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Tag: Lascivious Behavior

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Youth Leader Luke Bese Sentenced to One Year in Prison for Lascivious Behavior with Teenager

luke bese

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.

Luke Bese, a youth leader at Hope Kingsburg [Mennonite] Church in Kingsburg, California, was sentenced to one year in prison for arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd or lascivious behavior and a misdemeanor charge of annoying, molesting any child under 18 years of age.

Yahoo News reports:

A former youth pastor in Kingsburg was sentenced Tuesday to serve one year in prison for having an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old church member.

Luke Michael Bese, 30, was convicted in May on one felony charge of arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd or lascivious behavior and a misdemeanor charge of annoying, molesting any child under 18 years of age.

Bese, who worked as a youth leader at Hope Kingsburg Church, began a secret relationship with the 16-year-old that included sending her lingerie from Victoria’s Secret, a sex toy, and condoms. Bese, who is married, also requested that the teenager send him photos of herself in the lingerie.

The relationship lasted nearly eight months, beginning July 29, 2018 and ending March 28, 2019. Bese was arrested on June 8, 2020.

During Bese’s sentencing hearing, Judge Alvin Harrell III admitted to being torn over how to punish the former youth pastor for his crimes. Harrell noted that he received many “glowing” letters in support of Bese.

Nearly a dozen family members and friends sat in the audience in support of Bese. Family members described him as a selfless person who studied for years to become a pastor.

Bese spoke briefly, offering an apology to his family and to the teenager who was also in the courtroom.

“I am sorry for the mistakes that I have made, this has been a trying time for me and my family,” Bese said. “I made decisions I should not have made. I am so sorry.”

The teenager had tears in her eyes as Bese spoke. She chose not to speak, but others did on her behalf.

Prosecutor Adam Christopherson said Bese’s actions violated the trust placed in him by the church, the young people he worked with and the person he preyed on. Christopherson urged the judge to give Bese prison time, not probation.

“This kind of conduct can not be tolerated,” Christopherson said.

A friend of the victim said many people in the church’s youth community felt let down by Bese. But hurt worst of all was her friend.

“It has left her broken,” she said.

The judge acknowledged the good work Bese has done, while also recognizing the emotional trauma he has inflicted.

“I am not here to stay what a monster he is,” Harrell said. “He is a good man, he is a bright man. But he is also a man who knew better than to engage in the actions that he did.”

Harrell said Bese was careful to conceal what he was doing because he knew it was criminal.

“You asked her to take pictures of herself in the lingerie,” Harrell said. “That is completely inappropriate.”

Bese was sentenced to one year in prison and must register as a sex offender, Harrell said.

Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor George Gregory Accused of Lascivious Behavior

pastor george gregory

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.

George Gregory, pastor of Waterfront Christian Community Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, stands accused of lascivious behavior.

KDKA-2 reports:

Officers were sent to the 800 block of Beechland Street around 11:30 p.m. Friday for a report of a suspicious vehicle parked outside of a home.

According to a criminal complaint, when the officers arrived on the scene, they could see two men inside the vehicle. Police say one man — identified as 61-year-old George Nelson Gregory, of Munhall — was in the back seat, and the other man was completely naked and bound with nylon rope in the front seat.

The criminal complaint says when officers asked what was going on, Gregory told the officers that they “were just playing” and he and the other man “meet up from time to time to play with each other.” The other man confirmed that what they were doing was consensual.

The man who reported the suspicious vehicle told police that at one point, he saw the second man get out of the vehicle without any clothes on, and he was concerned because the car was parked outside his daughter’s window.

Gregory allegedly told the officers he thought they were in a private place, and when an officer said their vehicle was on a well-lit public street in clear view of several homes, Gregory told police, “I know.”

Gregory, however, says none of that is true and “that conversation never happened.”

“I have nothing to hide. I did nothing wrong,” Gregory said.

He says they were approached by police because they “thought somebody had passed out or something, that’s what the call was.”

“I was counseling a young man with a drug problem,” Gregory said. “It did turn strange, but it wasn’t my doing, OK? And I was adamant that I’m not participating in that way. And so that’s when the police pulled up, and they assume things, but I’m standing by my story. It’s not true.”

According to Gregory, he has been working with the man for a few years, and he and his wife have tried to get him help.

“I won’t deny that he began to take his clothes off and propositioned me, but I will deny, on a stack of Bibles with God as my witness, that I did nothing,” Gregory said.

Gregory says he had his clothes on during the alleged incident, so “there’s no reason for me to be charged with open lewdness.”

According to a criminal complaint, Gregory and the other man will receive summons paperwork in the mail.

Gregory’s church bio page states:

Serves as preacher and teacher at Waterfront Christian Community Church. George grew up in Munhall and graduated from Steel Valley High School. He attended church all of his life, but he actually began his journey with Christ when he was in his early 20s. When he was 25, George set off to become a preacher and attended Johnson Bible College, in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you have ever heard him preach or teach, you will agree that he is definitely using the gifts God gave him. George has a way of presenting messages from God’s Word, the Bible, in such a way that you walk away saying, “Now it makes sense”. He speaks with clarity and conviction. There is no doubt that George believes and lives what he preaches.

Bruce Gerencser