Religion

Sunday School Teacher Gets Life On Child Sex Charges

The Wichita Falls Times Record News reports: A Wichita County Jury on Wednesday sentenced a former Wichita Falls postal worker and Sunday School teacher to life in prison for urging a 13-year-old girl to give him a “peep show” and take a shower with him. She said there were about 15 such encounters, including incidents in his vehicle where he …

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CA Youth Pastor Gets One Year On Molestation Charge

The Fresno Bee reports: A former youth pastor in Kingsburg was sentenced Tuesday to serve one year in prison for having an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old church member. Luke Michael Bese, 30, was convicted in May on one felony charge of arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd or lascivious behavior and a misdemeanor charge of annoying, molesting …

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Ohio Youth Pastor Gets 25 Years On Child Porn Charges

Columbus’s PBS affiliate reports: A Licking County man was given a 25-year prison sentence Tuesday in federal court after he was convicted on charges of child sexual exploitation and soliciting child pornography. According to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, 27-year-old Matthew Reif, of Newark, victimized at least 52 boys between October 2020 and July 2022. He …

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Florida Youth Pastor Arrested On Child Sex Charges

First Coast News reports: A youth minister at Celebration Church in Jacksonville has been arrested and charged with six counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, newly-released documents show. Celebration Church says Williams was in this position as a volunteer. Rashad Williams, 34, was reported to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office after it was discovered that he was in a …

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DOJ: California Youth Pastor Molested Multiple Children

The Daily Beast reports: A California church deacon allegedly sexually abused numerous boys on religious mission trips under the guise of inspecting their genitals for “concerning” moles—helping protect the children, he told them, from the ravages of skin cancer. The abuse dates back to at least 2009, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in Sacramento federal court upon his July …

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Church Band Musician Arrested On Child Sex Charges

The Dubois County Free Press reports: The Jasper Police Department arrested a Jasper man on eight counts of child molestation involving a girl under the age of 14. According to police, they received information on the allegations of child molestation on June 30. After an extensive investigation, police were able to establish probable cause that Michael Crockett, 49, Jasper, had …

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Priest Gets 25 Years For Drugging, Molesting 17 Men

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports: Stephen Sauer, the former Roman Catholic priest and ousted executive director of the Arc of Greater New Orleans, was sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison for drugging 17 men he met in the French Quarter, driving them to his Metairie home and taking pictures of them unconscious and partially undressed while he masturbated. Judge …

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Five Jehovah’s Witnesses Charged With Child Molesting

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports: A Pennsylvania grand jury investigating child sexual abuse in the Jehovah’s Witnesses community has charged another five people with raping or molesting children as young as 4, the latest developments in an ongoing probe that has identified 14 suspects. Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry [photo], at a Friday news conference, said that while the misconduct dates …

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Illinois Pastor To Plead Guilty To Child Porn Charges

Illinois talk radio station WMIX reports: A member of what investigators have called a child pornography ring in Vandalia filed a jury trial waiver Friday morning and is now scheduled to change his plea in the case later this month. Former Patoka pastor Ferrell Kissiar is the third person charged in Fayette County Court as playing a role in the …

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Indiana Pastor Arrested On Child Molestation Charges

South Bend’s NBC affiliate reports: A man who preached at a Michiana church is accused of sexually abusing a child. Gregory Sebastian, 41, is facing two counts of felony child molesting. He allegedly laid in bed with and inappropriately touched a girl who is under the age of 14. Sebastian was booked into the St. Joseph County Jail on June …

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Archdiocese Of Baltimore Names 42 More Predators

The Baltimore Sun reports: The Archdiocese of Baltimore added 42 names Friday to its list of church employees who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse, including that of a longtime theology dean and professor at Xavier University of Louisiana, the nation’s only Catholic historically Black college. Father Phillip J. Linden began teaching theology at Xavier in 1991, after served …

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Texas Pastor Pleads Guilty To Child Porn Charges

Austin’s Fox affiliate reports: The pastor of a Round Rock church has pled guilty to a federal charge related to child sexual abuse material, or CSAM. David Lloyd Walter, 57, of Georgetown pled guilty June 27 to an enhanced charge of possession of child pornography. According to court documents, Walther knowingly searched for, downloaded, distributed and possessed CSAM using BitTorrent, …

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NM Catholic Priest Arrested On Child Sex Charges

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports: A Roman Catholic priest removed from a Santa Fe parish nearly a year ago amid a misconduct investigation was arrested Thursday on federal charges accusing him of enticement of a minor with the intent to engage in sexual activity. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico and the FBI field office …

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Illinois Priest Gets Seven Years On Molestation Charges

The Chicago Sun-Times reports: A former Catholic priest has been sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to molesting a boy more than two decades ago at an Evanston hotel. Kenneth Lewis, 62, entered the plea Thursday to a felony count of aggravated sexual abuse in a deal with Cook County prosecutors that saw other charges against him …

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Illinois Youth Pastor Arrested On Child Porn Charges

The Arlington Heights Daily Herald reports: A man accused of possessing and disseminating child pornography worked at a Geneva-area church from 2016 until March. Rejoice Lutheran Church hired the Rev. Michael C. Willis to lead its youth ministry in 2016, according to the church’s Facebook page. Willis was ordained as a pastor in 2022, according to records on the website …

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Wisconsin Chaplain Arrested On Child Sex Charges

The Kenosha County Eye reports: David DeBerge, 67, of Kenosha was charged today in Kenosha County Circuit Court with repeated sexual assault of a child and another sexual assault-related felony. The first count carries a maximum sentence of 60 years and the second, 40 years. According to the criminal complaint, DeBerge is accused of molesting a relative from the time …

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Texas Pastor Arrested On Multiple Child Sex Charges

Wichita Falls’ NBC affiliate reports: The longtime pastor of a Wichita Falls church has been indicted on six counts of sex crimes against children involving three different victims over eleven years. According to court documents, Wichita Falls pastor Ronnie Allen Killingsworth, 78, was indicted by a Wichita County Grand Jury on six counts of indecency with a child by sexual …

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Tennessee Bishop Resigns Amid Abuse Coverup Claims

ABC News reports: The bishop of Knoxville, Tennessee, resigned under pressure Tuesday following allegations he mishandled sex abuse allegations and several of his priests complained about his leadership and behavior, sparking a Vatican investigation. Pope Francis accepted Bishop Richard Stika’s resignation, according to a one-line statement from the Vatican. At 65, Stika is still 10 years below the normal retirement …

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Catholic School Teacher Arrested On Child Sex Charges

Fort Wayne’s ABC affiliate reports: Allen County court records show former Bishop Luers teacher Matthew Brown has been charged with four counts of child seduction. Investigators say staff at the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend contacted police in August of 2018 to disclose that a former student reported “being in a sexual relationship with a teacher named Matt Brown while …

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WI Youth Pastor Pleads Guilty To Child Sex Charges

Wausau, Wisconsin’s CBS affiliate reports: A former Plover youth pastor has agreed to the terms of a plea deal in a child sexual assault case during a hearing Friday in Portage County. Jordan Huffman, 52, pleaded guilty to two counts of repeated sexual assault of a child and was convicted as a result. Six other charges were dismissed as part …

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