Southern Baptist seminary drops bombshell:
Why Paige Patterson was fired
By Sarah Pulliam Bailey, The Washington Post
In a bombshell announcement Friday night, leaders of a Southern Baptist seminary explained the reasons they decided two days earlier to fire their president, a longtime leader of the huge denomination: He lied about his treatment of an alleged rape victim in 2003, and in 2015 he tried to isolate another woman who had reported a sexual assault from the seminary’s chief of security so he could “break her down,” according to a new statement.
Paige Patterson, who until a few weeks ago was a towering figure in the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination with about 15 million members, set off intense debate among conservative evangelicals in recent months after recorded remarks surfaced that were viewed by many as demeaning toward women. They included advice he gave to a woman to return to her abusive husband.
On May 22, the seminary’s trustees demoted the 75-year-old Patterson from his position as president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, citing vague reasons about his leadership that did not include mention of comments about or treatment of women. Many Southern Baptists considered that decision too lenient because it allowed Patterson to remain on staff as “president emeritus”with compensation and the ability to retire on campus.
Then in yet another twist on Wednesday night, the board’s trustees announced Patterson had been fired, removing the benefits, and vaguely citing his mishandling of an unspecified rape allegation. The Washington Post had reported on May 22 that a woman who was a student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2003 when Patterson was president there had come to Patterson alleging she had been been raped by her then-boyfriend and was encouraged by him not to go to police and to forgive the man she said had assaulted her.
The Post does not identify victims of sexual abuse, but earlier this week, Megan Lively identified herself on Twitter as the person in the Post article.
Patterson, who is reportedly out of the country, did not respond to requests for an interviews made through Scott Colter, who served as his chief of staff.
The seminary had declined to confirm to The Post for two days whether the executive committee’s decision on Wednesday to unanimously fire Patterson was connected to the alleged incident at Southeastern - until Friday night.
“We confirmed this week through a student record, made available to me with permission, that an allegation of rape was indeed made by a female student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2003,” Kevin Ueckert, the chair of Southwestern’s board, said in a statement.
The information, Ueckert said, contradicts a statement previously provided by Patterson in response to a direct question by a board member regarding the incident at Southeastern. “The 2003 rape allegation was never reported to local law enforcement,” he said.
Patterson is revered in the Southern Baptist Convention for his role in steering the denomination in a conservative direction in a fight that goes back decades. He had been scheduled to deliver a key sermon to thousands of people at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Texas later this month, although it’s unclear whether he will still speak.
“People have always been afraid of him. Not anymore,” Lively said on Friday night.
In another incident in 2015 after a woman reported being raped on campus...
Ueckert said Patterson wrote an email to the chief of campus security at the time in which he “discussed meeting with the student alone so that he could ‘break her down’ and that he preferred no officials be present.
The attitude expressed by Dr. Patterson in that email is antithetical to the core values of our faith and to [Southwestern]. Moreover, the correlation between what has been reported and also revealed in the student record regarding the 2003 allegation at Southeastern and the contents of this email are undeniable.”
“As I’ve said before, he shamed the crap out of me,” Lively said after seeing the statement. “He tried to ‘break her down.’ My story is almost identical to this girl’s story.”
Ueckert also confirmed that documents were taken from Southeastern in North Carolina when Patterson left to become president at Southwestern.
Danny Akin, who is now president of Southeastern seminary, said seminary documents show that after her alleged rape, Lively went to administrators and was sent to meet with Patterson on three separate occasions with three other men present. The seminary’s attorney and chief of security were never notified, and a police report was never filed, Akin said. “Those are clear, unmitigated, fully witnessed facts,” he said.
Akin said he did not know about the 2003 incident involving Lively until May 11, when Lively emailed his provost and his provost forwarded the email to him. He told Lively the seminary would support her if she decided to press charges against her alleged assailant.
“For 15 years of my life, I thought I did something wrong,” Lively said. “It wasn’t until Dr. Akin told me I didn’t that I firmly believed it. That’s how strong and impressionable Dr. Patterson was to a 23-year-old woman who believed in who he was.”
The recent controversy around Patterson began after the publication of statements he made starting in 2000 about the Bible’s view of women and his beliefs about spousal abuse and why it does not serve as grounds for divorce. Patterson also commented on a teenage girl’s body and told his female seminary students to pay more attention to their physical appearances.
Patterson was Akin’s preaching professor, and they worked together for nine years, Akin said, adding that he had admired him for decades. “This is a man I love. Do I think he gave horrible, horrible counsel? I absolutely do,” Akin said, referring to Patterson’s 2000 comments.
Akin said he believes files that would help an investigation of the incident were taken from Southeastern when Patterson left. Ueckert said in a statement that Southwestern has located those documents and is working on returning them to Southeastern.
Ahead of the board’s May 22 decision to demote Patterson, two Southern Baptists on President Trump’s evangelical advisory board, Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Dallas and Richard Land of Southern Evangelical Seminary, commented in support of Patterson in conservative media .
Patterson’s comments about abuse and women’s appearance prompted thousands of Southern Baptist women to sign a May 6 petition calling for him to lose his job. Ueckert said the board based its decision on Patterson’s job performance and “did not allow the legacy of Dr. Patterson or the #MeToo pressure to steer the outcome.”
5-year prison sentence for Jacksonville man who
got child porn from sex offender
The Florida Times-Union
By Dan Scanlan
A 33-year-old Jacksonville man was sentenced to five years in prison after receiving sexually explicit images of an 8-year-old child from a convicted sex offender, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Stanley Hagan Jr., who pleaded guilty in November for receiving child pornography over the internet, was also ordered to register as a sex offender, prosecutors said.
Court documents stated that Hagan had sexually explicit online conversations with Darren Dozier in late 2015 and again in 2016. Prior to those conversations, Dozier had molested the 8-year-old child in 2015 after his release from prison and relocation to Philadelphia prior, shooting photos and videos of the abuse, prosecutors said.
Hagan pretended to be a 15-year-old girl during the conversations, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Dozier offered to send Hagan sexually explicit images of the 8-year-old. Hagan accepted the offer and Dozier sent four images of him sexually abusing the child. Then Hagan asked Dozier to send him a sexually explicit video of the child, prosecutors said.
During an interview with FBI agents in Jacksonville on Aug. 30, 2017, Hagan admitted that he had solicited and received the images from Dozier.
Utah man charged with child sex abuse
goes for a plea deal
by Will Feelright
LOGAN — A 23-year-old Logan man suspected of sexually assaulting a young girl has waived his right to a preliminary hearing, as attorneys work out a possible plea agreement.
DeAndre Cardwell appeared in 1st District Court Monday afternoon. He pleaded not guilty to one charge of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony.
Defense attorney Wayne Caldwell told the court they agreed to waive their right to the hearing, under the condition they and state attorneys can work out a suitable resolution. If the plea agreement can’t be reached, he asked for the hearing to be rescheduled at a later date.
Deputies believe Cardwell assaulted the young girl in July 2011. The victim allegedly knew the suspect.
During Monday’s court appearance, Judge Thomas Willmore ordered Cardwell to appear again July 2. The suspect faces 15-years-to-life in prison if convicted.
Montana man sentenced on child pornography
and drug charges
By: Margaret DeMarco
(GREAT FALLS) Daniel Joseph Reardon was sentenced on Monday for several charges from 2016.
Reardon was sentenced to 10 years, with five of them suspended, to the Montana Department of Corrections for sexual abuse of children.
He was also sentenced to five years for criminal possession of dangerous drugs and and five years for fraudulently obtaining dangerous drugs.
The sentences will run concurrently and he will be designated as a tier two sex offender.
Judge Elizabeth Best told Reardon that she believes he can be rehabilitated and be an asset to the community.
Reardon has a case from 2017 still pending in Judge Gregory Pinski's court.
(AUGUST 14, 2017) Daniel Joseph Reardon of Great Falls pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of sexual abuse of children.
Reardon also pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a dangerous drug and fraudulently obtaining dangerous drugs.
According to court documents, in 2014 a Missoula Police Department officer working with the Internet Crimes Against Children task force discovered an inappropriate picture being sent through Gmail.
Through the investigation, detectives found that the e-mail accounts belonged to Reardon. Detectives found that Reardon's phone had multiple child pornography images on it.
In accordance with a plea agreement, Reardon will be sentenced to 10 years in prison, with all time suspended.
He will also be sentenced to five years each on the other two charges, again with all time suspended.
Judge Elizabeth Best accepted Reardon's change of plea and sentencing will take place on September 11th.
The original charges included five court cases with 21 charges filed against Reardon.
Wow! And all he gets is 5 years unless he's paroled after 2. Good grief! I'm surprised the judge didn't throw in a gold watch.
Missouri Sex Offender Sentenced to 15 Years
for Child Pornography
By: Carissa Alford
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A Springfield man, and registered sex offender, was sentenced in federal court for receiving and distributing thousands of images of child pornography over the internet, according to a press release by the Office Of The United States Attorney, Western District Of Missouri.
Anthony Salois, 51, was sentenced on Friday, June 1, to 15 years in prison without parole. On top of this sentencing, Salois will have 20 years of supervised release after he has been incarcerated.
According to the press release, Salois has a prior conviction for sexual abuse involving a minor and has been kept in custody since his arrest four years ago.
He pled guilty on Feb. 1 this year, admitting that he received and distributed child pornography over the internet in Sept. 2013. He downloaded the pornography using a peer-to-peer file-sharing network.
When law enforcement executed a search warrant at Salois's residence in Oct. of 2013, they seized two desktop computers and investigators found 3,973 images of child pornography, 50 multimedia files of child pornography, 641 images of child erotica and 39 multimedia files of child erotica on those computers.
Navajo Man Gets 15 Years For Child Abuse in NM
by Carol A. Clark
FBI News:
ALBUQUERQUE ― Brian Lee, 31, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Breadsprings, was sentenced May 24 in Federal Court in Albuquerque to 15 years in prison for his conviction on child sexual abuse charges.
Lee will be on supervised release for ten years after completing his prison sentence. He also will be required to register as a sex offender.
Lee was arrested July 13, 2017, on a two-count indictment charging him with sexually abusing a child under the age of 12 on two separate occasions between July 2012 and July 2016, on the Navajo Indian Reservation in McKinley County.
Sept. 18, 2017, Lee pled guilty to a two-count felony information charging him with aggravated sexual abuse and sexual abuse. In entering the guilty plea, Lee admitted that between July 2012 and July 2016, he engaged in sexual acts with the victim on two separate and distinct occasions at his home in Breadsprings on the Navajo Indian Reservation.
This case was investigated by the Gallup office of the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback prosecuted this case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/
Family counseling center employee accused
of fondling Ohio child up to 50 times
By: NBC4 Staff
WESTERVILLE, OH (WCMH) - A Columbus man is behind bars after he was accused of fondling a child under the age of 13.
According to a police report, the Westerville Division of Police received a referral from Franklin County Children’s service regarding the possible sexual abuse of a juvenile. Court documents allege Matthew Gatton, 33, fondled the child while the child was taking a bath on multiple occasions.
According to police, Gatton admitted to touching the child on two occasions while the child was bathing in a voluntary interview on May 25. On May 29, Gatton returned to the Westerville Division of Police for a second voluntary interview, in which he admitted to touching the child between “20 to 50 times.”
The victim told police the incidents occurred almost every week between Jan. 1, 2018 and May 2, 2018.
Gatton turned himself into Westerville Police on Monday. He was arrested and charged with two counts of gross sexual imposition. He will be arraigned in Franklin County Municipal Court on Tuesday.
Gatton was employed as a community-based paraprofessional with OhioGuidestone, a family counseling agency. Lisa Clark, the executive director of Central OhioGuidestone, issued the following statement:
We recently became aware of possible inappropriate actions by a community-based paraprofessional employee in Columbus while he was working with a youth receiving services from our organization. We immediately suspended the employee pending the outcome of an investigation by Franklin County Children Services, and he has not returned to work for the agency since the date of his suspension. Based on information we recently received from the Westerville police, we immediately terminated the employee.
We continue to work closely with Westerville police and are offering them our full cooperation and assistance.
There was much more to their statement but it was the usual 'we take this very seriously' kind of stuff, which I normally delete because, if it were true, we wouldn't be reporting this story to begin with.
Former Alabama church deacon jailed on
child sex abuse charges
by WVTM US
A former deacon at McElwain Baptist Church in Birmingham was jailed Monday morning on child sex abuse charges.
According to jail records, Collin Galletly Jr. was booked at 7:23 a.m. on charges of first-degree sexual abuse, sexual abuse of a child less than 12 and second-degree sexual abuse.
Galletly was released a couple hours later on a $30,300 bond.
The allegations were made by the legal guardian of two girls from Irondale in November last year, prompting an investigation by the police department.
The girls are ages 9 and 12. Galletly was tutoring them in math and reading when the abuse allegedly happened.
Texas man arrested for child sex crime,
sexual conduct of a family member
by Maria Aguilera
ABILENE, Texas — An Abilene man was arrested on Friday for two different sex charges.
Michael Rowley, 32, is being charged with sexual assault of a child and prohibited sexual conduct of a family member, according to the Taylor County Jail's records.
Rowley's arrest report states that he was contacted by the Abilene Police Department after a "disturbance call with allegations of sexual abuse."
According to the arrest report, Rowley was threatening suicide.
Rowley is now being held at the Taylor County Jail on bonds totaling $200,000.
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