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Paedophile Aylesford bell ringer jailed for sexually abusing child
By Paul Hooper
Published: 19:10, 24 November 2021
A senior bell ringer who groomed a girl for sex has been sent to prison.
Darren Elphick was the 'tower captain' at St Peter and Saint Paul's Church in Aylesford until his arrest in 2018.
But secretly Elphick, who at the time lived in Hartnup Street, Maidstone, began a sexual relationship with a child.
Prosecutor Kathryn Hirst told Maidstone Crown Court how he bought his victim expensive gifts and paid to top up her mobile phone.
But the court heard when worried family members quizzed him about how close the two were and reminded him of her age, Elphick responded by lying and said he just viewed her as his sister.
And one of the reasons he paid for the child's phone was so he could arrange to abuse her in secluded areas or at his home, telling the trusting victim to keep their relationship a secret.
The court heard how police were then alerted and quizzed Elphick, now 50, about the two years of abuse.
Darren Elphick admitted sexual activity with a child
The victim – now an adult – later told police how she suffers from flashbacks, dreams and feelings of being unsafe.
Ms Hirst said: "She now realises that what happened to her was abuse and involved being groomed. She commented that she now feels sad for her younger self and feels part of her childhood has been taken away."
Judge Robert Lazarus told him: "It ought not be said but an adult has a duty to protect a child they encounter from harm but you didn't do this.
"In fact, you went out of your way to harm your victim and that harm has a very long reach indeed... there was grooming activity.
'Elphick manipulated a child for his own sexual gratification, caring little
for the pain and suffering he would inflict upon her at the time and in the future.'
"Not surprisingly her experience with you has coloured her ability to form relationships and she doesn't feel safe with older men.
"Regrettably she has, at times, believed it was all her fault."
Elphick, of Station Road, Aylesford, admitted four charges of sexual activity with a child and possessing indecent photographs and movies of a child and having four extreme pornographic pictures depicting a human having sex with an animal.
The judge heard how one of the sick sex pictures was taken with his victim's knowledge.
The former BP worker who is now a full-time carer for his parents was jailed for six years.
His barrister Stephen Shay said: "He accepts now that this relationship should never have happened. As he has told me: 'This has happened and I can't turn back time'. He is now remorseful."
They are always remorseful after they are caught.
An NSPCC spokesman said: “Elphick manipulated a child for his own sexual gratification, caring little for the pain and suffering he would inflict upon her at the time and in the future. We commend the victim on speaking out about her experiences and hope she is receiving the support she needs to move on with her life.
“Adults who wish to report abuse no matter how long ago, or have concerns about a child, can phone the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000 or email help@nspcc.org.uk, while children can contact Childline any time on 0800 1111 or at www.childline.org.uk.”
Elphick has also been made subject to a sexual harm prevention order.
Detective Constable Hannah Crittenden, of the Paedophile Online Investigation Team, said: "Elphick gained the trust of a child and exploited this trust in the worst possible way, by subjecting her to repeated abuse.
"The victim was warned to keep the abuse secret and not to tell anyone, but thankfully in recent years has found the courage to come forward and help us ensure Elphick has now been brought to justice.
"I would urge anyone who has been a victim of any sexual offence to remember that it is never too late to report this to police.
"We have a team of specialist officers who work relentlessly to ensure that offenders like Elphick do not evade justice, just because a crime may have happened a long time ago. We will always treat any information with the upmost confidence and sensitivity."
'Don't Sweep it Under the Rug': Ministries Urge Accountability
following Ravi Zacharias Report
Michael Foust |
ChristianHeadlines.com Contributor |
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
Last week, speakers at an international missions conference urged Christian organizations to hold leaders accountable and examine their ministry structure in light of the abuse scandal surrounding well-known apologist Ravi Zacharias.
An independent investigation found that Zacharias engaged in years of sexual abuse before his death in 2020. The investigation “did not find evidence” that anyone within Ravi Zacharias International Ministries or on its board “knew that Mr. Zacharias had engaged in sexual misconduct,” according to the report, which was released in February.
The International Conference on Missions held its annual meeting last week for the first time since the report was released. Christianity Today covered the conference, which was held in Richmond, Va.
“Those who are on the wrong path are depending on you to give them the ultimate benefit of a doubt,” Jeff Vines, pastor of One&All Church in San Dimas, California and the outgoing ICOM president, warned attendees.
“Those of us in leadership who are on the wrong path are depending on the fact that you don’t want to know about it,” Vines said, according to Christianity Today. “Any organization in this day and age that does not create systems of accountability will eventually come to ruin.”
Accountability was a major theme during the ICOM annual meeting, which included plenary speakers and workshops addressing the issue. One breakout session examined ways that ministries can better protect children from abuse. Another session offered ideas for ministries to build a structure of transparency and accountability.
Vine encouraged ministries to assume that what happened to Ravi Zacharias International Ministries could take place within their own institution.
“The best people who have ever lived, the worst seeds [of sin] are in their hearts, but church boards and mission boards act as if this is not true,” Vines said, according to Christianity Today. “Do you think your pastor, your elder, your missionary is above accountability? Then you’ve taken the first step towards his and your and a victim’s demise.”
And God help you when you stand before Christ!
Jake Lapp, vice president of member accountability for the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, urged ministries not to ignore problems.
“We don’t think any organization was up one morning and decides not to be accountable,” Lapp said. “It happens over time. It happens with little decisions.”
Kip Lines, executive director of Christian Missionary Fellowship International (CMFI), explained how his organization dealt with two allegations of sexual abuse among its missionaries, Christianity Today reported.
“We need to do better,” Lines said in a video. “When it comes to preventing abuse and holding leadership accountable in our ministries, so that we don’t protect abusers, so that we don’t sweep it under the rug and hide it, so that we don’t make decisions that are merely based on what makes our organizations and ministries look better, we need to do better.”
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Plumber finds 500 envelopes stuffed with money
behind toilet in Osteen's megachurch
3 Dec, 2021 20:37
A plumber doing repairs at celebrity preacher Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston has reportedly found about 500 envelopes containing cash and checks in a wall behind a loose toilet.
The plumber, identified only as ‘Justin’, told Houston radio station KILT-FM on Thursday that he made the shocking discovery while working at the megachurch last month. “There was a loose toilet in the wall, and we removed the tile,” Justin said. “We went to go remove the toilet, and I moved some insulation away, and about 500 envelopes fell out of the wall, and I was like, ‘Oh wow.’”
The envelopes were stuffed with cash and checks – possibly donations to Lakewood. Back in 2014, the church filed a police report claiming the disappearance of $600,000 from its safe. A Lakewood spokesman confirmed that an “undisclosed amount” of cash and checks had been found at the church. Houston police were immediately notified.
Justin said he turned the envelopes in to a maintenance supervisor at Lakewood. It’s not clear whether the discovery was related to the reported 2014 theft.
Houston police offered a $25,000 reward when its investigation of the Lakewood case was announced. The plumber reportedly won’t be eligible to collect on the reward because it was offered for a tip leading to a suspect’s arrest. No arrest has been made since the money went missing, and the state’s statute of limitations on burglary and theft is five years.
Lakewood is so large that it moved into a former NBA arena – the ex-home of the Houston Rockets – in 2005. The building was converted into a 16,000-seat church. Lakewood’s multiple services draw more than 52,000 congregants weekly, making it the biggest church in the US. It reportedly reaches an additional 10 million people through its television ministry.
Osteen reportedly has a net worth of more than $50 million, compiled at least partly through his bestselling books and speaking tours. His church, which had a $90 million budget as of its 2017 fiscal year, raised controversy in 2020 by taking out a $4.4 million Covid-19 disaster loan under the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses. The church revealed in October that it will repay the loan.
It qualified as a 'small business'?
Every church I have ever attended prays before collection for wisdom and guidance with the money collected, and that it would be used for God's glory. I wonder if they pray that at Lakewood Church?
4 women sue Orthodox Union and its youth group, alleging
sex abuse by rabbi
They allege that Rabbi Baruch Lanner abused them on youth retreats beginning
in the 1970s and that the Orthodox Union, which employed him, did nothing
November 30, 2021
By Yonat Shimron
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement Sex Offender/Predator Flyer for Baruch Lanner. Screen grab
(RNS) — Four women who allege they were sexually abused by a rabbi as girls have filed suit against the Orthodox Union and its youth arm, claiming they allowed the rabbi’s predatory conduct to continue after numerous complaints.
The suit was filed in New Jersey Superior Court one day before the state’s two-year window for old sexual abuse cases closed Tuesday (Nov. 30). New Jersey’s 2019 Child Victims Act offered residents who were previously prevented from filing lawsuits because of a statute of limitations a two-year look-back window.
The suit alleges Rabbi Baruch Lanner abused girls in his charge beginning in the 1970s when he organized weekend synagogue retreats for the Orthodox Union’s National Conference of Synagogue Youth. He also led six-week youth summer programs in Israel.
Lanner, now 72, is a convicted sex abuser. In 2002, he was convicted of sexually abusing two teenage girls who were students in the 1990s at Hillel Yeshiva High School in Deal, New Jersey, where he had been principal.
Lanner was sentenced to seven years in prison and four years of probation.
The lawsuit comes as American Jews undertake a reckoning over sexual abuse. This year, the Reform and Conservative movements, the largest U.S.-based Jewish religious groups, announced they were initiating investigations into reports of sexual abuse. The Conservative movement for the first time posted to its website a list of rabbis who were expelled or suspended for violating various codes of conduct, including sexual misconduct. Earlier in November, the Reform Jewish movement’s seminary, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, published a wide-ranging investigation of sexual misconduct. Several other investigations are ongoing.
The Orthodox Union logo. Courtesy image
Orthodox Jewish groups, which represent the smallest share of U.S. Jews, about 9%, have been less active on sexual abuse issues.
In the suit, the four women, two Israelis, one New Yorker and one living in New Jersey, say Lanner preyed on them and groomed them for his own sexual gratification. The women are not identified in the lawsuit because they were abused as minors.
Lanner’s misconduct was extensively reported by The New York Jewish Week in 2000. It also broke the story of the lawsuit via the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on Monday.
Boz Tchividjian, one of the lawyers representing the women, told Religion News Service, “We’re alleging they knew or should have known about Lanner’s conduct and didn’t take prompt corrective measures to stop it and remove him, and as a result our clients were abused.”
The women are suing for an unspecified amount of money for pain and suffering and costs of medical treatment, as well as any punitive damages a judge might deem proper.
An Orthodox Union spokesperson said it could not comment on pending litigation.
