Welcome to H&C,,, where I aggregate news of interest. Primary topics include abuse with "the church", LGBTQI+ issues, cults - including anti-vaxxers, and the Dominionist and Theocratic movements. Also of concern is the anti-science movement with interest in those that promote garbage like homeopathy, chiropractic and the like. I am an atheist and anti-theist who believes religious mythos must be die and a strong supporter of SOCAS.
Two Tulare County men who worked as correctional officers have been
arrested on multiple counts of child molestation, according to police.
Police say they have spent the last month looking into claims that were made several victims of the two.
The
investigation began when an adult, who was 8 or 9 at the time, walked
into the lobby of the Tulare Police Department and reported that they
had been molested several times by a youth pastor at the Valley Bible
Church in Visalia.
Officers say that the crimes happened in the mid to late 1990's.
A Muslim religious leader is accused of indecency and sexual assault of children in Fort Bend County.
Imam Mohamed Omar Ali is charged with
three counts of indecency with a child and one count of sexual assault
of a child, according to Fort Bend County officials.
Ali, who immigrated to the U.S. from Somalia, was arrested on January 3, 2020.
A former bishop and founder of the Westcoast Center for Human
Development was arrested Thursday by Sarasota Police after multiple
investigations “demonstrated more than four decades of children and
adults suffering sexual abuse by Henry Lee Porter Sr.,” according to a
probable cause affidavit.
Although there are eight victims listed
in court documents, Porter, 72, was arrested Thursday by Sarasota Police
for one count of alleged sexual battery of a child under 12 years of
age — a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison. Porter
founded the Westcoast Gospel Chorus and was pastor of the church he
incorporated in 1971 for 45 years before stepping down in June 2016 and allowing his son, Henry Porter II, to take over.
Porter was arrested by police and booked into Sarasota County jail on Thursday, where he is being held without bond.
A youth pastor from Marysville has been charged with molesting a child for years while she attended his church.
Snohomish County prosecutors charged Kyle Brown, 25, in November
with second-degree child molestation. The alleged abuse occurred between
2011 and 2015, when Brown was a youth pastor at ], according to charging papers.
The victim, who’s about six years younger than Brown, told police
most of the alleged abuse started when she was 11, just after her
father died.
The owner of Dojo Pizza in south St. Louis has been sentenced to 65 years for federal child sex crimes.
In 2018, Loren Copp was found guilty of eight separate
counts of sex crimes including producing and possession of child
pornography over a six-year period. U.S. Judge Audrey Fleissig ordered
$294,000 in restitution to be paid.
He rejected a plea deal that would have sent him to prison for 15 years.
The former owner of a south St. Louis pizza shop has been found
guilty of eight separate counts of sex crimes against underage girls.
A
federal judge announced the verdict in the trial of Loren Copp, who is
also a former pastor, Wednesday in the U.S. District Court.
According
to court documents, Copp rejected a plea deal that would have sent him
to prison for 15 years. He could now face up to life in prison when he
is sentenced April 5.
Copp is the former youth pastor and owner of Dojo Pizza, and at trial, claimed to be a trusted member of the community.
Prosecutors
argued he used his position as a business owner, martial arts
instructor and community activist to gain the trust of parents and gain
access to their children.
He was arrested in April 2016, accused of possessing child pornography and attempting to produce it over a six-year period.
Cameron Giovanelli, a former Baptist preacher, was
quiet and subdued as he entered guilty pleas to a fourth-degree sex
offense and second-degree assault on Wednesday.
According to the statement of facts read aloud in court, the former
preacher of Calvary Baptist Church in Dundalk had a months-long sexual
relationship with a 17-year-old student at the church’s school.
The victim came forward 10 years after the assault and prosecutors moved forward with a 12-count indictment.
Baltimore County police have charged Cameron Shane Giovanelli, former
pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Dundalk, with a number of sexual
assault counts stemming from a case involving a then 17-year-old
student.
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Giovanelli, 42, is now residing in Orange Park, Florida. He is
charged with sex abuse of a minor, perverted practice and a
fourth-degree sex offense. If found guilty, he could face up to 36 years
in prison.
Police charging documents claim Giovanelli initially
tried to teach her how to kiss which turned into a daily encounter and
eventually sexual assault. Police say an associate pastor at the church
became suspicious. The associate said he confronted Giovanelli and told
him to stop and the associate got an email later that night from
Giovanelli thanking him.
A 76-year-old pastor imprisoned for sexually abusing girls has lost another bid to withdraw his guilty plea.
Harry
Thomas, who formerly led Come Alive Church in Medford, is serving an
18-year term after admitting in court to crimes against five young
victims.
But in arguments before an appeals court,
Thomas contended his plea was invalid because his testimony had not
established an adequate factual basis for four charges against him.
The 75-year-old pastor and founder of a Medford church and the
country's largest Christian rock festival was sentenced to 18 years in
prison Friday after sexually assaulting four minors and having
"inappropriate interaction" with another over a 16-year period.
Harry Thomas was the pastor of Come Alive Church in Medford and the
co-founder of the Creation Festival, perhaps the largest Christian music
festival in the country.
Thomas pleaded guilty in February to one count of first-degree
aggravated sexual assault, three counts of second-degree sexual assault
and one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
A pastor at a Medford Township church has pleaded guilty to sexually
assaulting five juveniles over a multi-year period ending in 2015.
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Under an agreement with the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office,
Thomas will be sentenced to up to 20 years in state prison for the
crimes, with no parole eligibility.
The New Jersey pastor who co-founded Creation Festival, a Christian music festival held annually in Pennsylvania since 1979, is charged with sexually assaulting minors.
Harry L. Thomas, 74, of Medford Twp., N.J., and pastor of Come Alive Church, is charged with aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child, according to the Burlington County (N.J) Prosecutor's Office.
He is accused of assaulting four minors over a 16-year-period, NJ.com reported. The alleged assaults ended two years ago, according to the prosecutor's office. Authorities said the assaults occurred between 1999 and 2016 in Medford.
A metro-area youth pastor was sentenced to 50 years in prison for assaulting two teenage boys in his Englewood apartment.
Joseph Potts, 33, pleaded guilty in September to two felonies: sexual exploitation of a child and first-degree assault.
Other counts were dismissed as part of a plea agreement, according to the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
A former youth church helper turned himself in Thursday on charges
related to sex crimes against two teenage boys last year, the Englewood
Police Department said.
Police began looking into Joseph Potts, 31, in mid-January. Potts is a former volunteer at Jubilee Fellowship Church.
He surrendered after an arrest warrant was issued by the Arapahoe County District Attorney’s Office.
A Boise man who ran a church out of his home has pleaded guilty to
molesting a teenage girl whose parents had asked him to help her with
her anxiety.
Bret Welty, 48, admitted to sexual abuse of a minor
Dec. 4 as part of a plea deal in which prosecutors dropped a charge of
lewd conduct with a child.
Welty was the pastor of the now-defunct Hard Rock Revival Church,
which was attended by both the 15-year-old victim and her parents.
Prosecutor Erin Pittenger said in court the sexual abuse happened Aug.
9, after the girl's parents had sent their daughter to stay at Welty's
home for the weekend.
An Ada County pastor has been charged
with two felonies after police and prosecutors say he inappropriately
touched a 15-year-old girl staying in his home earlier this month.
Bret
Welty, 48, is charged with sexual abuse of a minor younger than 16
years old, and lewd conduct with a minor younger than 16 years old.
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Bret Welty is accused of entering the
girl’s guest room the night of Aug. 9 and touching her inappropriately
for 30 minutes to an hour, until interrupted by his wife, Fouts said in
court.
“The defendant confessed
to his conduct,” Fouts said. “He stated that he’d struggled with such
behavior before, although not with victims of this age, this young age.”
A once prominent Alabama youth evangelist on Friday received the
maximum sentences after pleading guilty in Etowah County to 28 sex
offenses committed against boys, ages 12 to 16, whom he encountered
through his ministry.
Acton Bowen’s consecutive sentences total 1,008 years, and maximum monetary fines of $840,000 were imposed.
An Alabama evangelist pleaded guilty this morning in an Etowah County
courtroom to 28 counts of sexual abuse involving six victims.
Paul Acton Bowen, charged in both Jefferson County and Etowah counties,
was facing criminal charges, including enticing a child for sexual act,
sodomy, traveling to meet a child for sexual act and sexual abuse
involving six different victims between the ages of 13 and 16.
The list of sexual abuse accusations against evangelist Acton Bowen
has crossed state lines. Bowen was charged with lewd or lascivious
battery in Bay County, Florida according to the local sheriff's office.
The
charge was filed on May 23rd. According to Florida state law, a person
commits lewd or lascivious battery by engaging in sexual activity with a
person 12 years of age or older but less than 16 years of age or
encouraging, forcing, or enticing any person less than 16 years of age
to engage in sexual activity.
The
news confirmed statements made in court by prosecutors back in April.
"Many more charges" were expected to be filed against Acton Bowen said
Etowah County Deputy District Attorney Carol Griffith at the time.
Five Etowah County judges have recused themselves in the child sex
abuse cases filed against evangelist Acton Bowen, who now faces
allegations by a total of five teen boys in two counties.
Bowen's attorneys - Richard Jaffe and Michael Whisonant - requested
the recusals since Bowen's estranged wife, Ashley Nabors Bowen, is the
daughter of Etowah Count District Judge Joe Nabors.
A well-known Alabama evangelist, public speaker and author was arrested in Hoover Tuesday on child sex charges.
Paul Edward Acton Bowen, a 37-year-old Gadsden native who now lives
in Etowah County's Southside community, was taken into custody by Hoover
police about 12:35 p.m. The founder of Acton Bowen Outreach Ministries
is charged with second-degree sodomy, enticing a child to enter a
vehicle or house for immoral purposes, and second-degree sex abuse. The
victim was a young male, but police did not release his age except to
say he is over 12 and under 16.
Hoover police Capt. Gregg Rector said the department's Special
Victim's Unit first launched an investigation three weeks ago. The
Jefferson County District Attorney's Office issued the warrants on
Monday.
A former volunteer at a South Carolina megachurch was sentenced to 75
years in prison Thursday following his conviction for molesting boys as
young as 3 years old in a bathroom during a children's program.
Jacop
Robert Lee Hazlett, 29, was found guilty of six charges related to four
of the 15 children police have identified as victims of sexual abuse at
NewSpring Church in Charleston, court testimony revealed.
Prosecutors
showed surveillance video during the trial of Hazlett leading four
preschool-age boys to the church's bathroom and abusing them there. At
one point, Hazlett used his cellphone to record the children and one
child tried to push him away, news outlets reported of the court
proceedings.
A former church volunteer allegedly caught on security video last
year molesting preschoolers in a bathroom at a South Carolina megachurch
faces new charges in a grand jury indictment handed down Aug. 1.
Jacop Hazlett, arrested last November for allegedly sexually abusing a
3-year-old boy at the Charleston campus of the multi-site NewSpring
Church, faces 10 new charges of sexual exploitation of and criminal
sexual conduct with a minor.
The charges relate to five newly identified alleged victims, raising
the total number to 15. Hazlett now faces a total of 23 indictments.
According to the lawsuit, between 2011-2014, Hazlett volunteered at
two churches in North Carolina and was asked to leave from both
positions due to "concerns about his behavior around children."
"Upon
information and belief, when Hazlett arrived at NewSpring, the church
did not contact (either church) for a reference," the lawsuit states.
"Had NewSpring contacted (the churches), NewSpring would have learned
why Hazlett was reassigned and eventually asked to leave due to red
flags regarding Hazleet's behavior with kids."
Hazlett is now charged with 14 counts of first and third degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor.
A volunteer at a church in North Charleston is facing charges after performing oral sex on a child, according to an affidavit.
That suspect also once attended and volunteered at a church in Mooresville, according to a spokesperson.
A
judge denied bond Wednesday for Jacop Robert Lee Hazlett, 28, who is
charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor.
A Virginia man accused of sexually assaulting a boy at St. Paul’s
School decades ago is arguing that county prosecutors should be
prohibited from introducing certain evidence to jurors at his January
trial.
That evidence includes allegations of sexual abuse by
Benjamin Baker against a second victim, as well as any testimony
concerning an apology Baker made to that child. Defense attorneys are
also asking a judge to exclude all evidence of sexual misconduct by
Baker that did not result in criminal charges or resulted in charges
that have since been dismissed.
Baker, 64, of Falls Church, Va.,
is scheduled to stand trial next month on four counts of felonious
sexual assault for abuse dating back to the 1970s at the Concord prep
school. He also faces an additional count of felonious sexual assault
and one count of aggravated felonious sexual assault for alleged conduct
involving a second victim. However, evidence to support the latter two
charges will be heard by a separate jury at a later date.
A New Jersey priest has been booked in
Ocean County jail on three charges of sexual assault of a minor between
13 and 16 years old, according to court records.
Patrick
Kuffner, 72, was removed from the diocese after he was accused of
sexual abuse by three people when they were minors more than 30 years
ago, according to MyCentralJersey.com. He
was assigned to Queenship of Mary in Plainsboro, St. Bartholomew
in East Brunswick and Our Lady of Mount Virgin in Middlesex.
He
was booked on Wednesday and is being held without bail, according to
court records. No further information on the arrest, or the complaint,
was immediately available.
George Brignac, 84, was charged by a grand jury Thursday with one count of aggravated rape. He was arrested in September.
The
victim in the case came forward as an adult. He told The Associated
Press in September that he hoped Brignac's arrest will “send a message
to other pedophiles in the church that this should never happen again.”
District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro noted in Thursday's
news release that Louisiana has no time limit for prosecuting such
offenses involving a victim younger than 12.
“Now
that victims have come forward in adulthood, with allegations deemed
credible by police investigators, prosecutors and the grand jury, we
will move forward aggressively to pursue justice on their behalf,”
Cannizzaro said. “This is the first such case in New Orleans to produce
an indictment so many years after the offenses were inflicted upon
helpless children. There may be more to come.”
Alisa Andrews, 50, of Rogers faces from six to 30 years in prison if
convicted. She was arraigned Monday before Benton County Circuit Judge
Brad Karren.
Rogers police began an investigation in September after a church
pastor reported a parent told him a home-school teacher was in an
inappropriate relationship with a student, according to a probable cause
affidavit. The student attended a home-school program at the pastor's
church.
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andrews was a teacher through a home-school education association and
director of Stage One Entertainment, which produces an annual community
theater production with child actors, according to court documents.
A former assistant pastor at a Champaign church has been criminally
charged with sexually assaulting a teen who was a member of the
congregation.
Roger VanRaden, 48, who listed an address on County
Road 2900 N in rural Rantoul, was arraigned Monday on charges of
criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse for alleged
contact he had with a girl from about 2015 to August 2019.
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VanRaden was employed as an assistant pastor and youth pastor at
Faith Baptist Church, 4601 N. Market St., C, according to Champaign
County sheriff’s Lt. Curt Apperson.
Apperson said the alleged
victim, now 18, told a trusted adult that she and VanRaden had been
engaging in various sex acts for about four years. That adult arranged
for her to meet with her family then make the report to the sheriff’s
office.
A Detroit-area Catholic priest was sentenced to 45 days in jail
Wednesday for assaulting a suicidal younger man who wanted counseling,
while a priest in western Michigan pleaded guilty to binding a teenager
with bubble wrap and tape.
The Rev. Patrick Casey was accused of engaging in sex
acts with the man, who was struggling with homosexuality and his faith.
The victim said he “needed a shepherd” but that the priest didn’t help
him in 2013.
“I’m not blaming all my problems on (Casey). I was
messed up before I ever met him,” the man, now in his early 30s, said in
a written statement. “But he could have helped. And he chose not to. He
contributed to it instead. For the next several years I drank heavily
and constantly to cope with the pain and rage I felt.”
Michigan law enforcement officials made
their first arrests in a statewide investigation into Roman Catholic
clergy sexual abuse, the state’s attorney general announced on Friday.
Five
former Catholic priests have been charged with criminal sexual conduct,
Attorney General Dana Nessel said at a news conference. But hundreds,
or even thousands, of alleged victims could still remain across the
state, she said.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” she said. “We anticipate many more charges and arrests.”
Father Jacob Vellian, former priest from the Lansing diocese, is being charged with rape of a victim under the age of 16, and continuing his assaults when the victim became an adult. Vellian, 84 years old, is also facing complaints involving sex abuse of nuns in India.
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Father Neil Kalina, formerly of St. Kieran Church in Shelby Township,
was arrested on four counts of criminal sexual conduct involving the
same victim, who was assaulted at the age of 13, and again between the
ages of 13–15. Kalina had gotten in trouble with the law in 1985, at the
age of 30, arrested for supplying minors with cocaine, marijuana and alcohol in his rectory.
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Another Detroit priest, Fr. Patrick Casey, 53, was arrested in Oak Park,
Michigan, for a charge of performing oral sex on the victim during
confession, while acting as the victim's spiritual counselor. He had
formerly been administrator of Divine Savior Parish and pastor of St.
Theodore of Canterbury Parish and St. Damian Parish in Westland.
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Father Timothy Michael Crowley was charged with eight counts of
criminal sexual conduct, including raping a child under the age of 16 as
well as raping another victim older than 16. He was formerly assigned
to St. Thomas in Ann Arbor. The 69-year-old former cleric was arrested
in Tempe, Arizona.
Father Vincent DeLorenzo was arrested and charged with six counts of
criminal sexual conduct. The Lansing diocese said eight people have come
forward accusing him of abuse and that he's in the process of being
laicized. Formerly assigned to Holy Redeemer in Burton,
DeLorenzo resigned in 2002 after an allegation of sex abuse of a
minor. Now 80 years old, he was arrested in Marion County, Florida
Thursday.
A pastor at a Jurupa Valley church
was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting an underage parishioner,
sheriff's officials said Sunday.
Sean
Ortiz of Jurupa Valley, 51, the lead pastor at New Beginnings Community
Church at its Jurupa Valley campus, is accused of sexually assaulting
the girl on at least two separate occasions, according to Riverside
County Sheriff's Sgt. Julio De Leon.
De
Leon said in a news release that a girl told deputies Friday there was a
sexual assault at her church. Ortiz was arrested at his home that night
and booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center on suspicion of two
counts of felony sexual battery. He was released after posting $50,000
bail, according to jail records.
According
to court records, Lucy was accused of fondling the girl’s breasts and
genitals in March of that year. Authorities didn’t say whether the
victim was a member of Lucy’s congregation.
A Marengo County grand jury has indicted Gregory Lucy, 59, on five
counts of first degree sexual abuse and attempted rape. Lucy was
arrested following the indictment.
Lucy is the pastor of the El Shaddai AOH Church of God in Dixons Mills, Ala.
This cretin is a repeat offender, " Blumensteel, who received a three-year prison term in 1997 for sexually
assaulting a 13-year-old boy he was supervising as a church counselor,
again attempted to engage a teenage boy for sex as the state."
A
New Jersey man convicted of trying to set up a sexual romp with a
15-year-old boy will spend the next seven years in the slammer.
Former
church counselor Thomas Blumensteel of Manchester, N.J., was sentenced
to the lengthy prison term on Friday for attempting to tryst with the
boy, authorities said.
But the child in question was actually an undercover detective, who encountered Blumensteel on social media, posing as a boy.
One
week before the 48-year-old perv’s arrest, he solicited the “teen” for
sex at the boy’s home, according to the New Jersey Attorney General’s
Office.
