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Southern Baptist Convention Releases Secret List of 700 Pastors, Church Leaders Accused of Sexual Abuse, Misconduct
Milton Quintanilla |
Contributor for ChristianHeadlines.com |
Friday, May 27, 2022
On Thursday night, top Southern Baptist Convention leaders released a 205-page list of pastors and church leaders accused of sexual abuse outside of and within the convention.
Until now, the list, which was revealed to have existed in the Guidepost Solutions SBC sex abuse report released to the public on Sunday, had remained undisclosed by former staff for over a decade.
According to the Associated Press, more than 700 names are on the list, which only includes people accused of sexual misconduct between 2000 to 2019.
In a joint statement by Rolland Slade, chairman of the SBC Executive Committee, and Willie McLaurin, the committee's interim president and CEO, the release of the list is "an initial, but important, step towards addressing the scourge of sexual abuse and implementing reform in the Convention."
"Each entry in this list reminds us of the devastation and destruction brought about by sexual abuse," they added. "Our prayer is that the survivors of these heinous acts find hope and healing, and that churches will utilize this list proactively to protect and care for the most vulnerable among us."
The list was initially compiled by SBC Executive Committee staff in 2007. The group used news articles and other reports regarding ministers accused of sexual abuse to create the document. According to the Tennessean, by 2008, one of the officials working to compile the list led the committee to dismiss a proposal for a clergy abuser database.
Of the hundreds of ministers listed in the report, nine remain in ministry, with two reportedly serving at SBC-affiliated churches. Guidepost Solutions received the list in the exact form it was released to the public. It features completed entries that note if there was "an admission, confession, guilty plea, conviction, judgment, sentencing, or inclusion on a sex offender registry."
Additionally, the names of survivors and other individuals unrelated to the offender are redacted.
"Other entries where preliminary research did not indicate a disposition that fits within the described parameters have been redacted. Entries that do not relate to sexual abuse or that resulted in an acquittal are also redacted," the joint statement by Slade and McLaurin noted.
They added that several redacted entries could possibly be publicly released after more research is conducted.
Christian Headlines counted more than 150 redacted entries.
Former SBC spokesman Roger Oldham and an unnamed employee kept the list for D. August "Augie" Boto, the committee's former vice president and general counsel. Boto also served as interim SBC president/CEO. Both Oldham and Boto retired in 2019.
In an agreement with Guidepost, the SBC's Executive Committee established a hotline to allow survivors to report allegations of sexual abuse within SBC churches. The hotline can be contacted at 202-864-5578 or SBChotline@guidepostsolutions.com.
Guidepost will not investigate new allegations and will keep the information confidential. The SBC Sexual Abuse Task Force, however, will set up processes for inquiries.
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‘Cult-Like’ Ohio Church is Secret Hotbed of Incestuous Abuse,
Minister’s Niece Says
Serah Bellar alleges her mother, father, uncle, brothers, and a local cop
abused her for years while covering it up from local authorities.
Justin Rohrlich, Daily Beast
Published Feb. 23, 2022 6:16PM ET
Athens County Prosecutor’s Office; Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail
An Ohio woman who escaped her family’s home after years of what she described as horrific, religiously-motivated abuse has filed a lawsuit accusing her mother, father, uncle, brothers, and a local cop of not only causing the abuse, but allowing it to continue, then covering it up once authorities became suspicious.
In the 22-page civil suit, filed Feb. 21 in Cincinnati federal court, Serah Bellar says her parents “mandated” that all of their 18 biological children and one adopted child attend their uncle’s Dove Outreach Church in Waverly, Ohio.
“This cult-like ‘church’ is owned, operated, and ministered by Defendant James Bellar, the brother of Defendant Robert Bellar,” the suit states. “Defendant James Bellar preaches that siblings are meant to procreate with one another.”
James Bellar’s ministry “is here according to the call of God to serve you in Jesus' name,” his website tells visitors. “If you have a need that I am able to help you with just ask. This Homepage will provide you with useful tools and information to help any along in their spiritual walk; who will turn from the world of sin unto God the Father in the name of the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.”
In her lawsuit, Bellar, now 18, says two of her older brothers, Josiah and Jonathan, regularly sexually assaulted her beginning at the age of 5. This went on until Bellar was 12, “with the knowledge and protection” of parents Robert, 54, and Deborah, 49.
The suit accuses the Bellars of civil conspiracy, sex trafficking of children, obstruction of justice, compelling and promoting prostitution, child endangerment, and violations of the Ohio Corrupt Practices Act as well as the U.S. Racketeer Influenced Criminal Organization Act. Jimmy Childs, a sergeant with the Athens County Sheriff’s Department and a close friend of the Bellars, is accused of negligence in relation to his duties and obligations as a sworn law enforcement officer. The lawsuit was filed under the name “Jane Doe,” but Bellar’s attorney has since confirmed that it is in fact her.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
Bellar was reported missing in April 2020, when she was 16. She was considered a runaway by authorities, and leads were scant. Then, a year later, Bellar suddenly reappeared under a new name on social media.
“Just wanted to post a picture so everyone KNEW I was safe and it’s really me,” she posted on Facebook, laying out allegations of long-running physical, psychological, and sexual abuse by her family. “Thank you so much to everyone who has my back in getting justice WITH me!”
In the post, Bellar said she had been taken in and cared for by an elderly couple until she was ready to go public, and that she waited until she turned 18, and was legally an adult, to come forward.
Prosecutors filed criminal charges in May 2021 against Robert, Deborah, Josiah, and Jonathan Bellar. Josiah Bellar, who was indicted on three counts of rape and two counts of gross sexual imposition, pleaded guilty that November to charges of felonious assault and child endangerment. Jonathan Bellar was charged with gross sexual imposition, and Robert and Deborah Bellar were charged with engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, obstruction of justice, and child endangerment. All three are scheduled to go to trial this spring.
That same month, Childs, 52, was brought up on felony charges of tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice. He has since pleaded guilty to lesser charges of disorderly conduct for having knowledge of the abuse occurring in the Bellar home but helping to protect the perpetrators by deleting phone records and making false statements to authorities. He lost his job but did no jail time and in return, agreed to testify for the prosecution.
But Bellar’s lawsuit lays out a raft of sordid allegations against Childs that include intimidation, harassment, and deliberate indifference to what was happening inside the Bellar home.
In addition to allegedly providing her parents with Bellar’s whereabouts after she was at one point placed in foster care, Childs sexually harassed Bellar when she was underage, the suit claims.
Once, when Childs was watching a then 14-year-old Bellar lift weights, he “moan[ed] at her and stated, ‘I’m sure you already did that this morning,’ implying that [Bellar] had masturbated that day,” according to the lawsuit. He would “often give her ‘butt bumps,’” and once told Bellar that he was trying to lose weight “so that he could see ‘his junk,’” the filing continues.
Bellar’s suit also takes aim at Athens County, whose child services agency was repeatedly informed of the abuse occurring in the Bellar home but allegedly did nothing.
“Athens County State’s Attorney Keller Blackburn described Athens County Children Services’ handling of Plaintiff’s case as ‘an absolute systemic failure,’ and stated that ‘[Bellar] was turned away by authorities every time she tried to report this abuse,’” the suit says, alleging that a caseworker on the staff was a “close friend of…Deborah Bellar,” and “engaged in the cover-up of child abuse in the Bellar home.”
After criminal charges were filed against the Bellars last year, James Bellar posted a response on his church’s website calling the allegations “salacious,” and “complete lies.”
Mexican mega-church leader sentenced for child sex abuse
Ruling follows plea deal Naason Joaquin Garcia struck with prosecutors
Published: June 09, 2022 16:20
AFP
Image Credit: AP
Los Angeles: The leader of a Mexican mega-church who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting three young girls was sentenced in Los Angeles on Wednesday to nearly 17 years in prison.
But the ruling, following a plea deal Naason Joaquin Garcia struck with prosecutors last week, was met with anger by victims, who at an emotional hearing called for their abuser to face trial and the maximum possible sentence.
One victim in court Wednesday condemned officials for “negotiating with this rapist” while another said in a statement read to the court that the justice system “failed us.”
Garcia, head of the La Luz Del Mundo church which claims five million followers worldwide, coerced underage girls into performing sexual acts by telling them that going against his wishes would be acting against God, prosecutors said.
He was arrested at a Los Angeles airport in June 2019. An initial human trafficking and child rape case was thrown out on a technicality, and charges were re-filed.
Last Friday, on the eve of his trial, the 53-year-old - who claims to be the last apostle of Jesus, and had initially denied all wrongdoing - pleaded guilty to felony crimes of sexual assault of three minors.
Faithfuls of the La Luz del Mundo (Light of the World) church walk as they attend a prayer session after Naason Joaquin Garcia, leader and self-styled apostle of the Guadalajara-based church, pleaded guilty for child sex abuse, in Guadalajara, Mexico June 8, 2022.
Image Credit: REUTERS
These included forcible oral copulation and a lewd act upon a 15-year-old, but not counts of rape, extortion and child pornography.
California attorney general Rob Bonta hailed the sentence as a “critical step forward for justice.”
“While it will never undo the harm and trauma he caused as the leader of La Luz del Mundo, this sentence makes it crystal clear that abusers - no matter who they are - will be held accountable,” he said Wednesday.
Still, Garcia’s church continued to back its leader, issuing a statement Wednesday to “publicly express our support for the Apostle of Jesus Christ” and praising his “integrity, his conduct and his work.”
Good grief! Another example of parishioners being more devoted to their pastor than to Jesus Christ.
The Spanish-language statement said evidence against Garcia had been fabricated and that the leader had no choice but to strike a deal as he would not have received a “fair and just” trial.
In court, one victim who said Garcia had stolen both her virginity and her faith begged the judge to “make sure that this man is put away for life.”
“How is this justice?” she asked.
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