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Update: Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Michael Sperou Found Guilty a Third Time, Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison

Bruce Gerencser 1 Comment
michael sperou

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 2015, Michael Sperou, pastor of North Clackamas Bible Community (previously named Southeast Bible Church) in Happy Valley, Oregon, was convicted on three counts of first-degree sexual penetration of a child under twelve and sentenced to twenty years in prison. In 2019, the Oregon Supreme Court:

ordered a new trial for Sperou after concluding that witnesses had improperly referred to the accuser as a victim. The court found that the reference may have undermined Sperou’s presumption of innocence and affected his right to a fair trial.

Sperou was later convicted a second time.

Fox-12 reported:

Michael Sperou was convicted by a jury Friday on two counts of first-degree unlawful sexual penetration.

The victim was under the age of 12 when the assaults occurred on two separate occasions between 1993 and 1996, according to investigators.

….

The district attorney’s office states the members gathered and lived among rental homes they shared and, as part of its evidence presentation, the state reported Sperou had a sexual interest in children; that he allowed minors to spend time with him in his bed; that he provided alcohol to minors; that he emotionally and financially manipulated church members; that he abused alcohol; and controlled nearly every aspect of church members lives, including how they raised their children.

Two other women testified in court that Sperou had sexually assaulted them while they were children in the church, but prosecutors said the statute of limitation has passed in those cases.

Sperou’s second conviction was also tossed on a legal technicality.

In May 2023, Sperou faced a third trial. Once again, he was found guilty and sentenced to 13 years in prison. It is expected that this conviction will stick.

KATU-2 reports:

A former pastor was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison after he was found guilty on his third trial for a sex abuse case.

Michael Sperou, 72, was found guilty on two counts of first-degree unlawful sexual penetration back in May.

The conviction followed two previous guilty verdicts that were overturned by legal technicalities.

The sexual abuse took place back in 1988 to 1996, when Sperou was a pastor. Investigators say he sexually abused seven young girls whose families went to the church.

When the case went to trial, charges for the abuse against six of the seven survivors was outside the statute of limitations. Still, all seven women were allowed to testify.

Sperou was convicted on all counts, however, the Oregon Supreme Court overturned the convictions in 2019 after finding the use of the word “victim” by witnesses was impermissible.

The case went back to trial in 2020, and the jury delivered an 11-1 guilty verdict. Later that year, however, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that verdicts must be unanimous for serious crimes.

The third trial took place in May 2023, where he was found guilty on the two counts of first-degree unlawful sexual penetration.

“It’s been a long and difficult road to today’s verdict for the victims in this case—all seven of them. The criminal justice system is hard on victims, and the strength and perseverance that the victim has shown through repeated trials is admirable and important,” said Senior DDA Melissa Marrero.

“It sends a message that she will not be silenced, and that abusers will be held accountable,” Marrero continued. “We’re thankful that the jury was able to see the truth, and that Ms. Clark and the other victims of Mr. Sperou remained committed to achieving justice over the near-decade that it took to get here. They are amazing women who went through the unthinkable, and their strength led to this result.”

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

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Update: Black Collar Crime: Baptist Childcare Worker Benjamin Roberts Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Sex Crimes

Bruce Gerencser 2 Comments
benjamin roberts

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.

Benjamin Roberts worked for several church-sponsored childcare facilities in Abilene, Texas. He was arrested in 2018 on child sex crime and child pornography charges. Law enforcement focused on Wylie Baptist Church Child Development Center.

Fox-4 reported:

An Abilene man with a history of working with kids has been arrested on child sex crime and child porn charges.

Benjamin Russell Roberts, 24, is charged with indecency with a child and possession of child pornography. His bond was set at $150,000 on each charge.

Roberts was arrested Wednesday after police served a warrant in a north Abilene home. Roberts “admitted to and was found to be in possession of child pornography,” according to the arrest report.

Abilene police said they had info that an unknown person downloaded child pornography from July 19 through Sept. 26, 2017. The investigation began on Feb 27.

On Wednesday, the cyber crimes division was able to identify Roberts as the person who was downloading child porn at his residence. Police said he lived at a community outreach home.

Police seized several devices — a Dell laptop, two iPhone 4s, a Samsung Galaxy, Sony USB — which contained child pornography. They also found “one pair of children’s underwear,” said Sgt. Lynn Beard. No children lived at the home.

Beard said Roberts admitted “to inappropriately touching a child under 12 years old last year.”

According to police, Roberts has worked at least three places where he was in contact with children, including the Wylie Baptist Church’s Child Development Center, Southern Hills Church of Christ daycare and the Beltway Park Church youth program.

….

Beard said each of the entities was “completely shocked” when they told them. He said one of them described Roberts as one of their best teachers.

….

An April 4, 2018 KTXS-12 report stated:

The director of the child development center at Wylie Baptist Church has been fired.

The director’s dismissal comes in the wake of the arrest of a 24-year-old Abilene man on child sex crime charges. Before being taken into custody last week, Benjamin Russell Roberts had previously worked at Wylie Baptist Church’s Child Development Center and youth programs associated with at least two other Abilene churches.

Wylie Baptist Church’s Senior Pastor Mike Harkrider issued a statement Wednesday.

“As you all know Wylie Baptist Child Development Center has been working closely with the Abilene Police Department and the Department of Family and Protective Services in regards to the Benjamin Roberts investigation. At this point in the investigation, the acting director of the Wylie Baptist Child Development Center, has been released from her position as per the Department of Family and Protective Services. The investigation is still ongoing and this is all we know at this time. We are in heartfelt prayer for all of those involved in this difficult situation — Wylie Baptist Church CDC Board of Directors”

When asked the name of Wylie Baptist CDC director, Harkrider said, “The information given on the previous email is all that we can give at this time.”

….

KTXS-12 added:

A south Abilene church daycare involved in a child sex crime investigation has been cited 19 times by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services since March of 2016.

Abilene Police Chief Stan Standridge said that they have been working closely with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services during this investigation.

On the DFPS website, it states that the Wylie Baptist CDC was cited 19 times for deficiencies during inspections, with risk levels ranging from medium to high.

Three of the citations involved supervision of children and had a high risk level.

….

Police also said on Wednesday that the director was fired and could face charges. Wylie Baptist CDC was cited March 9, 2016 after “it was determined that the director is not routinely present at the operation,” according to DFPS.

Roberts, who did not have a previous criminal record, had passed a background check, but the child care center was twice cited, April 28, 2016 and August 10, 2016, for not updating background checks on its employees.

….

A June 2018 KTXS report detailed more allegations of sexual abuse against Roberts:

After police reviewed surveillance footage at Wylie Baptist Church and spoke with concerned parents, they discovered six of his victims.

There are a total of eight confirmed victims, according to police, and the crimes that Roberts is accused of include indecency with a child and “two or more acts of sexual abuse against children younger than 14.”

A mother reported to police that she found her child in the bathroom with Roberts, and while Roberts reportedly denied any sexual contact, the child told his mother that Roberts kissed him on the mouth and on other parts of his body.

On April 4, the child was interviewed at the Child Advocacy Center, where he also told authorities what Roberts had done to him.

Another child was interviewed at the CAC and told police that “Mr. Ben” would “tickle his tummy and rub his back.”

The child also reported that Roberts touched his private area at least two times.

A mother of one of the children in Roberts’ room at the daycare reported that she observed her child sitting on Roberts’ lap on three occasions and that she felt it was “inappropriate.” During a forensic interview, the child reported that Roberts would “slide his hands up her legs when he picked her up.” The child also reported that he would tickle her “belly and feet.” The child also reported that when she was in the playground, she ran up to Roberts and he touched her chest and then “said he was sorry.”

In surveillance footage captured between September and December of 2017, police discovered more evidence of Roberts inappropriately touching victims at Wylie Baptist Church CDC.

In March 2019, Roberts was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison,

The Abilene Reporter News reported:

Benjamin Roberts was sentenced March 1 to 20 years in prison by a federal court, Abilene police said in a news release Friday.

He was charged at the federal level with child pornography and still faces state charges for continuous sexual abuse of a child and second degree felony indecency with a child by sexual contact. 

Roberts was a worker at Wylie Baptist Church’s Child Development Center when he was accused of indecency with a child and possession of child pornography, according to Reporter-News archives.

Abilene detectives began investigating Roberts in February 2018 after serving a search warrant on a residence in the 400 block of Cockerell Drive in northeast Abilene, where a resident was downloading child pornography, police said Friday.

Roberts was arrested March 28 on charges of possession of child pornography, a third-degree felony, and indecency with a child, a second-degree felony.

In addition, a Taylor County grand jury in June indicted him on one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child.

In August, police said the local charge of possession of child pornography had been dropped.

….

Roberts, who had been working at Wylie Baptist Church Child Development Center for two years, previously was employed at a daycare at Southern Hills Church of Christ and with youth programs at Beltway Park Church.

Last year, police said Roberts had at least five different victims, all under the age of 14.

Police said they reviewed surveillance footage from the Wylie child care center.

In the footage, court documents said, Roberts acted inappropriately with children, including forcing them to straddle him, tickling them until they squirmed and touching them in inappropriate places.

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

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Update: Black Collar Crime: Baptist Daycare Director Amanda McKee Convicted of Failing to Report Child Sex Crimes

Bruce Gerencser 3 Comments
amanda mckee

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, Benjamin Roberts, a childcare worker at Wylie Baptist Church Child Development Center in Abilene, Texas was arrested on child sex crime and child pornography charges. He was also charged with the continuous abuse of children.  Later, an arrest warrant was issued for Amanda McKee, the director of Child Development Center. She was charged with failing to report the alleged crimes committed by Roberts. 

Roberts was later convicted on federal child pornography charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The Abilene Reporter News reported:

Benjamin Roberts was sentenced March 1 to 20 years in prison by a federal court, Abilene police said in a news release Friday.

He was charged at the federal level with child pornography and still faces state charges for continuous sexual abuse of a child and second degree felony indecency with a child by sexual contact. 

Roberts was a worker at Wylie Baptist Church’s Child Development Center when he was accused of indecency with a child and possession of child pornography, according to Reporter-News archives.

Abilene detectives began investigating Roberts in February 2018 after serving a search warrant on a residence in the 400 block of Cockerell Drive in northeast Abilene, where a resident was downloading child pornography, police said Friday.

Roberts was arrested March 28 on charges of possession of child pornography, a third-degree felony, and indecency with a child, a second-degree felony.

In addition, a Taylor County grand jury in June indicted him on one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child.

In August, police said the local charge of possession of child pornography had been dropped.

Roberts was released Aug. 22 from the Taylor County Jail after his bond was reduced to $50,000 each on the two remaining local counts.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation “picked up the charges and arrested (him)” days later on federal charges, police said.

Roberts’ re-arrest was a collaborative effort between Taylor County, the Abilene Police Department and the FBI.

Amanda McKee, director of the center at the time of Roberts’ employment, was arrested in May on charges of failing to report suspected child abuse. 

Police said there had been complaints by parents and staff to McKee regarding Roberts.

Roberts, who had been working at Wylie Baptist Church Child Development Center for two years, previously was employed at a daycare at Southern Hills Church of Christ and with youth programs at Beltway Park Church.

Last year, police said Roberts had at least five different victims, all under the age of 14.

In October 2019, McKee faced her day in court.

Big Country reported:

An Abilene day care manager accused of not reporting allegations of inappropriate behavior by an employee now charged with multiple child sex crimes testified during her trial Wednesday.

Amanda McKee, who served as manager of the Wylie Baptist Church Early Childhood Development Center, addressed a packed courtroom, saying “it wasn’t may job to watch a screen all day”, and that’s why she overlooked a lot of worker Benjamin Roberts’ behavior that employees and parents say was ‘strange’.

Surveillance videos played during Day 1 of McKee’s trial for Misdemeanor Failure to Report showed several instances of 26-year-old Roberts putting children on his lap while bouncing and kissing them.

One video showed him chest to chest with a child on his lap and another showed him standing in front of a different child, who was standing with his face close to Roberts’ lower body during a ‘lice check’.

McKee says she did see children in Roberts’ lap, but it was “not like that”, so she didn’t feel compelled to look into the allegations of inappropriate behavior multiple parents and employees say they reported to her.

Reports including allegations that Roberts would following young children into the bathroom and that he would have an erection while they sat in his lap.


When asked why she didn’t report the allegations, McKee began crying, saying that if people had come forward to her with information like this, she would have done something about it.

The parents and employees who say they reported to McKee also testified and maintained they did tell McKee they were suspicious with how Roberts interacted with the children.

A total of 20 children were forensically interviewed in connection to Roberts and investigators believe he had sexual contact with at least 8.

McKee was convicted and sentenced to probation, community service, and a fine.

Big Country reported:

A former Abilene daycare worker accused of not reporting allegations of inappropriate behavior by one of her employees was found guilty on Wednesday.

Amanda McKee, who served as manager of the Wylie Baptist Church Early Childhood Development Center, heard the verdict just after 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

She was sentenced by the judge to 1 year probation, 24 hours of community service, and a $1,000 fine plus court costs. The punishment is per a prearranged agreement between the defense and prosecution in the event a guilty verdict was reached.

She testified on Wednesday, saying “it wasn’t may job to watch a screen all day,” and that’s why she overlooked a lot of worker Benjamin Roberts’ behavior that employees and parents say was “strange.”

bruce-gerencser-headshot

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

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You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Update: Black Collar Crime: IFB Missionary Jordan Webb Convicted of Sexual Abuse and Incest, Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

Bruce Gerencser 7 Comments
jordan webb

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.

Jordan Webb, an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) missionary to the Caribbean island nation of St. Lucia, was convicted of one count of second-degree sexual abuse with persons under the age of 12, a Class B felony; incest, a class D felony; and child endangerment, an aggravated misdemeanor. Webb was sent out as a missionary by Harvest Baptist Church in Fort Dodge, Iowa. The church also operates Harvest Baptist Bible College.

The Messenger reports:

It took a Webster County jury just under two and a half hours late Friday afternoon to convict a former Christian missionary of sexual abuse.

Jordan Dee Andrew Webb, 30, of Fort Dodge, was found guilty of one count of second-degree sexual abuse with persons under the age of 12, a Class B felony; incest, a class D felony; and child endangerment, an aggravated misdemeanor.

“We are pleased with the outcome and that the jury provided justice in this matter,” Assistant Webster County Attorney Bailey Taylor told The Messenger.

Taylor, along with Assistant Webster County Attorney Brad McIntyre, prosecuted the case.

Webb was arrested in April 2022 following an investigation by the Webster County Sheriff’s Office and Webster County Attorney’s Office that was prompted by “some health concerns involving a juvenile,” the WCSO reported at the time.

During the investigation, a search warrant was executed at 1940 225th St. in Webster County, which is owned by Harvest Baptist Church and is used for its Harvest Baptist Bible College.

From 2019 to February 2022, Webb served as a missionary in the Caribbean island nation of St. Lucia. According to a now-deleted Facebook page and website for Webb’s “Christ in the Caribbean” missionary work in St. Lucia, Harvest Baptist was the “sending church” for his mission work.

Webb’s alleged victim, who will be known as Jane Doe, was diagnosed with gonorrhea in early April 2022. The Messenger does not identify victims of sexual assault. Just days before Jane Doe was diagnosed, Webb was also diagnosed with gonorrhea, Taylor said during trial. The state alleged that Webb committed a sex act on the victim, infecting her with the STD.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gonorrhea is a “very common” sexually transmitted disease that infects the mucous membranes of the reproductive tract, mouth, throat, eyes and rectum.

Over the course of the three-day trial, the jury heard testimony from a range of witnesses, including Dr. Regina Torson, an expert in child abuse pediatrics with UnityPoint Health — St. Luke’s Child Protection Center in Hiawatha. On Friday afternoon, the jury heard the closing arguments from the parties.

Taylor began her closing argument acknowledging that the state did not have any direct evidence of how the defendant allegedly infected the victim with an STD, but that she believes the sheer volume of circumstantial evidence proves Webb’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Among that circumstantial evidence is the timeline of when Webb was infected with gonorrhea and when the victim would have become infected.

Taylor poked holes through the defense’s suggestions that the infection could have been spread in a non-sexual manner — through using the same towel, or taking a bath together or helping a child clean up after using the toilet.

During Torson’s testimony, she stated that it is possible to contract gonorrhea by non-sexual means, but it is extremely rare.

“It’s possible, but is it reasonable?” Taylor asked the jury in her closing. “If this is so possible, why aren’t we seeing it more? … There is absolutely nothing reasonable about getting gonorrhea from a bathtub. That’s not a thing, because if it was, there’d be a lot more cases of gonorrhea. It wouldn’t be a sexually-transmitted disease, but it is.”

During his closing argument, defense attorney Dean Stowers challenged Torson’s credibility as a witness.

“She is a child abuse advocate,” he said. “She is not a neutral, unattached witness. Let’s get that straight.”

Stowers also emphasized that Torson’s expertise is not in infectious diseases and that she used words like “generally” and “typically” when describing how gonorrhea is spread.

“This case is a walking, talking, living, breathing reasonable doubt,” he said. “Every one of their witnesses is a reasonable doubt.”

In her rebuttal, Taylor again highlighted the amount of circumstantial evidence the state has presented.

“You put those pieces together to come to a conclusion,” she said. “Don’t ignore what happened to this child. Don’t ignore all of the evidence that you have seen.”

Just prior to the jury announcing its verdict, Stowers motioned for a mistrial based on something Taylor had said during her final rebuttal. After a brief conference, District Court Judge Christopher Polking denied the motion.

A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for June 5 at the Webster County Courthouse. Webb is facing a maximum of 32 years in prison if all three counts are ordered to be served consecutively.

On June 9, 2023, Webb was sentenced to up to 25 years in prison for his crimes.

The Messenger reports:

A former Christian missionary has been sentenced to up to 25 years in prison after being convicted of second-degree sexual abuse, incest and child endangerment.

On Friday, District Court Judge Christopher Polking sentenced 31-year-old Jordan Webb, of Fort Dodge, to 25 years for the sex abuse charge, five years for the incest charge and two years for the child endangerment charge. Polking cited the charges stemming from the same offense as part of the reason for ordering the sentences to be served concurrently, or all at the same time.

The sex abuse charge does carry a mandatory minimum of 70 percent of the sentence, or 17.5 years, to be served in prison before Webb can be deemed eligible for parole. He must also successfully complete a sex offender treatment program before he can become eligible for release.

“The state is pleased with the outcome and sentence in this matter,” Assistant Webster County Attorney Bailey Taylor told The Messenger. “We’d like to thank law enforcement, medical professionals involved and the Webster County community’s help to ensure justice in this matter.”

Taylor, along with Assistant Webster County Attorney Brad McIntyre, prosecuted the case.

Webb was convicted by a Webster County jury on April 28. A year before, he was arrested following an investigation by the Webster County Sheriff’s Office and Webster County Attorney’s Office that was prompted by “some health concerns involving a juvenile,” the WCSO reported at the time.

From 2019 to February 2022, Webb served as a missionary in the Caribbean island nation of St. Lucia. According to a now-deleted Facebook page and website for Webb’s “Christ in the Caribbean” missionary work in St. Lucia, Harvest Baptist Church in Fort Dodge was the “sending church” for his mission work.

Webb’s alleged victim, who will be known as Jane Doe, was diagnosed with gonorrhea in early April 2022. The Messenger does not identify victims of sexual assault.

Just days before Jane Doe was diagnosed, Webb was also diagnosed with gonorrhea, Taylor said during trial. The state alleged that Webb committed a sex act on the victim, infecting her with the STD.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gonorrhea is a “very common” sexually transmitted disease that infects the mucous membranes of the reproductive tract, mouth, throat, eyes and rectum.

In a motion for a new trial filed last week, Dean Stowers, attorney for Webb, argued that Polking’s decision to admit statements the victim made to a nurse practitioner at the Allen Child Protection Center in Waterloo violated the confrontation clause under the U.S. and Iowa constitutions. Because the victim was not called to testify at trial, Stowers argued, statements she made were hearsay and did not fall under a medical exception to hearsay.

Stowers also argued that the victim’s statements were “fundamentally ambiguous and capable of causing the jury to speculate as to what [the victim] meant.”

In his motion, Stowers also attacked the circumstantial evidence on which the state’s case is based.

“When one looks at the evidence in this case, we have a bunch of speculative inferences and conclusions that would have to be drawn to get to the verdicts we have today,” he wrote. “The weight of the evidence does not support these verdicts.”

On Friday afternoon, following brief oral arguments from the parties, Polking denied the defense’s motion for a new trial and proceeded to the sentencing.

Before Polking handed down the sentence, he gave Webb an opportunity to speak on his own behalf.

“I would just like to say that I still maintain that I did not do this,” Webb said.

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

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Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Church Leader Dwight Chris John Accused of Sexually Abusing a Minor

Bruce Gerencser 1 Comment
arrested

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.

Dwight Chris John, a leader at Clover Pass Community Church of the Christian Missionary and Alliance in Ketchikan, Alaska, stands accused of sexually abusing a minor.

KRBD reports:

A man who held a leadership position in a Ketchikan church is facing 14 felony charges of sexual abuse of a minor. The man admitted his behavior to law enforcement.

A man who held a leadership position in a Ketchikan church is facing multiple felony counts of sexual assault of a minor. Seventy-one-year-old Dwight Chris John of Ketchikan faces 14 charges of first, second, and third-degree sexual abuse of a minor, and three related class C felony charges.

Alaska State Troopers say John sexually abused a minor when he visited the child’s community on Prince of Wales Island, or when the child came to visit him in Ketchikan. 

The victim, now a teenager, told their father that John had been sexually abusing them since the age of about nine. The father reported this to Alaska State Troopers. 

The father told troopers that the most recent incident had been during this past Thanksgiving holiday. 

In a forensic interview, the child told investigators that the abuse would often happen when John would read a bedtime story to the child, or was otherwise alone with them. 

John corroborated “nearly all” of the claims during an interview with investigators. He said that the abuse began when the child was five or six. John also said that he did it because the victim wanted him to, and QUOTE, “it was all for” the child, and QUOTE “it wasn’t for me.” 

During a phone call between John and the child’s father — monitored by law enforcement — John “corroborated all of the events” that the child alleged, according to the documents. 

The charging documents say that John is a church leader but did not name the church, although Clover Pass Community Church’s website includes a photo of a man named Chris John on their “board of governors” page. The church did not immediately respond for requests for comment left via phone and email. John told the child’s father that he almost decided not to take a church leadership position because of the alleged abuse. But he said he decided to because he felt God had forgiven him. A photo of the same man with the same name is listed online as a member of the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad’s board of directors. A staff member also told KRBD that a Chris John recently resigned from their board of directors, but didn’t want to comment further. Alaska State Troopers were unavailable for comment nor was the State’s prosecuting attorney. An attorney for John is not listed in online court filings.

John appeared in Ketchikan Superior Court on Wednesday, and Judge Kristian Pickrell set a $500,000 appearance bond, with a 10% cash requirement, and a $250,000 performance bond. 

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

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Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Student Minister Michael Sasser Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Sexually Molesting a Family Member

Bruce Gerencser 0 Comments
michael sasser

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 Sasser, a student minister at Redeemer Church in Modesto, California, pleaded guilty to sexually molesting a family member and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Redeemer Church is affiliated with the Acts 29 Network.

The Modesto Bee reports:

A Modesto man who stepped down from his role as a church youth leader a month before his arrest has pleaded guilty to molesting a family member.

Michael Sasser, 41, was arrested in April on suspicion of three counts of child molestation for acts that occurred during a period of months in 2022.

On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty to the continuous sexual abuse of a child and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. As a result of the plea, two other counts of child molestation were dropped.

“It was in the best interest of all parties involved that this case be resolved quickly, as opposed to being long and drawn out,” said Sasser’s attorney Rebecka A. Monez. “The plea represents the reality of the crimes, and the defense is content with the resolution.”

The prosecutor on the case said in court that she talked at length with the victim about giving an impact statement, but the victim ultimately declined.

Sasser was co-leader of the student ministry at Redeemer Church on H Street in Modesto before stepping down Feb. 28, about a month before his arrest, lead pastor Patrick Nagle said in April. Sasser cited “personal reasons” and “to focus on himself and his family,” the pastor said. Sasser also previously served as a church elder. Both were volunteer roles, Nagle said.

Police said there was no evidence to suggest that anyone in the youth group was a victim. Nagle said the church was notified about the criminal investigation sometime in March before Sasser’s arrest. “We notified parents that there was an issue that took place in the home and CPS (Child Protective Services) and police were involved,” Nagle said in April. “We made it clear as well to parents that he is no longer allowed to serve in any capacity here or allowed in the building.”

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

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Why Adult Evangelical Women “Let” Pastors Take Sexual Advantage of Them

Bruce Gerencser 5 Comments
child abuse 2

By now, regular readers of this blog who follow the Black Collar Crime Series know that Evangelicalism has a Catholic church-sized problem with sexual assault, sexual abuse, and rape. For years, Evangelical churches and pastors pointed fingers at the Great Whore of Babylon — the Roman Catholic Church — condemning its ever-growing sexual abuse scandal, all the while ignoring the increasing number of sex-related scandals in their own ranks. It is clear, at least to me, that Evangelicals have no high moral ground when it comes to sex crimes; that Evangelical pastors, evangelists, missionaries, youth pastors, deacons, elders, Sunday school teachers, Christian school teachers, bus drivers, worship leaders, and choir directors can and do rape, assault, and abuse children, teenagers, and vulnerable adults. Add to this the consensual affairs, cavorting with prostitutes, and being “addicted” to porn, and it seems, despite all the preaching against sexual sin, that so-called men of God are not practicing what they preach.

I am in no way suggesting that a large number of Evangelical pastors are sexual predators. I have no doubt that many pastors are true to their marital vows, don’t prey on children, and generally try to practice what they preach. (Please read Is Clergy Sexual Infidelity Rare?) That said, many Evangelical churches do a poor job of keeping congregants — especially children and teenagers — safe from abuse at the hands of men given the responsibility and authority to lead them. Churches wrongly think that if they do a one-time background check and it comes back clean, they have done their due diligence. However, background checks only show past criminal convictions, and if not done regularly, such checks would not catch convictions after the original background check was performed. Churches should annually run thorough background checks — both state and federal. When interviewing men for open pulpits, churches should call the candidates’ previous churches to see if there were any whispers of sexual misconduct. It is astounding how many churches hire men with checkered pasts, not bothering to check on whether they have left behind at their previous jobs allegations of sexual impropriety or other criminal misconduct.

Evangelical churches are often quite sensitive to how they are viewed in their communities, knowing that rumors about sexual scandals could damage their reputations. This is why, instead of obeying reporting laws and putting the needs of victims first, many churches, when they hear of sexual misconduct, investigate it themselves and try to cover it up. In doing so, churches often violate state sexual abuse reporting laws. Sadly, prosecutors have been hesitant to prosecute pastors and church leaders for not reporting abuse. Imagine how different things might be if a few pastors were sentenced to a year in the county jail for failing to report sexual abuse. I bet that would get their attention, and result in more churches following the law. (Please read How Should Churches Handle Allegations of Abuse?)

Many Evangelical churches are independent or part of loosely affiliated sects such as the Southern Baptist Convention. Since each church governs itself, there is no central authority that handles claims of abuse or disciplines pastors accused of criminal behavior. Every church is its own final authority, and far too many churches have been willing to shove clergy sexual misconduct under the proverbial rug rather than see their pastors criminally prosecuted and victims receive justice. Even worse, victims are often shamed into silence. Jesus forgave us, shouldn’t we forgive others? victims are told. Pastor said this was all a big misunderstanding, and he promises, before God himself, that he will never, ever do anything like this again! Will you forgive him? And by doing this, churches abuse victims all over again and predator pastors are free to continue trolling the church membership (or a new church’s membership) for fresh victims.

The Southern Baptist Convention is the largest Protestant denomination in America, yet, as of this date, they refuse to establish a centralized database that tracks allegations and prosecutions of pastor/church leader criminal conduct. Southern Baptist leaders say that they must protect pastors from false allegations, and developing a database of accusations would “convict” pastors without the benefit of a trial. While false allegations are always possible, they are actually very, very rare. At the very least, a database of allegations would help when looking for patterns of misconduct. Using the “where there is smoke there is fire” approach, when a pastor has several accusations lodged against him, it is likely that he is up to no good.

An overarching problem in Evangelical congregations is that people are naïve and too trusting. I have posted numerous Black Collar Crime reports detailing congregations who refused to believe that their pastors could ever do such terrible things. Often, they will defend their pastors, accusing me of trying to smear or discredit their churches. After all, I am an atheist, a tool of Satan, so anything I write can’t be trusted. However, the content for the Black Collar Crime Series comes from news and police reports. I only report what can be verified. As a result, offended church members, in time, learned my reports were correct and their pastors were indeed capable of everything from rape to murder to theft. Pastors are not above the fray morally or ethically, and as long as the sheep think they are, predator clergy will continue to prey on and fleece the flock.

Six years ago, I posted an article about Mitch Olson, pastor of Grace Ministry Center in Kimball, Michigan, being accused of sexually assaulting a woman during an anointing ritual. When confronted by church leaders, Olson said his hand must have slipped in the anointing oil. (Please read Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Mitch Olson Accused of Sexually Assaulting Church Member.) The woman Olson allegedly abused is an adult who had been a member of Grace since sixth grade. When people read stories such as this one — especially readers who were never Evangelicals — they often wonder why the woman just didn’t say NO or fight back. Surely, as a grown woman, she knew that it was wrong for her pastor to be “anointing” her breasts, buttocks, and genitals. Shouldn’t she bear some culpability in what happened? Isn’t this really just a matter of consensual behavior gone awry? (Olson was never charged with a crime, but his victim sued him and won an undisclosed amount of money.) I can hear the defender of sexual predators Dr. David Tee shouting a loud AMEN!

Pastors are, by law, considered authority figures, and as such are held to a high standard of moral and ethical conduct. Because pastors are often intimately involved in the lives of their parishioners — much like doctors, lawyers, and counselors — there is always a danger of people being manipulated and controlled, leading to abusive behavior and sexual misconduct. Pastors often know the dark, deep secrets of their parishioners, and this gives them power over their congregants. Professional lines can quickly become blurred, resulting in criminal misconduct. While pastors can and do have consensual sexual affairs with women in their churches, often these affairs are actually abuses of authority and should be treated as such.

In the case of Mitch Olson and Justine Morden, the victim had spent her formative years in Grace Ministry Church, with Olson as her pastor. Morden deeply respected and trusted Olson. I am sure she never thought that Olson would sexually take advantage of her. Remember, most Evangelicals are taught that their pastor/pastors/elders are their spiritual leaders and guides. Called “men of God”, these divinely chosen pastors are often viewed as the rulers of their churches. Given great power, authority, and control, Evangelical pastors can, with impunity, misuse and abuse their congregations. In some Baptist circles such as the Southern Baptist Convention and the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church movement, pastors often have absolute control over their churches, acting more like kings and potentates than humble servants.

It should not come as a shock to the reader to learn that, because congregants are often raised in such authoritarian, controlling churches, many of them lose their ability to discern harm or misbehavior. Why, Pastor Bob would never, ever harm me. He loves and cares for my soul and prays for me daily! When congregants lose discernment abilities, it is not hard, then, for a pastor to manipulate church members into doing whatever it is he wants them to do. This is especially the case for women who have spent their lives being taught that God commands them to be submissive to male authority — their fathers when they are young, their husbands when they are married, and their pastors when it comes to spiritual matters. Totally disarmed and subservient to men, women become easy targets for pastors to take advantage of.

It is clear that many sexually abused Evangelical women didn’t “let” their abusers do anything. Thanks to their immersion in cult-like teachings and behaviors, along with misogynistic, patriarchal views of the fairer sex, it is evident that many women are like lambs to the slaughter, easy marks for those out to take advantage of them. As Justine Morden and countless other Evangelical women have learned, just because a man calls himself a pastor doesn’t mean he should be trusted. While scores of predatory clergy are exposed and convicted every year, countless others fly under the radar, using their positions of power and authority to take advantage of trusting, unsuspecting women. Until churches and sects are willing to out these predators and publicly burn them at the stake — so to speak — they will continue to wreak havoc and destruction.

Note

This post is focused on women because the overwhelming majority of Evangelical clergy sexual abuse consists of male pastors abusing female teenagers and women. This does not mean I am ignoring male-on-male abuse or child sexual abuse. Those too are a problem, but for this post alone, I have focused on the question raised in the title.

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

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Black Collar Crime: Former Catholic Youth Worker Brian Werth Spent Three Years in Prison for Sexual Abuse, Accused of Child Pornography Crimes

Bruce Gerencser 4 Comments
brian werth

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, Brian Werth, a youth worker at St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Church in Rockville, Maryland, was sentenced yesterday to three years in prison for the sexual abuse of a church teenager.

The Bethesda Magazine reported:

A former youth minister at St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Church in Rockville was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison for the sexual abuse of a teen parishioner, according to Montgomery County prosecutors.

Brian Patrick Werth, 34, had been arrested in 2016 in connection with the abuse of a then-16-year-old girl, to whom he had sent explicit text messages for two years and had sexual contact with her earlier that year. He was charged with a fourth-degree sex offense, sexual abuse of a minor and second-degree assault.

Judge Karla Smith sentenced Werth to one year for the sex offense charge and two years for the assault charge, according to a State’s Attorney’s Office press release. The two terms will be served consecutively, followed by five years of probation with COMET, a sex offender monitoring program that will include periodic polygraph and psychosexual testing. Werth is also required to register as a sex offender for 15 years.

Smith went beyond state guidelines, which recommend zero to six months for the charges, in the sentencing. Ramón Korionoff, a spokesman for the State’s Attorney’s Office, said the sentence was appropriate.

“It is our hope that this above-the-guidelines sentence will send a strong message that people in position of authority and trust must not abuse that power over the young people they are supposed to be serving,” he said in a statement. “Hopefully, yesterday’s sentence will be the first step in healing for the victim and the church community in this matter.”

….

Werth, who lived in Montgomery Village at the time, had known the victim through the church, and learned that she “adored him,” according to prosecutors. They began texting, and police later discovered he had sent graphic and sexual texts to her since the summer of 2014.

On about May 20, 2016, Werth kissed the teen and had other inappropriate sexual contact with her during a youth event at the church, according to police.

St. Elizabeth’s had fired Werth in 2016 after the pastor received a complaint against him that summer, according to a statement from the Archdiocese of Washington at the time. The pastor contacted the Archdiocese’s Child and Youth Protection Office, which then reported the case to county police.

After his release from prison, Werth was accused of one count of solicitation of a minor to engage in the production of obscene matter, three counts of possession with intent to distribute pornography, and ten counts of possession of child pornography.

In 2021, the Maryland State Police reported,

A Prince George’s County man was arrested and charged Tuesday after a Maryland State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigation developed evidence supporting charges of possession of child pornography and the attempted solicitation of a minor.

The suspect is identified as Brian Werth, 37, of Beltsville, MD. Werth, a registered sex offender, is charged with solicitation of a minor to engage in the production of obscene matter, three counts of possession with intent to distribute pornography and 10 counts of possession of child pornography. He was taken to the Maryland State Police College Park Barrack for processing before being transferred to the Prince George’s County Detention Center, where he is being held without bond.

On June 24, the Maryland State Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force received a CyberTip report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children involving the distribution of child pornography online. The investigation led to the identification of the suspect and his residence in Prince George’s County.

Through the course of the investigation, troopers discovered that Werth had also been communicating with a minor in North Carolina. Troopers, with the assistance of Homeland Security Investigations, arrested Werth Tuesday as he went to visit his probation officer in Hyattsville, Maryland. Investigators also served a search warrant at the identified suspect’s residence.

I found no further information on Brian Werth’s 2021 arrest. He could have been violated and returned to prison. I found no news story on the adjudication of Werth’s case. Maryland uses a convoluted sex offender registry. After several attempts to use it, I gave up. Come on, Maryland, it’s 2023.

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

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Update: Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Youth Pastor Robert Shiflet Sentenced to Only 33 Months for Sex Crimes, Released Early for Good Behavior

Bruce Gerencser 2 Comments
clergy sex abuse

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 June 2020, Robert Shiflet, a youth pastor at Denton Bible Church in Denton, Texas from 1997-2002, was arrested and charged with child sex trafficking. Shiflet also worked at Liberty Christian School in Argyle from 2008 to 2010.

The Denton Record-Chronicle reported at the time:

A former Denton youth pastor who pleaded guilty on charges related to child sex trafficking will be sentenced in federal court on May 19 [2021], court records show.

Robert Shiflet, a Denton man, was arrested in June on four charges related to child sex trafficking. Shiflet initially pleaded not guilty to the four charges but later changed his plea to guilty on two charges of transporting minors across state lines for sexual activity. The other two charges were dismissed.

The incidents date back from 1997 to 2002, which overlapped with his time at Denton Bible Church. Authorities said he worked as a youth pastor in Little Rock, Arkansas during the time of the incidents and then later moved to Denton. He also worked at Liberty Christian School in Argyle from 2008 to 2010.

….

Shiflet changed his plea to guilty on Nov. 30. The penalty for transporting minors across state lines for sexual activity is up to 15 years in prison and up to three years of supervised release.

According to court documents, both parties agreed to a sentence of 27 to 33 months on each count to run concurrently, although the court can still determine the appropriate sentence. Shiflet would have to register as a sex offender upon release.

In 2021, Shiflet was sentenced to only 33 months in prison. The Denton Record-Chronicle reports:

 A former Denton youth pastor has been sentenced to 33 months in federal prison for crimes related to child sex trafficking from two decades ago.

Robert Shiflet, 51, was ordered Tuesday to serve 33 months in federal prison and must remain under federal supervision for the rest of his life once he’s released. Shiflet was indicted last year on charges relating to child sex trafficking and pleaded guilty in November 2020 to two of the charges.

….

“So I’m going to accept the plea agreement but not in any way, shape or form having anything to do with you or anything anybody has said positive about you,” U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky said in court, reported by the Democrat-Gazette. “But for them because they deserve some justice, even if it’s not the justice they or society should get completely.”

The newspaper reported the judge accepted the deal to help victims get some justice. The three victims at court Tuesday told the judge they would testify if the case moved to a jury trial, but said they preferred the 33-month sentence rather than risk a jury acquitting Shiflet.

“Thirty-three months is not justice but reading between the lines I have to believe the government has some concerns about this case if it went to the jury,” Rudofsky said. “I have a feeling that although these women have all said they would testify — which makes them more brave than you are on a single day of your life — they don’t want to and they want this to be done and that they are scared if this case goes to trial you will get off completely.”

According to the Democrat-Gazette, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Bryant said the potential guideline sentence may have been miscalculated, leading to the range of 27 to 33 months in the plea agreement to be so far under the guidelines.

“Unfortunately, we were wrong, but that was the agreement we reached based upon our understanding at that time,” Bryant said.

Federal authorities said Shiflet worked as a youth pastor in Little Rock, Arkansas, where the case was filed, at the time of the incidents before moving to Denton.

….

Shiflet was indicted on three counts of transporting minors across state lines to engage in illegal sexual activity and one count of coercing a minor to cross state lines to engage in illegal sexual activity. He pleaded not guilty in June 2020 but later reversed his plea in November 2020 to guilty of two counts of transporting.

“This defendant took advantage of his position of trust as a mentor to young people and instead used his power to isolate and sexually abuse them,” U.S. Attorney Hiland said in a news release at the time of the guilty plea. “This predatory behavior is never acceptable, but it is particularly disturbing when the offender is a youth pastor. Our office will continue to aggressively pursue those who commit these deplorable crimes.”

According to authorities, Shiflet led a group of eighth graders in May 1997 on a camping trip to Arkansas where he was able to isolate a 15-year-old girl and sexually assault her, telling her not to tell anyone. Shiflet was 27 years old at the time and a youth pastor in Denton.

….

 A 16-year-old girl reported that in 2002 that Shiflet, her youth pastor in Little Rock at the time, “engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with her.” One of the incidents was in the summer where he, 32 years old at the time, sexually assaulted her on a charter bus to Florida while on a youth group trip.

I said at the time, “yet another Evangelical pastor who escapes the full brunt of the law for his heinous crimes.” Adding insult to injury, Shiflet was released early from prison for good behavior.

Fox-4 reports:

The youth pastor found to have sexually abused 14 girls at Denton Bible Church and another church in Little Rock, Arkansas was released from prison early for good behavior.

Robert Shiflet was released from prison on January 11, 2023, after serving 25 months behind bars for repeatedly sexually assaulting two girls.

In June 2021, a federal judge sentenced Shiflet to 33 months in prison, as part of a plea agreement. At the time, the judge lamented the agreement was not for a longer prison term.

Shiflet’s victims say they did not receive notice of his early release from the U.S. Department of Justice for more than six weeks.

An email to the victims said that advance notice of his release was not possible because it was “immediate, and/or unexpected.”

Shiflet, 52, is now living in Weatherford, Texas where he is required to register as a sex offender. He will also be under supervision for life.

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

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.

Bruce Gerencser