Colorado youth pastor had sexual relationship with 17-year-old youth group member
Kurt Sevits
PARKER, Colo. -- A former Parker youth pastor arrested on child sex assault charges began a sexual relationship with a member of his church's youth group when the girl was 17 years old, according to an arrest affidavit.
Joshua Clemons, 35, was arrested Tuesday by the Denver Police Department amid an ongoing investigation into allegations he sexually assaulted at least one member of the youth program he led at Crossroads Community Church. While the church is located in Parker, the alleged abuse occurred at Clemons' home in Denver.
Clemons worked as a youth pastor at the Parker church from 2008 through September 2015, the police department said.
The affidavit states that Clemons and the alleged victim knew each other since the girl was in fifth grade, but they didn't begin a sexual relationship until September 2014 – when she was 17 years old.
The alleged victim told police that Clemons had admitted to kissing two other girls in the youth group but police didn't provide any further details about those incidents.
The investigation began in February 2018, when the pastor at Crossroads Community Church informed police that the church learned of the relationship between Clemons and the alleged victim in December 2016. But Clemons claimed at the time that the affair didn't begin until October 2015, several months after the girl turned 18.
The pastor reported the case in 2016 because he was concerned that the relationship had actually started when she was a minor, the affidavit states. At the time, police said no crime had been committed.
The pastor then went back to police in February of this year after hearing from the alleged victim's mother, who was concerned that Clemons was being hired as a youth pastor by another church, according to a statement from church leadership.
In an interview with police a few days later, the alleged victim said she and Clemons first had sexual intercourse in June 2015 when she was a 17-year-old senior in high school, but they had kissed and had other sexual contact before then. Clemons was married at the time but told the girl that he wanted to divorce his wife to be with her, the affidavit states.
Clemons knew the girl was underage and even gave her a card with a message along the lines of "We're legal" on her 18th birthday, according to the affidavit.
The relationship continued when the alleged victim graduated from high school and enrolled at Colorado State University, the affidavit states. The alleged victim told police that Clemons visited her almost daily and the two continued to have sex regularly.
At one point, Clemons went to a pharmacy and bought Plan B - the so-called "morning after pill" -- and made the alleged victim take the medication.
The relationship ended in late 2017, the affidavit states, at which point the alleged victim said Clemons started "stalking" her and showing up at her new church. The alleged victim threatened Clemons with a restraining order, according to the affidavit.
In October 2017, the alleged victim was on a retreat with a different church when she decided to disclose the relationship for the first time, according to the affidavit, and the person she told decided to report the relationship since she was concerned that Clemons may still have access to young girls.
In a letter to the congregation, Crossroads Community Church leaders said the church conducts background checks on all new hires and repeats those checks every two years but in light of the allegations, leaders would be reviewing policies to prevent anything similar from happening in the future.
Parker and Denver police are looking for any possible further victims or witnesses to the alleged abuse. Anyone with information is asked to contact Parker Police Detective Wilson at 303-805-6561 or via email at bwilson@parkeronline.org.
Serial pedophile sentenced to >300 years for sexual assaults on 6 children, released from Colorado prison
Kurt Sevits
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- A man who had been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison on child sex abuse charges has been released after Colorado's highest court declined to hear his case.
District Attorney Dan Rubinstein confirmed to KJCT-TV in Grand Junction that Michael McFadden, 46, was released from the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility in Ordway Tuesday.
KJCT reports McFadden was convicted in 2015 of sexually assaulting six young children and sentenced to a minimum of 316 years in prison.
McFadden appealed his conviction, saying that delays leading up to his trial violated state laws requiring a speedy trial. The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled in McFadden's favor last June and threw out his conviction, KJCT reports.
The state then submitted an appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case, leaving the lower court ruling in place.
Someone should be fired for allowing this to happen! A pedophile's rights to a speedy trial are protected by the courts, but the rights of 6 children to justice, and who knows how many more to protection, are completely ignored. Criminals have much louder voices than children and courts grease the squeaky wheel and ignore the broken one. This is horrifying! Children are going to suffer! The justice system needs a makeover.
Federal lawsuit accuses Aurora volleyball coach, club of covering up sex abuse
Hannah Leone
Aurora Beacon-News
A new federal class-action lawsuit accuses Aurora volleyball coach Rick Butler, his wife and their volleyball program of committing fraud by covering up alleged sexual abuse by Butler against "no fewer than six" underage girls.
On behalf of "potentially thousands" of parents who enrolled their kids in Butler's programs, the mother of a girl he coached is suing him, Cheryl Butler and Great Lakes Volleyball, including Sports Performance Volleyball Club and Great Lakes Center.
The complaint, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, seeks a jury trial, monetary compensation for fees paid to Great Lakes, statutory penalties, attorneys' costs and injunctive relief requiring the Butlers to disclose "the true nature of Butler's sexual abuse of underage girls" to current and prospective players and parents.
The amount sought exceeds $5 million, according to the complaint, which details allegations by five of the women who say Butler sexually abused or assaulted them when they were underage in the 1980s. He was never criminally charged.
Jay Edelson, whose law firm is representing plaintiff Laura Mullen pro-bono, said while the payout they're seeking would include a return of all the money Rick Butler has made through coaching youth, the lawsuit is about more than that.
"The real goal here is, our view is if we are able to prove our allegations, we think that Rick and Cheryl shouldn't be coaching minors anymore," Edelson said.
If Mullen and other parents in the class action had known that a "child sexual predator" would be coaching their teenage daughters, they never would have sent them to Sports Performance or given money to the program, the complaint states.
Though not exclusively, Great Lakes Volleyball Center hosts Sports Performance, a training program which fields youth volleyball teams for national competitions, has won dozens of national titles and has helped send hundreds of players to Division I schools with full scholarships, according to the complaint.
Edelson said he has two teenage children, a girl and a boy, who both play volleyball in the Chicago area. "When I started hearing the stories of people we were speaking to, it to it just hit home," Edelson said. "Our firm thought it was a place we might be able to help out." They started investigating for the litigation well before USA Volleyball banned Butler for life in December, he said.
The 72-page complaint states the Butlers and Great Lakes Volleyball got parents and youth players to join Sports Performance based on false information. For years, the complaint alleges, the Butlers, Great Lakes and others have pressured Rick Butler's accusers into silence, often by threatening to end their futures in volleyball; and have misrepresented or purposefully omitted his history of sexually abusing teenage girls under his training and supervision.
"Worse, they have persistently intimidated and attempted to discredit the few of his victims brave enough to come forward by exerting emotional and psychological control over them," the complaint states.
A spokesperson said Mullen is not giving interviews. Rick and Cheryl Butler could not immediately be reached. Cheryl Butler's email said she was out of the office from Feb. 23 through March 5. No attorneys for the Butlers or Great Lakes had been entered in court by Wednesday morning. Attorney Tracy Stanker of Ekl, Williams & Provenzale, which has represented Rick Butler in other litigation, said her firm will not be representing Butler in the federal lawsuit.
Alabama man charged with child sexual abuse
By Stephanie Taylor
A McCalla man arrested Monday is accused of sexually assault a teenager.
Christopher Cody Stutts, 36, was charged with sexual abuse of a child younger than 12 and second-degree sodomy.
Members of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit responded to a home in the 12000 block of Mulligan Drive Friday on a sexual assault call. A 14-year-old girl reported that Stutts had assaulted her on Friday and had been for the last three years.
Stutts remained in the Tuscaloosa County Jail Wednesday with bond set at $40,000.
McCalla, AL
Missouri man pleads guilty in child sex abuse case
By Nicole Cooke
A Sedalia man has entered a guilty plea to eight charges stemming from a child sexual abuse case in early 2017.
Christopher Richard, 41, entered a guilty plea Wednesday morning in Pettis County Circuit Court to two counts of first-degree child molestation, two counts of first-degree statutory sodomy, three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of sexual misconduct involving a minor.
Richard was originally scheduled for a two-day jury trial to take place Wednesday and Thursday in Cooper County after a change of venue motion was previously granted. Due to the trial being canceled for the plea entry, Wednesday’s hearing was in Pettis County.
Since it was an open plea, meaning there was no plea agreement arranged ahead of the hearing, a sentencing hearing has been scheduled for April 27 in Cooper County.
According to Judge Jeff Mittelhauser during the hearing, first-degree child molestation carries a punishment ranging from 10 to 30 years or life in prison with no eligibility for early parole. First-degree statutory sodomy carries a punishment ranging from 10 years to life in prison with no eligibility for early parole until 85 percent of the sentence is served.
Michigan man gets 24 years in prison for sexually assaulting child on Indian reservation
By Brandon Champion bchampio@mlive.com
MARQUETTE, MI - A Michigan man has been sentenced for engaging in sexual contact with a child under 12 on a reservation in the Upper Peninsula.
Patrick Roy Wandahsega, 40, of Wilson, was sentenced to 24 years in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Maloney on Tuesday, Feb. 27.
The charge stems from a December 2015 incident in which Wandahsega sexually abused a 6-year-old child at his home on the Hannahville reservation in the Western U.P.
Hannahville law enforcement became aware of the incident when the victim reported the abuse to relatives and later a physician. After an extensive investigation, a federal grand jury indicted Wandahsega on two counts including Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child and Abusive Sexual Contact Involving Young Children.
On October 27, 2017, after a four-day trial, the jury found Wandahsega guilty of the second charge. U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Maloney rendered the sentence.
The Hannahville Tribal Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hannah N. Bobee and Paul D. Lochner prosecuted the case.
Hannahville, MI
Woman says she had Steve Wynn's child after 1970s rape, according to police report
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Disgraced casino mogul Steve Wynn.
(Charles Krupa / AP)
A woman told police she had a child with casino mogul Steve Wynn after he raped her, while another reported she was forced to resign from a Las Vegas job after she refused to have sex with him.
The Associated Press on Tuesday obtained copies of police reports recently filed by the two women with allegations dating to the 1970s. Police in Las Vegas revealed earlier this month that they had taken the statements after a news report in January revealed sexual misconduct allegations against the billionaire.
Wynn has vehemently denied the accusations and attributed them to a campaign led by his ex-wife, whose attorney has denied that she instigated the report by the Wall Street Journal.
One police report says a woman told officers that Wynn raped her at least three times around 1973 and 1974 at her Chicago apartment. She reported she got pregnant and gave birth to a girl in a gas station restroom.
In one instance, the woman claimed that Wynn pinned her against a refrigerator in her apartment and raped her. She said he then made a phone call, kissed her on the cheek and left. The report does not explain how Wynn allegedly entered the apartment or whether Wynn and woman knew each other. The woman said she did not give him a key.
The second police report says a woman told police she had consensual sex with Wynn "several times" while she worked as a dealer at the Golden Nugget downtown Las Vegas casino-hotel, but "felt coerced to perform the acts." She said she was forced to resign when she turned him down.
"In the [s]ummer of 1976, Wynn approached her in the back hall and wanted her to go with him," according to a report filed Jan. 29. "(S)he told him, 'no,' she was done and had someone she was seeing. She was soon after accused of stealing $40 and forced to resign."
The women's names are redacted on the reports, and police said they do not identify people who say they are victims of sex crimes.
The Las Vegas case will not be investigated because the statute of limitations in Nevada is 20 years.
Wynn resigned as chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts on Feb. 6, less than two weeks after the Wall Street Journal reported that a number of women said he harassed or assaulted them and that one case led to a $7.5-million settlement.
Ralph Frammolino, spokesman for Wynn, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Wynn Resorts is facing scrutiny by gambling regulators in Nevada and Massachusetts, where the company is building a roughly $2.4-billion casino just outside Boston. Regulators in Macau, the Chinese enclave where the company operates two casinos, are also inquiring about the allegations.
In addition, groups of shareholders have filed lawsuits in state court in Las Vegas accusing Wynn and the board of directors of Wynn Resorts of breaching their fiduciary duties by ignoring what the lawsuits described as a longstanding pattern of sexual abuse and harassment by the company's founder.
Hope Hicks resigns from White House after being thrust into the spotlight with Rob Porter scandal
Kate Taylor
Hope Hicks is resigning from her position as White House communications director.
Hicks was thrust into the spotlight when then-White House staff secretary Rob Porter was accused of physical and emotional abuse by his two ex-wives.
Hicks was reportedly dating Porter at the time. Despite this, sources told CNN that Hicks was involved in crafting an official statement from the White House chief of staff, John Kelly, supporting Porter.
"Rob Porter is a man of true integrity and honor, and I can't say enough good things about him," Kelly's statement said. "He is a friend, a confidante, and a trusted professional. I am proud to serve alongside him."
Hicks is notoriously low-key, and rarely speaks to the media on the record. The Porter scandal marked one of the first times she was not able to stay on the sidelines, but instead became the center of conversation.
As Hicks prepares to exit the White House, it's hard to imagine that the Porter controversy — and the spotlight it cast on Hicks' life — did not play a role for the 29-year-old.
Rob Porter Revelation: The Mormon Church’s Abuse Problem Goes All the Way Back
by Rhett Wilkinson
Porter resigned as White House staff secretary after his former wives, Jennifer Willoughby and Colbie Holderness, accused Porter of abusing them, as has been all over the news this month.
John Kelly & Rob Porter
The wives also said that they had said the same to Mormon bishops years before, and the men did not believe them or did not help these women in such great need.
The neglect of and practice of abuse, often sexual abuse, are problems that plague the Mormon church and have since its beginning.
In the cases of the ex-wives, Holderness gave the Daily Mail a photo of her with a black eye that Porter admitted he took, telling that media company that her bishop did nothing for her.
“It wasn’t until I went to a secular counselor at my workplace one summer and told him what was going on that he was the first person, and not a male religious leader, who told me that what was happening was not OK,” she told the Daily Mail.
Willoughby told The Intercept that when she talked with her bishop about the problems with Porter, the bishop responded by considering public relations for Porter.
“Keep in mind, Rob has career ambitions,” he said, as Willoughby told the media outlet.
Willoughby wrote in a blog post last year: “When I tried to get help, I was counseled to consider carefully how what I said might affect his career. And so I kept my mouth shut and stayed.”
Generally, just in the past five years, sexual abuse cases have been rampant.
Last year, there was former bishop Erik Hughes who was sent to prison for sexually abusing teen boys; a similar sentence for Darran Scott, a high priest, for the same thing; and Judge Thomas Low who, with the rape survivor in the room, praised the abuser Keith Robert Vallejo, also a former bishop. Low called Vallejo an “extraordinarily good man.”
And there was MormonLeaks’ 316-page report with instances of child sexual abuse over nearly six decades.
The year before that, more than 20 men filed lawsuits against the church alleging that the organization and the Boy Scouts of America covered up sexual misconduct performed on them.
And a fifth individual filed a lawsuit against the church in accusations of sexual abuse while in the organization’s “Lamanite Placement Program,” also called the “Indian Placement Program.”
In 2014, in a lawsuit in Hawaii against the church, two men said they were sexually abused as children for two years on church-owned property. And yet another former bishop, Michael Wayne Coleman, was arrested and charged for allegedly luring a minor for sexual exploitation.
In 2013, bishop Todd Michael Edwards got three years for molesting two teenage girls.
Also, in 2010, former bishop Lon Kennard Sr., was charged with 43 felony counts of sex abuse and sexual exploitation of children, being sentenced to three terms of five years to life in prison the following year. In 2008, bishop Timothy McCleve was sentenced after pleading guilty to sexually molesting children. In 2001, the church paid a $3 million settlement to Jeremiah Scott after he filed a lawsuit against the church, accusing an attempted coverup of sexual abuse.
A webpage from the nonprofit Mormon Stories Foundation titled “Stories about child/sexual abuse in the LDS church” links to nearly a dozen-and-a-half stories related to the issue.
And at least sexual-misconduct issues go back to church founder Joseph Smith, who had sex with perhaps seven females who were 18 or younger (young even for that 1830s and ‘40s era) and perhaps 11 women who were married to other men. The church itself has admitted that Smith had a teen bride and was married to other men’s wives. That clearly signals sexual abuse.
What other cases are out there?
Let’s not even start in this column about bishops’ invasive interviews with children about sex that is so much a problem that Sam Young, an active Mormon and a former bishop himself, is leading a popular petition about it. Or the church’s approaches and stances towards LGBTQ+ folks, including a Nov. 2015 gay policy wherein 32 suicides by gay Mormon youth that reportedly occurred a mere three months later.
What are conscious but devout Mormons left to do to either double down in their faith or leave it? They promise in the temple ceremony where they believe they learn to reach the highest heaven that they need to be willing to sacrifice so much for the church, they must die for it, if necessary.
Even beyond that, they promise to give all their time, talents, resources and assets to the church. Anyone 56 years and older in the church could have promised in the ceremony for their own salvation to be willing to slit their own throats if they tell the secrets of the temple ceremony.
While the literal motion of doing that in the temple is gone, keeping these cult commitments secret is still a promise.
Talk about culture wars.
