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Black Collar Crime: Ohio IFB Pastor George Bell Charged with Raping a Child Under the Age of Ten

Bruce Gerencser 0 Comments
pastor george bell

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.

“Dr.” George Bell, founder and pastor of Anchor Baptist Church in Columbus, Ohio, stands accused of our counts of rape and two counts of gross sexual imposition involving a minor under the age of 10. Anchor Baptist is an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) congregation.

The Columbus Dispatch reports:

A former pastor who resigned from the Columbus church he founded earlier this year has been charged with sexually assaulting a child.

George Bell, 72, of Grove City, appeared Tuesday for arraignment in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on four counts of rape and two counts of gross sexual imposition involving a minor under the age of 10. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released on a $20,000 recognizance bond, according to court records.

Bell was formerly the pastor at Anchor Baptist Church, located at 3699 Clime Road on the city’s Far West Side, which he founded in 1989.

Court records say the alleged assaults occurred between 2021 and June 2024. The sexual assault charges do not involve a member of Bell’s congregation, authorities said.

….

A statement on the church’s website said he resigned in front of the congregation in June, citing personal reasons.

Anchor Baptist released the following statement:

As a church, we are committed to full transparency and to the truth throughout this process. We have been and continue to fully cooperate with any law enforcement and the justice system. We invite you to join us in prayer for and support of victims, their families, and individuals involved. We continue to remain loyal to God’s Word and the principles established in Scripture. We sincerely desire your prayers for us to have Godly wisdom and clear direction as we move forward. We were previously informed by law enforcement that there was no evidence of any incident on church property or involving any church member. Recent events have verified this. Colossians 1:18 “… that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

And then released another statement:

Our former pastor, George Bell, submitted a resignation letter which was read to Anchor Baptist Church after the Thursday evening service on June 27, 2024. Pastor Bell cited personal reasons for his immediate resignation and did not go into details. To our knowledge there was nothing untoward involving church members or church property. We are grateful for his and Mrs. Bell’s years of service to Anchor Baptist Church and ask for your prayers for them during this difficult time. Isaiah 55:11 “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

Anchor Baptist Church will continue forward for the cause of Christ. Please pray for church leadership as we seek God’s will and follow our Constitution, By-Laws, and Statement of Faith. The deacons and staff have unanimously selected Bro. Peter A. Cordrey to serve as the interim pastor. During this transition, we will maintain the same schedule and activities. We will act with integrity and transparency in this process. Colossians 1:18 “… that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

And another:

Due to new information that has come to our attention, we are amending our previous statement released on July 3. Our testimony in this community is of the utmost importance to us. We now know that there was more to the unexpected resignation of our former pastor, George Bell, than we were originally led to believe. It breaks our heart to discover that there have been serious allegations and an indictment that have been brought. Any conduct that is contrary to the Bible and our laws as citizens are unacceptable and not tolerated. In light of this new information, we endeavor to make clear our stand to our church family and to our community.

  1. We have been and will be cooperating fully with law enforcement and the justice system.
  2. We are committed to full transparency and to the truth throughout this process.
  3. As a church, we are loyal to God’s Word and the principles established in Scripture.
  4. We sincerely desire your prayers for us to have Godly wisdom and clear direction as we seek God’s help and guidance.

We get it, your pastor is a pervert and you say you didn’t know ANYTHING about his proclivities. In time, the truth shall be known — no prayers or “understanding” needed. My advice? Stop making statements and carefully consider whether the church was in any way culpable in Bell’s crimes. Quoting Bible verses rings hollow when sexual abuse against children is the crime. Readers of this site are familiar with rampant IFB cover-ups of criminal misconduct by pastors, evangelists, missionaries, youth pastors, bus drivers, music directors, choir directors, and Christian school administrators and teachers. Your commitment to “full transparency and to the truth” remains to be seen. I do hope you are true to your words.

Bell had this to say about himself on a now-deleted page on the church’s website:

I was born in the very poor and crime-ridden area of North Columbus, Ohio. Of four girls and two boys, I was the second youngest. My only brother was to play a key part in my life as a sinner and a Christian.

My parents were not close. I never heard my dad and mom exchange an “I love you” or show much affection at all. My dad never had much time for us kids, and I personally never heard my dad say to me, “I love you” or “I am proud of you” while I was growing up. My parents were not Christians and never attended church, though my mother and grandmother tried taking us to a Seventh-day Adventist church for about a year. We were not taught to pray anything more than a bedtime prayer and never read the Bible. No church people ever stopped by the Bell house to present the Gospel. No bus workers ever stopped by to see if the Bell children could go to church.

I was eleven years old. A woman I did not know was standing in our living room. My mother was there, and all of us kids were ushered into the room. The woman stranger then asked us if we wanted to live with our dad or our mom. I could not understand what was really going on, but I heard the others say, “Mom,” so I did, too. Not long after, my mom and dad were divorced after twenty-one years of marriage. As I grew older, it did not surprise me as to the reason why: my dad was a drunkard, a womanizer, and abusive to my mom and us kids.

That event seemed to open the floodgates of tragedy. The family continued to fall apart. For the first time in twenty-one years my mother had to get a job. My sisters began to date, go to slumber parties, and run with other bad kids. My brother, Bill, started fighting, drinking, and gambling. He was good at it, and I emulated him. By age thirteen I was already smoking, drinking, and running the streets. After having several altercations with the police, my mother thought it would be best to leave the small suburb where we lived and move to the west side of Columbus.

….

I was seventeen-and-a-half years old. In September of 1969, I volunteered for the Army. Because I was very physically fit and tough, I liked basic training. In A. I. T. (advanced individual training) at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, I met my first airborne sergeant. As a result of our meeting, I determined I wanted to be an Airborne Ranger. From a worldly viewpoint, I thought I was finally on track at the age of eighteen. I found something I was good at that those around me appreciated me doing. Like any other teenager, I was starving for attention, and if being a “gung-ho” soldier would do it, then why not?

After airborne training, while waiting to get on a list for Green Beret (the next step before getting into Ranger school), I again fell in with the wrong crowd. I was living in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. I was eighteen with no dad to call for answers, no paster with whom to get counsel, and no Christian friends upon whom to rely. With my security level and self-confidence basically non-existent, it was easy to follow a strong voice of any kind. The wrong crowd began to convince me that the government and military were all against me and giving my best to them was a joke. They taught me to rebel, disobey, make fun of authority and look for an opportunity to get out of the Army. They introduced me to illicit drugs. I had smoked cigarettes since I was eleven and drank since I was thirteen, but now I encountered marijuana and LSD. The early success of my military career notwithstanding, since nothing I had ever wanted, tried or was good at last long, it was not surprise that my life continued to go down. Because of never having a Christian background and never being witnessed to of Jesus, I assumed my condition was just bad luck and that it was bound to change sooner or later. But it did not. Without going into detail, I got into deep trouble while at Fort Bragg. Once again, I came before a judge and was told that if I was found guilty, I could receive a maximum sentence of 15 to 25 years in the penitentiary.

I had nowhere to turn. Because I was in trouble, I called my brother Bill, thinking he would understand. I really did not want help; I wanted help out of trouble. On the phone he said, “I can’t help you live like that. I go to church now.” And he hung up. He had gotten saved. My idol and example changed directions on me. The person I thought would always understand and side with me had abandoned me.

At eighteen my life had added up to zero and now I was looking at prison time. Don’t ask me why people do it or where it comes from, but it seems whenever people are in real trouble in life, they somehow find themselves in a church house. While walking across a parade field on base, I noticed a small while church house situated there on a hill. I opened the door, walked inside, sat on a pew, and through tears got down on my knees and pleaded with God, “If you get me out of this mess, I will never do it again.” Of course, the prayer was nothing more than selfish plea-bargaining. I remember when I was done, I felt as lonely and as empty as I was before I knelt. Oh, had a real Baptist preacher or soul winning been there to guide this blind, hurting, and lost soul!

….

I never met a Christian while in Vietnam. No one ever talked to me of Christ, and no one spoke of church. But one day while being re-supplied in the jungle, word was spreading that a chaplain was coming out. I remember many men went over to him. He spoke to us, and though I do not remember what he spoke, he prayed for us and gave all of us a little Bible. Though I did not read it, I thought it was incredibly nice of him to do that for me. Oh, but had someone, anyone, interrupted my life! Had someone spoken up and at least shared the Gospel with this young man seemingly doomed for Hell, but “no man cared for my soul.”

Still in the Army but back in America at age nineteen, my rebellion and hatred grew for everyone and everything. Little did I know I was about to come face to face with two people, Jesus and my brother Bill, who were not afraid of me and were determined to change me.

I came back to America just before I was discharged from the Army. At that time I met a girl whose daddy preached at a small by fiery Baptist church out in the country. Her dad said that if I wanted to see her I had to come to church. I did not know that it was the same church that my brother had gotten saved in and was attending. No one knew I was coming that night. I had never been in a Baptist church before, and though it was not a fundamental Baptist church, they believed in fiery preaching and sinners getting saved by Jesus.

A young man who had recently been called to preach was preaching that night. As I sat there I was dumb-founded that he seemed to know all I had been doing, and then he was telling everyone! I honestly believe that at the age of nineteen, for the first time in my life I heard about sin, wickedness, Jesus dying, and men needing to get right. They did not teach soul winning in that church. They believed folks should be saved, but they just believed the Holy Spirit and the sinner would work it all out when they met at the altar. So at the end of the church service, with my brother pleading with me to come back in and pray, I walked out. Between that first time I attended a Baptist church and the second time I attend (which is when I got saved), I had gotten busted four grades in the military, almost killed two people in a car accident, was almost sent to prison again, and was numb to the world and everything in it.

At twenty years of age, I was discharged from the military and found myself back in Columbus. More trouble with fighting, drugs and jail had inundated my life. Now I had lost everything. I literally had no friends, no job, no money, no car, no drugs or booze and no place to live. My mother said I could move back home until everything got better. And who lived behind my mother’s house? My brother, Bill, “the preacher.” It seemed that every evening he was over at my mother’s house talking to my mom and sisters about the Bible and telling them that they should be saved. He would beg and plead with them to come to church. I would stand by the back door and ignore the whole thing, wanting nothing to do with it. But each time he left to go back home after being turned down again by the family, he would stop and invite me to go to church with him. As always, I would turn him down.

Then came April 14, 1972. That evening I was once again standing and staring out the back door of my mother’s home when once again my brother came over to invite everyone to church. Once again, they all turn him down. And as usual, on his way out, he stopped to talk to his little brother. “Would you like to go to church with me tonight?” he said. “There is no preaching, just singing.” I told him, “I don’t have a shirt.” He said, “I’ll get you one.” “Well, I don’t have any dress pants.” “Would you quit worrying about it and just go?” he pleaded. There was one statement my brother always used when trying to get me to come to Christ. He would say, as he said that night, “I know someone Who will help you if you just let Him.” Finally, I relented and said, “Okay.”

As soon as we walked into that Baptist church on that cool Saturday night, I felt unclean and dirty. I thought this was no place for a guy like me. Before the service even started, I was overwhelmed with guilt. We found our place on the fourth row to the pulpit’s right. Outwardly I tried to return the friendliness the people showed to me. People who did not even know me acted as though they cared about me. I shook their hand. I gave a nod and a “hello.” Yet as I quietly sat there, an immense struggle began inside me.

The service began. We stood and began to sing a full-throated congregational song. Unhindered tears began to run down my face. I wanted to hide my face. We sat down and I buried my face in my hands questioned and reasoned: “What’s going on?” While an average church service continued, two voices raged in my mind. One rehearsed the same old routine of promises: “Don’t give in! Remember that party? That girl is waiting. What about your friends?” The other promised nothing, it said, “Come on. It’s the right thing to do. Come on.”

There seemed to be no one else in that room but me. Like a rush it dawned on me that the old voice was lying to me. I thought, “I have no friends out there. No one wants me around anymore. What do I care what they think?” I had heard the preacher say (yes, there was preaching that night), “You who need to be saved need to pray and ask Jesus to forgive you.” I did not know what to do. He said to pray. I had never been taught to pray. I did not know how, but I made up my mind to do whatever it would take to find relief. I was broken. With my heart breaking, my lips trembling, and my cheeks dripping with tears, I turned to my brother and said, “Bill, what do I do?” He simply stepped into the aisle and pointed toward the altar.

My heart was bursting inside. I ran to the altar and in a child-like trust begged Jesus in the only words I could form, “Oh, Jesus, forgive me; forgive me; forgive me; forgive me; I’m sorry; I’m sorry; I’m sorry…” This was the simple prayer of a lonely, empty, sinful man. I knew nothing of Bible doctrine or Christianity.

….

I am now Dr. George E. Bell, pastor and founder of Anchor Baptist Church and schools in Columbus, Ohio. The church started with ten people (six of whom were my own family) in a recreation center, on July 30, 1989. Currently (2002), our average Sunday morning attendance is over 550. We run six bus routes, average 110 soul winners out each week, average 100 baptisms a month, and have over 40 Sunday school classes. We have just built a 6,000 square foot education building and have property worth well over a million dollars. Our church has led our state in baptisms for the last four years.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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’s Wife Mary Cowan Charged with Failing to Report Husband’s Crimes

Bruce Gerencser 0 Comments
james and mary cowan

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.

Evangelical pastor James Cowan was recently sentenced to fifty years in prison for raping three of his minor children. You can read my report on his vile crimes here. Cowan’s ex-wife, Mary Cowan Miller, has now been arrested and charged with permitting the abuse of a minor and endangering the welfare of a minor in the second degree.

KMTB reports:

A Winthrop woman, 41-year-old Mary Miller, also known as Mary Cowan, was arrested on Monday, November 18, 2024, and charged with permitting the abuse of a minor and endangering the welfare of a minor in the second degree. The charges stem from her alleged failure to report and prevent the sexual abuse of three minor children in her care.

According to a police affidavit, James Cowan and Mary Cowan are the parents and legal guardians of the three victims involved in the case, as well as other children who were living in the home at the time of the alleged abuse. In an interview with law enforcement on March 12, 2024, Mary Cowan reportedly admitted to learning about the abuse on February 1, 2024, when the victims disclosed the allegations to her.

The affidavit states that after the victims informed her of the abuse, Mary Cowan returned home with her husband, James Cowan, and the victims. During the same interview, Mary also allegedly told law enforcement that James had admitted to her that he had touched the victims inappropriately.

Despite knowing about the abuse, Mary Cowan reportedly did not contact law enforcement immediately. She claimed that after learning of the allegations, she suffered a seizure in the laundry room of her home. However, police records indicate that she made no further attempt to notify authorities. Instead, she reportedly contacted her oldest daughter on February 1, 2024, to discuss the allegations. Mary Cowan was reportedly still living with James Cowan when he was arrested on February 2, 2024.

Mary Cowan’s failure to act to protect the children or report the abuse led to the charges against her. She was taken into custody on Monday and is facing serious criminal charges for failing to prevent further harm to the minors involved.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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 James Cowan Sentenced to 50 Years in Prison for Raping His Children

Bruce Gerencser 1 Comment
pastor james cowan

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.

James Cowan, the pastor of Little River Community Church (no online presence) in Winthrop, Arkansas, was recently sentenced to fifty years in prison for raping three of his minor children.

The Texarkana Gazette reported:

A Little River County man has been sentenced to 50 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to three counts of rape.

James Edwin Cowan, 46, was charged with the rape of three minors, according to court records.

As part of a negotiated plea agreement, Cowan was sentenced Tuesday to 50 years in prison plus 30 years of a suspended sentence upon release, according to a news release from 9th West Prosecuting Attorney Jana C. Bradford.

Under Arkansas sentencing guidelines, Cowan will be required to serve at least 70% of his 50-year sentence years before being considered for parole.

The decision to offer a plea deal was made after consideration of the victims’ wishes, as well as the emotional and psychological toll that a trial would have placed on them, according to Bradford.

“This plea agreement was reached with careful attention to the needs of the victims, ensuring they would not have to endure the further trauma of testifying in a court trial. The safety and well-being of children is always a top priority for our office, and the resolution of this case reflects that commitment,” Bradford said.

“While no sentence can undo the harm done to these young victims, we hope this will provide a measure of justice and allow them to begin the long process of healing,” Bradford said.

Cowan also will be required to register as a sex offender should he ever be granted parole.

“This case underscores the critical importance of protecting vulnerable children from abuse and holding those who commit such heinous crimes fully accountable, ” Bradford said.

Crime Online adds:

A former Arkansas pastor has been sentenced to 50 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to three counts of raping his own minor children.

James Edwin Cowan, 46, will also serve 30 years of a suspended sentence after his release from prison, according to the Arkansas Southwest Judicial District prosecuting attorney, Jana Bradford. He must serve 35 years before he can be considered for parole.

According to court documents obtained by the Arkansas Justice Project, Cowan was charged with 28 counts of raping children and his trial was scheduled to begin on November 18. The children were said to be younger than 14.

He was the former pastor of Little River Community Church in Winthrop, Arkansas.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.

Connect with me on social media:

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Did King David, A Man After God’s Own Heart, Rape Bathsheba?

Bruce Gerencser 10 Comments
david and bathsheba

Most Christians are familiar with the Old Testament story about David, King of Israel, and Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. 2 Samuel 11:1-5 says:

And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house. And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.

David decided one evening to take a rooftop stroll. As he surveyed the city of Jerusalem, he noticed a beautiful woman taking a bath. Horniness aroused, David sent messengers to Bathsheba’s home and had her brought to him so he could have sex with her.

David’s dalliance with Bathsheba was not a one-time thing. David’s lust for Bathsheba was such that he was willing to do anything — including murder — to “have” her. David knew Bathsheba was married, and that the punishment for adultery was death, so he cooked up a plan to kill her husband, and thereby hide his crime.

David tried several times to get Uriah to go into Bathsheba and have sex with her, hoping to cover up the fact that she was pregnant with his child. Uriah, a dutiful soldier, twice refused offers to go home. David, now worried that his adulterous act with Bathsheba would become known, treacherously decided to have Uriah murdered.

2 Samuel 11:14-17 says:

 And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die. And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were. And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also.

With Uriah out of the way, David — a man the Bible calls, “a man after God’s own heart” — was free to “take” Bathsheba for his own.  2 Samuel 11:26,27 says:

And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

Either David planned to concoct a story, saying that Uriah had sex with Bathsheba before he left for the battlefield, and she became pregnant, or the time frame is short enough that David could marry Bathsheba and claim that she got pregnant soon after their marriage. Either way, David’s subterfuge was such that he faced no consequences for his adulterous behavior.

The Evangelical world has been afire over the claim that what David did was rape, not adultery. Some Evangelicals trotted out the tired argument that I heard countless times as a youth: that Bathsheba was to blame; that she was bathing in a place where David could see her; and that David can’t be blamed for sexually desiring a beautiful naked woman. I can imagine Lori Alexander saying these very words. Regardless, wasn’t David’s behavior with Bathsheba adultery? Didn’t David arrange things in such a way that Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, would be killed (murdered), and then didn’t he take Bathsheba to be his wife? How is it that David is exonerated of all these things? Does David’s stiff prick wipe out his culpability? Is the woman always to blame?

Other Evangelicals have argued that the law of God makes clear that David having sex with Bathsheba was NOT rape.

Deuteronomy 22:22-24 says:

If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel. If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour’s wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.

The inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God is clear:

  • If David and Bathsheba committed adultery, then both of them should have been stoned to death.
  • If David raped Bathsheba and she cried out, then only David should be executed.
  • If David raped Bathsheba and she didn’t cry out, both of them should have been stoned to death

Wanting to protect King David’s name, some Evangelicals argue that his sex with Bathsheba couldn’t be rape because the Bible doesn’t say she cried out. No crying out, no rape. And what about the adultery, then? Doesn’t the Law of God demand David be executed, along with Bathsheba? Crickets.

Evangelicals are fond of demanding everyone follow the Law of God; yet when it comes to one of their idols, David, obeying the Law is optional. I do not doubt that it was widely known what David had done with Bathsheba and to Uriah, yet it was an innocent baby that was punished for his “sin.” More on this later.

In 2 Samuel 12, the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David to tell him a story:

And the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die. And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

This story should settle for Evangelicals the rape or adultery question. The rich man in the story took the poor man’s ewe lamb by force. The poor man would never have willingly given the ewe to the rich man. The poor man treated the ewe like one of his children. Is this not exactly what David did with Bathsheba? Bathsheba would never have willingly had sex with David. Uriah would never say to the King, “Sure, take my wife and fuck her.” It is clear, at least to me, that David raped Bathsheba, and in an attempt to cover up his crime, had her husband murdered. The fact that Bathsheba became David’s wife changes nothing. Bathsheba knew that if it became publicly known that she was pregnant with the child of a man not her husband, she would be executed. Both David and Bathsheba knew that they were burying David’s criminal behavior by getting married.

Evangelicals love to paint their God as just, holy, and righteous. Many of them, at least privately, believe LGBTQ people should be arrested and executed. The same goes for abortion doctors who perform abortions. Some Evangelicals go so far as to say that women who “murder their babies” should be executed too. While these positions seem extreme to rational, thoughtful people, when one’s brain is chained to the Bible, reason goes out the window. Yet, when asked why David and Bathsheba were not stoned to death for their crimes, Evangelicals suddenly start stammering and come up with all sorts of patently unbiblical justifications (i.e. Jesus’ lineage is through David: He [Jesus] shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. Luke 1:32 No David, No Jesus).

Some Evangelicals argue that God “did” punish David and Bathsheba. After Nathan told David the ewe story, he said:

Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. (2 Samuel 12:7-12)

I find it interesting that Nathan doesn’t mention David’s rape of Bathsheba. Instead, he focused on David’s murder of her husband. I thought sin was sin in the eyes of God. Regardless, David confessed his sin, and the Lord forgave him. Nathan said, “The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.” The law of God demanded David’s death, but God gave him a pass. Is it any wonder, then, that predatory Evangelical preachers, when caught with their flies open, think they can escape punishment for their crimes by saying, “My bad, Jesus.”

The summer before I left for college, a local preacher stopped by to talk to the father of a friend of mine. I was in the driveway working on a car. I knew that the preacher had left his wife and was carrying on with someone from his church. I point-blank asked him to explain his adulterous behavior. With nary a thought, he replied, “David had his Bathsheba, and I’m going to have mine!” I have never forgotten what this preacher said. His words perfectly explain how many Evangelicals view personal “sin.”  Hey, no one is perfect. Look at what David did, yet he was still called a “man after God’s own heart.” Look at all the Psalms David wrote. Yes, he raped a woman and killed her husband, but look at all the good things he did for God.

David did suffer a bit for his crimes. Nathan told David that when Bathsheba gave birth to her baby, God planned to kill the child.

2 Samuel 12:13-18 says:

And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. And Nathan departed unto his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick. David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died.

Think about this story for a moment. David deserved to be executed for his crimes, and perhaps Bathsheba did too. But God, in his infinite wisdom, decided to kill an innocent baby instead. What an awesome God, right? I suspect some Evangelicals will try to put a gospel spin on this story. I know I did back in my preaching days. The innocent baby paid the ultimate price for the sins of David and Bathsheba. What a beautiful picture of what Jesus, the perfect lamb of God, did for us by dying on the cross for our sins. Woo Hoo! Ain’t God wonderful? No, he’s not.

The Bible says in Ezekiel 18:20:

The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

The Good Book is clear; God will not punish children for the sins of their fathers. Each of us bears personal accountability for our actions. (I am aware that Exodus 20:5 contradicts Ezekiel 18:20. Dammit, I have a point to make! I’ll deal with Exodus 20 some other day.) Why did God give David a pass on his crimes?

From start to finish, the Biblical account of David and Bathsheba is one fucked up story. That many Evangelicals refuse to see David as a predator and rapist is troubling; especially those who argue that it wasn’t rape because Bathsheba didn’t scream or that she was a temptation that David couldn’t pass on. In times such as this, we are reminded that Evangelicals are a long way away from coming to terms with their warped, perverse views of women and human sexuality. As long as David is viewed as a hero, there’s no hope of progress; no hope of Evangelicals developing a sexual ethic that reflects twenty-first-century thinking.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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 Youth Pastor Ryan McElrath Accused of Rape

Bruce Gerencser 1 Comment
ryan mcelrath

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.

Ryan McElrath, a youth pastor at Fellowship Bible Church in Jackson, Tennessee, stands accused of raping a seventeen-year-old church girl.

Channel 7 reports:

A Jackson youth pastor has been arrested on rape charges.

According to booking information from the Madison County jail, 39-year-old Ryan McElrath was booked into the jail around 5:48 p.m. on Tuesday.

Jackson Police Department’s online Police To Citizen resource shows that McElrath was arrested at a residence on Willow Green Drive, with charges listed as sexual battery by an authority figure, statutory rape, and statutory rape by an authority figure – forcible rape.

In a social media post made by Fellowship Bible Church prior to his arrest — which is no longer accessible — McElrath is described as a “high school pastor.” At the time of this report, the church also has several videos on their website where McElrath can be seen as a featured speaker.

McElrath also hosted a religion-based podcast with episodes ranging from October 2021 – November 2023. The podcast’s description states: “Here, at Fellowship Bible Church in Jackson, TN, we are starting our very first Family Podcast in which we are going to create space for families to have great conversations with their kids and have fun at the same time!”

A June 14, 2024 update stated:

A warrant has revealed additional details in the arrest of youth pastor Ryan McElrath. According to the warrant, on the morning of June 11, a man visited the Jackson Police Department to report a sexual assault against his daughter. The warrant states on May 31, 2024, McElrath engaged in sexual contact with a 17-year-old female victim at Fellowship Bible Church, located at 141 Pleasant Plains Road in Jackson. According to the warrant, McElrath met the victim in the high school area of the church for approximately 30 minutes. McElrath is expected to appear in Jackson City Court on June 26th at 9:30 a.m.

Fellowship Bible released the following statement:

Ryan McElrath is no longer employed at Fellowship due to criminal charges filed June 11. Within hours of the allegations, the matter was investigated, Ryan admitted to the violation, and was terminated. The church immediately supported the victim in reporting the allegations to local law enforcement, and notified parents and students. The church is cooperating fully with local authorities, and is engaging an external agency to audit church policies and procedures as well as provide guidance on continued care for the victim and the church. Our priority continues to be the privacy and well-being of the victim, the victim’s family, our students and their parents.

“As a church community we are absolutely devastated by this. And, as a parent, I share in our God’s outrage and grief when the innocent are harmed. We are acting in cooperation with law enforcement in caring for the victim and the victim’s family.”

Eugene Brandt, Lead Pastor Fellowship

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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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Update: Black Collar Crime: IFB Evangelist Benjamin Garlick Accused of Sex Crimes Against Children, Wife Charged Too

Bruce Gerencser 3 Comments
Benjamin-Garlick-Shaantal-Garlick

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 2023, Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) evangelist Benjamin Garlick was accused of five counts of Aggravated Rape of a Child, five counts of Aggravated Sexual Battery of a Minor who was under the age of 13, one count of Soliciting Sexual Exploitation of a Minor who was under the age of 13, and one count of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child. Garlick’s wife, Shaantal, was also charged with one count of Facilitation of Aggravated Rape of a Child and one count of Aggravated Child Abuse/ Endangerment to a child age 8 and younger.

WGNS reported:

An evangelist who calls the Blackman area home is facing a slew of charges that revolve around the rape of a child. Benjamin Garlick was taken into custody under a sealed indictment that was handed down by a Rutherford County Grand Jury.

According to court documents, Garlick was charged with 5-counts of Aggravated Rape of a Child, 5-counts of Aggravated Sexual Battery of a Minor who was under the age of 13, 1-count of Soliciting Sexual Exploitation of a Minor who was under the age of 13, and 1-count of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child.

Prior to Garlick’s arrest, he led church services in Texas, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama and Arkansas, just to name a few. The suspect spoke Spanish fluently and frequented Spanish speaking congregations, events and organizations. Over the past few years, Garlick amassed thousands of views on YouTube and Facebook as a guest pastor, speaking at a variety of churches both large and small throughout the country.

The 32-year-old child rape suspect is currently behind bars in the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center in Murfreesboro. Garlick is being held under a $750-thousand-dollar bond, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The suspect was taken into custody this past Tuesday on September 12, 2023, which was the same day that his wife Shaantal Garlick was arrested.

The courts show that Shaantal Garlick is facing 1-count of Facilitation of Aggravated Rape of a Child and 1-count of Aggravated Child Abuse / Endangerment to a child age 8 and younger.

Shaantal Garlick, who is free after posting a $75-thousand bond, was in court just one month prior to her arrest. Mrs. Garlick filed for an Order of Protection against Benjamin Garlick last month on August 14, 2023. The order was filed in the Rutherford County Chancery Court under the Honorable Howard W. Wilson.

MPD Public Information Officer Larry Flowers told WGNS News on Tuesday the detective over the investigation says the Garlick case remains active and is ongoing. The crimes that Mr. Garlick is accused of committing date back to February of 2021, but again, the investigation is ongoing.

The Messenger added:

Police told WKRN they don’t know how many total victims there are, where they occurred or how Benjamin Garlick knew them. Police say the rapes allegedly happened on Feb. 13, 2021, and that the case is still under investigation.

The pastor was indicted Sept. 12 and booked into the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center, where he still remains. His was booked into jail and released on a $75,000 bond two days later.

One pastor in Murfreesboro told WKRN that he has known Garlick since he was a child, and called him a father with a “role model” family.

The preacher with the “perfect” family with the “perfect” wife, yet both of them are charged with sex crimes. Hmm . . .

benjamin garlick

The Roys Report added:

According to multiple reports, the couple has ministered as itinerant Christian evangelists with their six children. In recent years, the Garlicks have led church services in multiple states including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, and their home state of Tennessee. 

Authorities arrested Benjamin Garlick on Sept. 12 at his residence in Blackman, a suburb of Murfreesboro. Garlick remains in custody at Rutherford County Adult Detention Center on a $750,000 bond. 

Shaantal Garlick was also arrested on Sept 12. She bonded out on Sept. 15, paying $75,000 in fees. The charges against both Garlicks stem from actions that were alleged to have occurred on Feb. 13, 2021. 

The Garlicks have been supported in their itinerant ministry by First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, a flagship church of the Independent Fundamental Baptist movement. As of publication time, the couple was still listed on the church’s website as church-supported missionaries.

Last month, a grand jury indicted the Garlicks on additional charges.

Hoodline reports:

Murfreesboro police are doubling down on their call for potential victims to speak up in the case against a traveling pastor and his wife, both facing serious child rape charges. Benjamin Sean Garlick, 32, a minister known for preaching across the nation, particularly within the Hispanic community, and his wife, Shaantal, 30, are presently entangled in a legal maelstrom following a spate of charges that have come to light surrounding their alleged sexual abuse of minors.

According to WSMV, Benjamin Garlick was slammed with a litany of charges in September but now faces additional ones after a Rutherford County Grand Jury handed down a new indictment in March. The new charges include seven counts of aggravated rape of a child, six counts of aggravated sexual battery, along with two counts each of sexual exploitation of a minor and violation of the child protection act.

His spouse, Shaantal, also faces updated charges. As reported by FOX17, she has been reindicted on two counts each of facilitation of aggravated rape of a child and aggravated child neglect. Shaantal made bond last year but found herself under arrest again last month after the new indictment was served.

….

Murfreesboro police have been highlighting the urgency for any additional victims to come forward, particularly those from the Hispanic community who may have crossed paths with the Garlicks in their nationwide ministry.

For those potentially affected, the call is not merely an announcement—it is a beacon, a chance to speak, to be heard, and to potentially find a semblance of justice in a situation where power and trust have been so flagrantly exploited. The Garlicks’ travel across this country was not, as it seems, a mission of faith healing and community building, but perhaps one that left behind a darker, indelible mark on the lives of the vulnerable.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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 Mark Hatcher Convicted of Sex Crimes Against Children

Bruce Gerencser 0 Comments
pastor mark hatcher

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.

Mark Hatcher, pastor and chief apostle of Holy Ghost Headquarters Revival Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was recently convicted of ten charges, including rape, statutory sexual assault, sexual assault, and indecent assault of a child in connection with assaults of a boy and two girls between the ages of six and fifteen.

The Reporter reports:

For a Whitpain Township pastor, a jury decided it was judgment day, convicting him of multiple charges that he had indecent or sexual contact with an underage boy and two girls during an eight-year period at his home and in Philadelphia.

Mark Hatcher, 60, of the 800 block of Village Circle Drive in the Blue Bell section of Whitpain, was convicted in Montgomery County Court of 10 charges, including rape, statutory sexual assault, sexual assault, and indecent assault of a child in connection with assaults of a boy and two girls between the ages of 6 and 15 in Whitpain and Philadelphia between 2000 and 2008.

Hatcher, a pastor of Holy Ghost Headquarters located on North Broad Street in North Philadelphia, showed no emotion as the jury of seven women and five men announced the verdict after 2½ hours of deliberations.

The tearful victims, now adults, were embraced by relatives in the courtroom as the jury forewoman firmly stated, “We the jury find the defendant guilty,” to each charge as it was read.

“I’m really happy for the victims. After all these years, they finally got justice and I’m grateful to the jury for giving them that justice,” Assistant District Attorney Caroline Rose Goldstein reacted to the verdict afterward.

“These three victims were kids when this happened. They all trusted the defendant. He was a pastor. One of the victims said that she looked to him as a father figure and he preyed on that and used that against them to commit horrible crimes that shaped their lives for years later,” Goldstein added.

….

Judge Thomas C. Branca, who presided over the three-day trial, permitted Hatcher to remain free on bail but ordered Hatcher to surrender his passport and prohibited Hatcher from having contact with minors as conditions of his bail. Branca scheduled Hatcher’s sentencing hearing for May 23.

As he left the courtroom to await that sentencing hearing, Hatcher said the verdict was “not right.”

“It’s not fair. No truth at all was in the matter,” Hatcher added.

Hatcher declined to reveal if he will be preaching on Sunday to his congregation that gathers at the Met Theatre on North Broad Street.

Hatcher potentially faces several years in prison on the charges. Goldstein vowed to seek a lengthy state prison term against Hatcher.

Gamburg vowed to appeal the verdict on Hatcher’s behalf.

“We’re very disappointed with the verdict. We’ll get ready for sentencing and get the appeal put together,” Gamburg said.

During the trial, an adult man and two adult women testified Hatcher indecently or sexually assaulted them while they were in his company in Whitpain and Philadelphia. Hatcher knew the victims’ families, some of whom attended his church.

….

The investigation of Hatcher began in January 2022 when one of the victims went to Whitpain police to report what happened to him when he was a child, according to the criminal complaint filed by Whitpain Detective Bradly Potter.

The 22-year-old man testified he was 6-years-old in the summer of 2007 when Hatcher indecently touched him and forced him to touch Hatcher’s penis while Hatcher masturbated. The victim recalled Hatcher had indecent contact with him again when he was 7 years old in 2008, specifically, Hatcher kissed him on the mouth and touched his buttocks as the boy was playing with a Noah’s Ark toy while visiting Hatcher’s Whitpain home.

“I trusted him. I remember feeling confused and disgusted,” said the man, who finally told his mother about the incidents in 2021. “I guess I was just tired. When I looked in the mirror I was ashamed. I felt weak and I felt disgusted with myself.”

The man told the jury he contemplated suicide over the years as he kept Hatcher’s assaults bottled up inside. After testifying, the young man was comforted by his mother in the courtroom.

A 39-year-old woman testified she was molested by Hatcher in 2000 when she was 15 years old and was visiting Hatcher’s Whitpain residence. The woman said Hatcher exposed his body to her, then approached her from behind and fondled her breasts. She recalled Hatcher asking her if he made her feel uncomfortable and when she told him “yes” he stopped touching her.

“I didn’t want to make a big fuss about the situation. I just wanted it to blow over. I didn’t want it to be a big thing,” the woman said, explaining why she didn’t report Hatcher’s conduct at the time.

The woman told detectives about the incident after she learned that the 22-year-old man had told authorities about Hatcher’s indecent contact with him.

A second woman testified that she was 13 when Hatcher forcibly raped her after he took her to a vacant Philadelphia residence in November 2006 on a day when the pastor was supposed to be counseling her. The woman said Hatcher put his hand over her mouth when she began to scream and eventually stopped the sexual assault while telling her he was “going to save me for my husband,” according to testimony.

The victim had reported the assault to Philadelphia authorities at the time but no charges were filed by prosecutors there, testimony revealed.

….

While Goldstein argued Hatcher was a trusted pastor and mentor to the victims and took advantage of that trust for his sexual gratification, Gamburg suggested the three victims fabricated the allegations and he questioned their delays in reporting their claims.

“It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. Is there any objective evidence? There is too much reasonable doubt to convict him,” Gamburg argued to the jury. “They are horrifying allegations against Pastor Hatcher.”

Hatcher did not testify during the trial. But Gamburg presented a half-dozen character witnesses, relatives of Hatcher and members of his congregation, who testified he has a good reputation in the community for being a “non-violent, peaceful and law-abiding man.”

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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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IFB Pastor Bobby Leonard “Apologizes” for Saying Women Deserve Being Raped If They Wear Immodest Shorts

Bruce Gerencser 7 Comments
pastor bobby leonard

When you go to Pigeon Forge, sit in mall parking lot, you’ll find more women with shorts on than pants & dresses put together. If you dress like that and you get raped, and I’m on the jury, he’s going to go free. You don’t like that, do you? I’m right, though. Because a man’s a man.

— Bobby Leonard, Pastor of Bible Baptist Tabernacle in Monroe, North Carolina

Bobby Leonard is an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) preacher, pastor of Bible Baptist Tabernacle for fifty-four years. His vile comment in his sermon resulted in widespread condemnation, resulting in Leonard apologizing:

I want to express my deep regret for the statements made from the pulpit. I am only beginning to understand the hurt and offense caused, and I take full responsibility for my words. As a pastor I failed to uphold the biblical values of love and compassion. I apologize for the pain caused and commit to learning from making this foolish and sinful statement. Bible Baptist Tabernacle and I unequivocally stand on the biblical position that rape under any circumstances is a heinous crime to be punished severely and is never excusable.

What are we to make of Leonard’s apology, especially considering he made this statement six months ago and only apologized AFTER his words were revealed by Bad Preacher Clips on Twitter? Leonard apologized because he got caught. His words caused such outrage, he had no choice but to eat them and “apologize.”

Generally, preachers such as Leonard say what they mean the first time. Apologies are damage control, not repentance and contrition. Leonard has been an IFB Christian his entire life. He has heard similar statements countless times over the years; I know I have.

Here’s the late IFB demigod Jack Hyles saying virtually the same thing; suggesting that if women who dress immodestly (show their thighs) get raped, they deserve it.

Video Link

Here’s what a few other IFB/Baptist preachers said about women dressing immodestly:

An immodestly dressed woman is like a cigarette at a gas pump. The cigarette does not explode; the explosion comes as a result of the inherent instability of the fuel. But whoever lit the thing is an absolute fool. I can hear the responses being typed furiously all the way from Iowa. “Well, he should control himself!” Amen, sister, amen. He should walk in the Spirit and thus not fulfil the lusts of the flesh. And you should not run around half-clothed.

— Tom Brennan, pastor of Bible Baptist Church in Dubuque, Iowa, Brennan’s Pen, The Relationship Between Modesty and Lust, April 25, 2022

The entire eighteenth chapter of Leviticus is on nakedness. Although most Christians still consider bestiality as being wrong, they no longer consider homosexuality as being wrong or dressing improperly as being wrong. Many see nothing wrong with dressing scantily. Many see nothing wrong with mixed bathing, yet God calls it an abomination. How many cases of incest have taken place in homes where passions have been inflamed by immodesty among family members? How many boys and girls have been raised in homes that practiced immodest dress and now live lives of promiscuity?

— Gerald B. Collingsworth, pastor of Heritage Baptist Church in Mogadore, Ohio, Right Living is Not Legalism, May 18, 2019

It’s that beautiful yet dreadful time of year when summer clothes come-out.  And it seems that every summer shorts get shorter, necklines plunge lower, styles get tighter, and fabrics are so thin that one could read a newspaper through them.  Yet issues over modest clothing aren’t just significant to the Amish and crotchety old people who complain about “those ‘dang teenagers.”

When a glutton eats too much, no one else gets fat.  And when a thief steals from a convenience store, only the thief goes to jail.  But when a young lady dresses inappropriately, the effects of her sin are expansive.

Her sin spreads.

As she strolls down the beach in her immodest bathing suit or worships on a Sunday wearing a revealing dress, everyone who sees her is handed temptation.   The men and boys around her must battle the sin of lust, while the women and girls around her must battle the sins of bitterness and jealousy and the temptation to show-off their bodies, too.   Everyone is distracted by the young lady’s clothing and everyone struggles to think pure thoughts.

— Kara Barnette, wife of Tim, pastor of Heritage Hills Baptist Church in Rockdale County, Georgia

There is an infatuation with the body, and, of course, the sexual aspects of the body as well. Some sports encourage immodesty, revealing large portions of the body and this happens in some sports. These are the risky sports. Here they are, what are the risky sports? Gymnastics. Gymnastics and swimming. These are the sports in which there is an added risk.

Why are all of the gymnasts [at] more of a risk than other sports? Do you really want your daughters involved in a sport that involves a fair amount of immodesty in which red-blooded American male coaches are interacting with these girls? Or, worse yet, where the infatuation of the body eventually effects the lesbian coaches?

— Kevin Swanson, Gymnastics and the Sexual Abuse of Kids, February 9, 2018

Leonard should be fired for what he said, but he won’t be. Why? I suspect more than a few church members agree with him. What Leonard spoke out loud is not uncommon in IFB circles. Just good ‘ole old-fashioned, pulpit-pounding, toe-stomping, fire-and-brimstone preaching, right?

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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 Seferino Tosie Accused of Raping Church Children

Bruce Gerencser 1 Comment
seferino tosie

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.

Seferino Tosie, pastor of Missionary Memorial Church in Aurora, Oregon, stands of accused sixteen counts of rape, sexual penetration, sex abuse, and sodomy.

KOIN reports:

A Washington County pastor was arrested and indicted for sex crimes, including rape, for alleged incidents that began in 2008.

Seferino Tosie, 46, was indicted by a Washington County grand jury following a 2-month investigation with the Canby Police Department that identified multiple juvenile victims.

Detectives say Tosie’s victims likely attended Missionary Memorial Church in Aurora, where he worked as a pastor.

So far, the cases reported have occurred in Washington, Clackamas, and Marion counties between 2008 and 2016, authorities said.

Tosie was indicted by a grand jury on 16 charges.

However, detectives with the Violent Crimes Unit say they also believe there are other victims yet to come forward, as Tosie has worked in other churches in the area, as well as in Kansas, Minnesota, Hawaii and Iowa. Officials said one more victim came forward after Tosie’s indictment.

NewsBreak adds:

Detectives of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office Violent Crimes division say a pastor, Seferino Tosie, 46, has been indicted on multiple charges of alleged sexual assault.

Officials are looking for more victims.

Since Tosie’s indictment on Dec. 13, a third victim has come forward with similar allegations. The alleged victims were members of Missionary Memorial Church in Aurora, where Tosie served as a pastor. The alleged abuse reported so far took place in Washington, Clackamas and Marion counties between 2008 and 2016.

So far, all of the alleged victims have been of Micronesian descent. Court records show the three victims were all under the age of 14.

The charges stem from a two-month joint investigation with the Canby Police Department. Detectives identified multiple juvenile victims during the investigation, and the case is still ongoing.

Detectives believe Tosie’s victims attended Missionary Memorial Church, where he worked as a pastor. Investigators say Tosie also has worked at many other churches in the area, as well as in Kansas, Minnesota, Hawaii and Iowa.

A Washington County grand jury on Dec. 13 indicted Tosie on multiple counts of the following crimes:

Rape in the first degree (three counts)Sodomy in the first degree (six counts)Sexual Abuse in the first degree (four counts)Sexual Penetration in the first degree (three counts)

Tosie has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Meanwhile, a co-defendent is listed in the court records, Jerony MJ Simina, 23, of Tualatin. Simina was arraigned Dec. 6 on six counts of first-degree sodomy and three counts of first-degree sexual abuse. Records show the men may have abused at least two of the same children.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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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Dr. David Tee Continues to Support Preachers Who Rape, Molest, and Abuse Children

Bruce Gerencser 19 Comments
sexual predators 2

Dr. David Tee, who is neither a doctor nor a Tee, continues to support preachers who rape, molest, and abuse children, saying that their crimes are mere “problems”; weaknesses that they can overcome through Jesus and the power of prayer. Tee, whose real name is Derrick Thomas Thiessen, continues to impugn my character, suggesting that I hate God and Christians; that I’m just piling on those poor preachers who are down. Thiessen thinks I am trying to make God look bad. According to him, the purpose of the Black Collar Crime Series is to harm Christianity and Christians.

Here’s what Thiessen had to say (all spelling, grammar, and punctuation in the original):

There is a website [The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser], BG’s [Bruce Gerencser] to be more specific, that likes to post the names, images, and crimes of those Christian pastors who have not been able to conquer their problems [rapes, molestations, assaults]. For the most part, it is a useless list as it does not expose anyone of any secret crime they have committed.

It is just a reposting of actual news stories for whatever reason BG may have. We have labeled it as hatred for God and Christians in the past and it is simply piling on those who are down. It is an uncalled for list as it serves no purpose but to harm Christians and Christianity.

He tries to make God look bad through the fallen ministers who are paying for their crimes. However, no matter the bad reason BG has for posting these images and crimes, Christians can turn it into good.

….

Being a pastor is a hard profession to be in as evil will attack the minister through a variety of means. Ministers need prayer to remain strong, resist temptation, and remain in the faith. They are totally human and do have weaknesses they have not conquered.

Just because God calls them to the ministry does it mean they are impervious to temptation, perfect, or even properly spiritual. These lists prove that point. When these men and sometimes women fail, don’t get a superiority complex because all Christians fail in some way at some point [most Christians don’t rape, molest, or assault children].

I have repeatedly explained why I write the Black Collar Crimes Series to Thiessen. In March 2023, I republished an expanded post titled Why I Write The Black Collar Crime Series and Will Continue to Do So Despite Criticism from Evangelicals. What follows is that post in full.

The Black Collar Crime series is in its seventh year, having published over one thousand reports of clergy and church leader criminal misconduct. Most of the reports are about Evangelical pastors, evangelists, youth directors, and other church leaders who committed sex crimes. Using Google Alerts, I receive an immediate notice any time a news story about clerical malfeasance is posted on the Internet. These stories must receive wide circulation. Victims need to know that people are standing with them as they bring to light what God’s servants have done in secret.

I realize that these reports are often dark and depressing, but the only way to dispel darkness is to turn on the lights. Clergy who prey on congregants — especially children — must be exposed, prosecuted, convicted, and sent to prison. By leveraging this blog’s readership numbers and publishing these reports, I am serving notice to law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges: we are paying attention, and if you fail to provide justice for victims, we will hold you accountable.

Many clerics have enormous power over people. How else do we explain that alleged repeat abusers of children and sexual predators such as Lester Roloff, Jack Patterson, and Mack Ford — to name a few — never spent a day in jail for their crimes? Mack Ford, in particular, spent decades physically and psychologically destroying teenagers, yet, thanks to his connections in the community, he was never prosecuted for his crimes. (Please see Sexual Abuse in the Name of God: New Bethany Home for Girls, Teen Group Homes: Dear IFB Pastor, It’s Time for You to Atone for Your Sin, What Should We Do When Religious Freedom Leads to Child Abuse?)

Sometimes, these seemingly untouchable predators are brought to justice, but not before the public puts pressure on law enforcement and prosecutors, forcing them to act. The sordid story of abuse at Restoration Youth Academy is a case in point. Decades of abuse reports were filed with local law enforcement, yet nothing was done. Yes, they finally acted and the perpetrators are now in prison, but what do we say to the hundreds of children and teenagers who were ritually abused before prosecutors got around to doing their job?

I am sure that this series will bring criticism from Evangelical zealots, reminding me that accused/charged clerics are innocent until proven guilty. While they are correct, all I am doing is sharing that which is widely reported in the news. In the sixteen years I’ve been writing about clergy misconduct, I can count on one hand the number of pastors/priests/religious leaders who were falsely accused — less than five, out of hundreds and hundreds of cases. The reason for so few false accusations is that no person in his or her right mind would mendaciously accuse a pastor of sexual misconduct. The social and personal cost is simply too high for someone to falsely accuse a religious leader of criminal conduct.

People often believe that “men of God” would never, ever commit such crimes. One common thread in the crimes committed by Jack Schaap, Bill Wininger, Josh Duggar, David Farren, Naasón Joaquín García, and a cast of thousands, is that family and fellow Christians were CERTAIN that these men of God could/would never commit the crimes with which they were charged. Even when presented with overwhelming evidence, their supporters, with heads in the sand, refuse to believe that these servants of Jesus did the perverse things they are accused of. (Please see What One IFB Apologist Thinks of People Who Claim They Were Abused and Evangelicals Use ‘We Are All Sinners’ Argument to Justify Sexual Abuse.)

Secondary reasons for this series have to do with exposing the lie that Evangelicalism is immune to scandal and criminal behavior. I remember when the Catholic sex scandal came to light. With great glee and satisfaction, Evangelical preachers railed against predator priests and the Catholic Church who covered up their crimes. Now, of course, we know — with the recent Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) and Southern Baptist sex scandals — that Evangelicalism is just as rotten, having its own problems with sexual abuse and subsequent cover-ups. Evangelicals love to take the high moral ground, giving the perception that their shit doesn’t stink. Well, now we know better. Not only does Evangelicalism have a sexual abuse problem, it also has a big problem with pastors who can’t keep their pants zipped up. (Please see Is Clergy Sexual Infidelity Rare?)

I receive threats from people defending their religious heroes. Threats of legal action are common, even though all I am doing is republishing stories publicly reported by news agencies. A pastor featured in one of my reports contacted me and said that reporters had it all wrong. As I do with everyone who asserts they are being falsely accused, I told this preacher that he could give his version of the facts, sign his name to it, and I would gladly add it to the post. Usually, this puts an end to any further protestations. Most often, the accused want to bully me into taking down my post. In this preacher’s case, he provided me his version of events and I gladly added it to my post. After adding the information, I decided to investigate this pastor further. I found more information about his past indiscretions and crimes. I dutifully added them to the post. I have not heard anything further from the good pastor.

I am not immune from making mistakes, so if you spot a factual error in one of the stories, please let me know and I will gladly correct it. If you come across a story that you would like me to add to this series, please use the contact form to email me. Please keep in mind that I need links to actual news reports in order to add them to this series.

I primarily use Google Alerts for Black Collar Crime reports. I also rely on readers to alert me to new stories or updates of previous reports. I am one man with a limited amount of time each day to slog through the brackish Evangelical swamp, so I don’t see every report or know the outcome of every case I’ve featured in the Black Collar Crime Series. Keep in mind that I require EVIDENCE for me to update a story. Not gossip or personal opinion. Actual evidence such as reputable news stories (with links). Just because a reader or drive-by commenter says something doesn’t make it so. I appreciate your understanding.

I realize that nothing I say in this post will change the minds of preachers such as Dr. David Tee, whose real name is Derrick Thomas Thiessen. Thiessen has a sketchy background. He has been accused of abandoning his family, including an infant child, failing to pay child support, and fleeing to South Korea/Philippines to avoid being held accountable for his behavior.

Thiessen has been a vocal critic of me personally and of the Black Collar Crimes Series. Thiessen is known for defending clerics who commit sex crimes. Just this week he wrote two more posts defending Ravi Zacharias. He has also defended men such as Bill Cosby and Bill Gothard. Thiessen goes to great lengths to defend his support of offending preachers, but I find his defenses lacking in every way. Thiessen repeatedly rejects the substantial work done by law enforcement in investigating, prosecuting, and convicting pastors who commit sex crimes. Why? This is the judgment of the “world,” not God. Of course, God is unavailable for comment. All we have are our legal processes, albeit imperfect, they are the best we have to hold clergy and churches accountable.

Thiessen frequently blames victims for what happened to them. Thiessen is not alone in this approach to women (sometimes men) and children who have been sexually violated and taken advantage of by so-called men of God. Again, Thiessen claims that victims are following the ways of the “world” instead of God. Of course, God’s ways in Thiessen’s mind are his peculiar interpretation of the Protestant Christian Bible.

Thiessen, in response to the post, Dr. David Tee Thinks Everyone Who is Not a Christian is an Atheist, renewed his objections to the Black Collar Crime Series. Here’s some of what he said:

He [Bruce Gerencser] is right in one thing, we do not like his black collar series but not for the reasons he thinks. We [Derrick Thiessen] do not like it for many reasons and two of them are, it is not being fair or just. That owner [Bruce Gerencser] ignores all the unbelievers and atheists who are caught, tried, and convicted for the same crimes.

….

[Speaking of being fair and just] Christians have to do both to be able to make an impact for Christ. But this is not the end of the hypocrisy and injustice carried out by the owners of the BG [The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser] and MM [Meerkat Musings] websites, as well as other unbelieving websites.

There have been other similar stories about drag shows in schools, and so on. Yet not one peep from either owner about how bad, immoral, or wrong these actions are. Instead, they would rather target Christians as that is the group of people, as well as Christ, that they hate.

This is another reason God told us to never follow in the counsel of the ungodly. They do not have fairness or just behavior in their thinking. Look at all the CRT, equity, BLM  re-education going on today. None of those and anything similar is of God nor are they just and fair.

….

Another reason we do not like the black collar series over at that website [The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser] is that it is unneeded. It does nothing constructive for society nor does it help redeem those men who failed in their Christian lives, if they were Christians at all.

All it does, as we said earlier, is influence others to hate Christ, pastors, and the church, and turning people to hate is wrong. It is not fair to those men highlighted and the series does not have people being just or fair towards them. In fact, it helps stoke the misguided guilty-until-proven-innocent mentality that many unbelievers endorse.

It is also redundant as the local papers will carry the same stories and his series is just wasting everyone’s time. When the Christian sees those stories they need to ask God how to reach those men so that Christ can redeem them.

….

{we would link to the article we talked about but it is so filled with lies and eisegetical comments that it is nothing but trash [which I can’t rebut] }

I have explained my motivations for writing the Black Collar Crime Series several times. He knows exactly why I do what I do, so I can only conclude that Thiessen is a liar and his goal is to impugn my character and impair my coverage of clergy sex crimes.

Let’s suppose I operated a site whose mission was to cover the Cincinnati Reds. Every day I published news stories about the Reds and individual players on the team. One day, a man named Deirere TeeDee sent me an email, complaining about me not writing any posts about the NHL, particularly me not covering the Detroit Red Wings. Duh, I replied, I write about the Reds, and Major League Baseball, not the National Hockey League and the Detroit Red Wings. Your complaint has no merit.

Yet, this is exactly what Thiessen has done with his complaint about me not covering atheists and other unbelievers who commit sex crimes. He knows that this site focuses on four things:

  • Helping people who have questions and doubts about Christianity
  • Helping people who have left Christianity
  • Telling the story about my journey from Evangelical Christian to atheist
  • Critiquing Evangelical Christianity

I have been blogging since 2007 — sixteen years. I have stayed true to these four focus points, rarely veering off the path to talk about politics, sports, food, and travel. Why Thiessen cannot understand why I write the Black Collar Crime Series is beyond me. I know that all sorts of people commit sex crimes, but my focus is on Evangelical preachers who commit such crimes. This is NOT a sex crime blog. If it was, I would cover unbelievers and believers alike. And even if I did, it would still be true that the vast majority of people who commit sex crimes are Christian or religious. Why? Because most Americans are Christians.

I have repeatedly explained to Thiessen why the Black Collar Crime Series is needed. I assume, at this point, he is being obtuse. Most of the stories I write require numerous news stories to tell the complete story. They also require research on my part to find out what sect the offender was a part of and their background and beliefs. Sometimes, these reports take a lot of time to put together. Other times, a Google search quickly gives me everything I need to write the story.

These reports are based on news reports, court records, social media, and other verifiable sources. I rarely interject my personal opinion. My goal is to provide a one-stop website for people looking for information about a particular preacher/church and their crimes. Blog traffic numbers suggest that this is exactly what is happening.

It is not uncommon for news sites to either delete stories about clergy sex crimes or put them behind paywalls. That’s why it is important for me to make these stories available to the public free of charge. The public has a right to know what is going on in Evangelical churches. Surely it is important to cover criminal behavior by clerics. Surely it is important to say to victims that I hear you and I will make your story known far and wide. The bigger question, then, is this: why do Derrick Thiessen and other Christians of his ilk want to muzzle me and keep these stories from being known?

One answer to the questions above is that the Thiessens of the world don’t care about the victims of clergy sex crimes. I suspect many of them believe that the victimized women (and men) and children and not victims at all. Thus, they view sexual predators as the real victims; that the “world” is out to get them. Thiessen admits as much when he says “When the Christian sees those stories [about rape, sexual assault, child molestation, along with theft, fraud, and murder] they need to ask God how to reach those men so that Christ can redeem them.” Remember, Thiessen has called sex crimes “mistakes.” He has yet to write one positive post about the victims of clergy sexual misconduct. All that Thiessen cares about are the poor preachers who rape, assault, misuse, and abuse vulnerable people. In his mind, these preachers just made “mistakes.” If they will just shoot a 1 John 1:9 (If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness) prayer to Heaven, Jesus will forgive them and cleanse them from all unrighteousness. With that, the offending preachers are forgiven and should get right back on the ministry horse. Thiessen seems oblivious to the fact that most pedophiles are incurable; that Jesus himself can’t fix them. He seems to be oblivious to the fact that preachers caught committing sex crimes, particularly child pornography, have likely been doing so for years. When a 60-something-year-old preacher is arrested for sexually assaulting a child, it is likely that he has committed this crime before. Most clergy sex crimes go unreported/unprosecuted (as is the case in the general population). What I cover with the Black Collar Crime Series is but a fraction of the crimes committed by Christian clergy. I read sites such as Ministry Watch, The Roys Report, Bishop Accountability, Baptist Accountability, and the Black Collar Crime listings published monthly for members by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. I am astounded by how many stories about clergy sex crimes I actually miss.

It’s clear to all who are willing to see that Evangelicalism has a clergy sex crime problem of epic proportions. These reports are not a few bad apples. The sex scandal roiling through the Southern Baptist Convention certainly proves that the proverbial barrel is littered with rotten, stinking apples.

Note: As of today, I have published almost 1,000 Black Collar Crime posts. I am sitting on over 1,000 more stories that await publication. I wish I could do more in this regard, but I can’t due to my health. I do what I can, but I want every victim/survivor to know that I see them, hear them, and will do all I can to make sure their story is not forgotten.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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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