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.
Guillermo Quintanilla, pastor of El Shadai Church of God (which rented space in Reformation Lutheran Church’s building) in Canal Winchester, Ohio, has been charged with “rape, sexual battery and two counts of gross sexual imposition.”
The pastor of a church near Columbus is being held in jail on a $1 million bond after being accused of sexually assaulting three young girls, reports say.
Guillermo Quintanilla, 47, pastor at El Shadai Church of God in Canal Winchester, is charged with rape, sexual battery and two counts of gross sexual imposition, all felonies, according to 10tv.com.
Court documents show a mother told investigators that Quintanilla assaulted her daughter a few times per week over four years, beginning when her daughter was 8 years old, WSYX Channel 6 reports.
Two other victims came forward with accusations against Quintanilla after police began investigating, with one being abused beginning at age 6, reports say.
Quintanilla is accused of pushing one of the victims to the floor of his office in an attempt to keep her from telling anyone about the assaults. He reportedly hit her in the face several times, threatened to rape her, and to kill her and her mother, according to WCMH Channel 4.
The pastor denied assaulting the girls but told police if he touched the girls’ private parts, it was by accident, WCMH reports.
A September 5, 2018 Columbus Dispatch report states:
A Columbus pastor has been sentenced to eight years in prison for sexually abusing three preteen girls at his East Side church.
Guillermo Quintanilla, 48, entered an Alford plea in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday to three counts of gross sexual imposition.
The sentence, imposed by Judge Laurel Beatty Blunt, was recommended by prosecuting and defense attorneys as part of a plea agreement. In an Alford plea, a defendant doesn’t admit guilt, but concedes that prosecutors have enough evidence to gain a conviction.
Quintanilla reached the plea agreement as jury selection was about to begin for a trial on the charges. Six other counts of gross sexual imposition, as well as one count each of rape and sexual battery were dismissed as part of the deal.
After he is released from prison, he will be required to register as a sex offender every six months for 25 years.
Hollis Vaughn, pastor of El Shaddai World Outreach Church and operator of God’s Awesome Army Ministry — both located at the pastor’s home in Harris County, Texas — stands accused of the “continuous sexual abuse of a child.” (I found no web presence for Vaughn or his home-based ministries.)
A 67-year-old man who operates two Christian ministries out of his north Harris County home has been charged with sexually abusing a child over several years.
….
Hollis Albert Vaughn faces a first-degree felony charge of continuous sexual abuse of a child, according to court records. It appears to be the first time he has faced a criminal charge in Harris County.
Vaughn’s defense attorney, Tom Zakes, said in a phone interview that Vaughn had “no inappropriate contact with the child whatsoever.” The lawyer questioned some of the specific allegations in the probable cause affidavit, which is not yet public.
The sheriff’s office said in a news release that Vaughn operates out of his home two church groups, God’s Awesome Army Ministry and El Shaddai World Outreach Church. Public records show he lives in the Willowbrook area, near Veterans Memorial and Bammel North Houston.
He was arrested Thursday after a child told a family member that Vaughn spent years sexually abusing and inappropriately touching the child, according to the sheriff’s office and court records.
On Saturday, a magistrate judge granted a protective order in the case. The child’s age and gender are not known.
Vaughn left the Harris County Jail on Tuesday after posting a $100,000 bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 31.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Scott Kallal, assistant pastor of Holy Spirit Catholic Church, Overland Park, Kansas and St. Patrick Catholic Church, Kansas City, Kansas, was charged Friday with “two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child.”
KCTV-5 reports:
Authorities say a Catholic priest charged in Wyandotte County with child sex crimes has been arrested in Maryland.
The Wyandotte County prosecutor’s office announced Tuesday that the Rev. Scott Kallal was charged Friday with two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. Online court records show the 35-year-old was arrested Monday in Rockville in Maryland’s Montgomery County.
Prosecutor’s office spokesman Jonathan Carter said he didn’t know whether Kallal had an attorney. No details were provided about the allegations.
The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas announced last week that Kallal was pulled from public ministry duties after two sources accused him of “boundary violations.” The archdiocese said its preliminary investigation “revealed violations of some of the archdiocese’s safe environment guidelines which all clerics, employees and volunteers are asked to observe when interacting with young people.”
The archdiocese said Kallal’s suspension was announced during Masses at Overland Park’s Holy Spirit Church and St. Patrick Church in Kansas City, Kansas. He served at both.
An initial statement from the archdiocese said Kallal “denies any moral misconduct or malicious intent and has agreed to undergo evaluation and counseling.” In a follow-up statement Tuesday, the archdiocese said that it would continue to “cooperate fully” with law enforcement, and that anyone with information about priests, deacons, employees or volunteers engaging in inappropriate conduct should report their concerns.
Fox-4 adds, in a report that is quite sympathetic to the Catholic Church and its “rare” sexual abuse/misconduct/rape/sexual assault/pedophilia problems:
….
Parishioners at St. Pat’s and Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Overland Park just learned of the allegations the weekend of July 15-16, when it was announced during mass that Fr. Kallal had been relieved of his duties.
While incidents like this are relatively rare, the church says it remains committed to ensuring no child becomes a victim.
The inside of a Catholic Church is often beautiful, and a place where many find comfort. But allegations and criminal charges against church leaders like Fr. Scott Kallal can tarnish its prestige.
“The church is in the business of saving souls and in spiritual life. They’re experts in spirituality. But they’ve brought in experts now and worked together with them to ensure safety of children is a top priority,” said Carrie Cooper, director of the Office of Child and Youth protection for the Kansas City, Mo. Archdiocese.
Cooper’s job was created out of controversy. Nearly six years ago, the Kansas City, Mo. Archdiocese created the Office of Child and Youth Protection after Fr. Shawn Ratigan was sent to prison for child pornography. There is a similar office in KCK, with which Cooper’s office often works.
Cooper says a lot of good changes have happened in recent years to prevent abuse, and to report it, which includes getting police involved right away.
“The civil authorities are the most important. It is their job to sort those things through and do those investigations. So that’s definitely what we want to happen first,” said Cooper.
There are also more intensive background checks for every school and church employee and volunteer. Those individuals also go through intense trainings on child and sexual abuse. That training is also given to kids in parishes and Catholic schools.
“They’re offered training on what is a safe boundary, what is grooming, what is predatory behavior and what do I do to protect myself as a child,” Cooper said.
If anyone breaks a boundary, kids are asked to tell a trusted adult. And if that adult broke the rules, they should keep telling trusted adults until it is taken seriously.
“The goal of all these efforts really is to make sure children are safe. That’s absolutely the most important thing,” Cooper said.
There’s also an independent review board, composed of non-church members who look at every allegation made against someone within the church. The Kansas City, Mo. diocese also has an ombudsmen — a former prosecutor that looks closely at each case.
As for Fr. Kallal, he was said to be attending counseling before his arrest in Maryland. He will be brought back to Kansas within the next few weeks to answer to the charges here.
Last month, Christopher Trent, youth pastor at Bellingham Baptist Church in Bellingham, Washington, was convicted of sexually abusing a church girl. Bellingham Baptist is an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church.
Caleb Hutton, a reporter for The Bellingham Times had this to say about Trent’s crimes:
The ex-youth pastor of a Bellingham church grimaced, wept, and struggled to breathe in court Wednesday, as he listened to a teenage girl – standing feet away – describe the lasting harm he caused when he raped her countless times.
Christopher Lee Trent was sentenced to 5 years in prison for sexually abusing the girl, who went to Bellingham Baptist Church on Orleans Street when she was under the age of 16.
Court records describe how he kept the abuse a secret for about 2 years.
Trent, 37, graduatedfrom Heartland Baptist Bible College in Oklahoma, where he met Josh Carter, the future pastor of the Bellingham church.Trent moved across the country with his wife and seven children in June 2013, after Carter asked if he’d be interested in a youth pastor job.
Over the next three years, Trent supervised children at church activities, preached in front of the main congregation at times, and led classes about how adults can prevent child abuse in the church.
Meanwhile, he started driving the girl home from church. She visited his home often, and she came to think of him as a kind of father figure. Over time he started showing affection by giving her “side hugs,” and later hugging her chest-to-chest. In text messages he told the girl he loved her and wanted to kiss her. Eventually he promised to marry her at a gazebo on a beach when she turned 18.
The girl later estimated that over months, he sexually abused her over 100 times – so often she lost count. Months before the abuse came to light, the girl’s mother noticed her phone bill showed hundreds of texts from Trent’s number, sent at 1 or 2 a.m., where he talked about holding and loving the girl. According to a letter the mother wrote to police, she confronted Trent, but he laughed and denied anything inappropriate had happened. She warned him to not touch her daughter, and blocked Trent’s number, but did not contact police.
Trent and the girl switched to texting over private apps on their phones.
Trent’s wife found explicit pictures of the girl on his phone, too, but he convinced her the girl must have sent them by accident and to the wrong person, according to reports summarized in a Department of Corrections investigation.
The head pastor confronted Trent in 2016, because others had noticed he had an oddly close relationship with the girl. Then a member of the church found a letter that fell out of Trent’s Bible, where the girl talked about Trent holding her close. Both Trent and the girl denied that anything sexual had happened between them, when Carter spoke with them.
Trent was fired. His family was given a month to move out of a church parsonage. No report was made to police until a couple of weeks later, on July 11, 2016, when another church member told police Trent was fired for an inappropriate relationship with a girl. As detectives started to investigate, the girl revealed Trent had been sexually abusing her, at the church, in the car behind the church, and in their homes.
Much later the girl told authorities the abuse was even worse than she had first reported: Trent called her his “sex slave,” and forced her to endure sex acts that left her bleeding and in pain for days. He would monitor her conversations with boys and, at times, told her not to eat. She feared he would kill her, if it would keep his secret from getting out.
….
Trent pleaded guilty in March to four counts of third-degree child rape. He had no prior criminal record. No other charges of sexual abuse emerged. He told authorities that, a decade before his arrest, he worked with special needs kids in Franklin Township on the outskirts of Indianapolis, in his home state of Indiana.
….
[Judge] Montoya-Lewis said she found it extraordinarily frustrating that, in her reading of the law, she could not hand down more prison time [five years]. She reiterated to the girl and her family that the crime was not their fault: It was Trent’s alone. She turned to Trent, and told him his behavior had been “insidious and terrifying.”
“You cannot hide behind the concept of sin, as you have represented to the court. These were poor choices,” Montoya-Lewis said. “They were your choices, over years. You had every opportunity, every day, to stop what you were doing to this child, and you chose to continue.
“It is not in the court’s authority or ability to hand out forgiveness,” Montoya-Lewis continued. “But I listened to what happened to (the girl), and I read about her experiences, and your response to that. And it is unforgivable.”
Yesterday, Bellingham Baptist music director Paul Bane was sentenced to five years in prison for sexually molesting a church girl.
Hutton reports:
A former music director at Bellingham Baptist Church must serve time in prison for molesting a girl for years, a Superior Court judge has ruled.
Judge Raquel Montoya-Lewis sentenced Paul Michael Bane to 5 years in prison, the same amount of time she handed the church’s youth pastor, Christopher Trent, a month ago in a separate case of long-term sex abuse of a different girl.
Bane, 57, arrived at the Bellingham police station one morning in October 2015 to confess he had been sexually touching a girl for about 8 years, according to court records. At that point police had not spoken with the girl, who was living in the Midwest, but Bane told police the girl’s story, whatever it might be, could be trusted.
According to his report, Bane became a kind of father figure to the girl when she was younger. The sexual abuse began around the time the victim turned 12 years old. Bane would kiss her, sexually touch her, and later, started tying her with a clothesline during sex acts.
When she went to college years later, she revealed the abuse to a counselor, who encouraged the girl to report the matter to police. For about 1 ½ months, she told Bane she had been considering coming forward. Bane confessed to his pastor, Josh Carter, who told Bane he needed to turn himself in. He did and told police he’d thought of moving across the country to be near the victim.
Police called her at her Bible college. She was, at first, reluctant to help in the case. The young woman had other things going on in her life, and she still cared about Bane, she reported. About a month later, she decided to go to police, because she did not want the same thing to happen to another girl. In an interview with a detective in a Oklahoma, she described in graphic detail how Bane abused her as often as twice a week, or daily, through her teenage years.
An investigator with the Department of Corrections noted that in the police interview the young woman didn’t know basic sexual terms, or basic things about female anatomy. She seemed sheltered, and appeared Bane had groomed her for sexual abuse. He treated her with affection he did not show other children. He would buy her gifts, candy, or food. After Bane abused her, he would apologize.
In the victim’s version, the abuse mostly stopped after 4 ½ years, though there were two more instances of sexual contact when she was a young adult.
Police booked Bane into jail in December 2015. He was released without being required to post bond. He remained out of jail until May, when he pleaded guilty to second-degree child molestation and two counts of third-degree child molestation.
….
A public defender, Darrin Hall, described Bane as “somebody who does not connect with adults,” but for whatever reason, he found he connected with the girl. Bane’s actions look and feel predatory, but in reality, Hall said, they seem to be rooted in his immaturity. Bane will undergo sex offender treatment while serving time in prison.
…
[Judge] Montoya-Lewis admonished Bane for statements he made during the investigation, when he claimed his “relationship” with the victim was consensual, and when he brushed aside criticism from people who were concerned about how he acted around her.
“It is inconceivable to me,” Montoya-Lewis said, her voice halting, “that you could suggest to this victim that her compliance was something that God wanted.”
Walter Williams, pastor of Walk of Faith Church of Christ in New Haven, Connecticut, was sentence today to three years in prison for “second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor.”
A New Haven pastor has been sentenced to serve three years in prison for second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor.
Walter Williams, who was 59 at the time of his arrest last July, lives in Northford section of North Branford. He is senior pastor at the Walk of Faith Church of Christ in New Haven, according to the church’s website.
Police said he was accused of having as many as six sexual encounters with a minor who was a member of the church. According to police, the incidents occurred between July 2015 and April 2016.
The victim’s mother contacted police after she discovered text messages between her daughter and Williams on her daughter’s phone, police said. The mother told police she also saw a graphically disturbing Facebook message from Williams to her daughter.
The encounters happened at Williams’ home and at the church, police said.
….
When he was arrested, Williams was charged with five counts of second-degree sexual assault, fourth-degree sexual assault, risk of injury to a minor and two counts of illegal sexual contact.
Under the plea arrangement he made with the state, Williams pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor. Both are felonies.
The agreement specified Williams was to receive a sentence ranging from nine months to five years in prison. His attorney was given the right to argue for a lenient sentence.
After hearing the arguments from Paz and Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Mary SanAngelo, Superior Court Judge Philip Scarpellino imposed a total sentence of 12 years, to be suspended after three years served, with 10 years of probation.
Pastor Walter Williams III is the senior pastor of Walk of Faith Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ in New Haven, Connecticut. He is a native of Newburgh, New York and the fifth child of seven children. Pastor Williams attributes his teaching in ethics, morality, hard work, character and integrity to his parents, William and Sadie Tallie.
Pastor Williams’ spiritual foundation was developed at Mt. Carmel Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ, under the leadership of Bishop George W. Johnson, where he was an active member of the choir and the youth group. While in the United States Air Force and stationed in Las Vegas, pastor prayed for God to help him with his gambling challenge. With a heart to live a committed life to God, shortly after his prayer, Pastor Williams recommitted his life to the Lord and he answered God’s call to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
At the age of 24, Pastor Williams served as the senior pastor of a 34 year old congregation in New Haven, Connecticut. After four years of intense pastoral on-the-job training, the visionary within Pastor Williams founded the Walk of Faith Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ in 1986. As a man of vision, Pastor Williams is committed to: serving God with the spirit of excellence, community activism, equipping saints for ministry and creating an atmosphere where the power of God and deliverance will have full reign in the lives of believers as they fulfill their ordained kingdom purposes of God.
Pastor Williams is married to Dorothy Fay (Lady Fay) and they are the proud parents of six children and four grandchildren.
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.
Alexander Roesly, youth pastor at Praise Chapel Church of God in Union City, Indiana, has been charged with one count of child solicitation.
A youth pastor in Randolph County has been accused of using Snapchat to send juveniles sexual messages.
In the messages, the sheriff’s department says 19-year-old Alexander Roy Roesly asked a 13-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl if they wanted to become “friends with benefits.”
Deputies say Roesly is a youth pastor at the Chapel Church of God in the northeast side of the county. The 15-year-old girl was reportedly an attendee of the church.
The sheriff’s department says it began investigating on July 5 and interviewed Roesly on July 19. During the interview, the department says Roesly “admitted that he was the person who had sent the messages to the juveniles.”
Roesly was charged with one count of child solicitation as a level 5 felony for the messages sent to the 13-year-old girl. In Indiana, a person must be over 21 years of age for the child solicitation charge to apply to messages sent to a 15-year-old.
Roesly was booked into the Randolph County Jail and held on a $8,000 bond.
In 2018, Roesly pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a one-year suspended sentence and one year of probation.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Victor Tax-Gomez, pastor of El Senor Justicia Nuestra Church in Menlo Park, California, was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting several church children.
After spending a little more than a day at the San Mateo County jail, the pastor of a Menlo Park church arrested on suspicion of sexual assault of children as young as 13 was picked up June 2 by agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.
Victor Elizandro Tax-Gomez, 47, from East Palo Alto, is a pastor at the El Senor Justicia Nuestra Church, located in the 1300 block of Chilco Street in Menlo Park. The church leases space in another church at that location, police said.
According to Detective Salvador Zuno of the Sheriff’s Office, Mr. Tax-Gomez was booked into the county jail on Thursday, June 1, around 11:40 a.m. and released after posting bail the following day around 7:20 p.m.
He said that the Sheriff’s Office had responded to a request by ICE agents to learn Mr. Tax-Gomez’s release date. The agents showed up at the jail, where custody of Mr. Tax-Gomez was transferred at a secure area inside the jail.
According to ICE spokesperson James Schwab, Mr. Tax-Gomez has also used the last name Oliveros-Cano. He was using that name when he was previously arrested in July 2003 by border patrol agents from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency after he attempted to illegally enter the U.S., Mr. Schwab said.
….
Mr. Tax-Gomez was arrested on suspicion of several acts of sexual assault after three alleged victims, all female, reported the alleged incidents to the police.
According to Mr. Wagstaffe, the three alleged victims were attendees at the church and were ages 13, 15 and 17 at the time of the alleged assaults.
The assaults allegedly took place at the church facility, in the church office and at a small house next to the church between September 2011 and May 2015, he said.
Mr. Tax-Gomez has been charged by the District Attorney’s Office with seven felony counts: several counts of digital penetration in addition to sexual battery and child molestation, he said.
According to Mr. Wagstaffe, Mr. Tax-Gomez remains in federal custody for now, but his office plans to ask for an increase in bail so that he returns to county custody to continue the prosecution process. Mr. Tax-Gomez’s bail had previously been set at $100,000. His next court date is Tuesday, July 11.
Yesterday, Tax-Gomez appeared before a judge and pleaded not guilty. SF-Gate reports:
A Menlo Park pastor pleaded not guilty Tuesday to allegations that he molested three minors in the church office between 2011 and 2015, according to San Mateo County prosecutors.
Victor Tax-Gomez, also known as Ever Oliveros-Cano, was a pastor at Greater Friendship Baptist Church where the victims’ families were members of the congregation, prosecutors said.
Two of the victims were sisters and the third was a friend. Their ages at the time of the alleged offenses were 15, 17 and 13.
Tax-Gomez allegedly committed the crimes while “claiming to be praying with or cleansing the victims,” District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.
“It’s always a more egregious offense when one takes advantage of a position of trust,” Wagstaffe said. “That’s a very significant violation.”
An East Palo Alto man who was the pastor of a Menlo Park church has pleaded no contest to felonies tied to sexual battery and molestation of three teenage girls in his parish.
The plea comes on the condition of eight years in state prison.
Ever Oliveros-Cano, 50, also known as Victor Elizandro Tax-Gomez, was arrested last June on suspicion of sexually molesting teens who attended the church he led as pastor, El Senor Justicia Nuestra Church, located in the 1300 block of Chilco Street in Menlo Park. The church leases space from Greater Friendship Baptist Church.
According to prosecutors, Oliveros-Cano sexually molested, on separate occasions, three teenage girls – two sisters and a friend – who were 13, 15, and 17 at the time. The crimes allegedly occurred while Oliveros-Cano claimed to be praying with or “cleansing” them, at the church office and a small house next to the church.
Two years later, one of the victims reported the crimes to a therapist, who then reported the information to the Menlo Park Police Department.
Oliveros-Cano was initially charged with seven felonies: several counts of digital penetration in addition to sexual battery and child molestation and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
He was previously arrested by border patrol agents in July 2003 after attempting to illegally enter the U.S., according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson James Schwab.
Today, The Kokomo Perspective released another episode in their ongoing coverage of the Temple Baptist Church sex scandal. Devin Zimmerman writes:
The brother of Dawn Price, Daniel Croddy, came forward last week, claiming that Temple Baptist Church and his father used him in what appears to be an attempt to smear his sister.
Earlier this year, Price made news after she went public with claims that her father, Don Croddy, molested her and multiple other young girls in the early ‘90s and late ‘80s while he attended Temple Baptist Church. The church, led by Pastor Mike Holloway, got tangled in the story because Price alleged that Holloway was made aware of her molestation at the hands of her father in 1991 but allowed Don to stay at the church and never contacted the authorities.
Now, Price’s brother claims the church’s leadership had him sign three affidavits denying his sister’s claims in trade for bringing him to Kokomo and helping him out of homelessness. Months later, still homeless and unable to get the church to return his calls, Croddy said the majority of the claims in the affidavits aren’t true.
“I’ve been homeless for like two-and-half years, and when all this sh** went down a couple months ago they promised me they would take me to Kokomo, set me up, and get me a job,” said Croddy. “Once they got what they needed from me, they just kind of dumped me. To tell you the truth, all I wanted to do was not be on the street. So I signed those damn affidavits.”
In total, Croddy said he was asked by Temple Baptist Church leadership to sign three affidavits. One stated he had never been physically abused as a child by his father, as his sister has claimed he was. The second, according to Croddy, stated that he “never saw anything with Dawn.” The final affidavit centered on an attempt by Price to extort money from her father around the late 1990s.
Croddy said that the first two affidavits, even though he signed them, aren’t true.
“To tell you the truth, all I was looking to do was not be homeless,” said Croddy.
The third, however, he said is true. Croddy claimed that he happened to visit his former Kokomo home just after a letter, sent by Price and her then-husband Andy Thornton, arrived at the home of Don. The letter, according to Croddy, requested thousands of dollars in exchange for Price not telling the authorities about her allegations of molestation.
Price acknowledged that she sent such a letter around 2000.
“I was going through a rough time. I was having horrific nightmares,” said Price. “My husband, Andy, we were both young. We didn’t know how to help me. It was to the point where he was like, ‘We need to cut off all communication because you having anything to do with them is making you (suicidal).’ I was almost suicidal at that point. He decided to write a letter, which I signed. I couldn’t tell you what was in the letter at this point. He doesn’t even remember writing the letter.
“We wrote a letter saying, ‘If you give us this amount of money, we are going to make what you did public.’ We sent it, and that was the end of it. We didn’t pursue anything and completely forgot about it. My parents, on the other hand, I asked them about it a couple years ago. They were just like, ‘We understand where you guys were coming from. You were upset and hurt; your husband was trying to protect you.’ And we threw out the letter.”
Months after Croddy signed the affidavits at the behest of Temple Baptist Church, he said he’s upset because the church and Don haven’t acted on what they promised him in exchange for his signature.
The Kokomo Perspective obtained a recording of a phone call between Croddy, Holloway, and Temple Baptist Church Associate Pastor Jim Willoughby that occurred prior to the signing of the affidavits. The recording backs a number of Croddy’s claims.
….
The pair went on to discuss various claims against Price, and Willoughby asked Croddy to elaborate on an earlier conversation where he said he had not been abused as a child. Croddy affirmed this claim, but he since recanted this statement and said that he was physically abused as a child.
“Don Croddy was a f****** monster,” said Croddy. “I mean, I knew something was going on (with Price), but it was really hard to see it, you know? He kept me scared. There was no safe place as a child for me … When I was 10 he stopped using a paddle and started using farm implements wherever he could hit me. There were times I wasn’t allowed in school until the bruises went away.”
Later in the recording, Holloway entered the room and began speaking with Croddy.
After introducing himself as “preacher,” Holloway asked how Croddy was doing and said, “Hey, you have really helped us a lot, Danny. I owe you big time.”
Holloway continued and asked if Croddy needed anything and asked, “Can I help you get back on your feet? Can I do something to help?”
Ellis Simmons, former youth pastor of St. Mark African Methodist Episcopal Church and Calvary Baptist Church in Duluth, Minnesota, has been charged with “two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.” Simmons previously served five years in prison for sexually abusing other girls.
The Duluth News Tribune reports:
A former youth pastor who recently served five years in Illinois prison for sexually abusing several young girls is now facing similar charges stemming from a stint in Duluth more than a decade ago.
Ellis William Simmons, 38, is accused of assaulting two girls between 1999 and 2005, when he was living and working in Duluth. The girls were 11 and 14 years old at the time of the reported incidents.
Simmons was formally charged last month with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. If convicted, the most-serious charges each carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
While the incidents were reported to police in the early 2000s, St. Louis County prosecutor Jon Holets said the victims only recently came forward with the alleged perpetrator’s name and other information that made charges possible.
“It still bothered them, and they realized what he had done in Illinois,” Holets said Monday. “It was their desire to continue coming forward (that led to charges).”
Simmons served as a pastor to the alleged victims and a babysitter for the family of at least one of the girls, according to a criminal complaint. The charging document indicates that one victim reported two incidents that occurred when she was 11 years old; the other reported an incident when she was 14.
Both alleged victims told police that they were sleeping when they awoke to sexual contact from Simmons, according to the charges. The contact allegedly included penetration.
Simmons served as a pastor at St. Mark African Methodist Episcopal Church and Calvary Baptist Church in Duluth, while also attending the College of St. Scholastica and the University of Minnesota Duluth, according to News Tribune articles from the time.
….
The decision by the alleged victims to provide additional information came around the same time Simmons was being released from prison in Illinois.
He was arrested in January 2012 and charged with sexually abusing three girls ranging in age from 7 to 10, according to a report in the Rockford (Ill.) Register Star. Simmons at the time was working at a juvenile detention center; authorities said the abuse was not related to his employment, but the victims were known to him.
Records indicate that Simmons was released from prison in December after serving nearly five years of a seven-year sentence. He was re-arrested in California after a warrant was issued in the Duluth case on June 19.
Simmons made an initial appearance in State District Court in Duluth last week. His bail was set at $300,000, and he remained in the St. Louis County Jail on Monday.
Fernando Ponce, youth pastor at Sembrador De Fe Church in Miami, Florida, was arrested Wednesday on “charges of sexual battery and promoting the sexual performance of a child.”
A youth pastor was arrested Wednesday on charges of sexual battery and promoting the sexual performance of a child.
According to an arrest report, Fernando Misael Ponce, 24, met the 15-year-old victim several years ago at the Sembrador De Fe church at 2614 NW 21st Ave.
Police said Ponce showed interest in the girl when she was between the ages of 11 and 12, but her mother told him to stay away from her.
Police said Ponce asked the victim to be his girlfriend when she was about 14 years old, and they began a relationship.
According to the arrest report, Ponce and the girl were “girlfriend and boyfriend” for eight to nine months and engaged in sexual activity, including oral and anal sex.
Police said Ponce told the teen not to tell anyone about their relationship or else “her family would suffer.”
During their so-called relationship, police said the youth pastor and victim would video chat with each other, and Ponce would secretly take photos of the teen without her knowledge.
Detectives said Ponce confessed to all of the allegations against him.
