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.
Eddy Noelsaint, the pastor of an unnamed church in Kissimmee, Florida, stands accused of raping a woman at his home.
A Kissimmee pastor was arrested after he allegedly sexually battered a member of his church twice at his home, Osceola County deputies said.
Eddy Noelsaint, 51, was arrested on two charges of sexual battery after a woman told deputies he raped her twice at his home and reportedly drugged her on one occasion in 2022.
On July 15, 2022, the woman said she was at Noelsaint’s house undergoing what she thought was a “spiritual revival as part of her cultural and religious beliefs.” During her baptism at Noelsaint’s church, she was assigned a spiritual grandmother who is Noelsaint’s wife, an arrest affidavit states.
That evening, Noelsaint’s wife left to go to work at 7 p.m. and the woman was instructed to take a shower. Noelsaint reportedly walked into the bathroom making an advance toward her, which she declined.
Later that evening, Noelsaint made the woman a green tea and kept asking her how she felt while she drank the tea. She said she wasn’t feeling well, so Noelsaint gave her two pills which gave the woman a headache and made her feel sleepy. A couple of hours later, he gave her two more pills, and she asked Noelsaint to call 911 because she felt her heart racing, deputies said.
He then took her into another room and sexually battered her. He also took her wedding ring the next day telling the woman there were bad spirits contained in it. When she asked for the ring back, he told her he threw it away.
A couple of months later in November 2022, she went to Noelsaint’s house again thinking she would be meeting with his wife who would be taking her to look for apartments.
Instead, Noelsaint was there, and he sexually battered her a second time, according to an arrest affidavit.
On Feb. 28, 2023, Noelsaint met with police and initially gave them conflicting stories about both incidents. He then confessed to sexually battering the woman.
Bruce Gerencser, 65, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 44 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.
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 2018, Russell Davis, a Methodist pastor, was accused of raping a church teenager.
A Seabrook man is being held without bail after he was accused of raping a child while he was serving as a pastor in the Methodist Church.
Russell Davis, 65, faces several charges in Massachusetts. Seabrook police said they arrested Davis Thursday on a fugitive from justice warrant. The Essex County District Attorney’s Office said he is being held without bail because he is still employed in the ministry and has access to children.
Davis pleaded not guilty in Newburyport District Court to charges out of Rowley, Massachusetts, of rape of a child with force and indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over, and a charge of rape from Newbury, Massachusetts.
Prosecutors said the allegations involve the same victim and incidents that occurred in April 2004.
According to the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church, Davis was a licensed Methodist minister from 1999 to 2015. His first assignment was in Warren, New Hampshire.
Davis moved among several churches in Maine and Massachusetts after that until his license was discontinued in 2015. A spokesperson for the church would not say why his license was discontinued but said it was not related to sexual misconduct.
It’s unclear whether Davis has been affiliated with any churches in New Hampshire since then.
A former pastor accused of raping a child will have the chance to be released from custody as he awaits trial. A Newburyport District Court judge ordered that he be held on $5,000 cash bail, following a dangerousness hearing on Monday.
While Russell Davis, 65, of Seabrook, was found dangerous by the court, he will be released should he post bail. If released, he will need to wear a GPS monitoring device, live in Massachusetts, stay away and have no contact with his alleged victim and have no unsupervised contact with children under 16. He is due back in court May 16.
Monday’s dangerousness hearing, which is to determine whether a defendant poses too great a risk to his alleged victim or society to be afforded bail while awaiting trial, was originally scheduled for last week. But an Essex County prosecutor told Judge Peter Doyle that Davis’ attorney was not available that day.
On March 30, Davis pleaded not guilty to charges of rape of a child with force, as well as indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over. Those offenses took place in Rowley in 2004, according to the Essex District Attorney’s office.
In addition, Davis also pleaded not guilty to a charge of rape, which allegedly occurred in Newbury in 2004, the DA’s office said. No information was available about when the allegations surfaced. Davis was arrested a day earlier in Seabrook. A judge ordered all police reports related to Davis’ arrest impounded.
Other victims came forward, reaching a total of three. It is likely there were other victims whose assaults were not prosecuted.
Five years later, Davis pleaded guilty to raping and attempting to rape the three boys. Astoundingly, Davis was only sentenced to three years in prison. Davis’s attorney wanted probation!
They were boys who’d already suffered significant losses in life: A parent to cancer, other parents to substance abuse. They had been put into foster care with other family.
In the then-mostly rural communities of Byfield, Newbury, Salisbury and Rowley, in the late 1980s, the 1990s and early 2000s, the vulnerable teens were steered toward a local United Methodist Church — and into the path of a lay pastor, a man who, though not ordained, had been given a type of license by the church to work as a youth minister.
On Thursday, Russell Woodman Davis, 70, pleaded guilty to raping and attempting to rape the three boys at various times between 1988 and 2006, in Newbury, Rowley and Salisbury.
Davis was sentenced to three to four years in state prison, a sentence that Salem Superior Court Judge Thomas Drechsler had offered if Davis opted to plead guilty before his trial, which had been scheduled for next week.
Drechsler said Thursday that he hopes the sentence balances the “profound trauma and damage” done to the three victims and Davis’ abuse of a position of trust, with Davis’ advanced age and cancer, which, he also pointed out, has been in remission.
Davis, who had been free on bail in the case, was taken into custody in the courtroom, first placed into handcuffs and then, after being led to a chair, into leg shackles.
One of his victims, as well as several family members and friends, craned their necks to watch.
On Tuesday, Drechsler heard from one of the victims, now an adult, about his ongoing struggle to recover from the trauma.
He was back in court on Thursday, where he appeared overcome by emotion at several points during the hearing, burying his face in his hands as the prosecutor detailed again, for the record, what had happened to him and the other boys.
The judge heard from one more person on Thursday, the sister of one of the victims, who had taken him in after the death of their mother from cancer.
The woman, whose name is being withheld by the newspaper so as not to identify her brother, said the abuse began within four weeks of their mother’s death.
“There is no amount of jail time that could punish him enough,” she told the judge, before saying she hopes Davis will “rot in hell.”
Prosecutor Kate MacDougall, who had requested a five- to seven-year prison term, told the judge that had the case gone to trial, she would have made a “significantly higher” sentencing request, given the “abhorrent nature of the acts and unimaginable destruction inflicted upon these men.”
Davis’ lawyer, Edward McNaught, had initially hoped for probation — a disposition previously rejected by another judge in 2021 — but sought two years in custody.
MacDougall described the facts of the case in court chronologically, though the victims came forward at different times — including one who, in 2010, reported his abuse to police. They did not pursue the case at that time.
In 1988, the first victim was 12 when his mother died and he went to live with his sister.
He met Davis at the church.
The second boy, who had been placed with an aunt, met Davis in 2003 when she brought him to her church. That boy would later introduce Davis to the third boy, who was about a year older.
Davis, said the prosecutor, “would take these young men under his wing under the guise of providing mentorship.” He would spend time alone with that boy and the others, coercing and forcing them into sexual acts to which they were too young to consent or that they did not want to engage in.
“Did you commit those acts?” Drechsler asked Davis at the conclusion of the prosecutor’s remarks.
“Yes I did, your honor,” Davis replied, with no emotion.
Davis pleaded guilty to a series of rape and attempted rape counts involving each of the boys.
But prior to trial, prosecutors were forced to drop other counts, including disseminating obscene material and unnatural acts, due to the statute of limitations having run.
Davis told the judge that he had a high school equivalency and had attended a seminary but did not finish.
Prior to working for the church, he was a U.S. Postal Service employee for 20 years, he told the judge.
In a January 2001 interview with The Salem News, Davis discussed his recent appointment as pastor of Peabody’s First Methodist Church on Washington Street — and his work with a group of 10 high school boys at a church in Byfield, where he was known as “Pastor Rusty.”
According to archived stories from The Daily News of Newburyport, Davis worked as pastor of the East Parish United Methodist Church in Salisbury and the Community United Methodist Church in Byfield, and had also served as chaplain in the Byfield Fire Department for a decade.
In a statement released after he was first charged in 2018, the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church said Davis had lost his church license to work as a pastor in 2015 but said it was unrelated to the allegations against him.
After completing the prison term, Davis will be on probation for three years, with conditions that he register as a sex offender, undergo a sex offender evaluation and treatment, and have no unsupervised contact with anyone under 18, as well as have no contact with the victims and their families.
If he violates any of the conditions of that probation he could be returned to prison for up to life.
Prosecutors may also seek to keep Davis in custody after he completes his sentence if he is determined to be a sexually dangerous person.
Bruce Gerencser, 65, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 44 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.
Bob was my mom’s brother-in-law. Married to my dad’s sister, Bob was a rough-and-tumble truck driver and dirt-track race-car driver. Bob’s parents were devout Fundamentalist Baptists. Bob was raised in the church, and at the age of seventeen he walked the sawdust trail at a revival meeting and asked Jesus to save him from his sin. According to Independent Fundamentalist Baptist theology, Bob was now an eternally saved child of God.
After high school, Bob left home and abandoned the Baptist faith of his parents. Over the next six decades, Bob lived as if God did not exist. In every way, he lived as the unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines of the world. He was a booze-drinking skirt chaser known for sexually harassing and assaulting women. Female family members knew to steer clear of Bob lest they find themselves a target of his sexual advances. Age didn’t matter to Bob, and more than a few teen family members endured his touches, squeezes, and other demeaning behaviors.
Women got “used to” Bob’s sexual assaults. Viewing him as harmless, they would recount to me, “Oh, that was just Bob being Bob.” It was the 1960s and 1970s, after all, and that’s just how men were, I was told. As I will share in a moment, Bob was anything but harmless.
In early 1969, we lived east of Farmer, Ohio in a farmhouse owned by my dad’s sister and brother-in-law. I was in the sixth grade at Farmer Elementary School. One day, I was home from school sick. I spent the day in bed recuperating. In the early afternoon, Bob pulled into the drive. I figured he was there to see my mom, so I stayed in my room. A short time later, Bob left and I heard my mom calling my name. She was crying, saying that Bob had just raped her. She asked me to go to the neighbor’s house and call someone (I can’t remember who). I did, but no one ever came to our home.
You see, Mom had mental health problems — lots of problems. This meant, of course, in the minds of “healthy” people, she couldn’t be relied on to tell the truth. Bob was well-known in town. Bob would never rape anyone. Yes, he was a “little” too friendly with women, but, hey, that was just “Bob being Bob.” A few months later, we moved to Deshler, Ohio. Mom never talked about Bob after that. I suspect that she buried the rape deep in the recesses of her mind, right next to memories of her father repeatedly sexually assaulting her as a child.
Bob died a few years ago. His funeral was held at First Baptist Church in Bryan, Ohio. Bob’s parents helped start this congregation and were pillars of the church for decades. I attended First Baptist as a teenager. I went to Bob’s funeral, wanting to see what kind of send-off the once-saved-always-saved Baptists would give Bob, the Saved Rapist. The pastor, John MacFarlane, gave a sermon that spoke of the night sixty years prior that Bob had been gloriously saved, and that he was now in Heaven with his mom and dad. The pastor never mentioned that Bob hadn’t darkened the doors of the church since the 1960s and he, in every way, lived a life of debauchery. The pastor cared more about protecting the memory of Bob’s parents than he did telling the truth. I have seen this behavior countless times over the years: degenerate people preached into Heaven, all because they mentally assented to a set of theological propositions. And therein lies the vulgarity of once-saved-always-saved soteriology. It’s the same theology that says I am still a Christian, and that no matter what I say or do I will go to Heaven when I die. Just pray the right prayer, believe the right things and Heaven is yours!
As the funeral service went along, I found myself becoming increasingly angry. I wanted to rebuke the pastor for his lies. I wanted to scream at the congregation for their willful ignorance of what kind of man Bob really was. Most of all, I wanted to be my mom’s voice. Not a mile away, Mom lay silent in her grave. Oh, to bring her to life again so she could give testimony to what Bob did to her! On that day, I so wished that there was a Hell. If anyone deserved endless torment, it was Bob. Alas, there is no Hell, so the only satisfaction that comes from Bob’s death is that no other woman will ever have to suffer the indignity of being sexually assaulted by him. I wish Mom had been alive to see Bob meet his end. Unfortunately, fifteen years prior, Mom turned a Ruger .357 on herself, pulled the trigger, ripping a hole in her heart. Her beautiful, tragic life instantly came to an end at age fifty-four, due in no small part to men who saw her as an object of sexual desire and gratification, and not as the thoughtful, intelligent — and yes, beautiful — human being she really was.
Bruce Gerencser, 65, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 44 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.
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.
Donald Williams, pastor of several Evangelical churches in Georgia, was recently sentenced to a minimum of twenty years in prison for rape. Astoundingly, Williams was already a registered sex offender while preaching at several of these churches.
A Macon pastor jumped around several Central Georgia churches while he was on Georgia’s sex offender registry.
Donald Williams was pled guilty and was convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl. A judge sentenced him to at least 20 years in prison Monday.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Sex Offender Registry says Williams was added to the registry in August 2010. 13WMAZ obtained records of two cases where Williams is accused of sexually assaulting or attempting to abuse a minor.
The most recent case happened in September 2021. According to a Bibb County incident report, the 14-year-old victim was walking home from school when Donald Williams pulled up and offered her a ride.
The girl told deputies Williams asked how old she was and started touching her. He drove her four miles away behind an elementary school on Woodfield Drive. Then the report says, he parked at the dead end and assaulted her.
Macon District Attorney Anita Howard says after he assaulted the girl, he drove to a balloon release in memory of a homicide victim.
While he preached and prayed there, he kept the girl in his car.
Later, he dropped the girl off near her home and gave her his business card with his picture.
Houston County Superior Court records say this isn’t the first time he’s been convicted of a sex offense.
In April 2010, he offered a ride to a 16-year-old multiple times while he exposed himself in plain view to the child. He pleaded guilty to attempting to commit child molestation and public indecency.
Shortly after, Williams was added to Georgia’s Sex Offender Registry.
Under Georgia law, sex offenders can not work or volunteer at churches.
But it seems no one picked up on the red flags.
Between 2010 and 2021, Facebook posts and videos show he preached at several Central Georgia churches.
He was a pastor at First Baptist Church in Jeffersonville for at least two years starting in 2016.
Then, he preached at some Macon churches–either as a guest or staying for a short time.
One of those, Greater Little Rock Baptist Church on Felton Avenue in Macon. We spoke by phone to Lead Pastor Paul Kelley.
Kelley says he didn’t know Williams was on the sex offender registry. He told 13WMAZ he wouldn’t “judge” or “slander a friend” when asked if he could interview on camera.
Kelley called Williams a “dynamic young preacher and singer” whom he’s known over the past 10 years.
In response to the case, District Attorney Anita Howard says pastors are in “an unusual position of high trust in our society. This has the potential to create an opportunity for them to take advantage of innocent people. That is exactly what happened in the case involving Donald Williams.”
She says every organization, including churches, should do background checks on employees and volunteers who work with children whether the law requires it or not. She says it’s an obligation to protect the children in our community.
Bibb County Chief Superior Judge Howard Simms gave Williams a 45 year sentence with at least the first 20 in prison.
Bruce Gerencser, 65, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 44 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.
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 January 2023, Marvin Carey, pastor of Parma Christian Church in Parma, Ohio, pleaded guilty to two counts of rape and two counts of gross sexual imposition, while the remaining charges were dropped. Today, Carey was sentenced to eighteen years in prison for his crimes. Upon release, he’ll be classified as a Tier III sex offender in Ohio and will be required to register his address every 90 days for the rest of his life.
An 81-year-old Parma pastor who sexually assaulted several female victims over the course of nine years — often in his church — and preyed on their vulnerabilities will likely spend the rest of his natural life in prison.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas visiting Judge Janet Burnside on Tuesday sentenced Marvin Carey of Parma Christian Church to a total of 18 years in prison on charges of rape and gross sexual imposition.
Carey “developed relationships” with each of his five victims while pastoring at the church near Ridge Road and Regency Drive, according to information from county prosecutors.
“Once he learned of the victims’ vulnerabilities he could exploit, he began sexually assaulting the victims,” reads the release from prosecutors.
Carey sexually assaulted a 64-year-old woman inside the church in 2009, and again in 2019, according to prosecutors. It was first reported to police in 2019.
Between January and April 2015, Carey met his second victim, an 18-year-old woman attending the church with her grandmother. He drove them to appointments and, during those car rides, sexually assaulted the 18-year-old woman, prosecutors said.
Carey met his third victim, a 49-year-old woman, inside her Cleveland apartment, where he sexually assaulted her multiple times.
Carey sexually assaulted his fourth victim, a 56-year-old woman, multiple times between 2014 and 2019 in the church.
In 2018, Carey intended to drive the fifth victim, a 25-year-old woman from her Parma Heights home to another location. He first drove somewhere else, then sexually assaulted her. He also sexually assaulted her inside the church.
Carey sexually assaulted a 64-year-old woman inside the church in 2009, and again in 2019, according to prosecutors. It was first reported to police in 2019.
Between January and April 2015, Carey met his second victim, an 18-year-old woman attending the church with her grandmother. He drove them to appointments and, during those car rides, sexually assaulted the 18-year-old woman, prosecutors said.
Carey met his third victim, a 49-year-old woman, inside her Cleveland apartment, where he sexually assaulted her multiple times.
Carey sexually assaulted his fourth victim, a 56-year-old woman, multiple times between 2014 and 2019 in the church.
In 2018, Carey intended to drive the fifth victim, a 25-year-old woman from her Parma Heights home to another location. He first drove somewhere else, then sexually assaulted her. He also sexually assaulted her inside the church.
Carey was indicted in December 2021 on dozens of counts, including rape, kidnapping and gross sexual imposition, among others court records show. He pleaded guilty in January 2023 to two counts of rape and two counts of gross sexual imposition, while the remaining charges were dropped. As part of his plea arrangement, specifications declaring him a sexually violent predator were dropped.
Carey received consecutive nine-year sentences on his rape counts and 18-month sentences for the gross sexual imposition counts, to be served concurrently.
Upon release, he’ll be classified as a Tier III sex offender in Ohio and will be required to register his address every 90 days for the rest of his life.
Carey said his attorneys advised him against addressing the court. But he used that opportunity to air grievances about his treatment at the county jail and claim he’s missing prescribed medications.
“Ten months ago, when I came into the Cuyahoga County concentration camp — er, the jail, excuse me — I walked in on my own two feet,” said Carey, who used a walker to take his seat in the courtroom.
Even if he survives to finish his sentence, Carey said he will be unable to return to his Florida retirement community as planned, since it bars sex offenders. He said his wife divorced him “so that she may continue on with her life.”
“Since I won’t be able to survive; to get by outside, I’m asking you to pronounce the death penalty,” Carey implored the judge. “Have them give me a shot and put me to sleep and be humane all the way around.”
Judge Burnside said she does not have that authority. [I bet several of his victims wish she did.]
Bruce Gerencser, 65, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 44 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.
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 2020, Courtney Bingham, a youth leader at Bethany Baptist Church in Loudon, Tennessee, pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated statutory rape and one count of solicitation of a minor to commit statutory rape by an authority figure. She was sentenced to twelve years in prison.
Courtney Michelle Bingham, 36, pleaded guilty in Loudon County Criminal Court to four counts of aggravated statutory rape and one count of solicitation of a minor to commit statutory rape by an authority figure stemming from her arrest in December 2018.
According to a news release from Russell Johnson, 9th Judicial District attorney general, Bingham will serve a 12-year sentence in Tennessee Department of Corrections custody at a minimum of 35 percent before she is eligible for parole. She will also be on the sex offender registry for life and subject to monitoring, including internet activities.
As part of the agreement, Bingham admitted having sex with the minor on at least four occasions. She said she knew he was a minor, and that she was at least 10 years older. In addition, she admitted she was in a “position of trust” as a youth leader when she “solicited him for sex via digital communication,” according to the release.
“This case has generated tremendous community interest because of the nature of the charges and the fact that it has caused considerable ‘disruption’ at the suspect’s and victim’s church,” Johnson said in a release. “We are glad to get this resolved with the defendant admitting her wrongdoing. Hopefully, this outcome will serve as a cautionary tale for others who are tempted to find themselves in similar situations. Part of the reason for pressing this case to trial, which resulted in what I consider to be a significant result for the state, was the difference in ages between the defendant and victim, the defendant’s position of trust in the church and her prior multiple felony criminal history.”
A report from then Loudon County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Jason Smith, who is now with Lenoir City Police Department, noted Bingham met the teen at church. The boy claimed they had sex at her residence.
The teen noted he had multiple pornographic images from Bingham on his phone that were sent from her. Most appeared to have been taken by Bingham, according to Smith’s report.
“It took some time to complete the investigation, the analysis of the victim’s phone, interviews, looking at church records relative to Bingham’s ‘supervisory’ position with any of the youth, etc.,” Russell said Monday morning. “Then she was indicted on 32 counts, some of which were alternative counts. We had tried, unsuccessfully, to resolve it at General Sessions Court on the single charge on which she was arrested. Therefore she was indicted on the 32 separate counts at grand jury. The case was finally resolved on five felony counts of the 32.”
Bingham was scheduled for trial Tuesday but accepted the plea before Criminal Court Judge Jeffrey Wicks.
Bruce Gerencser, 65, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 44 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.
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.
Jeffrey “Jeff” Pringle, a youth leader at Lifeway Church in New Philadephia, Ohio, was sentenced to life in prison for raping and committing other sex offenses against two girls. Lifeway is affiliated with the Assemblies of God.
A man who formerly volunteered with a church youth ministry has been charged with two counts of child rape. The alleged victim was between the ages of 5 and 12 when the alleged offenses occurred between Oct. 15, 2014 and June 11 of this year.
Jeffrey A. Pringle, 59, is being held in the Tuscarawas County jail. Magistrate Christine Weimer set his bail at $750,000 in New Philadelphia Municipal Court on Tuesday.
Pringle is also charged with two counts of gross sexual imposition for allegedly having sexual contact with a child who was less than 13 years old, and allegedly compelling the victim to submit by force or threat of force. The offenses are alleged to have occurred between May 6, 2018 and June 11.
New Philadelphia police charged the city resident on Tuesday. He is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing July 20 in municipal court.
Pringle volunteered with the youth ministry of LifeWay Church for about 10 years, according to Travis Wright, co-pastor.
He said the church has contacted families who have children in the ministry.
“So far, there has been no one who has come forth and accused Jeff of anything or felt uncomfortable or that their children had been targeted,” Wright said. “We have all been blindsided by this. It was not, in any way, something that we expected or anticipated. We love Jeff and Jeff has been a part of our family for years. And so we are heartbroken by this, for sure.”
Police Detective Capt. Ty Norris said Pringle also had a DJ business under the name Jukebox Jeff.
If Pringle were able to post bond, conditions set by the magistrate would apply to his release. He would be prohibited from having contact with any individual under the age of 18. He would be required to abide by a protection order and not commit acts or threats of abuse against the alleged victim or other protected person. He would be required to stay out of bars and taverns and refrain from using alcohol or drugs of abuse.
In February 2023, Pringle was sentenced to life in prison for raping and committing other sex offenses against two girls.
A 60-year-old man who formerly volunteered with a church youth ministry has received a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 20 years for raping and committing other sex offenses against two girls.
Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Ernest sentenced Jeffrey A. Pringle Thursday on three counts of child rape and four counts of gross sexual imposition.
The judge said the life sentence was mandatory under state law, and that he had discretion only in deciding when parole eligibility would occur.
One victim was 12 and 13 years old when the sexual abuse occurred, and the other 16, according to Tuscarawas County Prosecutor Ryan Styer.
He said the crimes were a disturbing and monstrous betrayal of the trust that every adult owes to children.
“With this type of crime, there’s a lifetime of consequences, a lifetime of bad memories, and oftentimes a lifetime of processing through what happened,” Styer said.
A woman who spoke on behalf of the victims said Pringle’s offenses crushed her heart. She also turned to his victims and apologized for his actions.
“They will remember this forever,” she said. “I just want to know why, Jeff? Everybody respected you. You were in the church. You were in the community, very high up. “
Pringle stated at his sentencing hearing: “I don’t want anybody to feel bad about me going to prison. I feel like a failure.” A failure? Are you fucking kidding me? Pringle is a sexual predator, not a “failure.” Pringle went on to commend the girls for reporting him to their mothers, “If other children would do the same, we wouldn’t have as many cases as we have in the state of Ohio.” It’s the victims’ fault, right? If only victims would report what happened to them to their mothers, there would be fewer sexual predators in Ohio. Sure sounds like victim-blaming to me. Pringle added that he “did ask God for mercy … and He has forgiven me.” Who gives a fuck? Where was God when Pringle was raping these girls?
And we can’t have one of these stories without the predator’s pastor checking in. Pringle’s pastor, Jeff Calkins, wrote a letter to the court, saying that Pringle was repentant. Calkins requested leniency for Pringle. Why? He raped two girls. He’s a sexual predator. To the good pastor I ask, if Pringle raped someone in your family, would you ask for leniency? Of course not. I wish pastors would shut the hell up in cases such as this one. Minister privately to the offender, but stop minimizing his crimes and suggesting as Calkins did that “I believe with the right help and follow-up, he [Pringle] can be a productive citizen.” Calkins’ words run contrary to how Pringle sees himself:
He has admitted to committing these offenses. He has confirmed what the children have disclosed. He has admitted that he has a sickness and that he can’t control it, and I don’t think any type of release can protect the community from someone with that type of illness.
Bruce Gerencser, 65, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 44 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.
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.
Michael Wilson, a Bible study teacher in Wenatchee, Washington, stands accused of rape and sexual molestation.
Police arrested a 69-year-old Wenatchee man on suspicion of rape Tuesday after two other men accused him of sexually molesting them while they were asleep or otherwise unable to consent.
Michael E. Wilson was identified in a Wenatchee police court affidavit as the leader of a Bible study group that met at his Sunnyslope home. The alleged victims were members of the study group, both men in their 20s.
In Chelan County Superior Court on Wednesday, deputy prosecutor Julia Hartnell told Judge Travis Brandt that Wilson cultivated and victimized young men “using the cover of the church.” She said her office is considering charges of second- and third-degree rape, as well as second-degree attempted rape.
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Both alleged victims told police the incidents took place between 2020 and 2022. One man said in separate instances, Wilson fondled him while he was sleeping, and touched him inappropriately while giving massages. The other said Wilson initiated unwanted sexual contact in July 2022, while the alleged victim was drunk and unconscious.
Police said in an interview Tuesday with a Wenatchee detective, Wilson admitted to sexual contact with both men, but said the contact was consensual or inadvertent.
Wilson previously worked as a youth pastor in Wenatchee and in Pendleton, Oregon. Wenatchee School District records and his LinkedIn account also show he worked at Wenatchee High School as an academic intervention specialist from 2001 to 2013, when he became a service specialist with the Wenatchee Learns personalized education program. Communications director Diana Haglund said Wilson’s employment with the school district ended in 2019.
Since 2020 Wilson has conducted a faith-based self-help podcast series with Myke Merrill, a Rochester, New York Christian counselor.
Wilson has since been charged with seven felony sex offenses — second-degree rape, two counts of second-degree attempted rape, third-degree rape, indecent liberties, second-degree assault, and first-degree voyeurism — and two counts of fourth-degree assault with sexual motivation, a gross misdemeanor. Wilson posted a $750,000 bond.
a Social Scientist and working professional in education for almost 20 years, along with 25 years in professional religious work. In both areas he was actively training, speaking, counseling, crisis counseling, leader and leadership development. He traveled around to places around the world including, Israel, Haiti, Central Mexico. He is a Father of 5 grown children.
Bruce Gerencser, 65, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 44 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.
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 2018, Jonathan Young, a Sunday school teacher at Firstborn Baptist Church — an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) congregation — in Benson, North Carolina was accused of raping several church girls. WRAL-5 reported that Young had been charged with “six charges of first-degree rape of a child, three charges of statutory rape, two charges of first-degree sexual offense, and two charges of indecent liberties with a child.” The charges against Young covered alleged crimes committed between 2004 and 2014.
Several former church members alleged church leaders knew about Young’s crimes and covered them up. The church denied doing so. Durwood “Kemp” Young, pastor of Firstborn Baptist, had this to say:
I’m heartbroken by it all because it’s unbelievable. I hate if anyone is hurt on either side but the young man is ruined now. I hate it and I don’t know what else to say about it.
What’s unbelievable is that Pastor Young’s first statement is about being concerned for the “young man” whose life has been “ruined.” The victims aren’t even mentioned outside of Young “hating [the] hurt on either side.” What is this, a sporting event where you have two opposing teams?
Both the pastor and the perpetrator have the same last name. A reader with intimate knowledge of this church and the parties involved has told me that Durwood Young is Jonathan Young’s great-uncle. This reader also told me that other people in the church have, in the past, been accused of sexual improprieties.
In August 2022, a jury found Young guilty. Young was sentenced to a minimum of eighty-seven years in prison.
WRAL reports that a jury found Jonathan Young, 38, of Benson, guilty on multiple counts of rape, sexual offense, and indecent liberties with children.
According to the district attorney’s office, the crimes involved three children, and most took place at Firstborn Baptist Church in Benson. The incidents occurred between 2003 and 2014, and the youngest victim was 7 years old when she was molested, investigators said.
At Young’s trial, the jury heard testimony from two additional witnesses who were sexually abused as young children.
Girls who grew up at the church alleged years of sexual abuse by Young, misconduct that some former church members say church leaders knew about but did nothing to stop.
Church leaders told WRAL News in 2018 there was no coverup.
“I’m heartbroken by it all because it’s unbelievable,” said Pastor Durwood Young. “I hate it and I don’t know what else to say about it.”
“The investigation was dropped as far as I know,” Durwood Young said. “That’s the way I understand it.”
The church leader described Jonathan Young as a “model employee.”
“I think you could go out here in the community and find people who were absolutely devastated,” Durwood Young said.
Durwood Young said he first heard about the allegations in 2014 from the sheriff’s office, but no charges were filed at that time
One of his victims, who is now an adult, shared her story. WRAL News usually does not identify sexual assault victims, but Brianna Holland wanted to share her story publicly to help others.
Holland went to Firstborn Baptist Church in Benson every Sunday growing up – and for two years, starting with she was just 9 years old – a man she looked up to was inappropriately touching her. She kept the secret for years.
“I was confused and very scared,” she says.
Church and Sunday School should have been a safe haven for Holland – and two other children who were abused between 2003 and 2014. The youngest victim was just 7 years old when she was molested, investigators said.
“On the Sunday School bus, he would just initially rub my leg on bus,” she says.
The abuse grew worse with time.
“It was kissing, rubbing, grinding, things like that in the basement,” she says. “He had made multiple threats. ‘If you tell anyone, I will hurt you. I will hurt your family.'”
Four years after the abuse occurred, she got the courage to speak up. That was in 2017. One year later, Young was arrested and charged with sex crimes against three girls at the church, including Brianna Holland’s sister.
“It was hard and traumatizing,” she says. “I haven’t seen him since he was first arrested.”
During the trial Holland sat across from Young for two weeks, testifying in the case. His sentence of 87 years is long enough that he should never experience life outside of prison again.
“I was very happy, very content with what he got,” she says.
Bruce Gerencser, 65, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 44 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.
As I wade through the neck-deep filth in the Evangelical gutter gathering information for the Black Collar Crime series, one common event shows up in story after story: when these criminals are on trial or they are being sentenced for their crimes, their pastors are on hand to let everyone know that the predator pastor was a good person who did a bad thing. Often, these testifying pastors tell judges and juries that the criminal’s good works outweigh any bad that he might have done; that molesting and raping children or sexually assaulting church members is somehow atoned for by the church member’s or ex-pastor’s good works. These so-called men of God even go so far as to ask the courts to grant the convicted offender probation, promising that the child molester/rapist has turned over a new leaf and has crossed-his-heart-hope-to-die promised that he will never, ever rape, molest, look at child porn, or take sexual advantage of a woman. Why do pastors seem so willing to be character references for criminals?
First, when a church member or colleague in the ministry is accused and convicted of a sex crime, it makes the church and pastor look bad. Churches and their pastors supposedly set the moral standard for their communities. Yet, here’s a fine, upstanding congregant or pastor behaving in ways that make a mockery of Christian morality. So the testifying pastor, by putting a good word in for the criminal, hopes to remediate his church’s reputation. Unfortunately, by testifying, what he really says to the community is that he believes there should be a separate standard of punishment for Christian church members and pastors.
Second, many pastors believe “sinning” church members and pastors deserve a second chance. If Jesus forgave them, shouldn’t everyone else? Think of all the good Child Molester Bob or Rapist Jack could do in the community if they were given probation. Why, they could travel from church to church telling how God delivered them from sexual deviancy. Isn’t God wonderful? Bob says. I stand before you today as a humbled man forgiven by God. I am so grateful that my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ gave me another opportunity to serve him! Later that night, Bob slips into his car and drives the streets looking for another child to molest. God will forgive him, he thinks. Isn’t God awesome?
Testifying pastors seem to forget that our justice system is expected to mete out punishment to those convicted of crimes. Why all the pleas for understanding and forgiveness? These same pastors will preach thundering sermons about God’s judgment of sinners and their impending doom in Hell, yet when it comes to criminal church members and pastors, it is expected that they be treated as if their crimes were insignificant or worthy of special treatment.
Forgiveness is up to the victims and not the courts. Courts are supposed to weigh facts and evidence and render appropriate judgment. Testifying pastors are callous and tone-deaf when they ask courts to grant convicted congregants and pastors probation or community service. Should not the victims be their primary concern? Yet, in case after case, pastors re-victimize victims with their unwavering love, compassion, and support for rapists, child molesters, and those who use their positions of power to take advantage of others.
Third, some testifying pastors don’t believe the crime was as bad as prosecutors made it out to be. Yes, Youth Pastor Jim was thirty and in a position of authority, but come on, the girl was sixteen, Why, she was a-l-m-o-s-t an adult. I wonder if pastors who think this way would do so if it were THEIR daughter Youth Pastor Jim had sex with in his church office? I doubt it.
Fourth, some testifying pastors simply refuse to live in the real world. Surely, there must be some other explanation for Suzie accusing Deacon Joe of molesting her. Deacon Joe is a fine family man, the pastor says. I’ve known his family for forty years. I assure you that Deacon Bob could never, ever — I mean NEVER — molest his daughter. (Deep down he believes Suzie is possessed by a demon.) Even after the judge says GUILTY! some pastors refuse to believe the truth staring them in the face; that they didn’t know this or that pastor or church member as well as they thought they did.
Child molesters and sexual abusers can hide their behavior for decades. It is often only when children become adults that they have the courage to speak about what their father, pastor, youth pastor, deacon, teacher, or Sunday school teacher did to them. Testifying pastors wonder, why didn’t they come forward sooner? It sure looks like they did so for the money. Evidently, such pastors expect children to act like adults, refusing to see that when an authority figure has power over someone, a victim often becomes incapacitated by fear or loss of love from family and church. It’s not that they don’t want to report what has happened to them — they can’t. And often, when victims DO speak up, what happens? They aren’t believed or they are accused of being culpable for what happened to them. This is especially the case with churches on the right-wing fringe of Evangelicalism. More than one girl has been forced to stand before her church and “confess” her sins. Imagine being raped by a church leader, only to be forced to apologize for being such an easy target for the rapist.
I have some advice I would like to give to testifying pastors. SHUT THE HELL UP! Don’t testify. Don’t be a character reference. Don’t talk up the abuser’s good works and family. Instead, support the victims and their families. Help them find professional care for their psychological scars. Let the criminal face the just consequences of his behavior. Surely you have not forgotten that the Bible says that a man reaps what he sows. There will be plenty of time for you to minister to your convicted church member or colleague in the ministry. In open court is not the time or place.
Bruce Gerencser, 65, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 44 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.
