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.
Harold Cole, Jr., pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Farwell, Michigan, stands accused of sexually molesting a boy. Trinity Baptist is an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) congregation.
A Farwell pastor is out on bond with a tether after being charged with sexually assaulting a boy in June 2021.
Trinity Baptist Church Pastor Harold Cole Jr., 57, was arraigned Nov. 1 on second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a child under 13. The church could not be reached for comment and its voicemail is not set up. Farwell is about five miles west of Clare.
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The male victim told out-of-state authorities about the alleged assault in March. He now resides outside of Michigan. Clare County Sheriff deputies received information about the assault and began investigating.
The Sheriff’s Office said Cole Jr. is currently a pastor at Trinity Baptist Church in Farwell.
Detectives conducted an investigation and obtained a warrant for his arrest. He was arraigned on a charge of CSC – second degree and released on a $20,000 bond. He is currently on GPS tether.
Second degree CSC involves sexual contact with force or coercion, or with a victim who is under 13 years of age. This crime is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
in 2023 Raymond Gaglardi, a former employee of Glad Tidings Church in Vancouver, British Columbia and Hillside Community Church in Coquitlam, was convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to almost 13 years in prison. The sentence was reduced to half due to Galardi’s age, meaning he will only spend six and a half years in prison.
A former pastor, therapist and counsellor who worked for churches in Coquitlam and Vancouver walked out of a court prisoner’s box today to be handcuffed and led to jail.
On Friday (Jan. 20), BC Supreme Court Justice Paul W. Riley imposed a sentence of 12 years and 11 months against Raymond Gaglardi; however, it was reduced by half under the totality principle due to his age, meaning Gaglardi will be behind bars for six years and six months.
Gaglardi, a diminutive man of 78 years old, showed no emotion as Riley took nearly 90 minutes to read out his reasons for judgment, or when the judge imposed the sentence.
His wife of 49 years, who sat behind the prisoner’s box, showed no expression as well.
But some victims present in court, and their spouses, brushed away tears after the decision. Several other victims — some dating back four decades — watched the hearing online.
Last year, following a trial, Riley convicted Gaglardi on 11 of the 25 offences before him. On the counts, each of the 11 victims experienced between one and three sexual assaults.
Riley recounted how Gaglardi befriended his victims at the Glad Tidings Church in Vancouver, its academy or summer camp, as well as at the Hillside Community Church in Coquitlam or at his counselling practice, located in the basement of his Coquitlam home.
The judge said Gaglardi “preyed” on adolescent boys or young men who came from troubled homes or were in need of help. They came to trust “Dr. Ray” for emotional support because he was part of the church and he told them he held a PhD in philosophy from Ohio Christian College, a post-secondary institution in the U.S. that was later declared to be fraudulent.
Gaglardi’s interactions with the boys and young men were “bizarre” and “opportunistic,” the judge told the New Westminster courtroom: In private, Gaglardi would check their bodies for venereal disease, touch their penises, use a pen-like instrument to examine their genitals, massage their prostate, provide pornographic material to masturbate or perform a coffee enema.
In another case in Coquitlam, Gaglardi did an anal swab with a Q-Tip to look at the feces.
And when the boys reported Gaglardi’s sexual conduct, they were often shunned from their broken families, who believed the church-going authority figure instead of their children.
The impact was long-lasting, the court heard, as many victims said Gaglardi’s actions led to shame, embarrassment and trauma that had a ripple effect on their future relationships.
In sentencing, Riley said he took into account Gaglardi’s age and his lack of criminal history, but he also noted Gaglardi’s abuse of position within the churches, his claim he was a trained doctor and therapist, and the duration of his crimes, which lasted from 1971 to 2017.
Besides his 155-month sentence in prison — cut to 78 months behind bars — Gaglardi will also be on a sex offender registry for 20 years and provide a DNA sample, Riley ordered.
In November 2024, Gaglardi was charged with three more counts of gross indecency and indecent assault.
An 80-year-old former pastor and therapist who is serving a prison sentence for sex crimes against 11 young male clients has been charged with more offences in Vancouver and Burnaby in the 1970s.
The offences were committed between 1971 and 1981, when Gaglardi was working at Glad Tidings Temple in Vancouver, and between 1993 and 2015, when he was associated with Hillside Community Church in Coquitlam, according to court documents.
A number of the offences were committed at Gaglardi’s Burnaby apartment.
His victims were between the ages of 10 and 30.
“In each case, Mr. Gaglardi touched the victim in a sexual manner, in circumstances where the victim did not consent, consented on false pretenses, or consented based on Mr. Gaglardi’s exploitation of a trust relationship,” B.C. Supreme Court Justice Paul Riley said in his sentencing ruling in the case.
On Nov. 13, Gaglardi was charged with three more counts each of gross indecency and indecent assault (charges that no longer exist in the Criminal Code of Canada) against three different alleged victims in 1970, 1973 and 1974, according to the Vancouver provincial court registry.
He is scheduled to make his first court appearance on the new charges Wednesday.
The Burnaby NOW reached out to Coquitlam RCMP, which investigated the cases, for more information and was told a “full update” on the charges would be published later in the week.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
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 December 2024, Anthony Strickland, pastor of Freedom Center in Bono, Arkansas (no web presence), pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree sexual assault and was sentenced to ten years in prison.
In a previous case (June 2019), Strickland was charged with felony rape and second-degree battery.
Jonesboro police said a Memphis hospital contacted the department last week after a 43-year-old woman came in with several injuries. She told police that 53-year-old Anthony Lee Strickland had attacked her, the affidavit said.
She said Strickland was intoxicated, and she gave investigators a “detailed account” of him hitting her at least two times in the face before raping her, according to the affidavit.
Officials said officers found three guns in Strickland’s car seat when they arrested him during a Wednesday traffic stop.
Authorities charged the Jonesboro resident with felony rape and second-degree battery.
Strickland is a pastor at the Freedom Center, a congregation he started in 2003, according to police and business records filed with the Arkansas secretary of state.
Phone numbers and social media accounts listed under the church’s name appeared to be deactivated on Friday.
Strickland was free on a $125,000 bond that he posted Thursday evening, according to the Craighead County sheriff’s office.
A judge set a no-contact order with his alleged victim and required Strickland wear an ankle location monitor.
The rape charge was dropped in July 2019 by then-Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington, and Strickland pleaded guilty to second-degree domestic battery and was sentenced to 60 months of probation.
A former Craighead County pastor faces up to 60 years in prison following his arrest for rape.
Jonesboro police arrested 55-year-old Anthony Lee Strickland of Bono on Oct. 6 on suspicion of rape and second-degree sexual assault.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the two victims claimed Strickland sexually assaulted them at his home.
On Friday, Craighead County District Court Judge Tommy Fowler found probable cause to arrest Strickland and set his bond at $150,000. The judge also ordered he have no contact with the victims.
A former pastor has been charged with rape and second-degree sexual assault in a case involving a then-11- to 13-year-old girl and her 11-year-old sister.
District Judge Tommy Fowler found probable cause to charge Anthony Lee Strickland, 55, of Bono on Friday. Fowler set Strickland’s bond at $150,000.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the older girl, now 18, told her parents that when she stayed over about five to seven years ago with Strickland, who was a friend of the parents for 20 years and pastor of their church, he watched a movie with her. She said Strickland began rubbing her privates and asked her if it felt good.
The victim said she was able to get away and run downstairs.
After the victim’s mother was made aware of what happened with the older daughter, she sat down with her other children and asked them to tell her and her husband if anyone had touched them inappropriately and not be afraid to tell them.
The older girl briefly told her siblings what happened to her, and her 11-year-old sister broke down crying and said, “Momma, he did that to me, too,” the affidavit states.
The younger girl said Strickland began rubbing her private parts and she attempted to yell and scream. She said Strickland covered her mouth and said “shhhh.”
She said Strickland digitally penetrated her. She told him she needed to go to the bathroom and ran and got into bed with her brother.
On December 16, 2024, Strickland pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree sexual assault and was sentenced to ten years in prison.
After his case was postponed 11 times, and almost a decade after the crimes occurred, a former minister has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting young girls.
Anthony Lee Strickland, 58, of rural Bono, pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of second-degree sexual assault, according to court records. He had originally been charged in 2021 with one count of rape and one count of second-degree sexual assault involving two girls whose parents attended his church.
Strickland was the founder of Freedom Center, a congregation he established near Bono in 2003.
One of the victims disclosed the crime after she turned 18. According to the court information, the incidents occurred between October 2015 and December 2016.
After turning 18, the older girl told her parents that when she spent the night with Strickland, he watched a movie with her. She said Strickland began rubbing her genitals and asked her if it felt good.
The victim said she was able to get away and run downstairs, according to a court affidavit.
After the girls’ mother was made aware of the allegations, she sat down with her other children and asked them to tell her and her husband if anyone had touched them inappropriately and to not be afraid to tell them.
One of the younger children spoke up to say a similar situation happened to her, too. That child would have been under the age of 7 at the time.
Rape carries a potential penalty of up to life in prison. Under Arkansas law, Strickland could have received 20 years for second-degree sexual assault.
Strickland had previously been charged in 2019 with rape and felony domestic battery in the second-degree. The following year, he pleaded guilty to the domestic battery charge and the rape charge was dropped. Court records show Strickland was placed on five years of probation.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
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.
Hunter Eubanks, a worship leader and former youth pastor at Morningside Church in Tallahassee, Florida, stands accused of sexual assault of a minor, cruelty toward a child, aggravated battery on a child, use of a computer to lure a child, obscene communication and travel to meet after using a computer to lure a child. The alleged victim is a 16-year-old churchgoer.
A former Tallahassee church employee turned himself into the Leon County Detention Facility Wednesday after he was charged with sexual assault on a minor, according to officials at the Leon County Sheriff’s Office and Morningside Church.
Hunter Eubanks, 30, is accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old churchgoer multiple times on church grounds, according to a press release sent Thursday by LCSO spokesperson Shonda Knight.
Morningside Church officials confirmed to WCTV that Eubanks was a former employee there and that law enforcement believes the alleged crimes happened at their campus along Pedrick Road in Tallahassee while he worked there.
The assaults allegedly happened between June and October, and they were reported to police on October 9, the LCSO press release said.
Eubanks is facing charges of sexual assault on a minor, cruelty toward a child, aggravated battery on a child, obscene communication use of computer to lure a child and obscene communication travel to meet after use of computer to lure a child.
The sheriff’s office and Morningside told WCTV Thursday that Eubanks was employed by the church. A secretary there told WCTV over the phone that he was a ‘former employee,’ saying the 30-year-old played in the band and led musical performances.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
In 2020, Roy Shoop, pastor of Cowboy Gatherin’ Church in Inola, Oklahoma, was accused of sexually molesting three girls under the age of sixteen who were either working on his farm or taking horse riding lessons from him.
Rogers County deputies arrested an Inola pastor after he was accused of molesting three girls under the age of 16.
“It should be sickening to hear this from anyone who would commit those acts on children. They were placed in a position where they should have been able to trust a man. It takes it to another level to see this from a man who stands on a pulpit and leads a church,” Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton said.
Deputies said they arrested Roy Shoop on May 20 at his house after they said he molested three girls that were either working on his farm or taking horse riding lessons from him.
Documents said a 12-year-old girl came forward in January to say Shoop sexually assaulted her. Deputies said that girl was receiving horse riding lessons from Shoop.
Documents also showed two other girls, ages 13 and 15, came forward with sexual assault accusations. The documents said the 15-year-old was sexually assaulted four times.
“I can assure you I have done nothing inappropriate with these young ladies or in any manner,” said Pastor Roy Shoop.
The Inola pastor and well known figure in the community is facing sexual assault accusations involving three girls; accusations he says are false.
“All I can do is just continue to pray and to seek the Lord and follow him in this manner and that means praying for the young ladies as well,” said Shoop.
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“I am heartbroken that these accusations could be made against him. My Dad is a man of God; my mentor,” said Daughter Shanelle Gray.
Through this week’s arrest Shoop has had his family behind him, especially his daughter Shanell Gray.
“He has raised up a church that serves the Lord fearlessly and we just pray that these accusations get stopped,” said Gray.
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In the meantime Shoop’s family is staying by his side.
“He’s my daddy there’s no greater character of a man who would lay down his life for his friends and his family,” said Gray.
Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton says it’s possible more allegations could surface.
One victim told authorities that Shoop would inappropriately touch her while he was instructing her on horse riding and while she was at his Inola, Oklahoma, residence, according to the affidavit.
“These events took place while (the victim) was staying at the Shoop’s residence where she was being instructed on barrel racing with her new horse her father had purchased from Roy and Diana Shoop,” investigators state in the affidavit.
The other two victims reported similar accounts. Each reported going to Shoop’s residence for horse riding or rodeo-related lessons when the alleged abuse occurred.
One victim reported the abuse occurred in October 2018. Another victim reported the abuse occurred between April 2018 and April 2019, and the third victim reported abuse occurring in January.
Investigators state in the affidavit that the victims were not related to one another.
Deputies arrested Shoop on Wednesday. He was booked into Rogers County jail on the charges and subsequently posted a $300,000 bond.
Four years later, Shoop faced his accusers in court.
The trial is underway for an Inola pastor who was charged more than four years ago with eight counts of lewd or indecent acts involving five girls.
Rogers County deputies arrested Roy Shoop at his home in 2020 after they say he molested girls who were either working on his farm or taking horse riding lessons from him.
The girls who were mentioned Wednesday were as young as 12 when they said Shoop assaulted them.
Deputies said they interviewed Shoop at the beginning of the investigation, and he denied the allegations and he’s pleaded not guilty to the charges.
News On 6 was at the jury trial Wednesday, and a forensic interviewer, one of the girls, that girl’s sister and her mother testified.
There was a large group of Roy Shoop’s friends at court, supporting him and praying with him.
The forensic interviewer showed three interviews from 2020, where three young girls testified Roy Shoop sexually assaulted them while at his home and horse ranch.
In the first video, a girl said Shoop put his hand under her shirt and touched her leg while she was riding horses when she was 10 or 11.
Another one told the interviewer Shoop had touched her inappropriately while on a horse when she was 12.
The third interview was with a girl who was 12 the time.
She’s now 17 and testified Shoop sexually assaulted her while at his home back in January 2020.
She said her family was very close to the Shoop family and since it happened, she’s not been the same and it took her love of riding horses away from her.
That girl’s older sister who is also one of her legal guardians testified about how the girl was upset and didn’t talk much after it happened.
Shoop’s attorney questioned why the sister didn’t take the girl to a hospital for a sexual assault exam.
The sister said the girl wasn’t ready to talk to authorities and it would have traumatized her.
That victim’s mother also took the stand today and said she confronted Shoop and his wife the day after the girl said she was assaulted, and he offered to have coffee and talk about it.
After that, the family cut ties with the Shoops.
Other girls are expected to testify about their allegations along with family members and a counselor this week.
Roy Shoop and his wife Diana are also expected to take the stand.
Shoop was convicted of rape and two counts of lewd or indecent acts involving young girls. The jury recommended Shoop serve a thirty-five-year prison sentence.
A jury found an Inola pastor guilty of rape and two counts of lewd or indecent acts involving young girls Thursday morning.
FOX23 told you 4 years ago about Inola pastor Roy Shoop when he was arrested.
“I felt I was looking the devil right in the eye,” said Sheriff Scott Walton from the Rogers County Sheriff’s Office as he explained the moment he handcuffed Roy Shoop, “and I believe he was, and we put him right where he needs to be.”
Shoop was the pastor of the Cowboy Gatherin’ Church in Inola. The DA’s office said he and his wife have trained children to compete in rodeo events such as barrel racing and roping.
Walton said, “A situation came to an end last night that was four years in the making…and here’s my opinion, he was successful at playing courthouse lawyer games and buying himself 4 years of freedom, and last night it came to an end. We handcuffed him, walked him across and stuffed him in the jail where he belongs.”
The Rogers County District Attorney’s Office said during the trial multiple victims testified about suffering abuse from Roy Shoop.
His victims were as young as 5 years old.
Shoop’s trial started on October 1st and he chose to take the stand in his own defense.
“He took the stand himself and did a decent job lying, but not enough to convince 12 jurors that he’s not guilty,” said Walton.
Shoop was found guilty of rape by instrumentation and two counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child under 14.
Walton explained, “There were 8 counts there, but three major counts—the three he was convicted on—should put a predator in a cage that will die in the penitentiary…You see lives wrecked, but the good feeling is that where he’s at, he will not victimize any more young girls.”
The jury recommended a 35-year prison sentence and $30,000 in fines. Under Oklahoma law, Shoop must serve at least 85% of his sentence. This means that if the sentencing sticks, Shoop would not be eligible for release until he’s 88 years old, but Walton wants him locked up for good.
“You can rip them out and prosecute them again once they’re in the DOC and you know, you look at his actions and his decisions. They ruined a lot of people’s lives…Hopefully, all we can offer these girls that had their lives change is the closure that we put the animal in jail that harmed them.”
Walton believes there are more victims of Roy Shoop who have yet to come forward.
A Rogers County judge sentences an Inola pastor to 25 years in prison for molesting young girls during horse riding lessons at his ranch.
A jury found Roy Shoop guilty in October after a week-and-a-half-long trial and the jury recommended he spend 35 years in prison.
Prosecutors read victim impact statements on behalf of the victims. They said Roy Shoop ruined years of their lives, ruined their love for riding horses and broke their trust with the Church and God. They say they are scared of Shoop and Shoop’s followers.
Shoop was the pastor at Cowboy Gatherin’ Church in Inola and was arrested in 2020 for inappropriately touching several girls during horse riding lessons at Shoop’s ranch, or while the girls stayed at the family’s home.
Prosecutors say Shoop has never taken responsibility for his actions, even after he was convicted, but instead said one of the victims is mentally unwell, and the other made these claims just to get attention.
Prosecutors called the girls heroes for testifying during the trial and facing Shoop after what he did to them.
They called Shoop a predator who has been hiding behind his position as a pastor and pillar of the community for far too long.
Shoop’s attorney asked the judge to sentence Shoop to 20 years in prison, and 15 years probation. He said Shoop is a model citizen, a hard worker and has never been in trouble before and the odds of him committing crimes like this again are almost none.
District Attorney Matt Ballard says he hopes this sentence sends a message that no one is above the law.
“The sentence was a victory for some young women that came in and told the jury about the worst thing that ever happened to them in their lives. They came in and did that in the face of a group of people who didn’t have all the facts. They had to come in, they had to be brave and it’s a justice verdict for them,” said Ballard.
Rogers County investigators believe there are more victims out there and encourage them to come forward.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
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.
Timothy Brown, a volunteer youth worker at Frederick Boulevard Baptist Church in St. Joseph, Missouri, was convicted last Wednesday of statutory sodomy, enticement or attempted enticement of a child, third-degree child molestation, and sexual misconduct involving a child under 15 years old. The victim was twelve.
A St. Joseph, Mo. man was found guilty on four felony counts of child molestation and sodomy Wednesday that only took a 12-person jury two hours to decide.
Timothy Brown was found guilty of statutory sodomy, enticement or attempted enticement of a child, third-degree child molestation, and sexual misconduct involving a child under 15-years-old.
Brown faced the felony charges stemming from an inappropriate relationship he had with a 12-year-old girl from May to November of 2019. At that time, Brown was a volunteer with the youth group at Frederick Boulevard Baptist Church in St. Joseph.
The 17-year-old victim, who was 12 when the abuse happened, took the stand Tuesday in which she outlined the details of the sexual abuse Brown inflicted on her.
The victim testified that Brown had touched her and exposed himself to her on multiple occasions.
She journaled the entire experience and the journal was presented as evidence in court.
Police also presented the court with photos of teenage girls found in his phone and a previous alleged victim from Indiana in the late 1990s.
A former Frederick Boulevard Baptist pastor testified that Brown applied to be the youth pastor in the early 2010s but could not be considered due to an allegation against him in Nebraska from years earlier. Despite the allegation, Brown was allowed to volunteer with the youth group at the church.
In closing arguments Wednesday morning, the state presented the victim deserved to be heard. They said she was honest and credible throughout the entire process.
The defense presented that this was a case of “she said…” and that the church had no complaints against Brown before the abuse happened.
Brown showed no emotion when the verdict was read while members of his family broke down in tears.
The victim and her family breathed a sigh of relief and the parents did send KQ2 a written note that said “Today justice has brought a new beginning for our daughter and others like her.”
And for the church? They knew of at least one previous sexual misconduct allegation against Brown. What did they do? The church allowed Brown to be a youth group volunteer.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
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 Locklear, pastor of now-closed Victory Church in Ruckersville, Virginia, stands accused of aggravated sexual battery of a minor, abduction with intent to defile a minor, indecent acts with a minor, and other charges alleged by a teenage victim. Locklear pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
A Ruckersville pastor charged with child sex crimes pleaded not guilty in Greene County Circuit Court Tuesday.
Rodney Martin Locklear, 48, was arrested Feb. 1 after a grand jury indicted him on charges of aggravated sexual battery of a minor, abduction with intent to defile a minor, indecent acts with a minor, and other charges alleged by a teenage victim. The alleged sexual assaults occurred May 5 of last year at Locklear’s residence as well as the now-closed Victory Church, where he was pastor.
The assaults occurred over multiple hours during a Cinco de Mayo celebration held at Victory Church, the victim alleges. The party began at church near the intersection of state Routes 29 and 33 in Ruckersville. But Locklear and multiple teenagers later left the church for his residence, where the first alleged assault occurred.
Locklear reportedly approached the young girl in his house, pushed her against the kitchen counter and inappropriately touched her against her wishes. Even though she protested and told him to stop, Locklear continued touching her without her consent while she repeatedly told him to stop, according to court documents.
The assault continued until Locklear heard someone coming up the stairs, the victim alleges.
The youth group and Locklear returned to the church later in the day to continue the Cinco de Mayo party. The alleged victim and others from the group planned to go together to a Wendy’s fast food restaurant, across the parking lot from the church.
“She [the victim] went back inside to get her wallet. While alone in the church, she went to the bathroom and she heard someone’s keys lock the door,” according to court documents.
Alone together again, Locklear proceeded to assault the young girl again a second time, she alleges.
“Locklear pushed her against the wall and began touching her. She refused again and told him to stop,” according to court documents.
Locklear had been ministering in the Greene County area for more than a decade prior to his February arrest. He served as pastor at Victory Church for six years before his arrest and the church’s closure. Before that, he attended and preached at Solid Rock Full Gospel Church in Barboursville, 5 miles away from Victory Church. He and his wife, Becky Morris Locklear, also founded Abundant Life Pentecostal Outreach Church in Ruckersville in 2012.
Solid Rock and Victory churches both still have sermons and material credited to Rodney Locklear on their social media.
Locklear and his wife also served in the gospel singing group Restoration, which toured in the 2000s throughout Central Virginia, West Virginia and Georgia.
Restoration won Group of the Year 2008 at the Music City Gospel Showcase Convention and Awards Show in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Larry Morris, pastor of Solid Rock Full Gospel Church, was also in the Southern gospel group.
Locklear’s trial begins March 17 of next year in Greene County Circuit Court.
If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
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.
Marvin Scales, a youth pastor at an unreported church in Waxahachie, Texas, was recently sentenced to fifty years in prison without parole after pleading guilty to four felonies including two counts of continuous sexual abuse of a young child, one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child, and one count of sexual assault of a child. He is also accused of impregnating a fourteen-year-old child.
Astoundingly, Scales was a registered sex offender, stemming from a 1998 conviction of sexually assaulting an eleven-year-old girl and sexual indecency with a thirteen-year-old girl. Oh, the grace of God and unconditional forgiveness, right? Scales spent ten years in prison for his crimes. How in the hell, did a church, any church hire him as a youth pastor? It took me all of TEN SECONDS to find Scales in Texas’ registered sex offenders database. The church in question is culpable in Scales’ crimes. Absolutely NO EXCUSE.
A Waxahachie youth pastor who impregnated a 14-year-old girl was sentenced to 50 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing four minors.
Marvin Scales, 53, received a 50-year sentence on Monday after pleading guilty to two counts of sexual abuse of a young child, one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child, and one count of sexual assault of a child.
An investigation into Scales began in August 2023 when a 14-year-old girl gave birth at Baylor Scott & White – Waxahachie.
Hospital staff tipped off police when Scales went to the hospital with the young girl and was “overly involved” in the delivery process.
Waxahachie police then obtained a warrant for the newborn’s DNA and confirmed Scales was the biological father.
Scales was the youth pastor of a local church. However, authorities did not specify the name or location of the church.
Once church members learned about the first victim, several more came forward.
The DA’s office says Scales would regularly have children from the church on overnight trips and would have them sleep over at his house.
Victims told investigators Scales would have sex with them on the trips and overnight stays.
Investigators say Scale had an extensive security system at home that caught several of the sexual assaults. They say he even recorded several of the assaults himself and kept them at home.
The security footage helped authorities find even more child sex abuse victims.
According to the Texas Public Sex Offender website, Scales first became a registered sex offender in 2006. He verified his registration with the Waxahachie Police Department on June 5, 2023.
Online records show Scales was convicted of three child sex abuse crimes in 1998 and was released from jail after 10 years.
It’s unclear when the local church hired Scales or if they knew about his sex offender status before hiring him.
Scales is not eligible for parole.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
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.
Bertheophilus Maurice Bailey, pastor of St. Andrew Christian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, stands accused of sexually assaulting his daughter for years.
A pastor’s daughter was in sixth grade when he prayed over her, then started to touch her inappropriately, Oklahoma police said. Bertheophilus Maurice Bailey, of Tulsa, then sexually assaulted her and continued to do so for years, police said. “For too long, I suffered in silence, afraid of the repercussions of speaking out against someone with such influence and power,” the daughter, Harmony Bailey Oates, said in a Sept. 17 Facebook post, coming forward about a decade of mental and sexual abuse by her father.
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Tulsa police said the victim filed a report about the abuse in August 2023, but they said she was not ready to press charges until this month. On Sept. 25, 45-year-old Bailey was arrested and charged with rape, child sexual abuse, incest, forcible sodomy and burglary, according to jail records.
The abuse that started when Oates was a child continued into her adulthood, police and Oates said. Bailey raped the victim when she was 16, and he later broke into her home and sodomized her after she moved out as an adult, police said. “The damage he has done is immeasurable. It has poisoned my relationships, poisoned my mind,” she said. “It has filled me with doubts, with fears, with a sense of worthlessness that I struggle to overcome.”
Her father was a pastor at St. Andrew Christian Church until Sept. 21, according to the church’s website. He had been there since 2018. McClatchy News reached out to St. Andrew Christian Church for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
“He took away my innocence, my sense of self, my ability to trust,” Oates said. “He left me broken, shattered, a shell of the person I could have been. And yet, I refuse to let him define me.” Family members said they learned about the abuse on the same day Oates made her Facebook post, according to a statement posted on Sept. 18. “No one should ever have their trust and safety violated in such a horrific way, especially by their own father. We are all so deeply sorry that this happened to you,” the statement said.
In a recorded telephone phone call sent to the police by Harmony Oates’ mother, Oates confronts Bailey about the abuse, and Bailey begs Oates not to tell her husband saying, “the secret getting out would be a total catastrophe to the whole kingdom of God,” the affidavit states. “
In a series of text messages between Bailey and his wife, where she confronts Bailey about the alleged sexual abuse and his alleged lying, Bailey confesses to lying and saying, “He had planned on taking the secret to his grave.”
In another text message Bailey says he “feels ashamed and humiliated from the exposure of the abuse.” After confessing his guilt, Bailey texts that “jumping from touching to sex is not a big deal for me,” court documents show.
The affidavit states Bailey admitted to watching pornography with his daughter saying, “seeds of sin grow” and acting out the scenes because that’s “what people do.”
Oates told police the alleged sexual abuse started when she was in sixth grade and her father would pray over her body and touching her inappropriately. Oats said the abuse eventually escalated to rape when she was 16 or 17 years old.
After Oats married and had a child, she accused Bailey of coming to her home and sexually assaulting her there and also peeping through her windows.
Bailey reportedly told a therapist in emails of the alleged crimes, who then reported it to authorities. The minister reportedly “he felt tricked and thought he was safe to disclose in therapy,” the affidavit states.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
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.
David Baker, pastor of Family Baptist Church in Columbia, Tennessee, allegedly killed himself after facing charges that he sexually assaulted a minor.
A Columbia pastor was charged with aggravated sexual battery Tuesday and booked at the Maury County Jail.
David Mark Baker Sr., lead pastor of Family Baptist Church in Columbia, served as a candidate for Maury County mayor in the 2022 election, entering the race after now U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles dropped out to run for the 5th District Congressional seat.
Baker, a Santa Fe native, started Independent Baptist Online Bible College, a ministry of Family Baptist Church, has led a life coaching business, and is an author of several books.
He also runs a ministry Fallen in Grace, with Indiana pastor David Hyles, who has faced much controversy.
Baker previously served as chaplain of the Maury County Jail for 28 years.
Bond set at $200,000.
Baker’s court date is 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 9 in Maury County.
Just a day after Columbia Pastor David Baker, Sr. was charged with aggravated sexual battery by Maury County Sheriff’s Office, he has died of apparent suicide, according to Columbia Police Chief Jeremy Alsup.
Baker served as lead pastor of Family Baptist Church in Columbia and ran as a candidate for Maury County mayor in the 2022 election.
According to Alsup, Baker “walked into the ER at Maury Regional Medical Center, went straight to the bathroom and was soon found deceased in the bathroom.”
Alsup shared that video captured Baker walking into the hospital emergency room.
Bond was posted at $200,000 Tuesday, and a court date was previously set for Oct. 9.
The charge against Baker involves a minor, Sheriff Bucky Rowland confirmed Wednesday.
During the 2022 election, Baker filed a defamation lawsuit in Maury County court against then-opponent Maury County Mayor Sheila Butt, which was later dropped. He was also criticized during the election by a former member of Lighthouse Baptist Church, (which filed bankruptcy in 2017) regarding his handling of the member’s sexual assault by a fellow church member.
Baker, a Santa Fe native, started Independent Baptist Online Bible College, a ministry of Family Baptist Church, led a life coaching business and penned several books.
He also ran a ministry Fallen in Grace, with Indiana pastor David Hyles. Hyles has faced much controversy, including allegations of rape, according to multiple media reports by the Fort-Worth Star Telegram, though he was not charged.
Baker previously served as chaplain of the Maury County Jail for 28 years.
Authorities say the family member he molested was under the age of 12.
There was nothing Godly about him. He was, he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” said Aimee Spires.
Spires told FOX 17 News she went to Baker’s church when he was a preacher at Lighthouse Baptist Church. He was a pastor at Family Baptist church when he was arrested.
“I was angry because all the victims that there is, there’s no telling how many victims, how many girl victims that are out there that he may have done this to,” said Spires.
Another former church member and activist Tiffany Boyd is upset at what he is accused of doing considering what he preached.
“A hypocrite. There are a lot of words, but many of those, I can’t say on camera, it’s infuriating. I mean, it really, it’s infuriating.” she said.
The Columbia Police Department confirmed Baker shot himself today at Maury Regional Medical Center.
The hospital’s spokesperson tells FOX 17 News, a man went into their restroom and shot himself twice in the chest. They said they tried to save him and placed the hospital on lockdown.
As noted in the news articles, Baker ran a ministry for “fallen” ministers with disgraced miscreant David Hyles — the son of the late Jack Hyles. Called Fallen in Grace, this ministry helped restore preachers to the ministry after they fell (or headlong ran) into sin –especially sexual sins, including rape, adultery, and molesting children. Hyles has a long history of sexual misconduct, but has, so far, evaded accountability for his behavior. Birds of a feather flock together, and that is certainly the case of Hyles, Baker, and other fallen Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) preachers. Both Hyles and Baker provided a smokescreen for other “fallen” preachers, helping them return to the ministry. Dr. David Tee (who blogs at TheologyArcheology: A Site for the Glory of God), a notorious defender of preachers who commit sex crimes, would be proud of these men and the “service” they provide to God’s people.
While I am saddened by Baker’s alleged suicide — after all, he had a wife and eleven children — I hope that his death puts an end to Fallen in Grace and its pernicious enabling of sexual predators and other offenders. Interestingly, less than a day after Baker was arrested, he and the Fallen in Grace ministry have been scrubbed from Family Baptist Church’s website. Nothing to see here! David Baker? David Baker who? David Hyles? Never heard of him. Fallen in Grace? Not ministry we are familiar with. In the IFB church movement, the modus operandi is to deny, cover-up, and move on. There are souls to save, sermons to preach, and offerings to collect.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
