Religion

Jacksonville’s NBC affiliate reports: James Rankin Johnson, a former teacher at New Beginnings Christian Academy in Jacksonville, pleaded guilty to the charge of “offenses against students by authority figures” Tuesday. He accepted a plea deal for a lesser charge, with the state agreeing to drop two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation. He will serve four years in state prison …

Nashville’s ABC affiliate reports: The Sumner County Library Board voted 4-3 on Wednesday to terminate Hendersonville Public Library director Allan Morales. Morales lost his job because of viral accusations by actor and author Kirk Cameron, former swimmer Riley Gaines and “Duck Dynasty” personality Missy Robertson. Cameron held a children’s reading event last month at the Hendersonville Library and publicly accused …

The New York Daily News reports: A disgraced Queens Catholic Church deacon will spend 16 years behind bars for enticing three boys he met online into having sex with him. Rogelio Vega, 52, faced his reckoning in Brooklyn Federal Court on Wednesday, breaking down in tears as he described how his actions hurt his victims and his family. The detective …

Mobile’s NBC affiliate reports: According to the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, a local teacher has been arrested and charged for engaging in a sexual relationship with a student. Jonathan Sauers, a teacher and soccer coach at Faith Academy, has been charged with “School employee engaging in a sex act with a student under the age of 19 years.” According to …

Buffalo’s ABC affiliate reports: The Diocese of Buffalo placed Monsignor Peter J. Popadick on leave for the second time Wednesday, after previously allowing the priest to return to ministry. In a statement, a spokesperson for the diocese wrote that Popadick was placed on administrative leave after it received a child sexual abuse complaint. Popadick serves as the pastor of St. …

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 …

San Francisco’s CBS affiliate reports: The Diocese of Santa Rosa filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on Monday in the face of potentially hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits. Bishop Robert Vasa had announced the filing was imminent in a media release. “This decision was made necessary due to the number of child sexual abuse lawsuits filed against the Diocese over the …

The Geauga Maple Leaf reports: Dennis W. Laferty, a pastor at Thompson United Methodist Church in Thompson Township, is accused of sexual battery against one or more minors. Laferty, 37, who lives in a home Trustees of Thompson Methodist Church own at 6724 Madison Road, is facing multiple felony counts. Laferty was charged with five counts of third-degree felony sexual …

Hannibal’s CBS affiliate reports: The Quincy Police Department says an investigation began in January on Isaiah W. Mikkelson after law enforcement was contacted by a parent of a juvenile that had disclosed possible sexual abuse by a Youth Director/Pastor, at Hope Lutheran Church. Police say during the investigation, multiple juveniles were interviewed at the Child Advocacy Center and alleged abuse …

Jacksonville’s CBS affiliate reports: A former Jacksonville minister was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday. In March of 2020 Michael Linkenauger was arrested and charged for sexual battery and lewd or lascivious acts. A judge heard from the now 17-year-old victim who asked the judge to hand down the maximum penalty. “My world has been turned upside down by …

The Washington Post reports: A group of conservative Colorado Catholics has spent millions of dollars to buy mobile app tracking data that identified priests who used gay dating and hookup apps and then shared it with bishops around the country. The secretive effort was the work of a Denver nonprofit called Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal, whose trustees are …

Johnson City’s ABC affiliate 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 …

The Baptist News reports:  Drew Erickson, lead teaching pastor at Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, resigned suddenly March 5 after he was arrested in Tarrant County two days before on suspicion of carrying an unlawful weapon and driving while intoxicated with a child under age 15 in the car. “Over the last 12 months and more recently, …

The Maryland Chronicle reports: On March 4, Charles County Sheriff’s detectives arrested and charged David Warren Henson, Jr., a 53-year-old teacher from Waldorf, with sexual abuse of a minor and child pornography. The charges came after it was reported that he sexually abused an adolescent female over a period of two years. Henson has been employed as a teacher at …

New Orleans’ CBS affiliate reports: A Chalmette pastor was arrested by State Police on Wednesday on suspicion of sexual abuse of a minor over the course of three years. A State Police spokesperson told our partners at NOLA.com that Milton O. Martin III, 56, was booked with carnal knowledge of a juvenile and sexual battery. Martin was accused of having …

The Omaha World-Herald reports: A Catholic Charities employee has sued the Omaha nonprofit, alleging leaders intentionally caused her to fear for her life by staging an active shooter drill without telling her and others it was fake. Employees panicked on May 19 when they heard gunshots and saw a masked man brandishing a semiautomatic handgun at the organization’s office at …

College Station’s CBS affiliate reports: The Leon County Sheriff’s Department said Gary Buckaloo surrendered to authorities Monday after being indicted on two felonies. Buckaloo is charged with one count of Indecency with a Child-Sexual Contact, a 2nd-degree felony, and one count of Sex Abuse of a Child Continuous: Victim under 14, a 1st-degree felony. Buckaloo was also listed as the …

San Francisco’s NBC affiliate reports: A lay official with the Diocese of Oakland has been arrested on suspicion of possessing and sharing child pornography, NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit has confirmed via local law enforcement. Jeremiah York, 24, worked as the Director of Liturgical Ministries and the Executive Assistant to the Rector at the Cathedral of Christ the Light in …

Religion News Service reports: Mark Rivera, a former lay pastor in a conservative Anglican denomination who was convicted in December of felony child sexual abuse and assault, was sentenced on Monday afternoon (March 6) to 15 years in the department of corrections. Judge John Barsanti of Illinois’ 16th Judicial Circuit Court in Kane County granted Rivera the minimum sentences for …

Jacksonville’s NBC affiliate reports: Jeffrey Bedwell, a former Jacksonville pastor who was accused of several sex crimes involving a minor, accepted a plea deal Wednesday. He will receive a sentence of 30 years in prison after he pleaded guilt to two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation, one count of lewd or lascivious conduct, one count of unlawful sexual activity …