Christian Clergy Abuse of People Compiled by Ammond Shadowcraft, WindFire Coven NOTE: This artical was taken from 8 messages on Cult- watch Echo, "Origin: THE CRYSTAL CAVE, "DER MAGICK TREFFPUNKT"(719 391-1092 (1:128/50.0)" on Jan 30, 1990 By Cassandra-News (1:102/922.0) I've been pretty patient with the M.T. calling me dangerous, the R.C.s calling witches Satanists and accusing us all of perpretrating vile and henious crimes against innocent persons. So I mulled this over, should I post my Clergy Abuse article? I guess the answer is yes. Witches, pagans and even religious Satanists aren't dangerous because they understand what they are involved with. We understand the psychology of the fields we are involved in. But our friends the Christians are unaware of what is happening to them. I wouldn't say this without proof. Instinctively I see in the CBS a schizophrenic worldview. And that worldview creates problems in its followers. This is the fruit of the system of religious thought that commands its followers to mortify their natural members. And this is the pshychology of those who say that murdering witches and pagans would solved many problems. Look in your own eye first. And clean up your own house before you blame all the worlds problems on us. I give you Christian Clergy Abuse of Poeple. Your pastors lead the way... There has been some discussion of witches, Satanists, et al, abusing people on a ritual basis. Well here is some evidence to ponder. Mostly I see this a mental-emotional problem of epidemic porportions. And I think that it is unfortunate that the Ch ristian Belief System fosters this epidemic. More on why later... Christian Clergy Abuse of People Idaho Statesman 4/21/88... Father Mel Baltazar, notorious for molesting a boy hooked up to a kidney dialysis machine at a Napa, Calif. hospital and another boy in double-leg traction at a Boise hospital will be paroled from his 7 year prison term. A 20-year history of unprosecuted abuse was unraveled during his trail in 1984. No source listed... Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland claimed, in writing about molesting priests, that "Sometimes not all adolescent victims are so "innocent"; some can be sexually very active and aggressive and often quite street wise." The Specator 5/9/88 and Amherst Daily News (Novia Scotia)... A clergy seminar of child sexual abuse and incest at Brock University, Ontario, Canada, concluded that the church is implicated in such abuse. Vince Pinpura, a social worker at St. Catharines General Hospital, said 8 of 10 members of an incest counseling group connected the church with incest; one was abused by a father who was a minister... Another woman told of the anguish of being sexually abused by her clergy father from the age of two., the congregation blind to her pain, and another preacher telling her "just to forgive." A nun warned of misusing "bogus spirituality." In June, a Canadian women's inter-church group released a study. Hands to End Violence Against Women, saying male-dominated churches, Christian theology and selective interpretation of scripture are at least partly to blame for violence against women. Atlanta Constitution 4/15/88 Former priest turned psychologist A.W. Richard Sipe, Baltimore, said a 25 year study he conducted shows that about 2% of all priests "show sexual excitement by fantasizing about or engaging in sexual activity with children." (Rev Thomas Doyle has projected that the figure may be as high as 3,000--one out of 18 priests or 16 per diocese--which is closer to 6%.) Catholic apologists deny any complicity in covering up illegal activities. Atlanta Constitution 4/15/88 Being a Catholic priest is "one of the best positions you can be go into [if you are a pedophile]. What better position could you be in to win peoples trust?" says Sharon Moody, commanding officer of the Crimes Against Children Unit for the Cobb County Police Department, Georgia. Columbus Ledger-Enquirer 5/28/88 Rev. Tony ("Touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm") Levya, a southern revivalists investigated by the FBI for heading a 3-man ring prostituting young boys, has used Christian radio station WEAM in Columbus, Ga. to raise funds for his defense. Rev. Levya asks his followers to "sacrifice $100, $500, $1,000, $8,000 , even more, if God speaks to you" for his defense. Federal authorities allege that his crusades gave him and fellow abusers Rias E. Morris, organist, and Rev. Freddie M. Herring opportunity to sexually abuse numerous boys in Virginia, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Ohio and Indiana. He faces up to 65 years in prison and $550,000 in fines. Seattle Post-Intelligencer 3/23/88 The notorious Community Chapel & Bible Training Center, a sect based in Burien, Wash. near suburban Seattle, not only mentally abused children with doctrines of demonology and stunted education in their backward and repressive classrooms, but involved children in sexual abuse, according to reporter Mary Rothchild. The Center, besieged by civil suites by ex-members claiming abuse, including women charging sexual exploitation, recently deposed it founder Rev. Donald Lee Barnett on charges of promiscuous adultery. In 1986, after followers complained, Child Protective Services met with Burien officials, spelling out guidelines, for example, that the church policy condoning French kissing of children was unacceptable. Three counselors were convicted of failing to report child sexual abuse in 1987. New York Times 5/23/88, New York Daily News 5/27/88, Newsweek 5/30/88, Denver Post 5/20/88, Newsday 6/11/88 Rev. Thomas Streitferdt, 59, a white Pastor in charge of the mostly black 700-member True Church of God in Harlem, was charged with rape and sodomy of two young sisters (ages 14 and 16) in his congregation. Law enforcement officials charge that Streitferdt told females worshippers that they could end up in hell if they refused his sexual advances, and raped at least one woman during premarital counseling. Although his congregation was working class, Streidtferdt lived in a 1.4 million waterfront estate on Long Island, and owned property financed by contributions illegally coerced from church-goers. He and his family had exclusive rights to drive three church-owned Mercedex-Benz autos. Yet his tax returns in 1987 listed income of just several thousand dollars. The church required members to turn over tax records, and to tithe 10 percent as a condition of membership, increasing that tithe to 30 percent every third year. He also controller the finances of many of his members by keeping their savings at a bank set up through his church. Members were told that if they were not buried under church auspices at an additional fee in the church cemetery that "they would not go to heaven." San Gabriel Valley Tribune 6/18/88 Rev. Randall Wayne Brewer, a youth minister of Faith Community Church in West Covina, Calif., is charged with 3 counts of oral copulation with a Redlands teenager who said he was bribed and molested after being befriended at home Bible studies in 1985. The youth, now 17, testified that Brewer gave him $200 from a church checking account for running naked across an empty church hallway in a game called chicken. "I was told to tell everyone that I got the money for doing work at the church." Embarrassment prevented the boy from reporting the incidents, but he finally confided in his girlfriend and his mother. A trial is scheduled in mid-June. In May the family filed a multi-million dollar suit against Brewer and the church for failure to tell new members that others had been previously abused. Brewer had previously plead no contest to "sexually annoying" another boy and had been placed on probation. Washington Post 5/13/88 U.S. Rep. Floyd Flake, pastor of Allen African Methodist Episcopal Church in New York, and a first term Democrat, is accused of harassing a church assistant into leaving her job because she ended a sexual affair with her. Thelma M. Singleton-Scott complained that a panel of "elders" at the 4,000- member church held a "kangaroo court" review of the charges in January. She is now demanding back wages and Flake's ouster as pastor. She said that the church bishop was involved in offering her hush money. Amherst Daily News (Novia Scotia) 6/16/88, The [Hamilton] Spectator 6/14,16/88 Msgr. John Monagahan, 80, of Nelson, B.C., was sentenced to 4 years in prison after pleading guilty to fondling 17 girls and young women from 1959 to 1987, ranging in age from 6 to 21, usually in hospitals or private homes. Many of the victims said they had told their parents of the assaults but were not believed because Monagahan was considered a "near saint." Nelson police say they have identified more than 50 victims. Florida Times-Union 5/13/88 and 6/9/88 Rev. Joe Marino, host of Christian talkshow "Inner Visions" in Jacksonville, Fla., and youth minister/counselor at Beaches Chapel in Neptune Beach, plead no contest to custodial sexual battery and soliciting sex from a 16 year old member of his church. Other charges were dropped. The abuse was disclosed after a victim from the church had attempted suicide. Marino was sentenced to 15 years in prison to be suspended after 5 years. A second Duval county minister, Rev. Roy Lynn Gaskins of Edgewood Heights Baptist Church, was accused of forcing a 13 year old boy at gunpoint to have sex. New York Times 6/10/88 Former Mormon missionary Arthur Gary Bishop, 36, was executed on June 10th in Utah for killing 5 boys (ages 4-13) for sexual gratification, saying he was "misled by Satan." New York Times 5/14/88 Rev. Bernard Lynch, 41, and Brother Timothy Brady, 41, are indicted for sexually abusing students at a Catholic preparatory school in the Bronx, Mount St. Michael Academy. Lynch, a former campus chaplain, is believed to be in Ireland. Brady "was removed last summer" to a Marist retreat in Arizona, according to the Bronx D.A.'s office. Kansas City Times 6/1/88 Barry L. Deaton was charged with taking indecent liberties with a child for abducting a 14 year old girl from a gathering of Youth for Christ of Greater Kansas City. [Little Rock Arkansas] Gazette 6/10/88 Rev. J.D. Henderson, 51, of Russellville, Ark., was convicted of molesting twin 6 year old girls, and sentenced to 4 years in prison. Henderson is an ordained Free will Baptist minister. Daily Camera, [Boulder, Co.] 5/21/88 Former Sister Mary Kregar and the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville, Col. were sued by a man who claimed his marriage was destroyed by the lesbian nun who seduced his wife while church officials did nothing to prevent it. A jury ordered the diocese to pay 1.5 million to Steve Voolverton on May 20. Tampa Tribune 5/31/88 Rev. Cleveland "Rapper" Mack, 24, of Tampa. Fla., was charged with sexually abusing 2 young boys during "Bible lessons", including a charge of sexual battery which carries a possible death sentence. He struck a boy in the face when he tried to flee. [Rome] Daily Sentinel 5/28/88 Rev. Leon Dupree, 47, pastor of Lily of the Valley Church of God in Christ in Rochester, NY, is charged with first degree sexual assault and first degree burglary of a 26 year old woman. She said he was armed with a hammer and struck her with a screwdriver. Dupree was convicted of second degree manslaughter in a 1978 drunken driving fatality and served time in state prison. Sunday Messenger [Athens, Ohio] 3/6/88 In 1978, Bessie Turner had $18,000 in the bank, $3,000 in cash at home, her house in Murry City, Ohio, a life insurance policy and a monthly income of $654. After 10 years of answering the pleas for money from evangelists Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Whittington, Jim Bakker, Don Stewart and others, she had exhausted her savings account, cashed in her life policy, gone hungry to send her grocery allowance to the hungry children invoked by the evangelists, and has nothing lest but her monthly income from renting her home. She was forced to move in with her step grandson and wife. "I was trying to feed the children. That's what Jimmy [Swaggart] said. Them poor little babies. Too see how they looked--I could hardly take it." Now Ms. Turner, although still a firm believer, says: "I won't have anything to do with any of them again. I think they are all alike. I think they are all thieves." "Ammond, you should try to locate copies of the December 30th and 31st San Jose Mercury-News from last year. I have been told that it contains a most impressive expose on the subject --thirty-five court cases in the last five years, and a number of attempted cover-ups. Perhaps somebody in San Francisco can do a library search for you -- some libraries keep microfiche of the local papers." Anyone on the left coast want to look these articles up? There seems to be many more cases than are reported. Victims try to bring the various organizations round but generally get stiffed. That is until the victims go public. Someone sent me this message last night... There is of course the ripple effect to consider also. In a recent tv talk show in Seattle on KING-TV, while talking about abuse by priests in the Seattle diocese, hosts Susan Michaels and Cliff Lenz got a shocker. A woman in the audience reported that she had been abused not by a priest but by her brother, who was abused by a priest IN THE SEATTLE DIOCESE. After investigation it was revealed that the priest was an abuse victim himself. Maryalyce Elbert was the victim of the victim. After this public expose' the diocese finally gave the name of the priest as Rev. James McGreal, age 65, whose criminal conduct was well known, having worked at 10 parishes and 2 hospitals. One ironic mistake leads to another with the priest being sent to treatment in the late 70's, after which he was sent to a hospital to abuse again. The priest was sent to a "Catholic program in New Mexico". He was then placed in another parish with several other priests aware of his condition. In four months he was suspected of grooming another boy for victimization. It is rather ironic that he was at Queen of Angeles Church in Port Angeles, under the supervision of one Rev. Conn, now facing charges himself for sexual abuse of altar boys. Rev. James McGreal abused people with impunity for 30 years. Continuing on with the show. Sherry Matulis spoke about being raped at the age of 5 by a church deacon; and narrowly escaping another attack at the age of 12. A shaky woman in the audience told of being continually incestuously abuse by her father, a southern preacher who attacked her on Saturdays nights. She had to sit in a pew and watch him preach on Sundays. Her efforts to expose and depose her father have as yet been unsuccessful. Rev. Paul Conn, mentioned previously, is accused of molesting multiple altar boys under the ages of 14. The Church responded by offering counseling to the victims BY OTHER PRIESTS in the parish. The Seattle archdiocese has admitted to a third unprosecuted and unnamed pedophilic priest now under treatment for his condition. I would like to point out that all these victims spent many painful years trying to correct the problem. They were all stonewalled with the only success coming after public exposure. This is a continuation of the people abuse subject. In the latest issue of _Freethought_Today_ there are thirty three accounts of people abuse by clergy. Here are a few... Peninsula Daily News 7/3/88 The Washington State Court of Appeals ruled that the Louisiana diocese can be held LIABLE for the actions of a priest it suspended, who was later CONVICTED of molesting boys in Spokane. The court reinstated a lawsuit filed by parents of 9 boys ALLEGEDLY molested by Rev. Ronald Lane Fontenot, a counselor at Deaconess Medical Center. Fontenot was suspended by the Louisiana diocese for suspected molestation. He was sent to jail for one year in 1986. Idaho Statesman 7/21/88 Robert D. Campbell, 20, a Mormon missionary from Idaho, was CHARGED with sexually assaulting two Tennessee sisters, ages 7 and 9, at a prayer meeting. David Campbell, of Nashville, president of the missionary program, told the press "That's not true." The thirty two year old woman said "I'll probably be excommunicated over this." She said David Campbell advised her not to call the police, although he denies that too. She also said church officials called her an hour after the missionary's release from jail asking permission for her daughters to "take a lie detector test." Said the mother: "He can deny it all he wants to. He told me not to tell anybody, and not to report it... He said the church's attorneys would look into it, that he [the missionary] would be sent back to Idaho and excommunicated." Arizona Republic 7/2/88, Phoenix Gazette 7/1/88 Rev. James Anthony Colyn, 39, former pastor of the Glendale (Az.) Bible Baptist Church, received a SENTENCE of seven and a half years in prison. Colyn was described by police as a "sexual predator" who molested a teenage girl who asked him for counseling because she was being abused by her stepfather. The five years of rape began when the girl was 13. She attended Glendale Bible Baptist Church and School. Although Colyn resigned after he was arrested members blamed the victim. Although she had a 4.0 grade point average and was nominated class valedictorian, she was denied participation and was segregated from the graduating class. Colyn PLEADED GUILTY to a charge of attempted molestation as a plea bargain. He moved to Phoenix 12 years ago after resigning as youth pastor of Temple Baptist Church in Albuquerque, N.M. after admitting sexual involvement with a teenage member of that congregation. The Glendale church said they were not aware of that when Colyn was hired. Miami Herald 7/17/88 Oreste Victoriano Lopez, 60, was ARRESTED by Miami police for sexually assaulting male and female teenagers he met through his business, community and church activities. Victims said they were wooed by Lopez's kindness and financial generosity and his use of bible verses to justify his actions. He met youth at his church, West Flagler Park Baptist Church. Police found pornography, comic books, bibles, toys and children's clothes at his home, as well as 1000 files detailing children's lives. On his wall was a letter thanking him for his work with youth. Oregonian 6/1/88 Todd S. Clark, 26, and Ralph W. Gantt, 26, both former youth leaders of the Royal Rangers boys' program at First Assembly of God church, Albany Oregon, were INDICTED for sexual abuse and sodomy of young boys. Hamiltin Spectator (Canada) 7/9/88 Rev. Peter O'Hanley, 37, a priest from Fredericton, Ontario, was SENTENCED on July 8 to 3 months in jail after PLEADING guilty to sexual exploitation and abuse of three teenage boys. Los Angles Times 7/2/88 Gilbert Crowell, 27, commander of the Salvation Army in Burbank and an ordained minister with a wife and 3 children, was CONVICTED on July 1 of molesting 3 girls inside the Army's office. He was convicted of 4 misdemeanor counts of child molestation and two counts of battery but was acquitted by a jury of 7 related charges. Scrantonian Tribune 6/29/88 Rev. Ronald Terry Litz, 50, of Riverside, Penn., SENTENCED to 2-5 years in jail for morals offences in Luzerne, Co., was SENTENCED in June to 6-23 months in the Northumberland Co. Prison on similar charges. He PLEADED guilty Feb. 4 to 3 counts of corrupting the morals of minors. Litz, former pastor of the Danville Apostolic Church, molested 2 boys at a church camp. His sentences are concurrent. Hamilton Spectator 6/30/88 Rev. Russel Nicolle, 50, an Anglican minister from Elliot Lake, Ontario, RECEIVED 8 months in jail for "repulsive, disgusting and degraded" sexual abuse of a 12 year old and 16 year old boy. Judge M.C. DiSalle said he "seriously breached" his position of trust as rector of St. Peter the Apostle Anglican Church. Scranton Times 7/14/88 Rev. Thomas J. Hunt, former pastor of East Benton United Methodist Church, of Scranton, New York, was ARRESTED for molesting a young boy. Rev. Hunt already faces TRIAL for sex crimes against a young girl. Philadelphia Inquirer 6/27/88 Richard J. Wagner, 26, a volunteer youth leader at the Warminister Hts. Community Church in Philadelphia, was CHARGED with assaulting a 14 year old boy and 3 others between the ages of 7 and 15 years of age, all part of the church youth program. Sarasota Herald-Tribune 6/30/88 Rev. John Paul Marlow, pastor of Gospel Tabernacle, Inc. of Bradenton, Florida is ACCUSED of assaulting, battering and raping a member of his congregation. Pamela and John R. McLean charged Marlow with assaulting her when she sought psychological and religious counseling. They seek damages of $5,000 plus medical costs and lost wages. Journal Tribune 7/15/88 Rev Jonathan Hamlin, 24, of Vicksburg, Miss., was CHARGED with shooting his live in girlfriend, Lula Sims, and burying her on July 3 hours before giving a Sunday sermon. Hamlin was pastor of Zion Traveler Missionary Baptist Church, a 500 member congregation and worked at 2 other churches. "You'll never run across a finer person," said Hezekiah Butler, a Deacon at Zion Traveler. "He was just a first class minister," said a church member. Sims' mother, said that about a month and a half before the murder, the minister had "called me and said he was bleeding to death." When she got to the house she said her daughter ripped open the t-shirt she was wearing. "Her breasts were nothing but scars and she had scars around her neck where he had choked her." She said Hamlin had a small cut on his head. [Evidently the "scars" were welts or red marks indicating a struggle had taken place.] Dallas Times Herald 6/29/88 Although Rev. Gregory Charles Goben, a 28 year old Southern Baptist minister, often sat in front of his house and read the bible, he is, according to physical evidence obtained by police, the "Village Rapist" terrorizing Dallas. The minister of Outreach Baptist Church in suburban Garland, married with 2 sons, is CHARGED with a series of sexual assaults in the Village Apartment area of North Dallas. Goben, who has a masters degree from Dallas Theological Seminary, is linked to 4 sexual assaults, 1 aggravated sexual assault and a charge of attempted burglary. That attacks all involved break-ins in which the assailant wore a ski mask and tied the victims' hands. Capital Times 7/23/88, Wisconsin State Journal 7/25/88 A jury CONVICTED William Chmielewski of Chilton, Wis., of cruel maltreatment of his 15 year old son, imprisoning the boy in his room, shunning him from the family and denying proper nourishment for 9 months in 1987. The boy was taken out of school after the 6th grade. He was locked in his room and allowed to read only a bible. Physicians declared the 95 pound teenager 60 pounds underweight. The father's attorney defended him as a deeply religious, loving parent. San Bernardino County Sun 6/30/88 A 19 year old mother of 4 children is undergoing psychotherapy before going on trial for CHARGES of murdering her 2 year old daughter and endangering the lives of 3 other kids. Cynthia Moya told police that she had read somewhere in the bible that if you love your children you should bind them. She wrapped her children in sheets last April. One of the babies suffocated. Dallas Morning News 6/29/88 The slaying of 4 people in Texas on June 27 is LINKED to a 16 year string of 21 murders involving a feud between a polygamist sect that broke away from the Mormon church founded by the late Ervil LeBaron. The sect believes in "Blood Atonement." Victims usually have been "defectors." [Evidently 'between' should have been 'in'.] Detroit Free Press 6/28/88 [That Dirty, Dirty Devil] Brandon Carnell, a 14 year old boy who is being CHARGED with slaying his father, mother and 11 year old sister, was defended by his pastor, Rev. Paul Vanaman of Dixie Baptist Church, Oakland County, Michigan. "Why should it happen to this family, so closely identified with this church? I don't know why. I have a suspicion. I suspect that the dirty Devil is about his dirty, dirty work." The family went to church almost every night, said a neighbor. The children went to Springfield Christian School. Washington Post 7/11/88 [Liberia] Two little boys, brothers aged 6 and 7, were kidnapped, killed and mutilated for "parts"--two left eyelids and an penis--as a plan to sway voters to elect a small-town mortician mayor. A Methodist minister, a judge and a prosecutor were also involved with the murders. The men, all Christians, are to be HANGED this fall. "Heart men" or ritual murders are dreaded in Liberia, whose deeply Christian roots were imported along with its free-slave citizens from the American south. Prosecutor Marcus Jones said: "As long as Satan is on Earth, I don't care what education you have, these practices continue. It is impossible to eradicate such practices in the absence of the second coming of Jesus Christ." Today's Sunbeam [Salem N.J.] 7/1/88 A new book "On Thin Ice" by Roy Howard Beck, former investigative writer for the United Methodist Reporter, claims knowledge of "outlandish behavior by ministers" around the country. "Caught in the act of bizarre moral actions involving sex, violence and finances were television evangelists, mainline preachers, bishops, well-known charismatic leaders, revered small church pastors--Pentecostals, liberals and conservatives alike." Beck says moral turpitude by ministers cannot be excused because "they do a lot of good." He writes: "What people do along the way is just as important as what happens in the end. How many times have we watched as a person's legacy is reduced after one finds out about the people who were crushed or hurt along the way." LEYVA ADMITS MOLESTING 100 BOYS Atlanta Constitution, 10/12/88, Washington Post, 9/24/88, Richmond Times- Dispatch, 10/12/88 Tony Leyva, a Southern tent show revivalist who was charged with operating an interstate sex ring victimizing young boys, finally plead guilty on Oct 11 to molesting as many as 100 boys over the past 30 years. There is too much to type so I'll summarize the article. Tony ("Touch Not Mine Anointed") Leyva was sentenced to 45 years and $530,000 (which may be amended after psych evaluations). Tony Leyva, Rias Edward Morris and Freddie M. Herring had maintained their innocence for months saying that their arrest was the "persecution" Jesus spoke of in the Bible and that Satan was head of the conspiracy against them, all the while receiving support and money from their congregation. Morris and Herring pleaded guilty to some dozen molestations apiece and await psychological evaluation. Leyva's admission came after a prior conviction on Sept. 22 for sodomy of two teenagers in Roanoke County, Va. At that time Levya said three angles appeared to him to warn him of the upcoming charges. Federal agents found 31 victims of sexual abuse and 10 foiled attempts. The youngest victim was 8. Levya, 42, whose ministry was in Columbus, Ga. Is now divorced with two children. Reportedly Levya forced his wife to sleep on the floor while he sodomized a boy. One youth told federal officials that he was sodomized over 100 times by Levya and another youth said that all three men used him. The boys were often recruited as summer help at revivals, were given traveling expenses, money for food and video games. Levya reportedly would kneel before his victims to pray for forgiveness. - 30 -