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Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Youth Pastor Lindsey Melnick Convicted of Sexual Assault, Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison

Bruce Gerencser 0 Comments
lindsey melnick

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 2021, Lindsey Melnick, a youth pastor at Breakthrough Church in Duncannon, Pennsylvania, was accused of sexually assaulting a fifteen-year-old girl she met as a teacher’s aide in her school classroom. A reader familiar with this story told me that the assaults took place while Melnick was employed by Cornerstone Christian Church in Duncannon, Pennsylvania. I found one document that shows that Melnick worked for Cornerstone in 2012.

PennLive reported:

Police charged a Perry County church pastor with four felonies after a woman told police she was molested 10 years ago by the pastor when she was 15.

Pennsylvania State Police arrested Lindsey Melnick, 36, on Monday in connection with charges of statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, corruption of minors and unlawful contact of a minor. The charges allege Melnick sexually assaulted the teen several times a week for about one year starting in August 2011.

At the time, Melnick was about 26 and had been the girl’s soccer coach at a school and a church counselor at summer camp, according to court records.

Melnick is listed as the pastor of the Breakthrough Church in Duncannon, according to the church website.

Her next court hearing was set for Jan. 11. She is free on $15,000 unsecured bail.

According to the report filed by the Pennsylvania State Police:

A woman told police in July she felt she was “manipulated and groomed” by Melnick when they first met in 2010, and also a teacher aide for most of her classes while she was in eighth grade.

They would pass a notebook back and forth during class, Melnick gave her a cell phone, and they communicated by that cell phone and through Facebook, including a “fake” account that Melnick allegedly created under the name Sophia Martin, according to police.

The victim said if she didn’t answer phone calls from Melnick, the woman would become angry with her so she felt she had to take her calls. Melnick also snuck into her parents’ home dozens of times using a hidden key, the court records said. Melnick would hide under her bed, the girl said.

Eventually, the girl said, she started sleeping on her parents’ floor to avoid Melnick.

Melnick eventually became controlling of “every aspect of her life,” according to court records, which said Melnick resigned from the school soccer team because teachers and staff members “were catching on” to what was going on.

Melnick would pick her up from her friends’ homes or events and take her to a graveyard.

A youth group teammate confirmed to police in July that she saw Melnick giving the girl a back massage at an event at someone’s home when they were 14 to 15 years old, according to the report.

The teammate said Melnick spent the night and when she would leave the room to get a drink of water or something, she would return to see Melnick on top of the victim, giving the girl a back massage. But when she entered the room, Melnick would “stop what she was doing and act like nothing had happened,” according to the report written by police.

Police recovered Facebook messages from the account of “Sophia Martin” in December 2011 to the girl that said she was angered “about how you were torn away from me.”

Melnick’s church bio page stated:

Lindsey Melnick is a 2008 gradute [sic] of Colorado Christian Univeristy [sic] and a 2019 graduate of Liberty Univeristy [sic]. She has degrees in both Youth Ministry and Professional Counseling. This blend of Biblical knowledge and Mental Health training allows her to have a good balance of Scriptural teaching and counseling. 

She has a passion for sharing Jesus with all, discipling believers, and helping people heal spiritually. She focuses on Bibilical [sic] teaching, Youth Ministry, and Outreach opportunities. 

She loves Penn State Football, her dogs [sic] Scout and Sherlock, and all types of pasta, especially Mac & Cheese. If you would like to get ahold of Lindsey please e-mail her at XXXXXXXXX.

In December 2022, Melnick was convicted of sexual assault. On Wednesday, Melnick was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Penn Live reports:

“God is still good… God is strong.”

Those were the words the former youth pastor called out to her family on Wednesday as she was escorted from the Perry County courtroom after being sentenced to six to 12 years in state prison for sexual assault.

Meanwhile, a 26-year-old woman whom prosecutors say Lindsey Melnick molested 11 years ago sat in the back of the small courtroom within earshot. She was 15 when the assaults occurred.

Melnick, 37, the former youth pastor, soccer coach and teacher’s aide at Susquenita Middle School, maintained her innocence at her sentencing hearing despite being found guilty in December by a jury of sexually assaulting the girl repeatedly in 2011.

“The bottom line is, a jury of 12 people disagree with that assertion,” Andrew Bender, a Perry County judge, said during the 9 a.m. sentencing hearing. “You were in a position of power over the victim in this case, and you used that and exploited it to your advantage.”

….

State police arrested Melnick in December of 2021, after the victim came forward earlier that year and said Melnick sexually assaulted her multiple times a week in 2011. The victim said Melnick sexually assaulted her and threatened to kill herself if the victim cut off contact with Melnick.

The victim recalled one occasion where she came home alone and received a text telling her to look under her bed. When she did so, she saw Melnick laying underneath, she said.

Melnick sneaked into the victim’s home and hid under her bed “more than 30″ times, according to the victim—and she had to sleep on her parents’ floor to get away from Melnick.

The victim and Melnick met through the Susquenita Middle School’s soccer team, which Melnick was the coach of. Melnick was also a teacher’s aide for most of her classes, and would pass a notebook back-and-forth between them, according to the victim. Melnick was also a counselor for a church camp the victim attended, where she invited the victim into bed with her.

Melnick was also a leader at the youth group the victim attended events at, according to Merris.

The sentence reflects the state guidelines for the convictions of aggravated indecent assault, unlawful contact with a minor, statutory sexual assault, corruption of minors and institutional sexual assault.

The judge could have given a lesser sentence had there been mitigating factors in the case, but Bender acknowledged he could not find any.

Melnick must also register on the sex offender’s list upon eventual release from prison, but Bender said she would not be found as a violent sexual predator.

The jury’s verdict hinged on the credibility of the now-26-year-old victim’s statements during court, according to Bender.

“I was left with the impression that she testified very credibly, [and was consistent] with what she told people,” Bender said. “I was not surprised by the jury’s verdict after hearing her testimony.”

But Terry McGowan, Melnick’s lawyer, said the victim’s testimony at trial was inconsistent and that the defense would appeal the sentence.

“We were shocked at the verdict,” McGowan said.

The jurors deliberated for an hour and twenty minutes after the day-long trial in December, according to Merris.

“We love you Lins, stay strong,” family members said Wednesday after sheriff deputies began to escort Melnick from the courtroom.

“How could they do this to her?” one woman sobbed. “There was no evidence.”

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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Black Collar Crime: IFB Pastor Terry Compton Sentenced to Four Life Sentences for Sex Crimes Against Children

Bruce Gerencser 4 Comments
pastor terry compton

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 February 20222. Terry Compton, pastor of Faith Independent Missionary Baptist Church in Damascus, Virginia (no internet presence), was charged with 12 counts of taking indecent liberties with children; 12 counts of aggravated sexual battery; three counts of forcible sodomy, and three counts of object sexual penetration.

Ministry Watch reported:

Terry Compton, 62, the current pastor of Faith Independent Missionary Baptist Church in Damascus, Virginia, was arrested and charged by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

Compton is charged with 12 counts of taking indecent liberties with children; 12 counts of aggravated sexual battery; three counts of forcible sodomy and three counts of object sexual penetration.

The abuse allegedly started in 1995 and continued for 26 years.

Officials said that although the initial charges are based on assaults on three minors, multiple victims have come forward.

“The case is in, really, its infancy – he just got arrested last week,” Washington County Commonwealth Attorney Joshua Cumbow told WJHL-TV “This is a big case.”

Compton is being held at the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail without bond.

Compton later pleaded guilty to sodomy of a helpless victim (one count), sodomy of a child less than 13 years old (one count), object sexual penetration of a child less than 13 years old (two counts), and aggravated sexual battery of a child less than 13 years old (12 counts). No plea was offered to Compton.

Compton was sentenced to four life sentences — 240 years. He will spend the rest of his natural life in prison.

WJHL reports:

A former pastor from Southwest Virginia was sentenced to four life sentences after he pleaded guilty to multiple child sex crimes.

A release from the office of Washington County Commonwealth’s Attorney Josh Cumbow states that Terry Frank Compton was sentenced in Washington County Circuit Court. Compton was sentenced to 240 years in addition to the four life sentences. The release states that no time was suspended.

….

Cumbow’s office reported that Compton was not offered a plea agreement.

Compton was arrested in February 2022 after a months-long investigation by the Washington County Virginia Sheriff’s Office (WCSO). In a release issued by the WCSO at the time, Compton was identified as the pastor at a baptist church in Damascus.

He was initially charged with 30 felony counts, all against juveniles. The WCSO reported at the time that multiple victims had come forward, and detectives had determined that Compton had been abusing children for about 26 years.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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Black Collar Crime: Catholic Priest Joseph “Jack” Baker Sentenced to 3-15 Years in Prison for Sexual Assault

Bruce Gerencser 1 Comment
joseph jack baker

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 2019, Joseph “Jack” Baker, pastor of St. Perpetua Parish in Waterford, Michigan, was accused of sexually assaulting a child.

The Oakland Press reported at the time:

Father Joseph “Jack” Baker, 57, is on an electronic tether following his arraignment July 8 in 29th District Court, according to the Wayne County Jail website. Judge Laura Redmond Mack assigned a $500,000 personal bond at arraignment, which doesn’t require bail to be posted.

Baker, pastor of St. Perpetua Parish in Waterford since 2008, is one of six metro Detroit priests facing sexual abuse charges as part of an ongoing investigation by the state’s attorney general’s office. He was arrested July 8 in Wayne County and is charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct – sexual penetration with a person under 13 years old, multiple variables. Court records list the offense date as Feb. 1, 2004.

Baker is also a former associate pastor at St. Hugo of the Hills Parish in Bloomfield Hills and Sacred Heart Parish in Dearborn, and former pastor at St. Mary Parish in Wayne. He also was administrator at St. Benedict in Waterford in 2011, campus minister at Wayne State Medical School Campus Ministry and administrator at three churches in Inkster. He was ordained in 1993.

Attorney General Dana Nessel is calling the case “just the tip of the iceberg,” and said her office is reviewing “hundreds of thousands of pages of documents and files” seized last fall from Michigan’s seven diocese.

In October 2022, Baker was convicted of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree with a child under the age of 13.

On March 1, 2023, Baker was sentenced to 3-15 years in prison. Afterward, he must register as a sex offender.

WLNS-6 reports:

Joseph “Jack” Baker, 61, was convicted in October 2022 of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree. This charge is used when the victim is under 13.

Baker will spend three to 15 years in prison and must register as a sex offender for life.

He had previously been a pastor at St. Perpetua Parish in Waterford since 2008. He also served as a pastor at St. Mary Parish in Wayne, as associate pastor at Sacred Heart Parish in Dearborn and as an associate pastor at St. Hugo of the Hills in Bloomfield Hills.

The Oakland Press added:

At his sentencing hearing in Wayne County’s 3rd Judicial Circuit Court, Joseph “Father Jack” Baker was ordered to spend 3-15 years in prison, with jail credit of 140 days, for first-degree criminal sexual conduct-sexual penetration of a person less than 13 years old.

Baker was pastor at St. Mary Catholic School in Wayne and his victim was a second-grader there when he was raped in the church sacristy in 2004. Both the victim and Baker were among those who testified at the trial last October, with Baker denying the allegation.

The Oakland Press is not naming the victim due to the nature of the crime.

In handing down the sentence, Judge Bridget Hathaway veered from sentencing guidelines of a minimum 25 years in prison, calling Baker’s case “somewhat unique.”

Noting that the priest was convicted of “one of the most serious crimes in the state,” Hathaway cited several factors for the lighter sentence, including Baker having no other criminal allegations against him and no prior criminal history, compliance with bond conditions for more than three years while he awaited trial, and several dozen letters of support from parishioners and others who, she said, credited him with doing  “a great deal of good for the community.”

….

Wednesday’s hearing, Kriger had asked the judge to sentence Baker to time served and “a period of probation or home confinement,” claiming he has a history of “dedication to service,” community involvement and helping others “in some of their darkest hours” — as evidenced by the letters written to the court on his behalf.

“This offense is 20 years old and is truly an aberration in Father Baker’s otherwise exemplary life…he has spent the last 20 years being the complete opposite of what he have seen in this case,” she said.

Russo Bennetts, however, argued that the “face (Baker) presented to the community and the face his victim saw” weren’t the same.

“This was not an aberration…he changed and destroyed (the victim’s) life,” Russo Bennetts said. “The people who wrote those letters weren’t sexually assaulted by Joseph Baker. The Joseph Baker in those letters in not the Joseph Baker (the victim) knows.”

Baker was given a lighter sentence because of all the “good” things he did as a pastor. Does anyone seriously think that this was the only time that Baker took advantage of a church minor? I mean, really? As has been shown in countless Black Collar Crime stories, judges often give offending clergy what I call the “preacher’s discount,” sentencing them to lighter sentences than non-clerics receive. Lost on judges is the fact that these men abused the trust their victims had in them, causing untold physical and psychological harm. They should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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Updated: Black Collar Crime: Anglican Lay Pastor Mark Rivera Sentenced to Fifteen Years in Prison for Sexual Assault

Bruce Gerencser 1 Comment
pastor mark rivera

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 2022, Mark Rivera, a lay pastor at Christ Our Light Anglican in Big Rock, Illinois — an Anglican Church affiliated with the Anglican Diocese of the Upper Midwest — was charged with two felony counts of criminal sexual assault.

The Religion News Service reported at the time:

A former lay pastor in a conservative Anglican denomination was charged Wednesday (Dec. 29) with two felony counts of criminal sexual assault in the Kane County, Illinois, circuit court. The charges come a year after Joanna Rudenborg reported Mark Rivera, her former neighbor, to Kane County police, accusing him of raping her in 2018 and again in 2020. 

According to Pat Gengler, undersheriff at Kane County, bail was set at $50,000 and Rivera was released after a hearing. “He’s on home monitoring, so he does have a GPS bracelet which greatly restricts his movements,” said Gengler.

….

“I’m glad he was finally charged and the prosecution is happening,” said Rudenborg. “It’s certainly validating that the state looked at the evidence and said, this is a strong case worth pursuing. … I hope that my story being taken seriously by the authorities will help other people take other victims’ stories more seriously.”

….

Rivera is also being prosecuted on charges of felony sexual assault and predatory abuse of a victim under 13 years of age, and at least eight others have made allegations of abuse by Rivera, including child sexual abuse, grooming, rape and assault.

Rivera was a lay minister at Christ Our Light Anglican, an ACNA church plant in Big Rock, Illinois, from 2013 to 2019. He was also a volunteer leader at Church of the Resurrection — the headquarters of the Upper Midwest Diocese — in Wheaton, Illinois, from the mid-1990s until 2013.

On Aug. 28, ACNA announced the members of a Provincial Response Team that would oversee an investigation into the diocese’s handling of the allegations. The denomination was not able to respond to a request for comment by the time of publication, but according to an email sent from the Provincial Response Team to Rudenborg on Nov. 30 and shown to Religion News Service, the group was “ready to begin the initial vetting process to narrow down the list” of investigative firms. That list would then be voted on by both survivors and members of the Provincial Response Team. On Twitter, Rudenborg expressed frustration at the team’s lack of action.

“At this point, I’m safe from Mark, I’m not in any direct danger, so really what I want is for him to not be able to harm anyone else,” Rudenborg told RNS. “The only way we can be sure that that’s going to happen is if he goes back into custody. So it’s kind of still a waiting game.”

In December 2022, Rivera was found guilty of two counts of felony predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and three felony counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

The Daily Herald reported:

Mark Rivera, 49, of Winfield was found guilty of two counts of felony predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and three felony counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. He is scheduled for a sentencing hearing on Feb. 10.

Rivera was a lay pastor at the Anglican Church of North America in Big Rock when he sexually assaulted a child under the age of 13 multiple times between June 2018 and May 2019, according to a news release from the Kane County state’s attorney’s office. The abuse was reported to authorities after the victim told her mother.

“Mr. Rivera is a predator who used his position of respectability and stature in a church and within the community to prey on this child with no consideration for the trauma he caused,” Kane County Assistant State’s Attorney Matthew Rodgers said. “The victim showed great courage in telling her mother about his criminal conduct, in preparing for this trial and in facing him in court.”

Rivera will have to register for life as a sexual offender, authorities said. He remains in custody at the Kane County jail on $500,000 bail.

After Rivera’s arrest, it came to light that he allegedly molested other children. A damning third-party report was revealed in October 2022, calling into question the Anglican denomination’s culpability in Rivera’s crimes.

Ministry Watch reported:

A long-awaited third-party report on sexual abuse reveals that leaders in an Anglican Church in North America diocese failed to act on tips about sexual misconduct and abuse and defended an alleged abuser as innocent while questioning reported survivors’ credibility.

The probe into events in the Upper Midwest Diocese, conducted by the investigative firm Husch Blackwell, also found that an ACNA priest did not report abuse by a lay pastor to the Department of Child and Family Services, claiming a church lawyer told him he was exempt from mandatory reporting laws, and that Bishop Stewart Ruch III and others allowed a church volunteer to have contact with teenagers after he had lost his teaching job for inappropriate behavior with students.

As serious as the report’s findings are, the investigation went forward without hearing from at least five alleged survivors of abuse who refused to participate over concerns about transparency.

The Upper Midwest Diocese in the ACNA—a small denomination formed by a 2009 split with the Episcopal Church over its LGBTQ-affirming policies—has been roiled since 2019 by allegations that Mark Rivera, a former lay pastor in the diocese known for his charisma and physical affection, had sexually abused young people he had met through Church of the Resurrection in Wheaton, Illinois, and Christ Our Light Anglican Church in Big Rock, Illinois.

….

At least 10 individuals have made sexual abuse or sexual misconduct allegations against Rivera, who is now on trial in Kane County, Illinois, on charges of felony sexual assault and predatory abuse of a victim under 13 years of age. Rivera also faces charges for two felony counts of criminal sexual assault of a separate alleged adult victim. 

Ruch is on leave after admitting he made serious mistakes in handling the abuse allegations against Rivera, including failing to initially tell members of the Upper Midwest Diocese about those allegations.

ACNA spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment. 

Four years earlier, in 2015, several leaders became aware that a lay leader at Christ Our Light Anglican, Chris Lapeyre, had been fired from a high school teaching position that year over concerns about a relationship with a female student, according to the report. 

The Rev. Rand York, a priest at the church, told investigators he knew that Lapeyre had lost his job and why but allowed Lapeyre to stay in leadership, saying that he “was not concerned about Lapeyre interacting with young people at COLA because Lapeyre had three daughters of his own.”

Ruch, bishop of the diocese, reportedly told investigators that he also knew that Lapeyre had been fired over a “boundary crossing” issue but took no action. Lapeyre said his termination didn’t limit his leadership opportunities at either Christ Our Light Anglican or Church of the Resurrection, the diocesan headquarters in Wheaton.

The report states that Lapeyre, a friend of Rivera’s, told investigators he was aware of sexual misconduct by Rivera involving an adult woman in 2018 but did not tell anyone about it until 2020.

The report goes on to say that Ruch and York did not attempt to learn more about additional abuse allegations against Rivera made known to them in 2019, and Ruch did not consider reaching out to parents of at-risk teens who might have been vulnerable to abuse by Rivera.

Released online late Tuesday evening (Sept. 27), the report follows a monthslong investigation that was contentious from the start due to the objections from some of Rivera’s accusers.

“I have no reason to believe that anything about this investigation is independent,” said Cherin Marie when the investigation was announced in January. Cherin Marie, whose then-9-year-old daughter reported being sexually abused by Rivera in May 2019, has asked that her last name not be used to protect her family’s privacy.

Joanna Rudenborg, who says she was abused by Rivera, too, tweeted on Sept. 17 about her skepticism toward the anticipated report: “(T)he investigation has never been about justice or healing for survivors. It has been first and foremost about doing damage control.”

Survivors and advocates affiliated with ACNAtoo, an anti-abuse advocacy group, have publicly criticized the report on social media for including explicit details about a minor’s sexual abuse without the child’s consent. 

“The minor is one of multiple survivors of Mark Rivera’s sexual assault that chose not to participate in the investigation because it was obvious that the investigation was not safe,” Abbi Nye, an ACNAtoo advocate, tweeted on Friday morning. “They were right.”

Members of ACNAtoo say that while many of them reached out to ACNA leaders days ago asking them to redact the minor’s details, the report remains online, unedited. 

“The account of the young girl’s abuse in the report is all hearsay, from two leaders who are implicated in mishandling her abuse,” Nye told RNS. 

Investigators were asked to gather information about how ACNA leaders handled abuse allegations—but were barred from recommending charges or punishments.

“We were charged with gathering evidence regarding such issues and reporting the information collected, but we were explicitly directed not to render any legal determinations, evaluate or opine about any governance structure issues, or seek to address whether any discipline is warranted,” the firm wrote in its report.

….

The Rev. Gina Roes and Christen Price, an ordained deacon and attorney, respectively, told Religion News Service that the report is difficult to evaluate, given the severe limitations of its scope. Both women resigned in January from the Provincial Response Team originally charged with overseeing the investigations, claiming its process “never felt survivor-centered.” 

“It sort of defeats the purpose of having an investigation if there are no conclusions that can be made from the report,” said Roes, pointing to the report’s lack of analysis. “It leaves it in the hands of the ACNA and the diocese to interpret and characterize those facts.”

When asked about next steps, Roes and Price said denominational leaders who were excluded from the report due to its diocesan scope should be investigated. “There needs to be an investigation of the province,” said Price, referring to ACNA. 

In interviews with Husch Blackwell, Ruch admitted the diocese lacked protocols for responding to sexual misconduct allegations and left the matter largely for law enforcement to pursue.

But the report identifies another obstacle to reporting abuse: In notes and emails, church officials repeatedly expressed their belief in Rivera’s innocence.

“While I believe this entire accusation to be spurious (something has happened to this girl, but Mark is not the culprit), I fear however that this will spell the end of Christ Our Light,” York reportedly wrote in a May 20, 2019, email. “I believe Mark to be innocent. I would be stunned to find anything untoward with regard to his actions,” he wrote in another email days later.

Charles Philbrick, the church lawyer who reportedly advised York he wasn’t obligated to report the allegations, told Husch Blackwell he found the child’s allegations “hard to believe.” (The report says York was investigated by DCFS for failing to report, but nothing seems to have come from the investigation.) Philbrick said he gave Rivera a referral to a defense attorney, but only, he told investigators, out of his ethical obligation as an attorney, not in his capacity as chancellor, or church legal officer. 

As you can see, what seemed important to denomination officials was protecting the “good” name of their sect and the churches in question. I suspect the “truth” has yet to be revealed as far as the extent of Rivera’s sexual misconduct is concerned. Heads should roll, but it is unlikely that they will. They will bury Rivera’s proverbial body, lament his fall from grace( he was such a nice guy), and move on. Left behind are Rivera’s victims. I hope the victims sue.

Yesterday, Rivera was sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

The Daily Herald reports:

A former lay pastor at a Big Rock church was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison for molesting a 9-year-old member of the church.

Kane County Judge John Barsanti sentenced Mark Rivera to six years apiece on two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault and three years on a charge of criminal sexual abuse.

Barsanti convicted him in December.

Rivera will have to serve at least 11.7 years before being eligible for parole but will receive credit for the approximately three years he has spent in jail or on electronic home monitoring while he awaited trial and sentencing.

On multiple times from June 2018 to May 2019, Rivera assaulted the child he knew. At the time, Rivera was a lay pastor at the Christ Our Light Anglican Church in Big Rock. The victim’s family attended the church.

The abuse happened at Rivera’s home in Big Rock.

The victim’s family and Rivera had previously attended a church in Wheaton.

Rivera, who now lives in Winfield, must register for life as a sex offender.

Rivera was also charged, in 2021, with sexually assaulting an adult who was unable to give consent due to intoxication. That case is scheduled for a jury trial in May in Kane County.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Black Collar Crime: Southern Baptist Pastor Kenneth “Ken” Daniels Accused of Sexually Abusing Children

Bruce Gerencser 0 Comments
pastor ken daniel

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.

Kenneth “Ken” Daniel, pastor of First Baptist Church in Chalkville, Alabama, stands accused of sexually assaulting at least two children.

In October 2022, AL.com reported:

An Alabama pastor jailed earlier this month on allegations of sexual abuse of a 7-year-old girl is now facing more charges.

The Rev. Kenneth Harold Daniel, pastor of First Baptist Church of Chalkville, was charged in Blount County with facilitating solicitation of unlawful sexual conduct with a child.

Daniel now is facing charges in Shelby and Jefferson County counties involving the same victim, Blount County Sheriff Mark Moon confirmed Friday.

He is charged in Shelby County with four counts of sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12 with bonds totaling $240,000.

Alabaster police obtained the warrants against Daniel. Chief Curtis Rigney said the alleged abuse took place between 2020 through September of this year.

The chief said Daniel was friends with the girl’s grandparents from church and would have the girl come stay with him at his Alabaster home.

Daniel is also charged in Jefferson County with sex abuse by force and sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12 in Jefferson County. Those charges stem from allegations of abuse taking place at Daniel’s church.

According to the Blount County charging documents against Daniel, the investigation began when the victim told her grandfather that Daniel had been sexually abusing her.

The girl reported that Daniel had touched her numerous times on her private parts and that it had happened at his residence, a pool party and at the church between 2020 and September.

The victim and her grandfather live in Blount County. Blount County authorities arrested Daniel at the church.

“Daniel contacted the grandfather by phone for arrangements to bring the victim to the locations of disclosed sexual abuse,’’ records state.

Daniel also provided the grandfather with directions to those locations.

Daniel remains held in the Blount County Jail.

Today, WTVM reported:

A former Chalkville pastor was released from one jail and taken to another on charges of having sex with a child.

Kenneth Daniel,64, of Alabaster was the pastor of First Baptist Church of Chalkville in Jefferson County.

He was arrested and indicted in October in Blount County on charges of facilitating solicitation of unlawful sexual conduct with a child.

Daniel remained in the Blount County jail until his release Monday when he was taken to the Shelby County jail.

He is charged with four counts of sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old. He is being held on $240,000 bond.

A hearing is set in Shelby County on March 22.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Connect with me on social media:

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Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Youth Pastor Jonathan Jenkins Sentenced to Twelve Years in Prison for Sexually Abusing a Child

Bruce Gerencser 1 Comment
jonathan jenkins

The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.

In 2018, Jonathan Jenkins, a youth pastor at Starlight Baptist Church in Santa Ana, California, was accused of sexually assaulting a twelve-year-old church girl.

KTLA-5 reported at the time:

A Santa Ana youth pastor was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of violently sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in his church’s bathroom during a service earlier this year, police said.

Jonathan Lamont Jenkins, a 57-year-old Riverside resident, allegedly began harassing the girl at the beginning of 2018, making sexual advances toward her when she was just 12 years old, Santa Ana police said in a news release.

The victim attends Starlight Baptist Church, at 1201 W. Second St., where Jenkins has worked as a youth pastor for the last two years. The suspect has been a parishioner there since 2012, officials said.

The sexual assault occurred sometime this March, after the victim went to use the restroom during service.

The girl entered a bathroom she thought was empty and found Jenkins inside, waiting for her, according to police. She then tried to escape, but he allegedly held her against her will.

Jenkins is accused of strangling and sexually assaulting her after threatening her with physical violence.

The girl didn’t immediately come forward to authorities with her story, and continued attending the same church.

When she saw Jenkins there on Aug. 5, he allegedly confronted her and mocked her about the sexual assault. He also told her he would tell police she allowed him to sexually assault her if she reported the incident, investigators said.

Officials did not say when exactly the assault was reported.

Once it was, an investigation was launched. Detectives said they obtained evidence against Jenkins, but didn’t provide details on what it entails.

The suspect was arrested Tuesday as he was going into a liquor store in Santa Ana, police said.

He was being held on suspicion of aggravated sexual assault of a child and other child abuse crimes at the Orange County Jail on $1 million bail.

Jenkins also has a “long criminal history,” according to Cpl. Anthony Bertagna, who said his previous convictions include robbery, burglary, criminal threats and narcotics violations.

Because of that, and other factors, detectives believe the youth pastor could have additional victims, Bertagna said.

“The way he handled this child, in the manner he handled this child, in the location he handled this child, leads them to believe that potentially there are other victims out there,” he told KTLA.

Five years later, Jenkins finally had his day in court, pleading guilty to a felony count of continuous sexual abuse of a child. He was immediately sentenced to twelve years in prison.

My News LA reports:

A 60-year-old former Santa Ana church youth pastor pleaded guilty and was immediately sentence Friday to 12 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl.

Jonathan Lamont Jenkins of Riverside pleaded guilty to a felony count of continuous sexual abuse of a child. As part of the plea deal charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child, aggravated sexual assault of a child-oral copulation with force or fear, aggravated sexual assault of a child with foreign object and two counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor.

Jenkins was given credit for 1,848 days in custody, or about five years.

Jenkins initially faced up to 90 years to life in prison, authorities said when he was charged in 2018.

The victim came forward to police in October 2018, police said.

Jenkins had been a member of the Starlight Baptist Church at 1201 W. Second St. since 2012, and served as a youth pastor there for two years, police said.

The victim said Jenkins started making “sexual advances toward her” in January 2018, according to police.

Sometime in March 2018, she was at a service when she went to the bathroom, where Jenkins was waiting for her. The girl tried to get away, but he locked the door, choked her and physically restrained her while he sexually assaulted her, police said.

The girl did not tell anyone and continued going to the church, police said, but on Aug. 5, 2018 Jenkins mocked the girl about the sexual assault and warned her not to tell anyone or he would claim the sex was consensual.

Jenkins touched the victim’s buttocks in January 2018 and attempted to assault her again in April, according to prosecutors. He also attempted to assault her in July of that year as well, prosecutors said.

Jenkins has a lengthy criminal history dating back to 1999 that includes robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and drug charges, police said. He has prior convictions for robbery in Los Angeles in 1983 and burglary in Orange County in 1986, according to prosecutors.

Jenkins has a forty-year felony criminal history, yet the fine people of Starlight Baptist Church deemed him suitable to be their youth pastor. The church should be held criminally liable for Jenkins’ crimes. Of course, they won’t be, and such crimes will continue until the courts punish EVERYONE involved in these crimes.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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Black Collar Crime: Southern Baptist Youth Pastor Keenan Hord Pleads Guilty, Sentenced to Sixty Years in Prison for Sex Crimes

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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.

Keenan Hord, a youth pastor at First Baptist Church in Bentonville, Arkansas, pleaded guilty to thirteen sex-related crimes involving children and was sentenced to sixty years in prison. First Baptist is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette reports:

A former youth minister pleaded guilty Friday to 13 sex-related crimes involving children and was sentenced to 60 years in prison.

Keenan Hord, 33, of Centerton worked for First Baptist Church in Bentonville before he was arrested Aug. 24.

Hord accepted a plea deal. A jury trial in his case had been scheduled to begin March 7.

One of Hord’s victims gave a victim impact statement at Friday’s hearing. The mothers of four other victims also gave impact statements.

Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren ordered Hord to register as a sex offender and not to have contact with any of the victims or any children.

Hord will be eligible for parole in 15 years.

Bentonville police received a tip through the Arkansas State Police child abuse hotline Aug. 19, according to a news release from the Bentonville Police Department. James Boothman, a Bentonville detective, testified at Hord’s August bond hearing police served a search warrant and seized several electronic devices. Boothman said police had spoken to six victims and identified up to 30 possible victims with an examination of Hord’s cellphone.

Bentonville police Sgt. Josh Woodhams testified at the bond hearing he examined a cellphone belonging to one of the boys that revealed a romantic and sexual relationship between Hord and the boy. He said there were 5,000 conversations on the phone between Hord and the boy. Woodhams said police located a half-million text messages on the phone. As many as 30 boys had conversations with Hord, Woodhams said.

Hord has served on the staffs of at least two Southern Baptist churches, most recently First Baptist Bentonville, where he joined the staff in 2016 and became student pastor in 2018, according to Baptist Press, the news service of the Southern Baptist Convention.

In 2022, Baptist Press reported:

Keenan Hord, 32, was arrested Thursday (Aug. 25) for sexual indecency with a child. Hord has served on the staffs of at least two Southern Baptist churches, most recently First Baptist Bentonville, where he joined the staff in 2016 and became student pastor in 2018. The church said in a statement Friday (Aug. 26) that the allegations came after Hord’s employment there had ended.

A warrant for his arrest was issued Tuesday (Aug. 23) after First Baptist Bentonville made a report Aug. 19 to the Arkansas State Police child abuse hotline.

Investigators believe there could be up to 30 or more victims, according to KTHV-TV.

“We have been devastated to learn that a former employee of our church has been credibly accused of abusing adolescents during his tenure at our church.,” First Baptist Bentonville said in a statement to Baptist Press. “While these accusations did not come to light until after his employment ended, when we learned of them we immediately contacted our local authorities, made a report to the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline, and continue to fully support the ongoing law enforcement investigation.”

40/29 added at the time:

A former youth pastor was arrested on a charge of sexual indecency with a child in a case related to his time as a youth pastor at a Bentonville church, according to Nathan Smith, Benton County prosecutor.

Keenan Hord was arrested Thursday night and has been booked into the Benton County Detention Center. He is facing charges that include sexual assault and possessing sexually explicit material involving a child.

A judge set a cash bond of $500,000 in the case.

During the bond hearing, county prosecutors said there are potentially more than thirty victims.

Hord worked as a youth pastor at First Baptist Church Bentonville, Smith said. The church contacted the child abuse hotline immediately upon learning of allegations against Hord.

A detective told a judge Hord had inappropriate contact with a 15-year-old. He said law enforcement found more than 5,000 text messages between Hord and one victim.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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Update: Black Collar Crime: Methodist Pastor Russell Davis Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Raping Three Church Teenagers

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pastor russell davis

The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.

In 2018, Russell Davis, a Methodist pastor, was accused of raping a church teenager.

WMUR-9 reports:

A Seabrook man is being held without bail after he was accused of raping a child while he was serving as a pastor in the Methodist Church.

Russell Davis, 65, faces several charges in Massachusetts. Seabrook police said they arrested Davis Thursday on a fugitive from justice warrant. The Essex County District Attorney’s Office said he is being held without bail because he is still employed in the ministry and has access to children.

Davis pleaded not guilty in Newburyport District Court to charges out of Rowley, Massachusetts, of rape of a child with force and indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over, and a charge of rape from Newbury, Massachusetts.

Prosecutors said the allegations involve the same victim and incidents that occurred in April 2004.

According to the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church, Davis was a licensed Methodist minister from 1999 to 2015. His first assignment was in Warren, New Hampshire.

Davis moved among several churches in Maine and Massachusetts after that until his license was discontinued in 2015. A spokesperson for the church would not say why his license was discontinued but said it was not related to sexual misconduct.

It’s unclear whether Davis has been affiliated with any churches in New Hampshire since then.

….

An April 9, 2018 Salem News report states:

A former pastor accused of raping a child will have the chance to be released from custody as he awaits trial. A Newburyport District Court judge ordered that he be held on $5,000 cash bail, following a dangerousness hearing on Monday.

While Russell Davis, 65, of Seabrook, was found dangerous by the court, he will be released should he post bail. If released, he will need to wear a GPS monitoring device, live in Massachusetts, stay away and have no contact with his alleged victim and have no unsupervised contact with children under 16. He is due back in court May 16.

Monday’s dangerousness hearing, which is to determine whether a defendant poses too great a risk to his alleged victim or society to be afforded bail while awaiting trial, was originally scheduled for last week. But an Essex County prosecutor told Judge Peter Doyle that Davis’ attorney was not available that day.

On March 30, Davis pleaded not guilty to charges of rape of a child with force, as well as indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over. Those offenses took place in Rowley in 2004, according to the Essex District Attorney’s office.

In addition, Davis also pleaded not guilty to a charge of rape, which allegedly occurred in Newbury in 2004, the DA’s office said. No information was available about when the allegations surfaced. Davis was arrested a day earlier in Seabrook. A judge ordered all police reports related to Davis’ arrest impounded.

Other victims came forward, reaching a total of three. It is likely there were other victims whose assaults were not prosecuted.

Five years later, Davis pleaded guilty to raping and attempting to rape the three boys. Astoundingly, Davis was only sentenced to three years in prison. Davis’s attorney wanted probation!

The Salem News reports:

They were boys who’d already suffered significant losses in life: A parent to cancer, other parents to substance abuse. They had been put into foster care with other family.

In the then-mostly rural communities of Byfield, Newbury, Salisbury and Rowley, in the late 1980s, the 1990s and early 2000s, the vulnerable teens were steered toward a local United Methodist Church — and into the path of a lay pastor, a man who, though not ordained, had been given a type of license by the church to work as a youth minister.

On Thursday, Russell Woodman Davis, 70, pleaded guilty to raping and attempting to rape the three boys at various times between 1988 and 2006, in Newbury, Rowley and Salisbury.

Davis was sentenced to three to four years in state prison, a sentence that Salem Superior Court Judge Thomas Drechsler had offered if Davis opted to plead guilty before his trial, which had been scheduled for next week.

Drechsler said Thursday that he hopes the sentence balances the “profound trauma and damage” done to the three victims and Davis’ abuse of a position of trust, with Davis’ advanced age and cancer, which, he also pointed out, has been in remission.

Davis, who had been free on bail in the case, was taken into custody in the courtroom, first placed into handcuffs and then, after being led to a chair, into leg shackles.

One of his victims, as well as several family members and friends, craned their necks to watch.

On Tuesday, Drechsler heard from one of the victims, now an adult, about his ongoing struggle to recover from the trauma.

He was back in court on Thursday, where he appeared overcome by emotion at several points during the hearing, burying his face in his hands as the prosecutor detailed again, for the record, what had happened to him and the other boys.

The judge heard from one more person on Thursday, the sister of one of the victims, who had taken him in after the death of their mother from cancer.

The woman, whose name is being withheld by the newspaper so as not to identify her brother, said the abuse began within four weeks of their mother’s death.

“There is no amount of jail time that could punish him enough,” she told the judge, before saying she hopes Davis will “rot in hell.”

Prosecutor Kate MacDougall, who had requested a five- to seven-year prison term, told the judge that had the case gone to trial, she would have made a “significantly higher” sentencing request, given the “abhorrent nature of the acts and unimaginable destruction inflicted upon these men.”

Davis’ lawyer, Edward McNaught, had initially hoped for probation — a disposition previously rejected by another judge in 2021 — but sought two years in custody.

MacDougall described the facts of the case in court chronologically, though the victims came forward at different times — including one who, in 2010, reported his abuse to police. They did not pursue the case at that time.

In 1988, the first victim was 12 when his mother died and he went to live with his sister.

He met Davis at the church.

The second boy, who had been placed with an aunt, met Davis in 2003 when she brought him to her church. That boy would later introduce Davis to the third boy, who was about a year older.

Davis, said the prosecutor, “would take these young men under his wing under the guise of providing mentorship.” He would spend time alone with that boy and the others, coercing and forcing them into sexual acts to which they were too young to consent or that they did not want to engage in.

“Did you commit those acts?” Drechsler asked Davis at the conclusion of the prosecutor’s remarks.

“Yes I did, your honor,” Davis replied, with no emotion.

Davis pleaded guilty to a series of rape and attempted rape counts involving each of the boys.

But prior to trial, prosecutors were forced to drop other counts, including disseminating obscene material and unnatural acts, due to the statute of limitations having run.

Davis told the judge that he had a high school equivalency and had attended a seminary but did not finish.

Prior to working for the church, he was a U.S. Postal Service employee for 20 years, he told the judge.

In a January 2001 interview with The Salem News, Davis discussed his recent appointment as pastor of Peabody’s First Methodist Church on Washington Street — and his work with a group of 10 high school boys at a church in Byfield, where he was known as “Pastor Rusty.”

According to archived stories from The Daily News of Newburyport, Davis worked as pastor of the East Parish United Methodist Church in Salisbury and the Community United Methodist Church in Byfield, and had also served as chaplain in the Byfield Fire Department for a decade.

In a statement released after he was first charged in 2018, the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church said Davis had lost his church license to work as a pastor in 2015 but said it was unrelated to the allegations against him.

After completing the prison term, Davis will be on probation for three years, with conditions that he register as a sex offender, undergo a sex offender evaluation and treatment, and have no unsupervised contact with anyone under 18, as well as have no contact with the victims and their families.

If he violates any of the conditions of that probation he could be returned to prison for up to life.

Prosecutors may also seek to keep Davis in custody after he completes his sentence if he is determined to be a sexually dangerous person.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Youth Pastor Alexander Blackwelder Accused of Having Sex with Minor

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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 Blackwelder, a youth pastor at East Main Street Church of Christ in Tupelo, Mississippi, stands accused of having sex with a sixteen-year-old church girl. Blackwelder has been charged with two counts of sexual battery and enticement of a child to produce visual depictions of adult sexual conduct.

The Daily Journal reports:

Alexander Blackwelder, 26, of Tupelo, is charged with two counts of sexual battery and enticement of a child to produce visual depictions of adult sexual conduct.

“I think the charges are serious enough that we need to keep you,” Tupelo Municipal Court Judge Willie Allen said as he denied bond.

Tupelo police detective Hal Veal said authorities received a tip on Feb. 15 that the youth pastor at East Main Street Church of Christ was having an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old girl. During the initial interview with the girl and her parents, the girl denied any improprieties but said she had talked with Blackwelder and communicated via Snapchat.

The parents signed a consent form to allow detectives to search the girl’s phone. Veal said there were sexual videos and pictures on her phone and conversations with Blackwelder that made him believe they were having sex.

When questioned on Feb. 17 by police, Blackwelder also denied having an inappropriate relationship. But when brought back to the police station Wednesday, he allegedly admitted their relationship started in October 2022 and was more than just friendship.

“He admitted that they had sexual intercourse on two occasions and exchanged inappropriate video and pictures,” Veal said.

Blackwelder was booked into the Lee County Jail Feb. 22 around 5 p.m. He has been initially charged with enticement for allegedly getting the victim to send nude pictures and videos. If convicted of that charge, he could face up to 40 years in prison. The sexual battery charges carry up to 30 years in prison for each count.

Blackwelder has retained Ashland-based Tony Farese as his attorney. But during the initial appearance Thursday afternoon, he was represented by public defender Dennis Farris, who asked for a $100,000 bond.

Prosecutor Richard Babb opposed bond, noting that this is still an open investigation and wanted to make sure there are no other victims.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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Black Collar Crime: Lutheran Church Staff Member Michael Schneider Sentenced to Eighty-Eight Years in Prison for Sexual Assault

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Michael D Schneider

The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.

Michael Schneider, a staff member at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Bloomington, Illinois, was sentenced to eighty-eight years in prison for criminal sexual assault of a minor and possession of child pornography.

WGLT reports:

A Normal man was sentenced to 88 years in prison on Wednesday for criminal sexual assault of a minor and possession of child pornography.

Michael D. Schneider worked as a staff member at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Bloomington before his arrest in June 2021 on the felony charges. He also spent time teaching piano lessons.

The victim, now a college student, struggled through tears to read a four-page victim impact statement. Periods of depression, suicide attempts and self-harm were all part of the aftermath of the grooming and sexual assaults that started when she was about 14, she said.

Schneider, 33, started by telling jokes “that led to talks of sex, the pornography and the assaults,” said the woman. She did not disclose the abuse that often took place during what should have been piano lessons because of fears that “my sisters would be next.”

In her statement, the victim’s mother said Schneider “used me to get to my child.” Every detail of the assaults was planned, including when Schneider hired the teen to babysit his child when he was actually home.

The mother later learned Schneider took her daughter to buy sex toys, and instructed her — if asked — to say she was his wife.

“He robbed her of a normal teenage life,” the mother said in her lengthy and emotional statement.

The mother also disclosed that her daughter first disclosed the sexual assault to Schneider‘s wife, who advised the girl not to tell anyone. But the girl, who was 18 at the time, did tell her parents who went to police.

In asking for the maximum number of years allowed under a plea agreement, state’s attorney Erika Reynolds noted Schneider gave the girl alcohol as part of the grooming process.

The prosecutor pointed to information in a sex offender evaluation that described Schneider as manipulative and unwilling to acknowledge his misconduct. The fact that the pornography depicted men engaged in sexual acts with toddlers and Schneider blamed the victim “should be enough to lock him up and throw away the key,” said Reynolds.

Defense lawyer Stephanie Wong asked for the minimum sentence on the sexual charges and consecutive probation, or six years on the child pornography charges.

“There’s no question these offenses are very disturbing,” said Wong, adding Schneider “experienced a very dark period in 2017,” but arguing the former music teacher “is absolutely capable of rehabilitation.”

In his statement to the judge, Schneider said the topless photos sent to him by the victim “triggered an addiction” to the child porn.

Schneider denied downloading illegal images on various dates, claiming one file with graphic images existed. He said he was “shocked and disgusted“ by the images. “I realized that is not who I was,” he said.

Schneider apologized to the victim, her family and friends. “I deserve to be up here,” he said.

Judge William Yoder characterized the images as “repugnant and beyond belief,” adding the harm to the victim was severe, and “her life may never be the same.”

The Pantagraph adds:

In a partially negotiated plea agreement, Schneider pleaded guilty in December to two counts of criminal sexual assault and one count of production of child pornography in one case and 15 counts of child pornography in the other.

State’s Attorney Erika Reynolds said her office offered a plea agreement “to save the victim from having to testify” in a trial in the sexual assault case.

Before his arrest, Schneider taught private piano lessons and was director of worship arts at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Bloomington, having previously been the church’s choir director and a member of the arts ministry team that organizes and performs productions and other presentations, according to the church’s annual reports, as previously reported by The Pantagraph.

The victim and her mother read victim impact statements during the sentencing hearing Wednesday. 

The victim said Schneider groomed her for years before she realized it was happening, and that she lost her teenage years and her love of music because of the assault, which occurred in 2017.

She said she had taken piano lessons from him and babysat for his children.

In the years since, she said, her mental health has suffered, including depression, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts that led to multiple attempts on her life.

“It’s impossible for me to express the true agony of every sleepless night, every night terror, every scar on my body in the moments of silence in which I still remember every detail of what happened to me,” she said through tears.

Now an adult, the woman said she came forward, “reopening this wound,” for her younger self who could not.

“For that young girl who thought she couldn’t speak about this. … This had to be about justice, for me and any other young women who this has or could happen to,” she said. “… I couldn’t stand up for myself then, but now I can.”

Reynolds said that in Schneider’s sex offender evaluation, he blamed the victim for causing him to become interested in child pornography, though the prosecutor said the digital evidence from indicates that interest already existed earlier in 2017.

She said she does not believe Schneider has any rehabilitative potential and he would be at “moderate to high risk” to reoffend if he were given a community-based sentence.

….

Reynolds said she and co-counsel Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Lawson had agreed to limit their recommendation for the sexual assault and child pornography production case to 20 years in prison as part of the plea agreement.

They asked Judge William Yoder to sentence Schneider to a total of 130 years in the DOC, asking for seven-year sentences on each of the child porn possession charges.

Schneider’s attorney, Stephanie Wong, said the defendant entered a “very dark period” in 2017 — “nothing happened before 2017; nothing happened after that.”

She said this shows Schneider is very capable of rehabilitation and “conforming his conduct” with the support of family, friends and his faith. She noted that no other students or babysitters who interacted with Schneider’s family came forward with criminal claims against him.

“The evidence is consistent that in 2017 Michael did go through a very dark period in his life that is consistent with a horrible — for lack of a better term — addiction,” Wong said. “There’s no question that these offenses are very disturbing. There’s no question about that.”

Reynolds said the sex offender evaluation indicated Schneider believed no one was hurt by his actions, but “he has nearly destroyed her for his own pleasure.”

Reynolds noted the impact of every victim whose image could be seen in the child pornography Schneider possessed, “and some of which were toddlers.”

She submitted 40 letters from family members, friends and at least one former student who wrote in support of Schneider. Wong said the letters express how uncharacteristic the charges are of Schneider.

In a statement to the court, Schneider said he understands that the trust instilled in him by his communities is now broken.

Schneider said the victim “triggered my addiction to pornography,” which “continued a secret struggle for years.”

He said he sought videos of underage teenage girls, which led him to download the numerous child pornography pictures and videos “as one file.”

Schneider said he did not realize the content that was on the file until after he had downloaded it and was “shocked and disgusted” by the number of photos, the ages of those depicted, and the sexual acts shown.

“I promptly exited the file and realized that was not who I was, and I did not view that folder again,” he said.

He said he has had suicidal thoughts since his arrest and was “truly sorry for the pain I have caused” his family, community, his “former student” and her family.

Wong asked Yoder to give Schneider the minimum sentence of 12 years in prison on the sexual assault case and a probation sentence in the child pornography case. She said if Yoder disagreed with a community-based sentence in that case, she suggested a six-year sentence as a combination of concurrent sentences.

Yoder said a community-based sentence would deprecate the seriousness of the offenses and would not be consistent with the ends of justice.

The judge said he did not believe Schneider’s statement regarding a single download of child pornography, and that “anybody who suggests child pornography is a victimless crime quite honestly doesn’t know what they’re talking about.”

Yoder noted the attorneys had agreed to limit the sentence in the sexual assault case, but he said he was not bound by it.

He sentenced Schneider to 28 years in that case — 10 years for each of the criminal sexual assault charges and eight years for the production of child pornography.

He sentenced him to four years in each of the child pornography possession charges, totaling 60 years in that case.

Schneider was also fined more than $17,000.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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Bruce Gerencser