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Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Cameron Banks Arrested For Burning Down His Church

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pastor cameron banks

Wednesday,Cameron Banks, pastor of The Abundant Faith Lighthouse of Jesus Christ in Conway, South Carolina,  was arrested and charged with burning down his church.

ABC-15 reports:

The leader of a Conway church was arrested Wednesday for intentionally burning down his church.

Cameron Julius Xavier Banks, 32, of Georgetown, is charged with obstructing justice, second degree arson, burning personal property to defraud insurer and making a false insurance claim to obtain benefits for fire or explosion loss.

….

The fire was determined to have been intentionally set, by means of an open flame and combustible material.

….

Banks was the pastor of the church, but there had only been one church service held at the location in approximately 2 years.

Banks said that the church was being renovated and that he purchased the building from The Refuge at First Pentecostal Holiness Church for $328,400.

The pastor of The Refuge acted as the “bank” on the mortgage, according to the affidavit.

Banks was notified on May 25, 2016 that the lender was going to start foreclosure proceedings after Banks defaulted on his loan.

In early July 2016, Banks purchased an insurance policy for the church for $1.6 million.

On July 14, a church member reported to Conway police that an “unknown person” was supposedly sleeping in the church. The incident report states the report was made for insurance purposes, in the event of a fire.

On July 25, one day after the fire, a Conway police officer tried to reach Banks to get a statement about the fire and who had access to the church. Banks would not return any of the phone calls. Lionel Lofton, Banks’ attorney, later told the officer that Banks would not be meeting with police.

On Jan. 12, 2017, Lofton contacted the officer and said he had very important information regarding the fire. According to a report done by the attorney’s investigator, a woman claimed there were text messages between a dentist and an unknown person that showed the dentist offered to pay $10,000 to the unknown person to burn down the church.

When the officer investigated the claims and got a warrant for the dentist’s phone, there were no calls or text messages between him and the unknown person.

According to the affidavit, there were dozens of calls between the woman making the claims and Banks on two different cell phones.

Police say the entire claim was fabricated in an effort to cast the blame for the fire onto the dentist.

On March 1, 2017, police searched Banks’ home and cars. Computers, cell phones and several hundred documents were seized, including a “rough draft” of the investigative report provided to his attorney.

There were also notebooks where Banks had “written several dozen questions that would possible be asked by law enforcement during the course of an arson investigation.”

The woman admitted to police that she gave them false information regarding the text messages because she was in love with Banks.

Banks was arrested on May 24.

….

Banks is also known as Reggie Staggers, according to an affidavit with Banks’ arrest warrants.

Update

WMBF News reports:

A Georgetown pastor accused of burning down a Conway church last summer is now facing federal health care fraud charges.

According to a press release from U.S. Attorney Beth Drake, Cameron Banks, 32, was charged in a seven-count federal indictment connected to an alleged scheme to submit fraudulent loan applications for dental services.

The maximum penalty the suspect could receive for each count is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

….

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Francisco Moran Found Guilty of Sex Crimes

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pastor francisco moran

In April of 2015, Francisco Moran, pastor of The Good Samaritan Church in Old Lyme, Connecticut, was arrested and charged with “sexually assaulting a juvenile and an adult female who were members of his church.” Today, Moran was found guilty on all counts.

The New Haven Register reports:

On Thursday, Francisco Moran, 59, of Clinton was found guilty of all charges following a criminal trial in which he was accused of sexual assault.

Moran, a Pastor with The Good Samaritan Church in Old Lyme was found guilty of second degree sexual assault, two counts of fourth degree sexual assault, three counts of risk of injury to a minor and two counts of coercion.

….

Upon reaching the guilty verdict, the court ordered Moran to forfeit his passport and he was remanded into custody of the Department of Corrections.

Moran is being held on $2 million bond and at this time a date for his sentencing is unknown.

 

Evangelical Christian School Punishes High School Senior For Getting Pregnant

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maddi runkles

Heritage Academy, an Evangelical institution located in Hagerstown, Maryland finds itself the center of attention due to its punishment of a high school senior who had sex outside of marriage and got pregnant.  CJ Lovelace, a writer for The Herald-Mail, reports:

As children played outside just before noon Tuesday, two police vehicles were parked in front of Heritage Academy.

Inside, officers took reports from school officials about harassing emails and phone calls coming in to the small Christian school west of Hagerstown.

“Some of them are calling me names, but when somebody is in a leadership position like I am in, it’s going to happen,” Heritage Principal Dave Hobbs said. “The other issue that we’re having is we’re getting a lot of encouragement. We’ve gotten lots of emails, thanking us for taking a stand in regards to what is right and what is wrong.”

The independent, nondenominational school has been the target of criticism since news broke that one of its students, 18-year-old Maddi Runkles, had been barred from “walking” in her upcoming graduation because she is pregnant.

But, according to Hobbs, the punishment had little to do with Runkles’ pregnancy and everything to do with her conduct that violated school code.

“Certainly, we are a pro-life institution, and certainly we are pleased that Maddi has chosen to keep her baby,” Hobbs told Herald-Mail Media. “Her choice broke that standard of abstinence. It is a clear standard in the Bible. It is a clear standard in our handbook.”

Hobbs first learned of Runkles’ pregnancy in early February when her father, the former president of the school’s board of directors, Scott Runkles, came to him with the news.
An emergency meeting followed and administrators began formulating disciplinary action, which was finalized Feb. 20 in a binding decision after appeals made by the Runkles family, Hobbs said.

….

“We have to look at every individual situation on a case-by-case basis,” Hobbs said.

When the pregnancy first came to light, Runkles, a 4.0 student who will still receive her diploma, was suspended from school for a couple days and removed from her position on the student council while the board decided what to do.

Since then, she’s been permitted to continue attending classes and school functions at the institution of about 175 students — including 15 in this year’s senior class.
Scott Runkles, who resigned from his position on the school’s board in a result of the punishment, has said that he agrees his daughter deserved to be disciplined, but not by banning her from graduation.

“Maddi is a great kid,” her father said Monday. “She just happened to have a lapse in judgment.”
….

Heritage Academy has removed everything from their website (typical of Fundamentalist schools and churches who find themselves in the public spotlight) except for a statement by Principal Dave Hobbs. Hobbs wrote:

Dearest Heritage Family:

As I begin, please understand that my wife and I have fallen in love with the people of Heritage Academy.  Therefore, it is for Heritage’s protection that I write this.

The main reason I have been silent to this point is because in disciplinary situations, each Heritage family deserves confidentiality. The conduct of your children is not everyone’s business. This perspective would have been the best way to deal with Maddi Runkles’ disciplinary situation. However, her family has chosen to make her behavior a public matter. Before sending this letter, I contacted Scott Runkles who gave me permission to discuss this publicly. In my thinking, these were the two to protect: first Maddi, then Heritage, in that order. Unfortunately, both are now being hurt by those who do not know or understand the situation. For this sole reason, I am now willing to comment publicly.

Let me clarify some facts. Maddi is being disciplined, not because she’s pregnant, but because she was immoral. The Student Pledge which every student from 5th grade through 12th grade signs states that this application of Philippians 4:8 “extends to my actions, such as protecting my body by abstaining from sexual immorality and from the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs”.  Heritage is also pleased that she has chosen to not abort her son. However, her immorality is the original choice she made that began this situation. Secondly, she will receive her diploma that she has earned.

Much has been said about grace. I believe that there are two kinds of grace: saving grace and living grace. One is concerning spiritual birth “once and for all” (Hebrews 9:12, 10:10) which demanded no effort on my part, because my Savior Jesus, finished this on His cross and from His empty tomb. The other kind of grace is spiritual growth that does demand my effort (2 Peter 3:18). It also includes discipline (Hebrews 12:5-11). A wise man told me that discipline is not the absence of love, but the application of love. We love Maddi Runkles. The best way to love her right now is to hold her accountable for her immorality that began this situation.

As I conclude, I have two concerns. First, I am concerned that my Heritage family feels that the Board and I are harsh, cruel, hard-hearted men. Nothing can be further from the truth. We have spent countless hours in prayer and discussion. The Board has listened to three appeals from the Runkles family and compromised all three times. Secondly, I am concerned about our graduation ceremony on the evening of June 2nd . That night, I want God to be glorified in a dignified manner. Please enable us to do this.

With deepest sincerity,

David R. Hobbs, Administrator

You can view a Wayback Machine cached version of Heritage’s website here. You can view the school’s 2016-17 student handbook here.

When stories such as this one make the national news, non-Evangelicals are often outraged over such Puritanical, backward thinking and behavior, thinking that schools such as Heritage Academy are few and far between. However, there are scores of Heritage Academies scattered across the United States, each with harsh rules and discipline meant to keep students from drinking, cussing, smoking, fornicating, and listening to rock music. These schools not only regulate what students can and can’t due while at school, they also regulate what they can and can’t do at home and with their friends. One Fundamentalist school I am very familiar with expelled several high school students because they were caught drinking alcohol at a private party. These types of schools tend to legislate behavior both on and off campus, and that is certainly the case with Maddi Runkles.

There’s no greater sin for a Christian school girl to commit than to get pregnant. Boys can whore around and schools are none the wiser. But, when a girl has unprotected sex (and my money is on the school’s sex education class being abstinence only) and finds herself pregnant, well her S-I-N is exposed for all to see. This, of course, is a public embarrassment for Evangelical schools, leading to jokes and gossip about their morality codes and the inability of students to keep them.

Heritage Academy, choosing to not do as Jesus did with the adulterous woman in John 8:1-11, decided to publicly punish and humiliate Maddi Runkles. Perhaps someone needs to do as Jesus did in John 8 and do some writing in the sand detailing the sins of Principal Hobbs, the school board, teachers, and everyone else associated with the school.  Believe me, everyone has behaviors they wouldn’t want anyone to know about it. In Runkles’ case, her “sin” grew inside of her, exposing for all to see her “immoral” behavior. I am sure more than a few other high school students at Heritage were glad that their secret sexual “sins” were not exposed. Does anyone doubt for a moment that there are other fornicating students — doing what is healthy and normal for sexually aware teenagers and young adults to do?

Maddi Runkles is eighteen years old. She is most certainly old enough to decide whether to have sexual intercourse. That she had unprotected sex is unfortunate, but there is nothing in this story that merits anything more from the school than, Maddi, what can we do to help?

Other Heritage students and parents are paying attention to how Principal Hobbs and the school board dealt with Runkles’ pregnancy. Perhaps in the future, an unintended consequence of the school’s actions in this case might lead another pregnant girl to get an abortion instead of making known her pregnancy. School officials said they prayed long and hard over this matter, but since there is no God to hear their prayers, what we are left with is the moral beliefs of the nine men (no women) who decided Maddi Runkles’ fate. I wonder if all of these men were virgins when they walked the aisle on their wedding day. If not, and I highly doubt all of them were, perhaps they should heed Jesus’ words — he that is without sin, let him cast the first stone.

Secular but not Superficial: An Overlooked Nonreligious/Nonspiritual Identity by Daniel Delaney

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dan delaneyHaving been an Evangelical pastor for twenty-five years and now a card-carrying member of Satan’s atheistic horde, I have gained a bit of notoriety that attracts people doing studies about clergymen who have left the ministry and lost their faith. I am a rare duck in one respect: most men and women who leave the ministry do so when they are younger. In my case, I was fifty years old before I turned in my ministerial union card. My counselor told me that it is rare for pastors my age to walk away from a lifetime of ministry, even if they no longer believe. (Please read Leaving Christianity: Why I Was an Old Man Before I Deconverted.)

When asked to give interviews or participate in studies, I always say yes. Ever the preacher, I want to tell the good news of atheism far and wide. I want doubting and unbelieving Evangelicals to know that there can be life — good life — after breaking up with Jesus. Last year, Dan Delaney — who was working on his Master of Arts in Sociology thesis at the University of Louisville — contacted me and asked if he could interview me for a study he was conducting. I gladly said yes, and now Dan’s completed study has been published.

Dan recently emailed me to let me know that his study had been published. Here is some of what he had to say:

A lot of very interesting concepts came out of it that I never anticipated. I also had the good fortune of being able to present portions of it at the Association for the Sociology of Religion conference last August, and at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion conference last November, and it was very well received. Everyone at both conferences was extremely interested in the results. I’m now going to start the arduous process of trying to break this thing down into small chunks to get published as journal articles.

Dan’s thesis is available on the internet. You can read it here. Dan used pseudonyms in his study, so my name is Stephen.

Secular but not Superficial: An Overlooked Nonreligious/Nonspiritual Identity Abstract:

Since Durkheim’s characterization of the sacred and profane as “antagonistic rivals,” the strict dichotomy has been framed in such a way that “being religious” evokes images of a life filled with profound meaning and value, while “being secular” evokes images of a meaningless, self-centered, superficial life, often characterized by materialistic consumerism and the cold, heartless environment of corporate greed. Consequently, to identify as “neither religious nor spiritual” runs the risk of being stigmatized as superficial, untrustworthy, and immoral. Conflicts and confusions encountered in the process of negotiating a nonreligious/nonspiritual identity, caused by the ambiguous nature of religious language, were explored through qualitative interviews with 14 ex-ministers and 1 atheist minister—individuals for whom supernaturalist religion had formed the central core of identity, but who have deconverted and no longer hold supernatural beliefs. Te cognitive linguistics approach of Frame Semantics was applied to the process of “oppositional identity work” to examine why certain identity labels are avoided or embraced due to considerations of the cognitive frames evoked by those labels.

Through the constant comparative method of grounded theory, a host of useful theoretical concepts emerged from the data. Several impediments to the construction of a “secular but not superficial” identity were identified, and a framework of new theoretical concepts developed to make sense of them: sense disparity, frame disparity, identity misfire, foiled identity, sense conflation, and conflated frames. Several consequences arising from these impediments were explored: (1) consequences of sense conflation and conflated frames for the study of religion; (2) consequences of conflated frames for religious terminology; and (3) consequences of the negation of conflated frames for those who identify as not religious, not spiritual, or not Christian. Additionally, four types of oppositional identity work were identified and analyzed: (1) avoidance identity work, (2) dissonant identity work, (3) adaptive identity work, and (4) alternative identity work. Finally, the concept of conflated frames was applied to suggest a new interpretation of the classic Weberian disenchantment narrative.

 

 

Christians Say the Darnedest Things: Lori Alexander Thinks Women Who Breastfeed in Public Should Stop Tempting Men

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lori-alexander

Anyone can take the place of an astronaut, an engineer, a doctor, or name any other career out there, but no one can take the place of a mother in a child’s life. If you are married and have children, no one can take your place and your time and energy should be going to caring for these important people in your life, not given to strangers who could replace you in a blink of an eye.

Dennis [Prager] also brought up something that happened in the Australian Parliament. A senator nursed her baby while the Parliament was in session. She has no problem showing her breasts to men while she is nursing her baby. Why not? Men can go shirtless and there’s no problem with it. Since men and women are now equal in every way, according to feminism, this shouldn’t be a problem, right? Wrong. They fail to realize that men will always have an attraction for women’s breasts. God made them this way: “Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love” (Proverbs 5:19).

Then I hear of Ivanka Trump trying to convince her father, our President, to create another enormous government program to pay for childcare for mothers so they can have careers and not worry about the financial situation. All of these are lies that our culture keeps screaming at us and trying to pull us away from the life that God has planned for us!

God made you a woman for a reason. He gave you a womb to bear children. He gave you breasts to nourish your baby and satisfy your husband. He made you soft for your baby to cuddle with you and your husband to enjoy. He made you the weaker vessel and your husband stronger to provide and protect you. He made you love beauty so you could use your desire for beauty to make your homes places of beauty for your families and all who enter. It’s all a part of His wonderful and perfect plan for you.

Lori Alexander, The Transformed Wife, Happy to Say “I am a Wife and Mother!”, May 17, 2017

Modern Alternative Mama has a hilarious take on WHY women should NOT breastfeed in public:

  • You might make a full-grown adult uncomfortable
  • You might give an adult a sore neck, from having to look away so hard
  • You have to teach that baby that other peoples’ needs for “comfort” come before their basic right to eat
  • Your baby’s lungs need exercise, and what better way to get that than by letting them scream from hunger
  • You might accidentally flash some nipple and give someone a heart attack — that’s a public health risk!
  • Your baby needs to learn that his wants can’t always be met immediately
  • You might put other parents in an uncomfortable position — maybe they’re not ready for “the talk” with their children (you know, about breasts)
  • It’s disgusting — I mean, breast milk is practically like pee, how unsanitary
  • You need to learn a lesson about planning your baby’s feedings better
  • You need to care a whole lot about society’s opinion of your parenting

You can read Kate’s entire article here.

 

Black Collar Crime: Former Youth Pastor Charlie Hamrick Charged With Forty Counts of Child Sex Abuse

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charlie hamrick

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

In April, Charlie Hamrick, a former youth pastor at Pine Forest United Methodist Church and high school football coach in Pensacola,Florida,  was arrested and charged with forty counts of child sexual abuse.

The Boston Herald reports:

A Florida high school assistant football coach and youth pastor, who has been charged with more than 40 counts of child sex abuse, may have abused more victims, authorities say.

“We have identified an additional eight victims,” Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan tells PEOPLE.

The new victim tally came about after the sheriff’s office held a press conference last week to announce the arrest of 54-year-old Charlie Mabern Hamrick, who is accused of molesting young boys as far back as 1997.

“Anytime he had contact or was in a position that could almost be looked at as a target rich environment for someone of that proclivity, we wanted to make sure our community knew,” says Morgan.

The abuse allegedly occurred while Hamrick worked as a karate instructor, an assistant football coach at Tate High School in Pensacola, and as a Sunday school teacher and youth pastor at two local churches.

“Those are perfect venues if you are of that mindset,” says Morgan. “It is a steady stream of victims. They don’t wear certain clothes and they don’t look a certain way. Pedophiles come in all shapes and sizes.”

Morgan says he is doubtful more charges will be filed because the statute of limitations has expired on the eight cases.

“We are interviewing those victims and taking their reports and sworn testimony and providing that to the state attorney even though they won’t be filed on to the best of my knowledge,” Morgan says.

One of the alleged victims is a member of the armed services. “He made a call and he is currently on active duty and he passed along to us his contact and what it amounted to,” Morgan says.

Morgan says investigators are also looking into allegations that Hamrick gave unlicensed physical exams to Tate High School football players.

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Police began investigating Hamrick last fall after three victims came forward claiming he allegedly exposed himself and inappropriately touched them while they were riding four-wheelers on his property and fishing in his pond, according to the Pensacola News Journal.

Another victim told police that Hamrick abused him several times when he was between the ages of 8 and 11. The abuse allegedly occurred at Hamrick’s home when his family was there, but they were unaware of the abuse, the paper reports.

Hamrick was charged in March with 40 counts of child abuse including sexual assault on a victim younger than 12, providing obscene material to minors, lewd and lascivious behavior on a victim younger than 12, and lewd and lascivious behavior on a victim age 12 to 16.

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Prosecutors later dropped many of the charges against Hamrick, choosing to focus on the crimes that could result in life in prison for the defendant.

North Escambia reports:

Charlie Hamrick, 54,  was originally charged with over 40 criminal counts, but now faces 10 charges — six counts of sexual battery on a child under 12, one court of  giving obscene material to a minor and three counts of lewd and lascivious molestation. He remains in the Escambia County Jail without bond.

Thirty of the charges dropped by state were sexual battery on a child under 12 in a case that reaches back to 1997 when the alleged victim was as young as 8 years old. Six of the life felony charges in that case remain active.

“When spread over an extended period of time  sometimes it is hard to prove the exact specifics of each individual incident down to the what happened and exactly when,” Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille said, explaining why the charges spanning 1997 to 2000 were dropped.  “It is not unusual to limit the number of cases to cover all events.”

When law enforcement makes an arrest they do so on probably cause,” he said, “where we must prove each charge beyond a reasonable doubt.”

He said it can become more difficult as time passes for victims to remember specific events down to the time and place of each. Marcille stressed that eliminating such large number of charges in no way indicates that prosecutors do not believe they have a strong case against Hamrick.

“This does not mean that we believe there is a problem with any of the cases,” the assistant state attorney said.

If Hamrick is convicted on any one of the sexual battery on a child under 12 charges, he will face a required sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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Update

A November 28, 2017 Pensacola News Journal report states:

The alleged victim of former Tate High School assistant football coach Charlie Hamrick told a jury Tuesday that Hamrick began sexually abusing him as a child and that the abuse escalated over a period of years.

The victim, now 28, said Hamrick was a close family friend who abused him for years after the pair met at church. He said their two families grew so close he referred to Hamrick as his “uncle.”

Hamrick, 55, was arrested in March and charged with more than 40 counts of child sex offenses ranging from molestation to sexual assault over the course of 20 years from multiple victims. The state has since reduced some of those charges.

Some victims claimed Hamrick assaulted them through his work as a taekwondo instructor and others said he gave them unlicensed physicals while working at Tate High.

The trial that began Monday addresses one set of allegations pertaining to a then 8-year-old boy who said Hamrick touched him inappropriately during sleepovers and family trips from 1997 to about 2000.

Prosecutor Erin Ambrose told the jury during opening statements Tuesday morning that this case is built on secrets. She said the victim didn’t tell anyone the extent of what allegedly happened to him for 20 years because he thought what Hamrick did was not unusual.

The victim described instances in which Hamrick allegedly touched his genitals under a blanket while his wife and children were in the same room during sleepovers. He said other times Hamrick would move his own sleeping children from a pull-out couch in the playroom at his house to perform sex acts with the child.

The abuse ended when the victim was 11, he said, and his mom found him sitting on Hamrick’s lap on a boat at Pensacola Beach during a family trip and realized Hamrick was touching her son under his shorts.

“(She called my name) in a shriek that I still remember today,” the victim said.

The victim said he could tell she was angry and worried but he didn’t comprehend that the cause of that anger was the result of any action of his or Hamrick’s.

From then, the families stopped seeing each other outside of church. The parents told the victim what Hamrick had allegedly done was wrong, but they decided not to go to the police and instead prayed about it, thinking what happened at the beach was a one-time offense, Ambrose said. The victim testified that after his parents knew about the beach incident, he was scared and embarrassed so didn’t elaborate about what had allegedly happened to him in the years prior.

The victim said he didn’t interact with Hamrick again until about 2013 when he began volunteering with Tate High School. The victim said he took the position because he heard Hamrick was working on the coaching staff. He said he felt uncomfortable knowing Hamrick was around children as the freshman coach, and he thought his presence would remind Hamrick of the abuse and act as a deterrent.

….

Hamrick was found guilty and sentenced to six life sentences.

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Youth Pastor Benoni Enciso Charged With Sex Crimes — Twice

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pastor benoni enciso

Benoni Enciso, youth pastor at Stutsmanville Chapel in Harbor Springs, Michigan, was charged in March 2017 with “six counts, including possession of child sexually abusive material, two counts of surveilling an unclothed person, two counts of using/installing an eavesdropping device, and using a computer to commit a crime.”

Justin Hicks, a writer for Mlive, reports:

A Northern Michigan man is facing felony charges after he was accused of recording two female teens showering at his Boyne City home.

Benoni Jonathan Enciso, 49, has been charged with six counts, including possession of child sexually abusive material, two counts of surveilling an unclothed person, two counts of using/installing an eavesdropping device, and using a computer to commit a crime.

He is being held at the Charlevoix County Jail on a $50,000 bond. He is due back in Charlevoix Circuit Court on March 17 for an arraignment, where he can enter a plea.

Enciso had a family come stay at his home for the weekend of February 18-19, according to Police Chief Jeff Gaither. He knew the family, having served as the teens’ youth pastor at Stutsmanville Chapel in Harbor Springs.

During the weekend stay, an 18-year-old female noticed a cell phone was recording her when she stepped out of the shower. Further investigation determined that the phone had also captured video of her 15-year-old sister, police said.

Gaither said the teens confronted the homeowner and learned he set up the phone to record. They then reported the incident to their parents, who notified police on Feb. 21.

Enciso was arrested later that day.

The Boyne City man was an administrator at the Harbor Springs church during the time of the incident. He has since been removed from the “Staff” section of the church’s website.

In a statement, the church said, “At the time of his hiring, Mr. Enciso was not listed on a sex offender registry, nor did he have a criminal record.

….

After pleading guilty to the aforementioned sex crimes, Enciso was arrested again and charged with similar crimes in another Michigan county.

Blayke Roznowski, a reporter for 9 and 10 News writes:

A former youth pastor who already admitted to child sex crimes in Charlevoix County was in court again for similar crimes in Emmet County.

9 & 10 News had the only camera in court as Benoni Enciso was arraigned on several charges for recording girls as they undressed when they stayed with him.

In Boyne City in February, a girl found an iPhone recording her in the bathroom when she visited her former youth pastor, and turned it into police.

Enciso pleaded guilty to those five child sex crime charges and is set to be sentenced next week in Charlevoix.

….

Wednesday in the Emmet County courtroom Judge James Erhart arraigned Benoni Enciso, also known as Jon, on more than 20 different child sex crime charges that includes both possessing and producing child sexually abusive material and using a computer to do so.

The court documents paint a disturbing picture.

“The Charlevoix County Sheriff’s Office came across some other videos that they knew it didn’t happen in Charlevoix,” Emmet County Sheriff Pete Wallin said.

That evidence was turned over to Emmet County in March.

They determined Enciso recorded four videos and made close to 150 images of four girls undressing at a Bay View home he was renting between July and September 2015.

“Apparently he was a friend and trusted and was familiar with the family,” Sheriff Wallin said. “It’s a serious violation and it was an invasion of privacy for both the victims and the families themselves.”

Court documents say the former youth coordinator of the Stutsmanville Chapel admitted to hiding an iPhone, taking video and enhancing the images for sexual purposes.

….

Update

Up North Live reports:

The former Emmet County youth pastor who was already sentenced to four years in prison was sentenced in a second county.

Benoni Enciso was sentenced Monday in Emmet County to 54 months to seven years on the four convictions of using a computer to commit a crime and two years to five years on the four convictions of capturing an image of an unclothed individual. The sentences for the computer crime will run consecutive to the sentences for capturing an image.

In Charlevoix County, Enciso was sentenced in May to up to four years in prison after admitting to taking videos of underage girls in the shower.

Enciso was the youth pastor at Stutsmanville Chapel in Harbor Springs.

Black Collar Crime: Lutheran Pastor Terry Herzberg Accused of Photographing Up Secretary’s Skirt

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pastor terry herzberg

Terry Herzberg, pastor of Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Hackettstown, New Jersey, was charged today with “invasion of privacy and criminal attempt at invasion of privacy.” Gethsemane Lutheran is affiliated with the Missouri Synod — a Fundamentalist sect.

Peggy Wright, a staff writer for the Daily Record reports:

The former pastor of Gethsemane Lutheran Church was charged Thursday with invading the privacy of his secretary by secretly taking pictures and videos up her skirt while she was working.

After an 11-month investigation, town police on Thursday charged now-retired Rev. Terry Herzberg, 66, of Tannersville, Pa. with invasion of privacy and criminal attempt at invasion of privacy. Herzberg was charged after turning himself in at the Warren County courthouse in Belvidere, where he was expected to make a first appearance before a judge, according to a release from Hackettstown Sgt. Darren Tynan.

Herzberg is accused of attempting to photograph up the victim’s skirt while she was sitting at her desk between Nov. 5, 2013 and June 27 of last year. He also allegedly took videos up his secretary’s skirt on multiple occasions while she was sitting and standing, according to the release.

The alleged victim, whose identity is not being released by the Daily Record, first alerted police on June 27, 2016 that she had observed Herzberg – then the pastor at the church on E. Baldwin Street – taking photos of her intimate body parts while she was working.

….

A search warrant was issued and electronics from the church and the reverend’s home were seized. While the investigation was pending, the victim, a Flanders resident, filed a lawsuit in Superior Court, Morristown in November 2016 against Herzberg and the church.

The lawsuit charges that the church violated the state’s Law Against Discrimination and that Herzberg’s conduct interfered with the secretary’s job performance and “created an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.”

The lawsuit said the woman left the job because she could not work in that environment.

….

The victim’s lawsuit said she was hired in July 2010 to work as administrative assistant to Herzberg and the director of the church’s preschool, and that she often worked alone with Herzberg, who was her immediate supervisor and the highest-level employee of the church.

The lawsuit said that Herzberg routinely made sexually provocative comments about her appearance, clothing and weight and once gave her a card that said she was sexy.

In May 2016, the complaint said, Herzberg asked the woman to call up a document on her computer. He stood directly behind her and she noticed that he was holding an object over her head which he quickly stuffed into his pants pocket, the lawsuit said.

“When plaintiff returned her attention to the computer, she again perceived something above her, looked up and observed Herzberg taking photographs of her chest. Plaintiff became very upset and strongly objected to his behavior,” the lawsuit said.

On June 27 – the day the victim last worked at the church – she wore a skirt to work and while standing in her office felt Herzberg’s presence behind her. She turned, according to the lawsuit, and saw the pastor holding a camera and straightening himself up from behind her.

Moments later, the lawsuit said, Herzberg returned to the secretary’s office and she sensed his presence behind her. She turned around and spotted him holding a camera under her skirt taking pictures, the lawsuit said.

….

Working with police, the woman called the pastor and he allegedly admitted taking photographs underneath her skirt and doing the same to others, the lawsuit said.

The Lord Made You That Way

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If this is true, why didn’t God get it right the first time?

Tonight, one of my granddaughters had a softball game. Between innings, a man who knows me struck up a conversation about girls and sports. His daughter is quite diminutive in size — the smallest girl in her class. He told me that his daughter has been fretting over her height, wanting to know when she was going to grow tall like all the other girls in her class. The man said, I told her she was the size the Lord wanted her to be. End of discussion.

Grandchild number two — also a girl — is also quite short (and thin). Like the girl mentioned above, she is one of the smallest girls in her class. She accepts the fact that she is not going to be very tall. Instead of fretting over her height, she focuses on academics. She does play volleyball and basketball, but she knows that the girls around her will continue to tower over her and this could affect whether she can play these sports in high school. I encourage her to continue to work hard at improving her skills, reminding her that there have been short players who have figured out ways to play their respective sports. I also suggested that she consider running track in junior high school. Her mother is quite short and petite herself, yet she successfully ran track in high school and college. At no time has anyone (as far as I know) said to my granddaughter, you are short because the Lord made you that way. Would she like to be taller? Sure. Both my granddaughter and the girl I first mentioned above would love to be tall like many of their fellow classmates. Children want to fit in, be a part of the crowd. When you are short (or overweight, have red hair, wear coke-bottle glasses, have bigger breasts than other girls, or have parents who can’t afford to buy you the shoes and clothes other children are wearing), you naturally attract the attention of fellow students who love to make fun of your height. And sometimes, being different attracts bullies who can make school a living hell.

Our daughter Bethany was born with a genetic disorder called Down syndrome. When our Catholic primary care doctor called us in to talk about Bethany’s disorder, he told us that most fertilized eggs with the trisomy 21 genetic disorder miscarry. He also said that God only let children with Down Syndrome be born into special families who could love and care for them. At the time, I was pastoring a country Baptist church in Southeast Ohio and both Polly and I found his words comforting. As with the father who told his short daughter that the Lord made her this way, our doctor was telling us that having a child with Down Syndrome was just what the Lord intended. God made her this way.

Is the Lord really behind both the good and bad that befalls our children and grandchildren? While Evangelicals love to praise Jesus when their special snowflakes excel in school and sports and are straight-A students, I don’t hear much cheering when the good Lord above gives parents children with learning disabilities, debilitating genetic disorders, cancer, and sundry other maladies and diseases. Shouldn’t Evangelical parents be shouting from the rooftop, PRAISE THE LORD, OUR SON HAS SPINAL BIFIDA! PRAISE THE LORD, OUR DAUGHTER IS BLIND AND DEAF! The Lord does all things well, says the Bible. Shouldn’t Evangelicals be praising God day and night for the bad things that have come their way? In all things give thanks, the Apostle Paul said. If the Evangelical God is the hand from which good things flow, it must also be true that bad things come from the same hand. If God is who Christians say he is, then whatever befalls our children comes from Him.

Think about it for a moment — God is sovereign and in control of his creation. Nothing happens apart from His purpose and plan. When God determined to give Polly and me a daughter, he said to himself, I think I will give the Gerencsers a child with a genetic disorder. Ain’t I awesome! Fortunately, Bethany hasn’t had to face many of the physical maladies that children born with Down syndrome face. Yes, she has a heart problem, thyroid deficiency, and has had cataracts removed from both her eyes, but compared to other children with Down Syndrome, she has fared well. For every high-functioning Down Syndrome adult paraded before TV viewers, there are numerous others facing grave, lifelong disabilities One such woman attended the church I pastored in Southeast Ohio. She had severe heart problems, was partially blind, slobbered profusely, and conversed with others with unintelligible words. When this woman didn’t want to do something, she would plop down on the floor and refuse to move. Because she was quite overweight, her refusal to move required two care workers to pick up her up so they could take her home.

I wonder if Evangelicals really are comfortable and satisfied with the notion that the Lord makes children who are genetically malformed. Why would a deity who can do anything, deliberately hurt, harm, and kill children? What did these precious ones ever do to deserve such suffering and pain? Yet, if the Bible is true, one must conclude that whatever befalls us comes straight from Jehovah himself. I don’t know about you, but I consider such a God to be a monster of the first degree, no different from Nazi doctors who cruelly experimented on Jewish prisoners, or American physicians who deliberately infected unaware blacks with Syphilis so they could watch what happened when the venereal disease was left untreated.

To my short granddaughter, I say, your height is determined by genetics. You favor your mother, and that is why you are short and have eye problems. I say something similar to my granddaughter who is the same age as my short granddaughter, yet has a large frame and towers over many of her classmates. Like it or not, biology determines everything from height to hair color to body shape. Don’t like your butt? Blame your parents or other people in your family line. I was born with bright red hair. I faced decades of being gawked at, pointed to, or being made fun of. My junior high phys-ed teacher called me “Carrot Crotch.” I was short both in height and genital size, so my teacher calling attention to my red pubic hair in a locker room full of naked teenagers was quite embarrassing. There were many times I wished I could have had “normal” hair, been taller, and had a bigger penis. Over time, I grew to be six-foot tall, but the hair and you-know-what stayed the same.

Since it is likely that my father was my Mom’s redheaded cousin, my red hair came from him, along with my tall, redheaded lawyer great-grandfather. My great-grandfather died before I was born, yet he passed along his genetics to me through my mother and her cousin.  Like it or not, unless I was willing to dye my hair, I was stuck with having red hair. Damn genetics! They don’t concern themselves with social or cultural matters. When our mother’s egg united with our father’s sperm, two genetic streams came together to make a new human being. The results may or may not have been good, but there’s nothing we can do about it. It does no good to blame our parents, nor to blame God. We are, genetically, who we are, and it is up to us to make the most of what has been passed on to us by our mothers and fathers.

I understand why the man told his daughter that she was short because the Lord made her that way. It’s an easy answer for which there is no retort. Blaming God ends all discussions. Don’t like your height? Take it up with God! But passing the buck to God is a denial of reality. Science tells us why some people are short and others are tall. When I look at my body, I see a six-foot man with a twenty-nine-inch inseam. I want to know WHO gave me these short legs! Ever try to find a pair of men’s jeans for a twenty-nine-inch inseam? Not easy to find, so I end up buying pants with a thirty-inch inseam and live with it. And I say to my grandchildren the same thing. Whatever the genetic roll of the dice has given you, live with it. Make the most of what has been given to you, and don’t get upset if you aren’t like everyone else. I want to model to not only my grandchildren, but to my adult children, that you are fine just as you are. Be comfortable in your own skin. There’s nothing wrong with you. While I don’t take the “ain’t you special” approach, I do remind them that they are, for good or ill, the sum of their parents’ genetics. Praise or curse us, it matters not. You are who you are, and the happiest people in life are those who understand this and live life to the fullest with what they have been given.

 

Black Collar Crime: The Temple Baptist Church of Kokomo Sex Abuse Scandal Continues

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pastor mike holloway

Please read previous posts on this scandal: Black Collar Crime: Woman Claims Evangelical Pastor Mike Holloway Knew She Had Been Sexually Abused and Did Nothing and Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Mike Holloway Denies He Knew Anything About Woman’s Sex Abuse Claim and Black Collar Crime: Another Victim Comes Forward in Temple Baptist Church of Kokomo Sex Abuse Scandal

Today, The Kokomo Perspective released another episode in their ongoing coverage of the Temple Baptist Church sex scandal. Devin Zimmerman writes:

Donald Croddy first admitted to molesting his daughter, Dawn Price, in 1989 during a Department of Public Welfare child abuse investigation.

And, documents obtained by the Kokomo Perspective contradict claims by Temple Baptist Church leadership concerning whether Croddy admitted again to molesting his daughter in 1991.

In 1989 the Indiana Department of Public Welfare (the agency that would eventually become Child Protective Services) conducted an investigation at Temple Christian School. During that investigation, a 17-year-old Price admitted to a caseworker that she had been molested at a very young age by her father. In a subsequent interview with Croddy, he admitted to a caseworker that he had “fondled” his young daughter.

This information was obtained from a DPW 311 form, which Price had to procure because such documents are confidential. Price said she was shocked to learn that her father admitted to a caseworker he had molested her, and while she said certain aspects of the report weren’t accurate, she also expressed dismay at the fact that no further action ever came from the investigation.

“When I got it, it was sealed. I … opened it while I was driving and immediately saw, ‘Mr. Croddy admitted,’ and I had to pull over because I was shaking so hard and crying so hard,” said Price, who is now 45. “I couldn’t believe he admitted to it, and they did absolutely nothing. They didn’t even come back to talk to me again. They just let me go home with him. That just blows my mind. There was no follow up, no nothing … It was referred to the prosecutor and still nothing.”

According to the DPW 311 form, caseworkers conducted their investigation of alleged child abuse on Nov. 15, 1989, after receiving a referral in September of that year where it was alleged Price had been molested by her adopted father when she was approximately 3 to 4 years old. Price noted that this isn’t correct. She wasn’t certain who made the referral, and that information remains confidential.

As a result of the referral, a caseworker interviewed Price at Temple Christian School. In that interview, “Dawn admitted to the caseworker that indeed she had been molested at a very young age by her father. She stated at this point in time she feels that she could use some counselling to deal with some of the emotional issues that are currently present. She stated that she is no longer afraid of her dad and the abuse did not continue.”

By Price’s own admission, the portion about not being afraid of her father was a lie. According to her, Croddy was actually at the school when the interview took place.

“I was always afraid of my dad. I mean, I don’t know. I hate to admit it, but up until I started going to counseling a year-and-a-half ago, almost two years ago, I was still terrified of my dad,” said Price. “It was more of a petrified, don’t want to do anything. It was just instilled in me. He is going to lash out at you if you do anything wrong.

“At that point in time, which also blows my mind, he was there. So, anything I said, I didn’t know if they would tell him. Like I said before, I was in self-preservation mode. Don’t do anything that could cause me to get beat like Danny (Price’s brother). Like I said before, I didn’t even remember telling them that it happened. Reading that also kind of surprised me, that I actually told them.”

According to the DPW 311 form, “Mr. Croddy admitted to the allegations and stated that he had fondled his daughter approximately 10 years ago, but nothing has occurred since. Caseworker referred Mr. Croddy to counselling, stating that Dawn was requesting having someone to talk to.”

This, said Price, was inaccurate. She claimed that the alleged molestation had been more recent than her father stated and elevated to more than being “fondled.” While the form also indicated she would be referred to counseling, Price also noted she never received any aid.

“I was 17 (at the time of the interview), so he had stopped five years prior,” said Price. “So he doubled the years, first of all, and secondly, I think he, I don’t know, he was trying to make it as little as possible so he would get in trouble as less as possible. It says, ‘He admitted to the allegations and stated that he fondled his daughter.’ He did a hell of a lot more than that.

….

On April 19, Holloway penned a letter that was shared via Facebook. In that letter, he wrote, “In February 2017, Dawn posted a video to Facebook making additional accusations against her father, claiming Don had admitted his behavior to me during the 1991 meeting. This accusation is completely false and an attack on both the truth and my character. Given the allegations made in Dawn’s video, I sat down with Don and our church deacons for an in-depth discussion. After this discussion, I asked that he resign as a member of our church.”

However, the Kokomo Perspective recently was given a document that was compiled by the church. This document includes notes about allegations made against the church by Price, actions taken by the church, and other similar information.

Within the document is an account of the conflict prior to Price’s wedding in 1991, which appears to be compiled by information from Tami Breed, who is noted to be Temple Baptist Church’s secretary.

“Approximately, Aug. 19, 1991, prior to her scheduled wedding at TBC, Dawn informed her fiancé (Andrew Thornton) that Don had molested her as a kid,” read the document. “Andrew was very upset and possibly threatened to kill Don (not clear if a threat was verbalized). It was during this ‘blowup’ that Don admitted that he had molested Dawn as a child 14 years earlier (age 5). Following this confrontation, Dr. Holloway instructed Tami Breed to get him CLA’s (Christian Law Association) phone number, which she did. He then contacted CLA for advice on how to handle this information and was told to have Don removed from all ministries that involve children. That was done immediately. Additionally, Dr. Holloway informed Tami Breed to keep an eye out for any inappropriate behavior.”

….

Additionally, it was shown within the document that a meeting between Croddy, Holloway, and church deacons was scheduled after Price released a video in February detailing her accusations against her father.

The document reads, “Sunday, February 26 – Dr. Holloway met for one hour with deacons and Don Croddy and asked many questions; Don Croddy stated that 80% of accusations on the video were false but did admit to:

1 – ‘touchy-feely’ incident when Dawn was five (1975 – lasted for 3 mos.)

2 – had same experiences with 3 neighborhood girls (1985 – he used to bring them to church; they were 11-12 years of age)

3 – no molestations since then.”

According to the document, the meeting resulted in Croddy’s removal from the church.

You can read the entire article here.

Temple Baptist Church Abuse Survivors Facebook Page