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Baptist Church Members Excommunicated for Attending “Unsanctioned” Prayer Meeting

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mount calvary baptist church protesters

While churches should be (according to the Bible) places of love, joy, and peace, they often are anything but. Christians may love Jesus, but they don’t always love each other. A good example of this is what is currently going on at Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Mansfield, Ohio.

The Mansfield News-Journal reports:

Twenty-two members of Mount Calvary Baptist Church were dismissed as members of their congregation, most of them for attending an “unsanctioned” prayer meeting, expelled church members say.

“We were summarily locked out and prohibited from coming onto the property,” said Yolanda Allen, who with her husband Peter was one of the first two members dismissed. “Some members have been told not even to call the church.”

“Members of our church have been disenfranchised from their due process,” said John  Bessick, another dismissed member, who had been serving as an associate pastor.

At least 10 protesters carrying signs lined the right of way just off church property along North Main Street and Surrey Road during a May 25 event to celebrate the Rev. Derek Williams’ two-year anniversary as pastor.

Picketers returned twice on Sunday, as celebration events continued at the church at 343 N. Main St.

Protesters said at least 22 church members, in a congregation estimated as about 170 (including children), have been expelled.

Some kicked out of the congregation say they had been members for more than five decades.

Those who say they were forced out include former NAACP President Betty Palmer-Harris, former Mansfield codes and permits manager Linda Price, and Allen, who served on the city park board

Picketers said the chain of events began after Allen, who had been appointed by Williams to chair the church finance committee, raised questions about spending.

In August 2016, she said she grew concerned that some budget line items, including those controlled by the pastor, were over budget. She thought a meeting was needed to discuss how to bring overall spending into line.

“He (the pastor) did not think I should question his expenditures,” Allen said. “I said ‘It’s just a meeting.’ ”

Allen said Williams, hired at the Mansfield church in 2015 after serving as a minister in Milwaukee, told her she would not continue as committee chair in 2017.

Allen said she and her husband, a church trustee until January, were called in Feb. 14 to a meeting of most of the church’s joint board to respond to a half-dozen charges —including slander and spreading discord — then informed their names would be taken off the membership rolls.

Joint board members at the meeting included the pastor and two other ministers, three deacons, two trustees and a recording secretary.

Under Mount Calvary bylaws, Allen said “a recommendation might come from the board, but it should go to the church body to be decided.”

Church members taken aback by the Allens’ dismissal scheduled a prayer meeting inside the church around Feb. 18, then held a second prayer meeting in the parking lot the next week.

Many of those who attended the initial prayer meeting received letters dismissing them as members as well, picketers said.

Church members who were expelled included three people present at the Feb. 14 joint board meeting, associate pastor Bessick, Deacon Robert Thompson, and Price, who had served as recording secretary.

Williams said Tuesday the allegation that the situation initially stemmed from questions raised about spending were “totally untrue.”

“That’s false. They were not dismissed because of any finance person asking questions,” he said.

“To fabricate a story like that is unbecoming a Christian,” he said. “It’s a sad commentary that the individuals would use the News Journal (like that). Whatever they told you is not the truth, and we have documented the truth.

“The church and the membership and the pastor are going on in the name of the Lord,” focusing strictly on church business, he added.

Williams said he had no other comment at that point. When the News Journal attempted to reach the pastor Wednesday, he left word he was too busy to discuss the matter.

The letters in mid-April informing nearly two dozen individuals they were dismissed from membership were signed by Mount Calvary Deacon Robert D. Chapmon and interim trustee board chairwoman Denise Windham-Brown as leaders of the joint board.

“You are no longer welcome at any of our services or functions or entering on the property of Mount Calvary Baptist Church at 343 N. Main St., Mansfield, Ohio 44901 as of the date of this letter,” one dismissal letter said.

“Please do not contact Mount Calvary Baptist Church by phone or email,” the letter concluded.

….

Allen, 70, said she has been a church member since she was 12. She said they felt slightly uncomfortable when the new pastor appointed her finance committee chairman in 2015. Under church bylaws “a trustee should have been chosen,” she said.

Allen said she admits to one of the six allegations brought against her, saying she had addressed Williams as “Brother” instead of “Pastor.” But she took issue with the other charges, and said no testimony was presented on those charges, and she was not given an opportunity to have them fully heard.

Price said after the Allens were expelled, a group of 18 people “got together to pray on the situation.”

“The pastor said that it (that meeting) was not sanctioned by him, and if anyone was attending a prayer meeting (under those conditions) they would be set down or dismissed. Then the letters started going out,” she said.

….

Former deacon Robert Thompson, 80, said he’d been a Mount Calvary member for 72 years at the time he was dismissed. “We have remained silent, up till now,” he said.

“The insults, the humiliation and the beat-down,” Thompson said, adding long-time members were “exhausted” by recent events. “Where is the love? I can’t accept a pastor, under those conditions.”

….

Both sides have said they may work with attorneys concerning their options.

Picketers said when they returned on Sunday, they found horse manure in the right of way where they had been walking Friday night. It was unknown how the manure got there, they said.

….

Part of me wants to laugh hysterically, but I do feel for the people who have spent their lives as members of Mount Calvary, only to be unceremoniously kicked out of the church because of disagreements with their pastor. Stories such as this one remind us that Christians are just like the unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines of the world. All of us are capable of similar behavior if provoked or we feel our space is being threatened. I am an easy-going guy who tries to get along with others. However, threaten or attack my wife, children, or — the gods forbid — my precious, wonderful grandchildren, and I will most likely turn into bad-ass Bruce who might do bodily harm to you. What’s going on at Mount Calvary is akin to threatening someone’s family. Fuck the fruit of the Spirit and all that lovey-dovey stuff. The church’s pastor and board are trying to take away the excommunicated church members’ baby. This conflict will likely not end well. Perhaps it is time to consider doing what Solomon suggested to two women fighting over who was the real mother of a baby. Cut the baby in two, said Solomon. Perhaps love and peace will prevail, but more often than not, once lawyers get involved in the conflict, separation usually follows.

The BRCA1 and BRCA2 Gene: Susan-Anne White Condemns Women Who Have Preemptive Surgery

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Susan-Anne White, a True Christian, So True She Can’t Find Any Church Pure Enough For Her

Some of you may remember my interaction with Irish Fundamentalist Susan-Anne White. (Please read Susan-Anne White Thinks I’m a Despicable, Obnoxious, Militant, Hateful Atheist. and British Fundamentalist Susan-Anne White’s List of Politically Correct Words.) Several days ago, Ms. White decided to dispense medical advice to woman who have the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation. Here’s what White had to say:

Another group of surgeons who should have joined Mr.Paterson in the dock are those who perform mastectomies on patients who do not have cancer but were told by doctors that they carry a gene which supposedly increases the risk of them developing cancer in the future.

So, some (or perhaps many) women undergo mastectomies (sometimes double mastectomies) even though they do not have cancer and may never develop cancer. They are probably more at risk of being knocked down on the road than they are at risk of having cancer in the future.

All these surgeons should be in the dock!

The FACTS from the National Cancer Institute:

How much does having a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation increase a woman’s risk of breast and ovarian cancer?

A woman’s lifetime risk of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer is greatly increased if she inherits a harmful mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2.

Breast cancer: About 12 percent of women in the general population will develop breast cancer sometime during their lives. By contrast, according to the most recent estimates, 55 to 65 percent of women who inherit a harmful BRCA1 mutation and around 45 percent of women who inherit a harmful BRCA2 mutation will develop breast cancer by age 70 years .

Ovarian cancer: About 1.3 percent of women in the general population will develop ovarian cancer sometime during their lives. By contrast, according to the most recent estimates, 39 percent of women who inherit a harmful BRCA1 mutation and 11 to 17 percent of women who inherit a harmful BRCA2 mutation will develop ovarian cancer by age 70 years.

It is important to note that these estimated percentages of lifetime risk are different from those available previously; the estimates have changed as more information has become available, and they may change again with additional research. No long-term general population studies have directly compared cancer risk in women who have and do not have a harmful BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation.

It is also important to note that other characteristics of a particular woman can make her cancer risk higher or lower than the average risks. These characteristics include her family history of breast, ovarian, and, possibly, other cancers; the specific mutation(s) she has inherited; and other risk factors, such as her reproductive history. However, at this time, based on current data, none of these other factors seems to be as strong as the effect of carrying a harmful BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation.

Shock! White doesn’t know what she is talking about.

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor A. Livingston Foxworth Busted in Prostitution Sting

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busted

A. Livingston Foxworth, pastor of Grace Church of All Nations in Dorchester, Massachusetts, was arrested Tuesday during a  prostitution sting.

The Boston Herald reports:

The prominent Boston minister who blessed Gov. Charlie Baker after he was elected to the Corner Office was caught soliciting a prostitute during an undercover police sting that also reeled in nine other would-be johns, authorities said.

A. Livingston Foxworth, the senior pastor at the Grace Church of All Nations in Dorchester, was arraigned yesterday in Boston Municipal Court on a single charge of paying for sexual conduct. He was released without bail after a brief appearance.

Foxworth gave newly elected Baker and his wife, Lauren, a blessing in November 2014 during a Grace Church of All Nations service.

“Gov. Baker is saddened by this news and is confident the courts will examine the facts and reach an appropriate decision,” said Lizzy Guyton, a spokesman for Baker.

….

The pastor and his attorney, Hassan Williams, declined to comment yesterday.

Foxworth and nine other men were busted in the Tuesday afternoon sting, according to authorities. Detectives from the Boston Police Department’s Human Trafficking Unit conducted an “undercover online investigation into ­illegal sexual services being offered for a fee,” according to an incident report.

Detectives posing as a female on the infamous online classified ad website Backpage.com were contacted by Foxworth and the other men, according to authorities. Foxworth agreed to pay $150 for sex and went to an address on Pine Street for an illicit rendezvous, according to police.

Once he arrived, detectives called the number Foxworth provided and it started to ring, a police report states. He was placed under arrest, and his cellphone was placed into evidence, according to authorities.

“Human trafficking exists because sex buyers make it profitable,” Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said in a statement. “Part of our strategy is making clear that there are social, financial, and legal consequences for that behavior in Boston and Suffolk County.”

Williams tried to convince BMC Judge Thomas Horgan to drop the charges and give Foxworth a civil infraction but Suffolk prosecutor Jessica Meyer pushed back.

“This is a matter that your honor has arraigned for almost 10 other defendants today and no action was taken with them regarding a civil infraction,” Meyer said.

Horgan agreed with Meyer, and Foxworth is now slated to return to court July 26.

Foxworth’s bio states:

Archbishop Foxworth is married to Karen L. Foxworth and he is the father of six children Elizabeth, Kevin, Anthony, Ricky, Brandice and Jeremy, and the grandfather of six children.

He received his Biblical and Pastoral training through Moody Bible Institute, and has been pasturing Grace Church of All Nations for 35 years. He was consecrated to the Bishopric at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Paul in Boston, Massachusetts in May, 2007.

Currently, Archbishop Foxworth serves a congregation of over twelve hundred members and is training pastors within the Pentecostal Episcopal Church (PEC) reformation to establish multicultural congregations throughout the United States and internationally. He is also working with uni-cultural ministries ie: Haitian, African and Latino to establish a Multicultural Christian Fellowship. This vision is in its infancy, pastor stands on the Word of God and believes that ALL things are possible and ‘we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.’

The Sounds of Fundamentalism: Let God Take Care of Climate Change, Says Congressman Tim Walberg

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tim walberg

This is the one hundred and fifty-third installment in The Sounds of Fundamentalism series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a video clip that shows the crazy, cantankerous, or contradictory side of Evangelical Christianity, please send me an email with the name or link to the video. Please do not leave suggestions in the comment section.  Let’s have some fun!

Today’s Sound of Fundamentalism is a video clip of Michigan congressman Tim Walberg telling a group of people that there is no need for us to be concerned about climate change. Walberg ignorantly stated:

I believe there’s climate change. I believe there’s been climate change since the beginning of time. I think there are cycles. Do I think that man has some impact? Yeah, of course. Can man change the entire universe? No. Why do I believe that? As a Christian, I believe that there is a creator, God, who’s much bigger than us. And I’m confident that, if there’s a real problem, he can take care of it.

 

Video Link

Walberg, a former Fundamentalist pastor,  was educated at three Evangelical Christian institutions: Moody Bible Institute, Wheaton University and Taylor University.

Video Link

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Steve Jesmer Pleads Guilty to Sexually Assaulting Church Teen

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pastor steve jesmer

Warning! Graphic Language.

Steve Jesmer, pastor of Dialogue Christian Church in Manchester, New Hampshire, pleaded guilty today to sexually assaulting a teenage girl who attended his church.

Laura Montenegro, a reporter for NH1 News writes:

A 37-year-old former pastor at Dialogue Christian Church on Pine Street will spend at least five years in prison for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl last summer in his parish office.

At a plea and sentencing hearing at Hillsborough County Superior Court North on Wednesday morning County Attorney Michael Valentine described the facts of the case to the judge.

He said the 13-year-old girl, identified as A.I., told police Steve Jesmer picked her up to take her to a church youth group meeting on Wednesday, June 8, 2016. Jesmer brought her to the church but instead of meeting with the youth group, he brought her to his church office.

A.I. said he began to hug her and put his hands around her waist. Jesmer then began touching her breasts and pulled her shirt down. A.I. said when she looked down, she saw Jesmer had pulled out his penis and began pushing himself against her and put her hand on his penis. He then laid her down on the couch in the office where he removed her pants and underwear. She told police at that time Jesmer, “pushed himself inside me.” According to A.I., Jesmer then told her she was beautiful and said he wanted to put his penis in her mouth and ejaculate. A.I. protested but Jesmer told her she could not get pregnant if he ejaculated in her mouth and that she should finish what she started. She again protested, so Jesmer had A.I. massage his penis with her hand until he ejaculated. A.I. told police Jesmer then dropped her off at her house.

Under the plea deal, Jesmer pleaded guilty to two felony charges of felonious sexual assault against a minor, one charge for vaginal penetration the other for oral penetration, each sentence carrying a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 15 years. The second sentence is suspended upon good behavior. He also pleaded guilty to felony witness tampering, for telling A.I. not to say anything because Jesmer told A.I. he could lose his wife and family. The witness tampering sentence is also suspended pending good behavior. Jesmer also pleaded guilty to four counts of misdemeanor sexual assault against a minor. Those crimes include pushing his body against A.I., putting her hand on his penis, pressing his penis against his body and ejaculating on her. For those crimes, Jesmer will serve 12 months to run concurrent with his 5-15 year sentence.

Both A.I. and her mother spoke in court during victim impact statements. A.I.’s mother, reading from a prepared statement, said her daughter is not the girl she used to be, that A.I. is now depressed, and doesn’t eat or sleep. But, despite all this, A.I.’s mother said she is not angry with Jesmer and she forgives him. Adding that it does not excuse what happened.

A.I. also read a victim impact statement, directed at Jesmer.

“I told you everything about me. I trusted you and looked up to you as a father,” she said through tears. “I bet that made it easier for you to take advantage of me.”

A.I. said school has been more difficult since the sexual assault. She said a list was exposed at her school and she was rated as the “most vulnerable” and “easiest to get laid.” She said she’s missed 50 days of school this year due to anxiety attacks.

A.I. admitted that for months after the attack she would take half hour long showers saying, “I scrubbed myself until I bled.”

A.I. said in the months and weeks leading up to the assault, Jesmer and his family supported her. She said she was going through a rough time, and he was there for her when she wanted to commit suicide. During that time, he came to visit her or drive her to the church every day. A.I. said she was making great progress until the sexual assault and she hit “the lowest point I could reach.”

“I can admit that I’m broken,” A.I. said through sobs.

Despite all this, A.I. said she forgives Jesmer.

“You made a mistake just like every other human,” she said. “I don’t want to hold any resentment toward you because that’s not what God wants.”

Jesmer reacted by putting his head down and he appeared to be crying.

“I pray for you and your family’s healing daily,” A.I. said, recognizing that it has affected her and his family.

Jesmer then had an opportunity to address his victim and her family as well as the judge. Jesmer said he destroyed several people’s lives and made a terrible decision.

“I’m very sorry. I thank you for your forgiveness. I don’t deserve it,” Jesmer said to A.I. and her mom. “I failed you. I failed my city and my church.”

About 15 people sat behind Jesmer supporting him in court, and were visibly upset before, during and after the sentencing.

Superior Court Judge John Kissinger praised A.I. saying she showed incredible strength, courage and bravery. Speaking directly to her he reminded her, “There is nothing you did that remotely contributed to or caused this.”

Kissinger also spoke to Jesmer, saying although he has supported the resolution, he has some serious reservations about the light sentence, saying Jesmer was in an authoritative position as a pastor and should have been a support system.

“The reality is, I would not have accepted this but for the support of the victim’s family because I think prisons exist for a reason,” Kissinger said. “The reason is to isolate those who are the most dangerous. And anyone who would act as a predator with a child is someone who needs to be removed and isolated from society.”

Two days after Jesmer sexually assaulted A.I., he posted the following to Twitter:

steve jesmer june 10 2016 tweet

Steve Jesmer’s blog.

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Nicolas Vasquez Pleads Guilty to Sexually Molesting Three Girls

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pastor nicolas vasquez

Nicolas Vasquez, assistant pastor of Asamblea Apostolica Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, pleaded guilty today to molesting three girls and was sentenced to twenty-four years in prison.

WSOC-9 reports:

A former assistant pastor pleaded guilty Wednesday morning to molesting three young girls.

A judge sentenced Nicolas Vasquez to 24 years in prison.

Vasquez was arrested in February 2016 when the three victims came forward and a concerned family member went to police.

Detectives said the victims knew Vasquez as either an acquaintance or through his former east Charlotte church, Asamblea Apostolica Church.

Investigators also revealed the victims were between the ages of 9 and 12 at the time of the assaults, which took place for a few years.

Prosecutor Leslie Stephens told the judge that two of the victims were family members and the third was a girl he knew at the church.

All three were younger than 12 years old, and Vasquez had bribed the girls to keep them from telling on him, Stephens said.

“Your honor, this plea encompasses three different victims,” said prosecutor Leslie Stephens. “He said that he bought all three victims food and clothes so that they wouldn’t tell anyone.”

Police said they searched Vasquez’s home and found pictures and videos showing assaults, and when they confronted him with that evidence, he confessed.

“In these pictures, you can see all three of these girls in these pictures performing various sex acts on him,” Stephens said.

….

Black Collar Crime: Baptist Youth Pastor Christopher Trent Pleads Guilty to Four Counts of Third-Degree Rape

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pastor christopher trent

Last July, Christopher Trent, youth pastor at Bellingham Baptist Church, an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) congregation in Bellingham, Washington, was arrested and charged with sexually abusing a church teenager.

The Bellingham Herald reports:

A former youth pastor at Bellingham Baptist Church has been arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing a teenage girl over the course of two years.

Christopher L. Trent, 37, a pastor at the Orleans Street church for the past three years, rubbed his face with his hands and wiped away tears with the collar of a green inmate uniform, as a deputy prosecutor read from a Bellingham detective’s report in court Tuesday afternoon, July 19.

The alleged victim reported she was under the age of 14 when the relationship turned inappropriate.

About two years ago, Trent started driving the girl home from church, said Deputy Prosecutor Christopher Quinn. Sometimes he showed her physical affection by giving a “side hug,” she reported, and over time they started hugging chest to chest. Eventually he told her he wanted to kiss her, that he was falling in love with her, and that he wanted to marry her when she turned 18, according to her report to police.

He texted inappropriate photos over phone apps, and she sent him photos of herself, too, according to the charges. He gave her a purity ring and told her he did not want to ruin her for marriage. Over the next two years, however, she estimated they engaged in sex acts more than 100 times — so often, she lost count. She reported she was sexually abused at the church at 2501 Orleans St., at a satellite church in Ferndale, at the girl’s home, and at the defendant’s home, according to her report.

He told her not to tell anyone, because he would lose his job and family, Quinn said. Police logs show someone reported the relationship on the night of July 11.

Trent, a married father of seven children, was educated at Heartland Baptist Bible College in Oklahoma City, said Deputy Public Defender Jane Boman. He moved here three years ago, and he is no longer employed, she added.

Trent has no prior felony record.

Police booked him into jail Monday on four counts of child rape in the second degree. At his first appearance in court Tuesday, Superior Court Commissioner Martha Gross set bail at $100,000. If he posts bond, he can’t have contact with girls under 18, she ruled.

….

Recently, Trent pleaded guilty to “four counts of third-degree child rape.”

KGMI reports:

A former youth pastor at Bellingham Baptist Church is going to prison for raping a teenager.

Christopher Trent plead guilty to four counts of third-degree child rape.

He was sentenced to 5 years in prison.

The girl says she was 13 when Trent started sexually abusing her.

Some of the abuse happened at the church.

Trent was a married father of seven at the time.

He now must register as a sex offender.

Christians Say the Darnedest Things: Men Are Like God, Women are Weak and Need of Protection

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keeping women in line

John Rice  [a Fundamentalist Evangelist, editor of the Sword of the Lord, and author of such titles as The Home and Bobbed Hair, Bossy Wives, and  Women Preachers] wrote this about this topic. “A man is like God in a sense that a woman is not like God…God is always in the Bible, called He, never Her. He is called Father, not Mother, Christ is called the man Christ Jesus, not the woman…I do not mean that Christ is not the Saviour every woman needs, not that He does not know her every longing, feel her every sorrow, meet her every need. But God would not have had the Bible so full of it if He did not want us to notice that Christ was a Man, not a woman, and that man is therefore made in the image of God in a sense that cannot be true of women. So, in the home, man is deputy of God, and should lead the home for God.”

I love the fact that Christ was a man since men are our protectors. They are bigger and stronger. They are not led by their emotions and feelings as easily. They are more steady. I am happy that I am not the protector and provider of my family. Men have a much bigger responsibility than women have been given and a man’s nature is created for this and woman’s is not. Most men wouldn’t want to worship a female god. They want a strong and masculine God like the One we have been blessed with. He is perfect in every way!

….

The only reason women have so much “power” today is because men have given it to them. They could have never gotten it if men didn’t allow it because men are mightier in strength than women. God originally created man to have power and dominion over the earth. He never has given this responsibility to women. He made men the Kings, Prophets, Priests, Disciples, Apostles, and Elders for a good reason and His purpose. This is His plan.

….

Most women today would despise this teaching. It doesn’t bother me in the least because I love being a woman and I love God’s ways. God created men to be the leaders and women the followers, just our body makeup proves this point. We are the weaker and softer sex so we should be the more gentler one. Women are the more lovely of the sexes, especially when we wear some make up, fix our hair, and wear prettier and more colorful clothing. Men are highly attracted to women. Godly, good women bring a lot of beauty to this earth. We make our homes places of loveliness. We bear and raise godly offspring. As we do all of this, we bring honor and dignity to our husbands and to the Lord.

— Lori Alexander, The Transformed Wife,  Woman is the Glory of Man, May 26, 2017

Black Collar Crime: Youth Mentor at Saddleback Church Accused of Sex Crimes

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ruven meulenberg

Ruven Meulenberg, a youth mentor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California — part of Rick Warren’s megachurch empire — was arrested today and ” booked on suspicion of lewd and lascivious acts on a child.”

The Los Angeles Times reports:

A youth mentor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest has been accused of acting inappropriately with two teenage boys while he volunteered there, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said Friday.

Ruven Meulenberg, 32, was arrested Thursday and booked on suspicion of lewd and lascivious acts on a child and is being held on $100,000 bail, authorities said. Jail records show he is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in a Santa Ana courtroom.

Detectives were alerted to the situation after a 14-year-old boy told his parents that Meulenberg had molested him, Lt. Lane Lageret said. The parents told the church’s youth pastor, who called the Sheriff’s Department, Lagaret said.

Another 14-year-old boy turned up during the detectives’ investigation, Lagaret said.

Meulenberg is a Lake Forest resident who had been volunteering at the church for six years, and during that time, he developed relationships with the two boys, Lagaret said. Some of the conduct allegedly took place on church property, officials said.

….

 

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Kevin Boyd Sr. Avoids Jail Time for Sex Crimes

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pastor kevin boyd sr

Today, Kevin Boyd Sr., pastor of The Church at New Orleans in New Orleans, Louisiana, entered a no contest plea to reduced charges of ” obscenity and second-degree battery.” Boyd received no jail time and does not have to register as a sex offender.

Ken Daley, a reporter for the Times-Picayune, writes:

A New Orleans East pastor whose first trial on child molestation charges ended with a hung jury in 2015 closed his case Thursday (May 25) with a plea agreement that allowed him to avoid jail time.

Kevin Boyd Sr., the 47-year-old “presiding bishop” of The Church At New Orleans, had faced 5 to 10 years in prison had he been convicted as originally charged with molestation of a juvenile. A jury of three men and three women deadlocked on the charge after four hours of deliberations on Nov. 17, 2015.

Boyd was awaiting a new trial on two molestation counts, but through his defense attorneys Kerry Cuccia and Kimya Holmes accepted a plea agreement offered by District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office. Boyd entered a no contest plea, referencing Alford v. North Carolina, whereby a defendant in a criminal case does not admit to the criminal act and asserts innocence. Boyd entered the plea to the reduced charges of obscenity and second-degree battery.

“Mr. Boyd steadfastly maintains his innocence,” Cuccia said.

Boyd received a suspended five-year sentence on the battery count, a suspended three-year sentence on the obscenity count and five years of active, supervised probation.

Ad hoc Criminal District Judge Donald Johnson of Baton Rouge, sitting in for Judge Camille Buras, said the plea agreement also does not require Boyd to register as a sex offender.

One of the two men who accused Boyd of sexually assaulting them while they were members of his flock expressed disappointment with the plea agreement.

“I didn’t come this far to give him a slap on the wrist,” said the man, a Mississippi resident who testified against Boyd at his 2015 trial. “It’s a shame, your honor. I’m not going to sit up here and lie to you and say it don’t hurt.”

Authorities accused Boyd of sexually assaulting that member of his flock over a span of at least five years, starting in 1999 with the boy was about 12. A second accuser later emerged as well, but he was not in court Thursday and issued a brief statement professing to forgive his church leader.

The victim who was present told the judge of “being raped from the age 12 to age 23 by the hand of Kevin Boyd Sr.,” and said his life had been irreversibly affected. He said he lost his marriage of seven years, several friends and his spiritual community over the accusation against Boyd and the years of courtroom drama that followed. The pastor first was charged by the DA’s office in August 2012.

….

“I’ve been called a liar for years,” the man said. “I’ve been told I’m being used by the devil by church members and preachers. The plea deal here is not enough for me. Every sin has its reward, that’s what we are taught as Christians. He committed not just a sin, but he committed a crime. But with no jail time? Kevin Boyd needs to sit down and feel the pain, the struggle, the hurt and the shame I’ve had to feel.

“But he’s able to go live his life and everybody still praises him. He preaches it, but he don’t live it. … Kevin Boyd doesn’t deserve today to go home and feel like he won.”