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Tag: Sexual Abuse

Black Collar Crime: First Baptist Church of Columbia Accused of Covering Up Sex Crimes

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wendell estep

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.

A lawsuit was filed this week against First Baptist Church of Columbia, South, Carolina, alleging that church leaders, including its pastor Wendell Estep,  covered up sex crimes.

John Monk, a reporter for The State, writes:

A Richland County lawsuit quotes numerous sexually explicit text messages that a First Baptist Church youth worker allegedly sent to a boy in a church program, adding church officials did little or nothing for years while the worker sexually abused the youth.

That inaction is part of the downtown Columbia church’s history of failing to take action against potential molesters, the lawsuit alleges. The boy, now 17, was about 11 when the abuse began, according to the lawsuit, filed in Richland County Circuit Court this week.

Because of the assaults and touching, the youth suffered personal injury and “severe emotional distress,” the lawsuit alleges, asking for a minimum of $150,000 in damages.

To expose the church’s alleged pattern of concealing abuse, the lawsuit also seeks a court order to unseal three sealed civil lawsuits against First Baptist and an ex-deacon, John Hubner, a convicted child sex abuser. Hubner, 69, was convicted in 2002 in Richland County for lewd acts on a child at First Baptist and now is serving a 36-year sentence.

In response to questions from The State about the lawsuit, First Baptist released a statement Friday.

“Last fall, First Baptist Church became aware of allegations of inappropriate conduct by an unpaid volunteer in the student ministries department,” said the statement by R. Bryan Barnes, a First Baptist member and Columbia lawyer.

“As church policy dictates, the appropriate committee investigated. The committee concluded the volunteer violated church policies. Disciplinary action was taken. The volunteer no longer attends First Baptist Church and was prohibited from further contact with our students. … Church lawyers advise against further public comment at this time.”

The statement did not address the lawsuit’s allegations that First Baptist has covered up instances of sexual abuse or whether the church had contacted law enforcement about the misconduct alleged, as required by state law.

Peter Farr, an attorney for the church, said Friday those and other issues will be addressed at the proper time, in the proper forum, as the legal action continues.

Founded in 1809, First Baptist Church is one of the Columbia area’s biggest, most respected and oldest churches. It has some 7,000 members, and its $13 million, 3,300-seat sanctuary occupies a city block in downtown Columbia.

The church’s pastor, Wendell Estep, 74, has led First Baptist for 31 years. He recently announced his retirement as of next year.

Estep is a named as a defendant in the lawsuit, along with First Baptist Church, Philip Turner and Andrew McCraw. The lawsuit identifies Turner as First Baptist’s staff student minister and McCraw as “a youth assistant mentor and assistant small group leader in First Baptist’s youth group.”

A church spokesman said none of the individuals named in the lawsuit would comment.

The suit was brought by a minor child, identified by the pseudonym Joel Doe, and his parents, Jane Doe and John Doe. The identity of minors in sex cases is confidential.

According to the lawsuit, “Joel Doe” began attending First Baptist while in elementary school. At age 11, he began participating in a Sunday evening youth program, designed “to create a safe environment for children to discuss various religious topics with each other and various young adult mentors,” the lawsuit says.

McCraw was assigned to be “Joel Doe’s” youth mentor and began to invite the youth to movies and dinner, and to sleep over at his house with no other “adults or youth members present,” the lawsuit says.

McCraw also began to send “Joel Doe” text messages, sometimes dozens a day, that were “sexually motivated, inappropriate and illegal,” said the lawsuit, which quotes 17 texts between July 29 and Aug. 16 of 2016.

McCraw also sent nude photos of himself to “Joel Doe,” inappropriately touched the youth while on First Baptist’s property, and “proclaimed his love” for the youth, according to the lawsuit.

During this time, First Baptist officials should have known McCraw was spending “inordinate amounts of unsupervised time with “Joel Doe,” the lawsuit says, adding church official Turner had reprimanded McCraw for having children at his house with no other adults present.

After being told of McCraw’s activities, church officials did not report them to law enforcement “despite having a statutory duty to do so” under the Child Abuse Victims’ Rights Act, the lawsuit alleges.

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Over the years, First Baptist and Estep have fostered “a culture of secrecy that encouraged their employees … to shield individuals” who prey on children, the lawsuit says. The church had an incentive to promote itself as a safe place because it depends “on the financial contributions of parishioners,” the lawsuit said.

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On February 6, 2018, The Daily Caller reported that First Baptist Church agreed to issue an apology, admit liability, and pay $300,000 to the plaintiff:

A Baptist church in South Carolina settled a child sexual abuse lawsuit, agreeing to issue an apology, admit liability, and to pay $300,000 to the plaintiff.

Bryan Barnes, spokesman for First Baptist Church of Columbia, S.C., said that church leadership issued the apology and explained the terms of the settlement before the congregation on Sunday, according to the Baptist Press. The case involved a boy identified only as “Joel Doe” who alleged that Andrew McCraw, a volunteer in the church’s youth ministry, engaged in sexually inappropriate behavior with him when he was between the ages of 11 and 16.

“Today, we want to offer an apology for the inappropriate and unacceptable conduct this young man endured and express regret for what we failed to do to prevent it,” church leaders said, according to the outlet.

“No student should have to experience what this young man endured,” the church’s statement added.

Doe filed the lawsuit in October 2017 through his parents against First Baptist Church Senior Pastor Wendell Estep, and McCraw. The lawsuit alleged that McCraw initiated a relationship with Doe as a young adult mentor in a church youth program, but the relationship progressed in intimacy to inappropriate touching and sleepovers at McCraw’s house with no other adults or youths present.

The lawsuit also lists several sexually explicit text messages that McCraw sent to the boy, such as “Be there in 10. Have the lube ready,” and “Hey, anything to get that *** in a swimsuit.” Doe and his parents alleged that McCraw sometimes sent dozens of such messages to him a day.

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Church leadership initially issued a rebuttal against specific allegations within the lawsuit. Church leadership contested the claims they knew about the relationship between Doe and McCraw before law enforcement started investigating McCraw.

They also contested that they knew McCraw spent time alone with the youth away from church property, and that the case was part of a church conspiracy to cover up sexual abuse. The case was one facet of a cover-up conspiracy, the lawsuit alleged, related to former First Baptist deacon John Hubner, who in 2002 was sentenced to 36 years in prison for sexually abusing an underage girl.

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Doe and his parents subsequently amended their lawsuit with added allegations that the church chose not to report McCraw to the police to avoid a public scandal and that they failed to notify the next church in which he served of his sexually predatory behavior.

The church has now, according to the terms of the settlement, accepted responsibility for the entire situation, and stated that even though they “had strong policies in place” and subjected McCraw to a background check before allowing him to serve. Leadership said they will reevaluate their youth protection policies and strengthen them where necessary, especially with regard to adults texting church youths.

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Black Collar Crime: Pastor Ralph Stair Under Investigation, Accused of Fondling Pre-Teen Girl During Church Service

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ralph stair

Ralph Stair, pastor of The Overcomer Ministry in Walterboro, South Carolina, is under investigation after a video surfaced showing him fondling a pre-teen girl’s breasts during a church service. A second girl has come forward claiming Stairs sexually molested her. Stairs was arrested in 2002 on charges of “sexual assault for improperly touching two young female church members.” The charges were reduced to assault and battery and Stair was given two thirty-day sentences,  Overcomer Ministry’s website calls Stair “The Voice of  the Last Day Prophet of God.”

Harve Jacobs, a reporter for Channel 5 News, writes:

A Lowcountry preacher is under investigation after a video surfaced that allegedly shows him touching an underage girl during a church service.

The Colleton County Sheriff’s Office and State Law Enforcement Division are investigating the Rev. Ralph Stair.

The investigation into Stair began on Oct. 2 after the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office received a call about a video that came from a woman with a relative who is reportedly a member of Stair’s Overcomer Ministry in Canadys.

A man who narrates the video says he used to belong to the church.

“He is a master manipulator and although he calls it a church, as a former member let me assure you that it is a cult,” the narrator says.

The narrator says the video is a collection of clips from church services between July 1 and Oct. 1 of this year. The video appears to depict the 84-year old Stair telling a girl to get up and come to him.

“I’m gonna touch your, uh, what do you call them?” he says. The girl whispers something into his ear. “I never heard them called that anymore. I call them breasts. Lady has a problem with breasts.”

In another part of the video, Stair calls up another girl.

“How old are you hon?” he asks her. “Twelve, getting right close to it now.”

Then Stair tells her to come back up.

“Come here, I’ll show you, just look, look here,” he says.

Stair has the 12-year-old face the audience. In the video, Stair places his hand between her breasts.

“Growing up,” he says.

The video shows Stair cupping the 12-year-old’s right breast. Then she goes back to her seat.

“I’m gonna touch those things till nobody else can touch ’em,” he says.

In 2002, Stair was arrested on charges of sexual assault for improperly touching two young female church members.

 

Stair eventually agreed to plead guilty to reduced charges of assault and battery and was given two 30-day sentences with credit for time already spent in jail.

….

Access to Stair’s compound is blocked by a gate. When contacted for a comment on these latest accusations, an employee of Overcomer Ministry said Stair was not available.

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The sheriff’s office has watched the video along with a second video in which a 16-year-old girl claims she was molested by Stair when she belonged to the church.

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Update

On December 18, 2017, ABC-4 reported:

A Colleton County pastor has been arrested on multiple charges, including three counts of 1st degree criminal sexual conduct, and one count of 3rd degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

Ralph G. Stair, 84, the leader of Colleton County-based Overcomer Ministry, is in jail at the Colleton County Detention Center after his arrest shortly before 8 a.m. Monday, according to CCSO spokesman, Lt. Tyger Benton.

Deputies arrested Stair after serving warrants on eight charges, which are as follows:

  • 3 counts – 1st degree Criminal Sexual Conduct (CSC)
  • 1 count – Assault with intent to commit 1st degree criminal sexual conduct
  • 1 count – 3rd degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor
  • 1 count – Kidnapping
  • 1 count – 1st degree burglary
  • 1 count – 2nd degree assault

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Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Rodney McManus Arrested on Charges of Unlawful Sexual Conduct With a Minor

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busted

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.

Rodney McManus, pastor of NewLife Outreach Church in East Palestine, Ohio was arrested Tuesday on charges of attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor

WKBN-27 reports:

A local pastor of a church and business owner is accused of having inappropriate contact with a girl under the age of 16.

Police confirmed that Rodney McManus, 49, of Alice Street, was arrested Tuesday on charges of attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

Police say McManus touched the girl inappropriately on multiple occasions between January 2014 and August 2017.

The girl was under 16 and older than 13 when the incidents occurred.

McManus met up with the girl at the Coffee Stop, which he co-owned and used for youth activities for teens and where he held services for the NewLife Outreach Church.

McManus appeared in court on Thursday where bond was set at $25,000. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 19.

The NewLife Outreach Church and Coffee Stop have closed.

Update

WFMJ reports:

An East Palestine church pastor accused of sexual contact with an underage girl was back in court.

Rodney McManus, 49, who remains jailed on a $25,000 cash bond, was handcuffed and dressed in jail orange as he walked into the courtroom of Columbiana County Municipal Court Judge Mark Frost.

McManus was the pastor of the New Life Outreach Church in East Palestine and ran the local services out of The Coffee Stop that he owned until it abruptly closed in September.

McManus agreed to waive a preliminary hearing that was supposed to be held and would have allowed the alleged victim in the case to testify.

Instead, the case will head to the Columbiana County Grand Jury.

Assistant Columbiana County Prosecutor Alec Beech also told the judge there was a “typo” in the original criminal complaint that alleged this was an “attempted” act of unlawful sexual contact with a girl under the age of 16.

The judge agreed to remove the word “attempted” which makes the crime a more serious felony.

According to the criminal complaint, McManus became involved with a juvenile between the ages of 13 and 16 in 2013, and the alleged behavior went on for several years.

McManus is accused of touching the girl’s genital area and placed her hand on his genitals.

The judge made it clear that if McManus is able to make bond, he is to have no contact with the alleged victim in this case.

McManus was sentence to three years in prison for his crimes.

Black Collar Crime: School Teacher Accused of Using Christianity to Seduce Teen Student

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joe petrey

Joe Petrey, a former teacher at Brookwood High School in Snellville,Georgia, stands accused of using Christianity to seduce a female student. This led to the two having sex at the married teacher’s home and hotels.

Jennifer Smith, a writer for the Daily Mail, reports:

A former high school student who claims she had a relationship with her married teacher has come forward to publicly shame the man as an adult.

Abigail Weissenbach, now 21, was 17 when she says she and Joe Brad Petrey had sex at his home and in hotels in Bessemer, Alabama.

They ate lunch and breakfast together in his classroom at Brookwood High School and he fondled her under a blanket during classes when other students were watching movies, she claimed.

Their illicit relationship was exposed in 2015 when hundreds of photographs of the pair together were posted on social media.

Petrey, who was 28 at the time and is now 30, was charged with child sex offences but the case against him was dismissed when Abigail decided not to cooperate with authorities in February.

Since then, she has had a change of heart and is airing her allegations in a federal lawsuit against him and the school, which she says knew about the alleged abuse but did nothing to stop it.

The woman spoke to ABC’s 33/40 to explain how she was brainwashed by Petrey into thinking she was to blame for the relationship.

‘I was going through a hard time and it was really nice to feel like I had someone who was in my corner that really really cared.

‘It was an unhealthy, abusive relationship I was in and what he did to me was wrong,” said Weissenbach.

‘Looking back now I feel very embarrassed and stupid that I believed everything he said and went along with it,’ she added.

In her lawsuit, she alleges that other staff at the school were aware of their relationship but did nothing to stop it.

‘They knew but they didn’t take any action. If he was investigated, seemingly nothing happened because I sat in his classroom behind his desk everyday.

‘I didn’t even have my own desk. And to tell me you don’t notice a student skipping lunch to eat lunch with their teacher, spending in the mornings, sitting with him or being alone in his classroom, to not take action.’

She said Petrey used religion to coax her into their affair and once said that God had told him to tell her she was beautiful in a dream.

‘He kind of coached me in Christianity and talked to me a lot about that and would ask me to sit behind his desk and it really just grew from there really quickly and it turned into something before I really knew it was going down that path.’

Over the course of a year, they had sex at his home when his wife was not there and in hotels when she was in town, the lawsuit alleges.

He took her out for meals to a local Olive Garden restaurant and took photographs together which he saved onto a hard drive, she claims.

In 2014, her dance teachers contacted the school board to say they were concerned about the relationship after hearing her talk about her ‘boyfriend’ who she called ‘Brad’.

The school board said it was investigating their claims but Petrey returned to teach the following year.

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Creeps of Hollywood: Samantha Bee Takes On Men Who Sexually Harass and Abuse Women

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Warning! The following video contains cursing and penis mocking. You’ve been warned. Now, enjoy!

Video Link

Video Link

You can catch Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Wednesdays on TBS.

Black Collar Crime: Methodist Pastor Reid Buchanan Charged with Sexually Abusing Two Girls

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Reid Buchanan, a pastor at St. Luke United Methodist Church in Lexington, Kentucky, has been charged with sexually abusing two teen girls who are family members.

The Lexington Herald Leader reports:

A former associate pastor of a large Lexington church has been charged with sexual abuse of two teens, according to media reports.

Reid Buchanan, who worked at St. Luke United Methodist Church from July 2016 until August of this year, was arrested Wednesday by Lexington police. Two minors accused Buchanan, 63, of touching them inappropriately multiple times, starting when they were younger, according to WKYT, the Herald-Leader’s reporting partner.

The abuse of the youngest victim allegedly began two years ago, according to WKYT. She didn’t come forward until a recent incident.

Abuse of the other victim began many years prior with the latest incident in April, according to the report.

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As associate pastor at St. Luke United Methodist Church, he was director of missions and was involved in the planning of mission trips, said Cathy Bruce, director of communications for the Kentucky Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, headquartered in Crestwood in Oldham County.

The allegations were brought to the attention of the church in late July, Bruce said, at which point Buchanan was immediately relieved of his duties and suspended.

She said there are no allegations of misconduct on church grounds or at a church event.

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Buchanan pleaded not guilty Thursday in court. He was ordered not to have contact with the teens, and a preliminary hearing was set for 8:30 a.m. Nov. 3

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Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Michael Cole Convicted of Sexually Abusing a Teenage Boy

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pastor michael cole

Michael Cole, worship pastor at The Worship Center Ministries in Dixon, Illinois, was convicted on charges of sexually abusing a teenage boy.

Kathleen Schultz, a reporter for SaukValley.com wrote:

A Dixon man charged with 25 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a teenage boy was sentenced to 6 months in jail and 8 years’ probation – 4 years on each of the two charges to which he pleaded.

The other 23 were dismissed per his plea agreement.

Michael J. Cole, 38, must serve the full 6 months; he is not being given day-for-day credit, but he was given credit for 9 days served. He also must pay $2,428.25 in fines and fees.

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The boy was 16 when the abuse began; Cole was 29 and the assistant pastor at his Dixon church.

Although Cole is being allowed to remain a worship leader at the Worship Center, 403 N. Ottawa Ave., while on probation, he may be in the presence of those younger than 18 only when other adults are present.

He cannot be a minister, counselor, or mentor, or hold any kind of leadership position over any children younger than 18.

His father, Bishop Michael F. Cole, is the Worship Center pastor.

Although his son has been preaching in his church recently – and in fact delivered a short, videotaped speech Sunday letting members of the congregation know about his upcoming jail term and thanking them for their support – his role in the church upon his release “has yet to be determined,” his father said Tuesday. He has no position at the church at present, other than being a worship leader, the bishop said.

Also under the terms of his probation:

Cole must register as a sex offender; cannot in general have any contact with a child younger than 18 unless supervised by an adult 21 or older; must complete any and all recommended sex offender evaluation and treatment; can have no contact with his victim or any of the victim’s immediate family; and cannot leave the state without the court’s permission.

He also cannot have any sexually explicit material; date or have a romantic relationship with anyone who has physical custody of a minor child; cannot live within 100 yards of a school, daycare, YMCA, YWCA, park, playground or any other place children congregate; and cannot place a personal classified ad, go to a bar, or have a firearm or any other dangerous weapon.

Cole, who was sentenced Wednesday, was arrested Sept. 14, 2015, after an investigation that began that August, when the boy reported being sexually abused in 2008 and 2009, when he was 16 and 17, and Cole was 29 and 30.

Black Collar Crime: Catholic Priest Adam Prochaski Accused of Sexually Molesting Girls

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Adam Prochaski, former pastor of Holy Cross Church in Maspeth,Queens, New York, stands accused of molesting fifteen girls between 1973 and 1994.

Christopher Barca, a writer for the Queens Chronicle, reports:

More than a dozen women have come forward in recent weeks to accuse a former Maspeth priest of molesting them as children decades ago.

Prominent attorney Mitchell Garabedian told the Chronicle in a Tuesday interview that 15 women claim that former Holy Cross Church pastor the Rev. Adam Prochaski sexually abused them at some point between 1973 and 1994.

“Father Prochaski was sexually abusing innocent children for more than two decades,” Garabedian said. “My clients are very courageous for coming forward.”

According to the Daily News, which broke the story, Prochaski was first assigned to Holy Cross in 1969. Garabedian said the abuse began four years later and occurred not just at the church, but at the parish’s now-defunct school and other locations.

“Sex abuse happened at school, in Holy Cross Church, in the rectory next door and in some of the children’s homes, as well as the father’s,” the attorney said. “In many cases, his abuse was open, notorious and in plain view.”

The ages of his alleged victims, many of them Polish immigrants, ranged from just 5 years old to 16, he added.

The allegations finally graduated from whispered rumors in 1990, when former Holy Cross teacher Linda Porcaro said seven of the priest’s alleged victims told her what had happened to them.

“So I immediately went to the principal at the time, but I was told that everyone knew about Father P. She laughed,” Porcaro said in a Tuesday interview. “I was supposed to forget about it because everyone knew.”

Porcaro left the school shortly afterwards, but kept in touch with the victims — who are now between 37 and 54 — over the years. In August, she said she saw an anonymous post on Facebook that advised anyone with with information about the priest’s past to call Garabedian.

The lawyer represented many of those sexually abused by priests in Boston a decade ago.

That scandal was famously unearthed by a team of Boston Globe investigative reporters and portrayed in the 2015 Academy Award-winning film “Spotlight,” with popular actor Stanley Tucci playing Garabedian.

“I called him and told him everything I knew, who the girls were and what they told me,” Porcaro said. “I’ve been trying to make this right for 30 years. As this all came out, women have started to contact me, even some from 10 years before I taught there.”

Thinking back to the days spent with Prochaski at the school and church, Porcaro said she noticed him multiple times standing at the bottom of staircases, staring up girls’ skirts as they ascended the stairs.

“He was 6-feet, 4-inches tall and not thin. He was intimidating to a little child,” she said. “He would also constantly take pictures. He had a hobby of photographing candidly anyone he could.”

The Diocese of Brooklyn told the Daily News that Prochaski left the priesthood in 1994, soon after the allegations were reported to the religious organization.

The NYPD and the District Attorney’s Office have launched investigations into the claims, and Garabedian said he is working on getting his clients enrolled in the diocese’s Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program — a fund for victims of sexual abuse committed by clergymembers.

“While no amount of money can heal the scars of abuse, we hope the program can help with the healing process and provide some element of closure,” diocesan spokeswoman Carolyn Erstad told the Daily News. “Our intention is to show solidarity with victims.”

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Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Youth Pastor Samuel Sutter Sentenced to Ten Years in Prison for Sexual Abuse

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Samuel Sutter, youth pastor at Openwater Church in Odessa, Florida was sentenced last week to ten years in prison for sexually abusing a church teenager.

The Tampa Bay Times reports:

Everything had been worked out.

The former pastor had already admitted to sexually abusing one of his teenage congregants. He had agreed to serve 10 years in prison. He said nothing as he waited Thursday for a judge to pronounce the sentence.

But the girl’s mother couldn’t stay silent.

“He used God as a weapon,” she told the judge. “Fear as a weapon. Her own beliefs as a weapon.”

When the sexual encounters started, Samuel Sutter was a 25-year-old married pastor at Openwater Church in Odessa.

The girl was 15.

Sutter’s responsibilities included ministering to the church members in middle school, high school and college, and that was how the two met.

They had chatted on the phone and on Twitter. Over time, they started getting together outside church, at coffee shops and malls. The sex began in the fall of 2015.

“He shoved her face into bare, sweaty mattresses, so the evidence wouldn’t be on the sheets when his wife came home,” the mother said in court. “He obsessively reviewed every social media account she had, every text on her phone, every email, every photo …”

The mother spoke of Sutter overpowering the girl, putting his hands on her neck. She spoke of him forcing her to take morning-after pills to prevent her from becoming pregnant. She spoke of him threatening to leave her, if she didn’t do what he wanted, to pursue one of her friends.

In the spring of 2016, the mother noticed her daughter was acting anxious, more stressed than usual. She managed to get into her daughter’s phone, where she found text messages which indicated the two were sexually involved.

Hillsborough sheriff’s detectives investigated and later arrested Sutter. They said most of the sex acts happened at Sutter’s home, but some occurred in the women’s bathroom at the church on Race Track Road in northwest Hillsborough County.

“He chipped away her self worth, her self-esteem, her sense of balance, her trust, her faith in her family, her God and her self,” the mother said. “He continued to take, until all that was left was a shell of a girl who was so fearful and anxious and full of self-loathing that she felt the only way out may be to take her own life.”

Since the abuse ended, the mother said her daughter can’t eat certain foods or listen to the Christian music she once enjoyed. She has nightmares and panic attacks. She fears becoming close to anyone.

“Her precious gift of first love should have nothing to do with an adult, married youth minister …” she said. “This man hurt a child. He’s a dangerous predator, and unforgivable.”

Sutter could have faced up to 35 years in prison.

He pleaded guilty to three charges: lewd and lascivious battery, unlawful sexual activity with a minor, and use of a computer or device to solicit illegal acts.

In addition to prison, Sutter was sentenced to 25 years of probation. He will have to register as a sex offender for life.

Black Collar Crime: A Brief Example of Why You Should Never Trust Evangelical Churches to Protect Your Children

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theron mcdaniel

Sexual abuse is widespread in Evangelical churches. For every case reported and prosecuted, numerous others go unreported. Recently, Theron McDaniel, a bus mechanic, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexually abusing a teen girl. He was sentenced to twenty-six years in prison. Astoundingly, the children’s pastor and a church volunteer from Open Door Church in Burleson, Texas — the church home of McDaniel and his family — asked the judge to give McDaniel probation. Why? They believed he was not at risk to abuse anyone again. Really? I mean REALLY? How can these spokesmen for God KNOW McDaniel is not at risk to re-offend? Jesus? McDaniel got saved or told God he was really, really, really sorry? Or perhaps he cried crocodile tears, asked God and the girl to forgive him, and promised that he would never, ever, cross-his-heart-hope-to-die do it again.

Let this story be yet another example of why parents should NEVER entrust the care of their children to Evangelical pastors, church leaders, teachers, or nursery attendants. The risk is too high — with Evangelical theology turning smart people into trusting, forgiving, blind sheep who always see the “good” in people. Unfortunately, as the Black Collar Crime Series reveals, parents put their children at risk if they believe that Pastor so-and-so and the loving people at First Evangelical Church of Anywhere would never harm their children. They can, they might, and sadly, they, at times, will.

Here’s the Weatherford Democrat news story about McDaniel, his crimes, and those who think the convicted sexual abuser is an a-okay dude:

A 48-year-old Weatherford man was sentenced to consecutive 13-year prison sentences for two cases of sexual assault of a child in a trial that concluded in Parker County district court Thursday.

Earlier this month, Theron Scott McDaniel pled guilty to sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl and elected to have 43rd District Court Judge Craig Towson assess his punishment.

During the trial, victim impact testimony showed that, as a result of the abuse, the victim suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, nightmares, anxiety, depression and low self esteem, according to Assistant District Attorney Jeff Swain, who prosecuted the case. According to testimony, the abuse occurred better than a dozen times over the course of about a year-and-a-half.

“The abuse in this case has had a profound impact on our victim,” Swain said. “With all that Mr. McDaniel put her through, she and I were both grateful that Judge Towson assessed stacked sentences that will keep him in prison for a long time.”

McDaniel testified that he had sex with the victim 13 times and apologized to her from the witness stand. He told Towson that while he may deserve a prison sentence for what he did, he was asking for probation so that he might continue to work and support his wife and three daughters.

Several defense witnesses from Cowtown Bus Charters in Fort Worth testified that McDaniel worked for them as a bus mechanic, was an excellent employee who would be difficult to replace, and requested that the judge give him a probated sentence. The Children’s Pastor and a church volunteer from Open Door Church in Burleson testified that they did not feel that McDaniel was a risk to sexually re-offend and that they also requested that he receive probation.

“The earliest that Mr. McDaniel could be released on parole would be in 13 years,” Swain said.

Theron McDaniel was employed by Cowtown Bus Charters. They too, worried about who would replace McDaniel, asked the judge to grant him probation. Evidently, motor repairs come before protecting children from people who deign to harm them.

Here’s McDaniel’s Cowtown bio:

I have been with Cowtown since 2009 as a mechanic. I have 30 years [sic] experience as an auto/diesel mechanic, mostly in the transportation and heavy, off-road equipment fields. I am currently the Head Mechanic at Cowtown. I have 4 daughters. I am active in Life Group Ministries and like bass fishing. My favorite vacation spots are Monument Lake, Rockwall, & Colorado.