to put a wooden stake through the heart of the belief that Christianity makes people morally superior. It doesn’t. The majority of Americans are Christians. This means that the majority of crimes committed in the United States are perpetrated by people who believe Jesus is their savior. I know of no evidence that suggests that atheists or other non-Christians are more likely to commit crimes. (Please read Misinformation and Facts  About Secularism and Religion.) Thus, it is clear that Christianity, in and of itself, does not keep people from doing anything — legal or illegal. We know that purity vows and thunderous preaching against premarital sex doesn’t keep Christian teens from having sex. Much like their secular, non-Christian counterparts, Evangelical teens, with hormones raging, lustily engage in sexual conduct which Evangelicals deem “immoral.”

Did Roy Moore do what he is accused of? It is likely that he did. Like Bill Cosby before him, Moore is now facing an increasing number of accusations of sexual misconduct. If there were just one accusation, it could be chalked up to he-said, she-said. But now that there are numerous women claiming that Moore acted inappropriately, there is little doubt of his guilt. As is often the case with Christian family values politicians, their talk is cheap. Pay attention to what they do, not what they say. In Moore’s case, it’s evident that he had a thing for teen girls, and sometimes his behavior went beyond that of an older man hitting on high school girls.

The same goes for Evangelicals who object when I turn the Black Collar Crime spotlight on their pastors and church leaders. In most instances, there are numerous reports of criminal/sexual misconduct. The likelihood of collusion or conspiracy is remote. I know it is hard for people when the sins of their religious heroes are exposed for all to see. Surely, everyone is lying, right? Occam’s razor applies here. The shortest, simplest explanations are usually the truth. Evangelical churches (along with Catholic churches) have become havens for bad men to commit despicable acts. Worse yet, it is unlikely that these “fallen” Christians were caught the first time they acted inappropriately. More often than not, these men left behind a trail of victims, fearful people too ashamed to speak out. I hope we are reaching a point in our society where children, teenagers, and women can, without fear of recrimination, stand tall and expose religious predators for who they really are.

About Bruce Gerencser

Bruce Gerencser, 60, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 39 years. He and his wife have six grown children and eleven 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. For more information about Bruce, please read the About page.

Bruce is a local photography business owner, operating Defiance County Photo out of his home. If you live in Northwest Ohio and would like to hire Bruce, please email him.

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Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Daniel Williams Pleads Guilty on Loitering Charge

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busted

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.

Daniel Williams, pastor of Arrowbrook Baptist Church in Xenia, Ohio, was arrested earlier this year on a prostitution related charge. In August, Williams pleaded guilty to loitering.

WHIO reports:

A Xenia pastor arrested in Dayton was found guilty earlier this year for loitering to engage in solicitation, according to court records.

Daniel P. Williams, 40, of Huber Heights, was found guilty in late August after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor count of loitering, according to Dayton Municipal Court.

Williams’ employer is listed as Arrowbrook Baptist Church in Xenia in both court record and the police report. The church’s website also lists Williams as their pastor.

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Williams was originally charged with a second count of loitering and a third count of soliciting, both of which were withdrawn upon his guilty plea, according to Dayton Municipal Court.

The violation happened at around noon Aug. 17 in the 3400 block of East Third Street in Dayton, according to Dayton police.

Williams was sentenced to 60 days in jail, with 60 days being suspended. He will be on probation for one year, according to court records.

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Arrowbrook Baptist is a Southern Baptist church affiliated with the Founders Ministries and 9Marks — both Calvinistic ministries. Williams’ church bio states:

Pastor Dan has served Arrowbrook as the Pastor of Preaching and Teaching since May 2001. He graduated from Wright State University with a Degree in Mass Communication and a Minor in Religious Studies. He is married to his wife,****, and together they live in Huber Heights with their daughter ****. Pastor Dan has a desire to build up the people of God through the preaching of God’s Word and a deep love for the local church, knowing that it was for the church that Jesus Christ died.

Black Collar Crime: Catholic Priest Ronald Paquin Indicted on 31 Counts of Sexual Misconduct

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ronald paquin

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.

Ronald Paquin, a former priest with the Boston Catholic diocese, was indicted last week on 31 counts of sexual misconduct.

Seacoast Online reports:

A York County Grand jury re-indicted a former Catholic priest from Boston on additional charges alleging he repeatedly sexually abused young boys in Kennebunkport in the late 1980′s.

Ronald Paquin, 75, was originally indicted on 29 counts of sexual misconduct last February stemming from an investigation by Kennebunkport police after one of the victims contacted them. He was re-indicted last week with two new charges, bringing the total now to 31.

Paquin has been held at the York County Jail since his arrest in February at a homeless shelter in Boston.

According to Kennebunkport Police Chief Craig Sanford, the two new charges filed last week stem from one of the victims remembering two more events during the course of the ongoing investigation.

The defrocked priest, formerly of the Boston archdiocese, served more than a decade in a Massachusetts prison for abusing an altar boy from 1989 to 1992 while serving as associate pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He was a central figure in the Boston archdiocese’s sex abuse scandal. He pleaded guilty to raping an altar boy in 2002 and was released in 2015.

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Keith Townsend of Seabrook, New Hampshire, said in an interview with Seacoast Media Group in February that Paquin’s release from jail in 2015 prompted him to contact Kennebunkport police again, leading to the indictments. He first met Paquin when he arrived at St. John the Baptist Church, his family’s church, in 1981.

Townsend said he was molested by Paquin approximately between the ages of 8 and 13. He said Paquin used alcohol and drugs to control and sedate him during the period of abuse. He said he was one of about 10 other young boys abused together during trips to a camp in Kennebunkport, and that he personally knows the other victim tied to the new indictments.

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cal coverage, including for medication. He then decided to go to the Kennebunkport Police Department, where he told an officer in a video interview about the abuse, but said he did not contact the department again until Paquin was freed in 2015.

“I was under the impression he was in jail for the rest of his life,” Townsend said. “When they released him, simple outrage. Nobody is safe as long as this guy’s on the street.”

Black Collar Crime: Catholic Priest Lorenzo Guidotti Berates Rape Victim

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father lorenzo guidotti

Italian Catholic priest Lorenzo Guidotti is not accused of rape, but he does stand accused of being a Grade A asshole for berating 17-year-old rape victim. Here’s what he had to say:

“I mean, honey, I am sorry, but 1) you frequent Piazza Verdi (which has become the asshole of Bologna!! […] 2) You get disgustingly drunk! Why? If you participate in the (sub) culture of mayhem, it’s your fucking business if the morning after you wake up who knows where.”

“After the mistake of getting drunk, who do you walk away with? A North African? Notoriously, especially in Piazza Verdi, very gentlemanly, all professionals, teachers, people of culture, good people.”

“Honey, at this point waking up half-naked is the least that could happen. I’m sorry, but if you swim in the piranha tank, you can’t complain if when you get out, you’re missing an arm.”

“Should I feel pity? No.”

Guidotti rightly faced outrage over his comments. Here’s part of his “apology”:

“I wish I could meet her [the victim’s mother]. I understand when she says that this is not Christian charity, but I did this with all the charity possible because we are getting used to news of rape. If no one helps our young people, because of complete imputability, then young people must help themselves, by staying away from mayhem. This is what I meant, but I said all the wrong words.”

priest rant against rape victim

Black Collar Crime: 56 Lawsuits Alleging Sexual Abuse Filed Against New Brunswick Catholic Church

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lawsuits against priests

The Catholic Church in New Brunswick, Canada faces fifty-six lawsuits filed as a result of decades-long sexual abuse by New Brunswick priests.

Gabrielle Fahmy, a reporter for CBC News, writes:

Almost every month for a year, lawsuits have been filed against the Catholic Church in New Brunswick by alleged victims seeking compensation for sexual abuse by priests.

Many of the priests are dead, but that hasn’t stopped the lawsuits in Moncton, Bathurst and Edmundston from piling up.

CBC News has found at least 56 lawsuits are still before the courts, despite an extensive conciliation process a few years ago.

At least 11 priests are targeted in the accusations, and one name appears far more often than others.

“It’s very difficult to see all these new allegations coming in,” said Moncton Archbishop Valéry Vienneau.

“We are going through a very difficult time. It certainly has not helped our credibility, as priests and as a church.”

Thirty-two of the accusations are against one individual — Camille Leger.

Leger was the priest in the Sainte-Thérèse-d’Avila Parish in Cap-Pelé between 1957 and 1980. He died in 1990 without ever being accused or convicted of any crimes. His accusers all came forward after his death.

The archbishop said he was surprised by the sheer number.

“It seems that he was a predator all the years that he was in that parish,” Vienneau said.

According to the court documents, most of Leger’s alleged victims were young boys, generally between seven and 15 years old.

Many of them were altar boys at the parish, or boy scouts, who were chaperoned by Leger.

They all allege in court documents that Leger developed a close relationship with them, where he was able to be alone with them.

The sexual abuse often took place in Sainte-Therese-d’Avila church itself, in Leger’s car, during church-organized trips or at boy scout camp, it’s alleged.

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Between 2012 and 2014, retired judge Michel Bastarache, who was brought in by the church, spoke to hundreds of victims and worked out a compensation formula for the church to pay them all.

In the end, the Archdiocese of Moncton had to come up with $10.6 million for victims, and the Diocese of Bathurst $5.5 million.

Victims received between $15,000 and $300,000, depending on the severity of the abuse, how old they were when it started, and how many years it lasted.

Bastarache said the conciliation process had to be delayed three times to accommodate new victims, which is why he’s taken aback by so many lawsuits still before the courts.

“I’m just surprised that the numbers are so high,” he said.

He also wonders why these alleged victims didn’t take advantage of the process and are choosing to go to court instead.

“I heard about a hundred victims in Bathurst, another hundred in Moncton, and those people — 90 per cent of them, wanted absolute confidentiality,” said Bastarache.

“A lot of them never told their story to anyone, not even in their family.”

The Catholic Church is named in all the lawsuits, accused of knowing or saying it should have known about the alleged abuse.

The allegations haven’t been tested in court.

One lawsuit claims the church knew Leger took an unusual interest in children, that some parents had made complaints about him, that he spoke of his “sins” to other priests during confession, and that he was even reported to archdiocese officials for sexual misconduct, yet nothing was done to stop the abuse.

Fernand Arsenault, a priest for 20 years before he chose to leave the church, knew members of the community and is saddened every time he hears of new allegations of sexual abuse.

He accused the church of turning a blind eye to the abuse and concealing the crimes of those priests.

“It’s a terrible mistake,” said Arsenault. “Because we would have saved many lives.”

Arsenault said that years ago, if a priest reported another priest, he would have been punished, not the abuser.

But the church, in every filed statement of defence, has systematically denied knowing about any of the abuse at the time.

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Black Collar Crime: Jehovah’s Witness Elder Jason Gorski Pleads Guilty to Sex Crimes

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jason gorski

Last year, Jehovah’s Witness elder Jason Gorski was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a minor while employed as a teacher at Southwestern Longview Private School in Long Beach, California.

In June 2016, the Orange County Register reported:

Police arrested a man they say sexually assaulted at least one minor while he worked as a private school teacher and church leader between 2007 and 2009.

Jason Gorski, 43, of Fort Mill, South Carolina, surrendered to officers at the Buena Park Police Department without incident after he was contacted by investigators, Sgt. Mike Lovchik said.

Police say Gorski spent several years working as a teacher at Southwestern Longview Private School in Long Beach, which shuttered in 2007, where he met his victim. He also attended the Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall, a congregation in Cypress, and was appointed to a church elder position in 2007.

“The abuse came to an end when it was reported to the Jehovah’s Witness church in 2009, but it was only recently reported to authorities,” Lovchik said.

Police say Gorski relocated to South Carolina sometime around 2010, after news of the abuse broke within the church and lead to him being stripped of his title of church elder.

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Yesterday, the Orange County Register reported:

A 44-year-old former teacher and Jehovah’s Witness church elder pleaded guilty Tuesday to sexually assaulting one of his 13-year-old students.

Jason Morris Gorski pleaded guilty to two counts of lewd acts with a minor younger than 14 and is expected to be sentenced to six years in prison on Jan. 26, defense attorney Brian Neal Gurwitz said.

Gorski was a teacher at the now-shuttered Southwestern Longview Private School in Long Beach, where he met the victim, from 2003 to 2007, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. He also attended the Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall, a congregation in Cypress, and was appointed to a church elder position in 2007.

He had sex with the teen at various locations in Buena Park between June 2007 and June 2008, prosecutors said.

The victim reported the sexual abuse to authorities and Gorski was arrested in June 2016.

 

Black Collar Crime: Catholic Church Volunteer Terrence Smalls Pleads Guilty to Sexual Abuse

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terrence smalls

Terrence Smalls, a nursery volunteer at The Church of the Nativity in Timonium, Maryland pleaded guilty Tuesday to sexually abusing a 4-year-old girl.

In December 2016, Fox-5 reported:

A man who worked with children at a Baltimore County church is accused of sexually abusing a 4-year-old girl.

Police are investigating only one case at the church, but detectives fear there could be more victims.

The suspect is Terrence Smalls, 26, of Cockeysville. Police arrested him on Thursday, December 8. Smalls faces sex abuse of a minor and other offenses. Police say Smalls worked as a nursery volunteer at The Church of the Nativity in Timonium. Investigators say the incident happened November 27 when the man took the child to a bathroom in the day care room.

“The 4-year-old girl told her mother that a church volunteer had sexually abused her during nursery time, during Sunday worship service,” said Cpl. John Wachter, a police department spokesman.

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Yesterday, Smalls pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a minor.

Fox-5 reports:

A Cockeysville church volunteer was sentenced to 18 years in jail for abusing a 4-year-old girl during Sunday Mass at the Church of the Nativity in Timonium.

Terrence Smalls, 27, pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a minor and was sentenced to 25 years with all but 18 suspended, according to a news release from the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office Tuesday.

He will be on five years’ probation upon his release.

The 4-year-old girl told her mother after a November 2016 church service that Smalls, a volunteer in the daycare room of the church, had abused her in the bathroom, according to the news release.

He encouraged her to go to the bathroom and abused her while the two were alone, according to the investigation.

He has also served as an aide at the play center at Pot Spring Elementary, the Ultimate Play Zone in Cockeysville, the Little Gym of Hunt Valley and as a teacher’ aide at Pot Springs Elementary School.

Black Collar Crime: Three Toledo, Ohio Evangelical Pastors Indicted on Child Sex Trafficking Charges

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sex trafficking jada pinkett smith

I previously wrote about this story, Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Cordell Jenkins Accused of Sex Trafficking Children and Black Collar Crime: Another Toledo Evangelical Pastor, Kenneth Butler, Accused of Sex Trafficking.

A federal grand jury today handed down an eleven count indictment charging Evangelical pastors Cordell Jenkins, Anthony Haynes, and Kenneth Butler with conspiracy to sex traffic children. The indicted men are affiliated with Abundant Life Ministries and Greater Life Christian Center, both in Toledo, Ohio

Jennifer Feehan, a reporter for the Toledo Blade, writes:

Shackled and dressed in different colored jumpsuits, three Toledo pastors appeared Tuesday in U.S. District Court to answer accusations they acted together to entice underage girls to engage in sex for money.

The Rev. Cordell Jenkins, 47, the Rev. Anthony Haynes, 38, and the Rev. Kenneth Butler, 37, each were named in an 11-count superceding indictment handed up Tuesday by a federal grand jury charging them with conspiracy to sex traffic children. All three of them pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Michael Freeman, an assistant U.S. Attorney, told the court that if the men are convicted, prosecutors would recommend sentences of life in prison.

“These three men violated the trust of these children and the communities they purported to serve,” U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman said in a news release. “We are grateful for the courage of the victims and the dedication of our law enforcement personnel in bringing these men to justice.”

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, a girl who was just 14 when the conspiracy began in 2014 was sexually assaulted by all three men. Some of the sex acts are believed to have taken place at Greater Life Christian Center where Mr. Haynes was pastor.

Between 2014 and 2017, Mr. Haynes groomed and exploited the girl, used his cell phone to record the sexual assaults, routinely gave her money afterward, and told her not to tell anyone because it could ruin his family and his church, prosecutors say.

Mr. Haynes also is accused of introducing the teen to other men, including Mr. Jenkins, for sexual activity and for sharing pornographic photographs and videos.

Prosecutors allege that between December, 2016 and March, 2017, Mr. Jenkins sexually exploited the girl at his West Toledo home on Barrington Drive, at his office at Abundant Life Ministries where he was the pastor, and at a motel in Toledo. Prosecutors said he paid her for sex — usually between $100 and $300 — referring to the payment as “hush money.” Like Mr. Haynes, he’s accused of recording some of the interactions with his cell phone.

Mr. Jenkins is accused of paying for sex acts with a second underage girl In March.

Mr. Butler is charged with trafficking a third underage girl between 2015 and March, 2017. According to court documents, the girl told investigators she met Mr. Butler at Mr. Haynes’ church when she was 15 and he would give her rides to his church in the Detroit area.

The girl said she had sex with Mr. Butler in his car twice and he gave her money once. He later reportedly told her to lie to the FBI if she was questioned about him.

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Judge Zouhary asked what was new or different in the superceding indictment that was not laid out in the original indictment.

Mr. Freeman said the superceding indictment adds Mr. Butler as a defendant and, for the first time, alleges that beginning in June, 2014 the three men “conspired and agreed with each other to knowingly recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide, obtain, maintain, patronize, and solicit” a girl who was 14 years old at the time as well as other minors to engage in paid sex acts.

Judge Zouhary scheduled a Jan. 8 status hearing for all three co-defendants, who are to remain in custody.

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Here is a link to an incoherent video apology by Kenneth Butler to his church/fans/ministerial colleagues. It would be a hoot if Butler’s crimes weren’t so serious. Let this video be proof positive of how religion can corrupt a man’s mind and lead him into all sorts of delusions. Is it just me, or does Butler sound high? (This is a live Facebook video, so the names he mentions are likely people who are logging on to watch.)

Black Collar Crime: Prison Chaplain Kenneth Bozeman Convicted of Sexual Battery

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sexual assault

In April 2016, prison chaplain Kenneth Bozeman was chraged with nine counts of sexual battery.

WHIO reports:

A prison chaplain at Dayton Correctional Institution has been indicted in Montgomery County for sexual battery of a prison inmate.

Kenneth Bernard Bozeman, 52, of Dayton, is charged with nine counts of sexual battery, according to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.

A female inmate at Dayton Correctional Institution on Aug. 27, 2015, reported to prison officials at the Germantown Street facility that Bozeman allegedly engaged in sexual conduct with her, according to a media release.

“Inmates in state custody have the same right to not being sexually assaulted as anyone else,” said Prosecutor Mat Heck in a release. “The fact that an employee of the prison committed these offenses is especially disturbing.”

In October 2017, Bozeman was found guilty on all charges.

Today, Bozeman was sentenced to five years probation. That’s right, Bozemen did not receive ANY jail time for his crimes.

Fox-45 reports:

A former prison chaplain will have to register as a Tier III sex offender for the rest of his life after being convicted of nine counts of sexual battery against an inmate at the Dayton Correctional Institution.

Kenneth Bozeman, 53, will also be on probation for up to five years and is not allow to in any capacity offer services as a pastor or counselor.

The inmate reported that Bozeman engaged in sexual contact with her on Thursday, August 27, 2015. The Ohio State Highway Patrol opened an investigation and took forensic evidence. In October of 2017, Bozeman was found guilty of nine counts of sexual battery.

Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck had this statement following Bozeman’s sentencing, “Instead of providing spiritual guidance to inmates, this defendant took advantage of his position of trust for sexual gratification.”