archives - archives -
Civil Rights clergyman
sexually abused
daughter. www.piperpost.net
- 23.08.08
Baptist preacher faces questions. . . www.piperpost.net - 23.3.08
Early
in March America's ABC-TV 20-20 program discussed the case of Baptist
preacher Matt Baker who has been facing possible legal action over the
death of his wife. (Unfortunately the US program has only just been
aired on our local TV so we are only now learning the details.)
The pastor's wife, Keri Lynn, 31, was found dead, an apparent suicide,
two years ago but members of her family were not convinced Keri, who
had two young daughters, had taken her own life.
Her husband found his dead wife lying naked on her bed, an empty bottle
of sleeping pills nearby. He has asserted that Keri was depressed
because of the loss of another daughter eight years earlier. He said he
believed she died so that she could join Kassidy, her dead daughter, in
heaven.
According to the TV program a lone detective took photos of the death
scene and a JP issued a finding of death by suicide over the phone. No
autopsy took place. Further investigations resulting from family
pressure have led to a change in the finding of suicide. The death has
now been ruled as 'undetemined.'
James and Linda Dulin, the parents of Keri Baker, have filed a
wrongful-death civil lawsuit against Matt Baker. They assert that
keri's husband drugged his wife and staged the suicide.
Comment:
It remains to be seen what transpires in this case. If it is found that
Pastor Baker is guilty of murder - and that is still a big 'if' - it
will not be the first time murder has taken place in the manse!
Cult leader arrested. www.piperpost.net
- 11.5.08
Michael Travesser, aka
Wayne Bent, has been arrested, charged with three counts of
criminal sexual contact with a minor and three counts of
contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Travesser denies
all charges. Bail was originally set at $500,000 but later
reduced on appeal to $50,000.
Travesser heads a cult based in a place known as Strong
City, Union County headquarters of The Lord our
Righteousness Church.
Travesser takes his name from a creek in the area.
Reportedly he was formerly a member of the Seventh Day
Adventist Church. Late news reports the prophet is on a
hunger strike in jail. State
authorities have removed three children from the cult's
compound following allegations of physical and sexual
abuse.
Bent/Travesser claims he is the second incarnation of Jesus
Christ. Last year he joined a long list of failed prophets
by predicting the end of the world would come on Halloween,
October 31. When the End didn't eventuate he changed the
story to 'the beginning of the End.' This, too, has been
done by others in times past, most notably Pastor Russell
and Judge Rutherford of the Jehovah's Witnesses.
Travesser denies any improper conduct although at one point
he had asserted he was visited in his bed by two virginal
naked teenage girls. He assures us he resisted
temptation.
COMMENT: We
can't say much until after any trial takes place.
Baptist pastor stung. . . www.piperpost.net - 18.5.08
The Pastor of a Baptist Church travelled 3
hours to meet a 13-year-old girl he'd contacted through the Internet. A
big surprise awaited the Reverend Joe Barron, 52, when he reached his
destination. The '13-year-old' proved to an undercover cop.
Barron had been caught in a police sting. He'd been reportedly chatting
online with the phantom 13-year-old for two weeks and the conversation
was sexual in nature, they say.
When the traveller's car was searched religious CDs were found together
with condoms. Police have since seized computer equipment from Barron's
home.
A group originally formed to deal with people abused by Catholic
priests has now expanded its activities to cover other denominations.
SNAP (The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests). Baptist
pastors will now be targeted.
'Baptist officials, we believe, need to compile a thorough, online
database of proven, admitted and credibly accused pedophile clergy, so
that kids can be protected and parents can be warned,' said David
Clohessy, SNAP national director.
A work group of the Southern Baptist Convention has been studying the
feasibility of such a database and will make a report at the
denomination's annual meeting next month.
COMMENT:
While much attention has been focussed on Catholic priest abusers in
recent times there is a long history of abuse by other clergy,
including Anglicans and Baptists. It seems too many people use their
positions of spiritual authority and their influence on vulnerable
people to abuse the trust so often placed in them.
Canadian PM apologizes for child abuse. . . www.piperpost.net
- 25.5.08
On 11 June the Canadian Prime Minister, the Hon Stephen
Harper, will formally apologize to residents of mission
schools who were physically and sexually abused.
The Government will also help fund the cost of numerous
lawsuits that have been brought by native Canadians. The
Anglican Church is reportedly facing a payout of $16 million
after the Government funds 70 percent of the claims.
Other churches, especially the Catholic Church also face
huge claims, yet to be quantified.
From the 1930s until the mid-1990s tens of thousands of
native Canadian children were consigned to residential
schools, most of them run by the churches. The plan was to
assimilate the children into society, essentially
obliterating the students' language, culture and religion,
much as was done in Australia with Aboriginal children.
However the result was a near-disaster for the lives of many
youngsters. Overcrowding, poor sanitation and absence of
medical care resulted in many deaths. In fact during the
early years of the program up to half the children died of
tuberculosis.
On top of this the children were often subjected to physical
and sexual abuse. This is just one of hundreds of
reports:
"I
saw many young children beaten up and strapped. I saw
Brother --- wake up young children and take them to a room
to sexually assault them. I saw children handcuffed to a
pillar in the basement. They would be pushed and kicked. I
saw Brother --- use a pool table stick to hit children if
they would not have anal sex with him. Children were given
cold showers then strapped. If I told any Brothers that
another Brother tried to have sex with me, I would be
strapped." From a report on abuse at St. Joseph's and
St. John's Training School for Boys.
(B.C. Hoffman)
[A detailed account of the abuse, not only in Catholic
institutions but in those of other churches, will be
published in a later issue of PiperPost.]
COMMENT: It
is scandalous that the Canadian Government is paying money
out of public funds to save the churches from bankruptcy -
which they were facing over these legal actions.
PASTOR ADMITS TO GIANT THEFT.
In August Donald Roger 'Roddy' Clyde, 49, pleaded guilty to two counts
of theft of more than $200,000 from his own Round Rock (USA) church.
The Pastor admitted to spending the money on vacations, property
purchases and horses. He used the church's bank accounts and credit
cards to take the funds. It is alleged the total 'take' was
$700,000. The Pastor will be sentenced in October. It is
reported that many former members of his congregation accompanied the
minister in his court appearances. www.piperpost.net - 07.09.08
Members of Christian biker
group in pub brawl. www.piperpost.net - 16.08.08
Set Free Soldiers is an American Christian
bikers' group with a ministry aimed at parolees or people discharged
from jail. Their website (shut down as this report is being written)
the group describes itself as 'a group of men who love Jesus and love
to ride hard.'
On 8 August there was a clash between members of Set Free and Hells
Angels in a fight in a bar, with eight members of the Christian group
later being arrested and held on bail of $1 million each. Three other
people are still being sought. One Hells Angel member was arrested.
Among those taken into custody was Phil Aguilar, leader of Set Free
Soldiers. Several properties were raided and federal drug enforcement
agents were among the raiding party. There has been no indication to
date that drugs were found. The charges laid involved alleged attempted
murder and possession of illegal firearms.
Aaralyn Bevel's ordeal began in her tender years - around the age of 6.
Years later when the abuse was revealed she recounted how her father
would slip into her room and lie on her bed, fondling her, kissing her,
and rubbing himself against her. Nobody in the family said anything or
seemed to care so she assumed it was 'just something fathers did with
their daughters.' Then one day when she was aged 9 she was home from
school and was watching the Oprah Winfrey Show. There on the screen was
young girl of about her own age telling a similar story. After seeing
this she wrote a letter telling everything her mother but this didn't
act to stop the abuse which ent on into her teen years.
In April 2008 James Bevel, now aged 71, was found guilty of incest and
is facing a jail sentence. However, the determination of his sentence
was postponed in June and will now take place in October so the outcome
of the case is still not known.
Anglican priest defrocked over abuse charges. www.piperpost.net - 30.08.08
The
Brisbane (Queensland) Diocese of the Anglican Church has stripped
Robert Francis Sharwood of his Holy Orders (a rare event in the
Anglican Church).
Sharwood, in his 60s, was jailed for 12 months in 2006 after being
found guilty of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy 30 years
earlier. Following his release from prison the abuse survivors'
organisation Bravehearts criticized the Church for allowing Sharwood to
remain as an ordained minister.
The Anglican Church submitted the case to the Professional Standards
Board. However, Hetty Johnston, spokeswoman for Bravehearts,
complained: 'The church is giving him a hearing so it can establish why
he should not be a priest. I would have thought the answer is simple:
he's a convicted pedophile. You've got to drag the church kicking and
screaming to this point - it's an insult.'
Later Ms Johnston called again for a Senate inquiry into the way organisations such as churches deal with child abuse case.
Eventually, in August, the Church officially acted to defrock the former priest.
Cult investigated for child porn . . . www.piperpost.net - 05.10.08.
Six
children - believed to be girls aged between 12 and 14 - have been
temporarily removed by authorities from the property of the Tony Alamo
Christian Ministries in Fouke, Arkansas. Child protection workers are
investigating allegations of abuse including possible production of
child pornography.
The
action followed a raid by more than 100 Federal and State officials of
the property run by convicted tax evader Tony Alamo. Alamo, 74, has
been accused, among other things, of splitting families. One father,
Justin Lane (34) was ejected from the cult 10 years earlier, leaving
behind his wife and children. He has been unable to have a subpoena
delivered to his wife because the cult moves members from church to
church. He has had no contact with his daughter, who would now be aged
13, another daughter aged now 11 and a boy aged now 9 years. Lane has
told of witnessing, when he was still in the cult, a 13-year-old girl
marrying a 40-year-old man.
Tony Alarmo hit the headlines in 1982 when his wife died of cancer. The
preacher claimed she would be resurrected and kept her body on display
for six months while their followers prayed. [In case you were wondering; no, she wasn't resurrected.] In
the 1990s Alarmo served four years in prison on tax charges. To date
officials have not commented further on the raid nor the outcome of
interviews conducted with the children but at the end of September
Alamo was arrested in Arizona on charges that he transported minors
over state lines for sexual activity in violation of the Mann Act.
Alamo has been quoted in the
past using the phrase 'consent is puberty.' For a long period there
have been allegations of abuse occurring - not only sexual abuse but
physical - in the Ministry, along with polygamy and underage marriage.
CHRISTIAN BELIEVERS CONNED IN PONZI SCHEME.
Once again Christians have fallen victim to a plausible con-artist. The
readiness to believe seems to leave them open to exploitation. In this
case George Theodule, a Haitian, who described himself as 'a man of
God', collected more than $US23 million from investors, much of it from
church members in the Haitian-American community in Florida who were
promised they could double their money in 90 days. US securities
regulators have now accused Theodule of running a Ponzi scheme and
investors may have lost millions. [Suggestion: look up PONZI on the Net
or in Wikipedia. It is the classic ripoff in which money from later
investors is used to pay early ones.]
www.piperpost.net - 08.02.09.
Teachers at church school charged . . .
www.piperpost.net - 22.02.09.
Two
teachers from Knox Grammar School, a Sydney Christian institution, have
been charged by police with alleged offences against boys. The school
was founded by the Presbyterian Church but is now operated by the
Uniting Church, which largely absorbed Presbyterian, Methodist and
Congregationalist adherents.
Craig
Howard Treloar, 49, is alleged to have sexually assaulted two
12-year-old students in the 1980s and Barrie Tiffin Stewart, 71, is
charged with four offences relating to children. These also date back
to the 1980s.
Police produced documents to back the charges. Treloar was refused bail
while Stewart was granted bail. Police anticipate other informants
coming forward.
THIRD TEACHER CHARGED.
Reportedly a third teacher at Knox Grammar School, Sydney, has been
charged over alleged sexual abuse of boys. As we reported in the last
issue two teachers are already facing court. Adrian John Nisbett has
been charged over incidents allegedly occurring in 1976, 1986 and 1990.
It has also been reported that school authorities knew about some
incidents as far back as 2004. www.piperpost.net - 01.03.09.