Louisiana man on the run after child sex abuse
accusations in Houston
By Keri Blakinger
Kenneth Francis is accused of child sex abuse.
A registered sex offender from Louisiana is on the run for a sex abuse charge out of Houston, and Crime Stoppers is now offering a $5,000 reward.
Kenneth Francis was charged last month with continuous sexual assaults against a child, for crimes allegedly committed from 2008 to 2010 at an Elmcroft Drive home.
The 41-year-old is already a registered sex offender out of Louisiana. He's described as 5-foot-10 and 202 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair.
Crime Stoppers is offering up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest.
Information may be reported by calling 713-222-TIPS (8477) or submitted online at www.crime-stoppers.org. All tipsters will remain anonymous.
Assemblies of God national office named in Oregon child sex abuse lawsuit
Thomas Gounley, News-Leader
The Springfield-based national office of the Assemblies of God is among the defendants in an Oregon child sex abuse lawsuit involving its Boy Scouts-like "Royal Rangers" program.
 |
| Assemblies of God headquarters |
The lawyer for the plaintiff believes it is the first time the national office has been unable to have itself removed as a defendant in a sex abuse case involving youth leaders.
The plaintiff of the lawsuit — a male born in 1972 identified only as W.J. in court documents — alleges that he was sexually abused between 1984 and 1987 by two adult leaders of the Royal Rangers program in which he participated.
The lawsuit names First Assembly of God of Albany (Oregon); the Assemblies of God, Oregon District; and the General Council of the Assemblies of God, the Springfield-based office that leads the Pentecostal denomination.
"We cannot comment on a pending court case, but the General Council has never been held liable by a court in such a case," Keith Surface, a spokesman for the General Council, told the News-Leader.
The lawsuit was filed in April 2016 in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Multnomah County includes the city of Portland.
In the lawsuit, W.J. says he joined the Royal Rangers around 1984. Two of the group's volunteer adult leaders were Ralph Wade Gantt and Todd Clark, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit says the defendants were responsible for placing Gantt and Clark in the their leadership positions.
 |
| Assemblies of God Superintendent George Wood |
Royal Rangers is a youth program run by Assemblies of God churches. The program's mission, according to its website, "is to evangelize, equip and empower the next generation of Christlike men and lifelong servant leaders."
The lawsuit alleges that Gantt and Clark "regularly" invited several children, including W.J., to spend the night at Gantt's house, which was on church property, or another house in the area. "During these sleepovers, Plaintiff frequently woke during the night to find Gantt or Clark sexually abusing him, including but not limited to fondling his genitals," the lawsuit reads.
Sometime no later than the spring of 1986, according to the lawsuit, individuals notified First Assembly of God of Albany that they were concerned Royal Rangers volunteers, including Gantt, were sexually abusing boys.
The defendants temporarily suspending Gantt and another volunteer, but ultimately reinstated Gantt, according to the lawsuit.
The sexual abuse happened on at least 20 occasions, according to a recent case filing.
Gilion Dumas, the Portland attorney representing W.J., told the News-Leader that Gantt and Clark were arrested and convicted in the late 1980s for sexually abusing a total of four boys in the Royal Rangers program. Dumas said W.J. was not one of those boys, as he did not disclose the abuse against him until later.
Dumas said both men have served time in prison.
The lawsuit and related court filings say that W.J. has suffered, and will continue to suffer, "physical and psychological injuries." They say that W.J. did not discover the "causal connection" between the abuse and his injuries and damages until December 2014, when he attended a Christmas program at his old church.
"Prior to that time, Plaintiff did not discover, and reasonably could not discover, the connection between his sexual abuse and his injuries and damages caused by that abuse because psychological conditions arising from his sexual abuse prevented that discovery," the lawsuit reads.
First Assembly of God of Albany has acknowledged Gantt and Clark were adult volunteers, but otherwise denied the claims.
The Oregon District and the General Council have similarly denied the allegations. The General Council argued that the claims against it "are barred by the religion clauses of the First Amendment and the corresponding provisions of the Oregon Constitution."
On Wednesday, a judge rejected that argument, ruling against the General Council in its effort to be removed as a defendant.
A jury trial is currently scheduled to begin Aug. 14 in Portland.
Man gets 8 years in prison for
sexual molestation of child
by Associated Press
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) - The U.S. Justice Department says a 28-year-old man has been sentenced to eight years in prison and 20 years of supervised release for molesting a child.
U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes says Gary Wellman Jr., an enrolled member of the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe who lives in Kingston, was sentenced Friday.
Wellman pleaded guilty to abusive sexual contact in May.
Court records show Wellman was a close friend of the victim's parents. Hayes says in October 2016, the victim told a relative that the abuse happened at the family's home.
Hayes says the abuse started when the child was as young as 6 and that some of the abuse occurred on Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribal Trust land.
Charges against Wellman in Kitsap County in connection with abuse that happened off Tribal lands were resolved with the Friday sentencing for the federal charges.
No comments:
Post a Comment