This may well be the longest blog entry I’ve ever written…it’s taken me the better part of three days, and I meant to have it up two hours ago. Ah well. Yes, it’s long…but there is plenty that you can skip through if you’d rather not delve into some rather sick and gory details about clergy members behaving VERY badly.

Note, this post is mirrored from here. In my personal blog, on Wednesdays, I typically do Hump Day funnies. Yesterday’s entry…not so funny. It was also no longer Wednesday in my time zone by the time I finished the entry and posted it. However, by my logic, it was still Wednesday on the west coast and in Hawaii, so… ANYWAY…

Over in my other blog (meaning here), I have a couple of polls up. The more recent one is about Beyonce’s halftime show from Super Bowl XLVII. My thinking in putting together the poll had to do with sexual objectification, and what role sex education might or might not have within that framework. Granting that the poll is still open, I haven’t done any real review of the answers yet. However, one answer to one of the questions tickled my thoughts a little bit…and drew my thinking in a few different directions.

The question was: Regardless of whether you liked or disliked Beyonce’s halftime show, can sports’ celebrity performances be used in terms of sex education? And if yes, in what way? (If your answer is “No”, simply state “No” – no further commentary is necessary.)

The answer that stood out to me was: Sex education? No. Cultural education about sex roles? Sure.

My first thought was, how would cultural education about sex roles not be worth consideration within sex education? And I have many different reasons for feeling that way — personally, academically, and professionally. However, the reasons I feel that way are irrelevant at the moment. What I want to write about is where my thoughts took me.

As it happened yesterday morning, while considering where my thoughts went, I came across this video — a TED Talk by Caroline Heldman — that is REALLY worth 13 minutes of your time to watch. The principle of “subject — object” perspective, particularly with respect to the Shame Factor, got me to thinking about religious interference with human sexuality. I’ve talked about this topic before, and have consistently recommended Darrel Ray’s book on the subject (definitely worth reading!). Yesterday morning, though, I found myself migrating over to Mojoey’s blog…and digging back. This would eventually lead me to Onanite’s blog, which I looked around in, too, but really, I wanted to stick primarily with one person’s blog.

Why? You see that image above? Those are just a small handful of the people Mojoey has written about. My thinking was along the lines of…I know that there are many people who track this type of information, but how much does it say when just one person tracks this stuff in his spare time…comes up with possibly thousands of instances in a few short years…and I’m only posting about a smattering of those? See what I’m saying? I just skipped around. Now, Mojoey’s focus is primarily *christian* misbehavior…and predominantly in the United States. He is very specific about that (and explains his reasoning in a couple of places) — and that, by itself, is extremely telling, when you figure the subject I’m opening up here is a global problem, and in no way limited to either the United States or to Christianity.

Additionally, Mojoey focuses primarily on pastors and youth pastors…if he were to dig into deacons and elders and other church-type officials, he would not ever have time for anything else ever-ever-ever. That is how prevalent this issue IS. And it IS a social and cultural issue. A major one.

~*~

 With that in mind, let’s have a closer look at what all is in that image above…(and if the following gets to be too much, you can skip down to just past the last image where my closing thoughts follow).

 

May 1993 – Jun 2009 (multiple cases) – Mennonite – Santos Adiel Rosado Jr. – Pennsylvania. Sexually assaulted a 14-year old girl in his congregation from at least 2007 until 2009, but reports suggest similar other activities dating back as far as 1993.

2006/2007 – Baptist – Lonnie Latham – Oklahoma. Strongly vocal against the “gay and lesbian ‘lifestyle'”, was busted propositioning a police officer posing as a male prostitute.

Feb 2006 – Nondenom – Raul Rosas Hernandez – California. Convicted of child molestation of at least 3 young girls, as young as 7 years old, between 1997 and 2003…including videotaping activities.

Feb 2006 – Interdenom Charismatic – Louis David Lamonica – Louisiana. This one is really sick, actually. All I can recommend is that you click on his link…there is a rather disgusting and long history there.

Mar 2006 – Catholic – Thomas Bender – Pennsylvania. Internet prowler, attempted to have sex with someone he thought was a 14-year old boy who turned out to be a detective.

Feb/Mar 2007 – Baptist – Kevin Ogle – Georgia. 15 counts of child molestation; busted propositioning someone he thought was a 14-year old girl…on the Internet…who turned out to be a Walton County Sheriff’s deputy.

Mar/Apr 2007 – 7th Day Adventists – Misael Blanco Sarsoza – California. Convicted of molesting a 9-year-old girl in his church.

Apr 2007 – Baptist – Phillip Glenn Terrell – Phillip Glenn Terrell – Georgia. This one is from where we live…in Cumming! Was convicted after he “pleaded guilty to molesting two teenage boys at the Emmanuel Baptist Church on Atlanta Highway in 2006.”

Apr/May 2007 – Baptist – Herman “Double-Life Lewis – Texas and Washington. Long history of molestation…but nailed on an attempted kidnapping charge.

Jul 2007 – Baptist – Claude Wallace – South Carolina. He was “alleged” to have sent 20 sexually explicit messages to a 17-year-old girl whose church Wallace was at one point a guest pastor for. Wallace claimed he was “targeted” by haters…since “Jesus had haters…”

Jul 2007 – Baptist – Tommy Tester – Virginia. Charged with indecent exposure, DUI, and violation of open alcohol container law.

Sep 2007 – Baptist – John Bonine – California. Charged with 106 counts of child molestation…plead guilty to 16.

Oct 2007 – Baptist – Donald Brent Page – Tennessee. Known online as “badlilboy8898”, was convicted of crossing state lines to have sex with a minor…the church said there was “never any indication” …of him being a bad li’l boy…or something.

Nov 2007 – Baptist – Leonard Frazier – Alabama. “…arrested and charged with second-degree rape and second-degree sodomy in connection with a nearly 10-year-old incident involving a 15-year-old girl.”

Nov/Dec 2007 – Baptist – Forrest Lee (Rubye) Hudson – Washington. I could not find any image of this dude…hence his faceless image here, and no image of him in the above potpourri of yuck. Anyway … he was ” charged with one count of first-degree child molestation and three counts of second-degree child molestation […] inappropriately touched and kissed two sisters – now ages 12 and 13″ (in 2007). Was not precluded by judge from ministering to his flock…which is probably why his image is nowhere to be found — though the judge did order him to have no contact with anyone under 18 years. Yeeeah…seems reasonable. /sarcasm. What I was able to verify is that, as of yesterday, he’s still listed as a pastor in the state directory.

Jan 2008 – Baptist – Darrell Gilyard – Texas (now active in Florida). Sexted a 14-year old girl, and later a 15-year-old girl — and was charged also with sexual molestation of the 15-year-old girl. However, more than 25 women eventually stepped forward with complaints of sexual misconduct. What did the church do? They redistributed him…no kids are allowed at sermons, but…..

Jan 2008 – Baptist – Christopher Decaire – Arizona. Youth pastor sexually molested a 13-year old member of the church congregation. But such a nice-looking guy…and a Christian! The head pastor said, “In order for us to do what God wants us to do we need to rally around them, walk beside them through this time, as we deal with the grief of all of this.” I mean sure, he was put on administrative leave, but the church leader made sure to point out Decaire’s need to be rallied around. Funny, though…I did not see any comment about rallying around the 13-year-old victim. Maybe God didn’t want that…or else the pastor would’ve said so.

Mar 2008 – Baptist – Edward E. Green – North Carolina. Another youth pastor…this one convicted for sexually abusing a 17-year-old female church member in 1998. Sometimes years do pass, especially for the courage needed by the victims of these crimes to speak out. Good thing, too, that so many states have no statute of limitations on sexual crimes committed against minors (though the age considered “acceptable” varies from state to state).

Apr 2008 – Baptist – Edward Webb – North Carolina. Charged with indecent exposure…and “committing a sex act” at Freedom Park in Charlotte (one can surmise he slapped the salami around, but who knows) ~ this is not the first time the former pastor has been busted for this type of thing.

Apr 2008 – Nondenom Christian – Marion Leon Kosier Jr. – South Carolina. Already a registered sex offender for previous offenses…this time he turned himself in after exposing himself to a 5-year-old little girl. Now, how he had access to her bedroom, one can only guess at, but I digress.

Apr 2008 – Baptist – James Walls – Maryland, D.C. Mayor at the time, and an associate minister, charged with soliciting a prostitute. For those who think this thing “targets” individuals of a specific political party or something…this dude is a Dem. *shrug* This sort of shit is not constrained by political party, folks…there’s a bit more to it than something like that.

Apr 2008 – Baptist – Jon Moore – Colorado. Repeated sexual assault of a 15-year-old female parishioner for over a year.

Jun 2008 – Baptist – James “Jay” Virtue Robinson IV – Texas. With “Virtue” right in the name…what could possibly go wrong?! This youth pastor was arrested for   what is coined as a sexual “relationship” that began with a female teen when she was 16 years old (he was 30 at the onset of the “relationship”). Not surprisingly, the “relationship” and subsequent arrest of “Mr. Virtue” led to a huge rift within the church.

Jun 2008 – Baptist – Matthew C. Porter – Florida. And yet another youth pastor (the one looking all sad & dejected in the image)…”secretly taped girls between the ages of 12 and 16 changing and showering at his rental house in Ellenton and in his apartment in Bradenton” ~ nine counts, to which he, of course, plead not guilty. This dude (or rather, his lawyer) tried to say that the woman he asked to watch his dog while he was out, who had full run of the house…who found the videos…was not an agent of the police, ergo, videos inadmissible. Erm…he taped underage girls without their knowledge or consent in a rental house! WTF?! Judge thankfully sided with the plaintiff.

Jul 2008 – Baptist – Royden Wood – England. This one is really just to demonstrate that the problem isn’t limited to the U.S. (in terms of the Western World) ~ and rather than write a blurb about the “grieved” former pastor, if you’re interested, clickety-click the link.

Aug 2008 – Presbyterian – Andrew Belant – California. Now that handsome fella right there…another youth pastor, was charge with 20 counts of sexual assault against four little boys ranging in age from 9 to 13 years of age.

Aug 2008 – Baptist – Carl Thomas – Alabama. I know…this dude and the previous dude could be brothers, right?! Except they’re in different states, different churches…even different denominations…and this guy here “merely” sexted two 14-year-old girls. No biggie, eh? *sigh*

Aug 2008 – Baptist – Joshua Ponder – Texas. In yet another case of a youth pastor betraying trust, this dude was arrested for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old male teen. At least the teen wasn’t a member of the church, right?

…right?!

Aug 2008 – Baptist – Jeremiah Gunner Scott – Oregon. This dude was not only a youth pastor, but also a teacher at a Christian school. Pulling current info on this guy wasn’t easy…though it is clear that he was arrested and charged with having sex with a minor…a female teenager that was possibly as young as 12 years old. Lovely.

Aug 2008 – Baptist – Terrence Jenkins – Illinois. This youth pastor (yes, another one) was charged with predatory criminal sexual abuse…for sexually assaulting an 8-year-old member of the church. Makes ya wonder if churches do any background checks at all when they hire people to be youth pastors.

Sep 2008 – Baptist – Lawrence Webber – North Carolina. Not sure who called this guy an associate pastor…church leaders denied that he held any title within the church (I’m not inclined to believe those church leaders, tbh)…in any case, this guy (age 60 at the time of his arrest) was “charged with three counts of first-degree rape and five counts of indecent liberties with a child. Police said there are at least two victims.” ~so eight counts of felony sexual offenses. He was already a registered sex offender, if the linked article is accurate. Lovely.

Oct 2008 – Baptist – Merton Parks – New York, Pastor + kiddie pr0n. I could say more, but there are a lot more pastors to get to.

Nov 2008 – Baptist – David Esarey – (with more from 2010) Connecticut. Another youth pastor…”arrested on child-pornography charges after a nude photo of a 15-year-old girl he was counseling was found on his church computer.” …gotta wonder about these youth pastors and why it is they wanna hang out with the *youths*…

Nov 2008 – Baptist – Daniel J. Lowhorn – Tennessee. Do I even need to tell you…just looking at his forlorn young face…that he’s another youth pastor?! This guy was charged with “14 counts of sexual exploitation-related offenses” ~ all over the Interwebz…all involving minors: “two counts of solicitation of a minor; 10 counts of solicitation of a minor to observe sexual conduct; one count of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor; and one count of attempted especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor.”

Apr 2009 – Baptist – Frank Brown – Texas. Brought up on “charges of continuous sexual abuse of a child” from another state (unnamed in this article), then moved to Texas, where he assaulted another kiddo. His seemingly devoted wife tendered his resignation to the church. That was nice of her.

Apr 2009 – Baptist – Robert Michael Black – Kansas. This “minister” was accused of using the Internet to solicit young girls…according to investigators, he contacted “more than 100 children online” via facebook. …and my daughter wonders why I keep an eye on her accounts.

May 2009 – Nondenom – William Blanscet – Utah. Yeah he’s not creepy-looking at all… This man was “charged with exposing himself on multiple occasions, using a Webcam, to a person he thought was a 13-year-old girl.” (emphasis mine) …turns out, the person on the other end was an undercover cop, but whatever. He thought the girl was 13 years old…he was 67 years old at the time. I mean…what does one say to that?!

May 2009 (but 2001 conviction, too!) – Baptist – Billy Masters – Alabama. Here in this image, at age 66, this pastor went for little boys. This arrest was for sodomizing a boy younger than 12 years; however, back in 2001, he was also arrested for sodomizing three other boys under the age of 12 years. Not surprising to me that the Baptist church (which some of them do the right thing, sure) maintained the conspiracy of silence…content to let the Catholics take the constant public heat.

Jun 2009 – Baptist – Jonathan Tyler Giles – Tennessee. Aaaaaand yet another youth pastor. Engaged in sex with a female teen from the church…and was busily sexting her before and after church services. Yeah, this Barney Rubble-lookin’ guy was obviously thinkin’ about God during those sermons.

Jul 2009 – Baptist – Gordon Lunceford – Kentucky. Still yet another youth pastor/minister…charged with “13 sex related charges, including six counts of 3rd degree rape, one county of first degree sexual abuse, five counts of third degree sodomy and one county of second degree sexual abuse.”

Jul 2009 – Baptist – Brian Neiswender – Pennsylvania. You guessed it — another youth pastor — charged with “…inappropriately touched as many as 10 girls” and “sentenced on two counts of indecent assault and three counts of corruption of minors…”

Jul 2009 – Baptist – Bernard Squires – Indiana, Now, lookin’ at this guy, whodathunk he’d be into kiddie pr0n, eh? *blink* Yeeeah…”police seized a number of computers, tapes and movies from Squires’ rural Columbia city home” and “police found more than 200 video files containing child porn on his computer.”

Aug 2009 – Baptist – Jack Ryan Duffer – Virginia. Charged with “Taking Indecent Liberties with a Minor Child and Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor.” Of course…he insisted the encounter was consensual.

Of course it was.

Aug 2009 – Pentecostal (AG) – Robert Kevin Carlino – New Jersey. Given that this smiling guy was another youth pastor, it actually makes a twisted sort of sense he got nailed with having “134 images of child pornography” on his computers.

Aug 2009 – Baptist – Joshua Spires – Delaware. Lurch here was “accused of molesting a 15-year-old girl assaulted her on top of the desk in his church office” ~ creative use of a desk, I must say ~ and the “married father began to tell the victim he loved her when she was in the seventh grade and he was her youth pastor. The sexual contact relationship began in 2007 and lasted until Nov. 15, , when the victim broke it off to date a high school senior.” Fickle teen years, damn them.

Sep 2009 – Baptist – Craig Johnson – West Virginia. (No image I could find) ~ probably because of (all-too-typical standard) failure to report child molestation within his church.

Oct 2009 – Baptist – Michael Joy – Missouri (with convictions in 1980s). (Not sure which inmate in image is Joy — or even if that’s just a stock image…really don’t know — but he was another youth pastor.) Whichever he is, he was “arrested for aggravated indecent solicitation of pre-teen child. Joy was employed by the church despite spending most of the ’80s in prison for the same crime.” Don’t think that’s what the old hymn meant by “Joyful Noise.”

Nov 2009 – Baptist – Curtis Grant – Alabama. This (then) 53-year-old douchecanoe was arrested for “having sexual contact with a 15-year-old girl.” (Can you tell I’m starting to get tired of writing these out…?)

Nov 2009 – Baptist – Harley Michael Keough – North Carolina. Sexually inappropriate touching of five women in his congregation. One of the women alleged that police took three years after her complaint to arrest this pastor.

Nov 2009 – Baptist-ish (nondenom megachurch-ish) – Russell Dion Lewis – Florida. Lookit that mug…yep, another youth pastor. Is it gettin’ easier for you to spot ’em yet? He was charged with “custodial battery and 10 counts of lewd and lascivious molestation” of a 14-year-old girl.

Nov 2009 – Baptist – Carlton Farnsworth Hammond – California. Aged 56 years at the time of his arrest, this lovely gentleman of a pastor was “arrested on a warrant alleging lewd or lascivious acts with a child 14 or 15 years of age.”

Dec 2009 – Baptist – Jeremy Fulton – New York. Yep…another youth pastor who “‘used his position of authority and respect as a member of the clergy to win the trust of parents and gain access to children for the purpose of sexually abusing these girls,’ who were 10 to 16 when abused.”

Dec 2009 – Baptist – Phillip Joubert – New York (and more in 2011). Kind of a gruesome one here…this guy was “charged with multiple rape-related charges, including incest.” Not much to say about that. The link is there, if you’re interested in reading further.

Jan 2010 – Baptist – Robert Weber – Texas. In what, by now, should be no surprise, yet another youth pastor arrested for having “sex with a 15-year-old girl he counseled at Second Baptist Church of Odessa.” I’ve heard of sex therapy and that…but never by a youth pastor. Hmm.

Jan 2010 – Catholic – Edgar Sepulveda – California. Not really exciting…this guy’s a retired priest, and charges here came up from sexual misconduct with a minor that allegedly took place in the early 1980s.

Allegedly.

Feb 2010 – Baptist – Timothy Dillmuth – New Hampshire. Although Mojoey rarely offers up charges related to church elders (there would be no time left in his day), the reason this one made the cut was because the molestation was covered up by the church’s pastor and co-elders. That, amigos, is what amounts to a conspiracy of silence…and not in a figurative sense.

Mar 2010 – Nondenom – Jeffrey Alan Wasley – Georgia. Another guy who’s a bit close to home for me…just down the road a piece…this charming fella was arrested -and sentenced to 20 years- for secretly filming boys in public bathrooms around the Atlanta metro area…oh, and for having thousands of downloaded kiddie pr0n on his computers.

Apr 2010 – Baptist – Jeffrey Arlan Mobley – Minnesota. This one didn’t jump out at me as a youth pastor…but there it is. I think his looks reminded me of the ex-asshole, so I didn’t associate *youth pastor*…ah well. This guy was arrested for inappropriately advancing and sexting a 15-year-old female in the church.

Apr 2010 – Baptist – Daniel Moore – Indiana. Not a youth pastor (*gasp!*) but a full-fledged church pastor…arrested for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old member of his flock.

Apr 2010 – Baptist-ish – Colin Haag Jr. – Maine. (Funnily enough, he’s still “preaching”…you can find him on Twitter and Linked-In.) This story is just too weird to go into detail. He’s an ordained minister, but not of a physical church, in a denomination described as “similar to Baptist” (???) ~ and the story involves kidnapping of his wife’s minor children (claims of no custody arrangements with the children’s father or something)…and judging from the fact that he’s active in a couple of networking sites, bragging about their kids (hers, I’m presuming, and theirs together, along with the one she’s currently expecting)…I guess all’s well that ends well. Like I said…weird.

May/Jun 2010 – Lutheran – Efrain Caban – New Jersey. Shocking. Another youth pastor…”charged with sexual assault for allegedly fondling a 17-year-old” in the youth’s home.

Again…allegedly.

Jun 2010 – Baptist – Christopher Settlemoir – Michigan. Erm…another weird one. I won’t even attempt to summarize it…you’ll need to read it for yourself. Believe me…if you’ve read anything above this, and I’m telling you this one is just weird, take my word for it.

Jun 2010 – Lutheran – Matthew Nichols – New Mexico. The link is to a pdf file…more kiddie pr0n.

Jul 2010 – Lutheran – Bradley Boda – Colorado. Minus the cannibalistic aspect, this guy’s story reminds me a bit of Jeff Dahmer. Click to read…I’m not putting details here.

Jul 2010 – Baptist – Charles Moore – Missouri. A pastor who’s wife ran a day care center. What could possibly go wrong?

Jul 2010 – Methodist – Kenneth Kleckner – Florida. Another pdf…the letter from the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church regarding this pastor’s inappropriate behavior sexual activities with minors.

Aug 2010 – Baptist – Robert Dando – England. Another from across the pond. He liked his boys young…

Aug 2010 – Baptist – Terry VanHoutan – Iowa. With indecent exposure charges in this guy’s past, you’d really hope that churches would conduct background checks…or something. He was arrested for “several” felony charges, including sexual abuse.

Aug 2010 – Baptist – Terry McDowell – Missouri. Charged with first degree child molestation…but hey, he even said right up front on the church’s website that nobody’s perfect.

Aug 2010 – Baptist – Johnny William Cabe — (facebook!) – South Carolina. Another one who likes his boys on the young side.

Aug 2010 – Baptist – Rodney Stewart – Ohio. You might think from the name, he’d have a few music hits or something…or at least be somewhat more rock star looking…ish. Nope. This dopey dude thought he was gettin’ it on(line) with a mother-daughter combo. Wrong…he was having “very, very sexual conversations” with Franklin County Sheriff’s deputies.

Sep 2010 – Catholic – Felix Owino – Pennsylvania. I guess 11 years old is old enough to consent, right?

No?

Sep 2010 – Catholic – Alejandro Flores – Illinois. How about 8 years old?

Really…? No…?

Sep 2010 – Interdenom – Steven Rowe – Georgia. Multitaskin’ like a futhermucker… Pastor AND Christian school headmaster. Four counts of child molestation…and two counts of aggravated child molestation.

I know…shocking.

Sep 2010 – Catholic – John M. Fiala – Texas (and again in Nov 2010!). Don’t let that smile fool you. Not only did this twatwaffle molest a young boy…he solicited murder of the boy who accused him. With the right paint, he could be a passable imitation of John Wayne Gacy. Probably would have to have a LOT more victims…but hey, who’s to say he didn’t? *blink*

Sep 2010 – Pentecostal (unspecified) – Leonel Pelayo – California. I guess by comparison, this guy is a bit boring. He “only” molested a 14-year-old female member of his congregation.

Sep 2010 – Baptist – Bernie Johnson – Texas. Just click the link on this one. Trust me.

Sep 2010 – Interdenom – Nathaniel Calhoun – Texas. Again, just click.

Sep 2010 – Catholic – Charles Granstrand – New Jersey. Not only did he deny accusations of child molestation (because nooooo priest has ever done that), but he used the pulpit to defend himself and seek sympathy from his congregation. Unfortunately, given the track record of these sorts of thing, he probably got plenty.

Sep 2010 – Lutheran – William Bendert – Michigan. From the mouth of this smiling man… “I just felt that God said it was time to move on and do something new,” Bendert said when he arrived, noting King of Kings was his fourth congregation since graduating from seminary in 1984. Who knew that trying something new would be attempting to solicit sex from minors…? Come to think of it, with four different congregations since graduating from seminary in 1984, perhaps it wasn’t new at all. Hmm.

Sep 2010 – Catholic – Robin Barrett – Canada. And more kiddie pr0n, this time from north of the border. (Yeah…getting really tired now.)

Sep/Oct 2010 – Church of God – Timothy Fulgham – Alabama. accused of having sexual contact several times with a 14-year-old girl (plead guilty to RAPE).

Oct 2010 – Church of God – Billy Eckstine McCurdy – Nevada. Charged with “11 sexual abuse charges, five years after a similar case against him was dropped.”

Repeat offender? No way…that never happens.

Oct 2010 – Nondenom – Steven Welty – Washington. I kid you not, I initially read his name as “Wetly.” There are some rather unfortunate names in this list…but that one would have been almost funny. Darkly funny, but funny nonetheless. Anyway, this guy got sentenced 26 years to life for “six counts of child rape, six counts of child molestation and six counts of incest.”

Oct 2010 – Baptist – Thomas Elliot – North Carolina. Part-time youth minister…and solicitation of sex with a minor. By this time, is it any surprise?

Nov 2010 – Baptist – Aaron Witcher – Utah. Kiddie pr0n with a twist. This one didn’t simply own it…or even distribute it. He produced it.

Ooops…I forgot…allegedly.

 

Nov 2010 – Church of Christ – Brian Richard Gray – Georgia. In a sadly all-too-familiar strain here, “A youth minister has been charged with rape and child molestation for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl…”

Nov 2010 – Baptist-ish – Monica Rex – Tennessee. The first of two women in this list. That alone makes them stand out. But the story is the same. Youth minister…multiples sex offenses against minors. *sigh* Hope you weren’t thinkin’ there’d be something creative just because she lacks a penis.

Dec 2010 – Catholic – Alberto Maullon – Texas. I almost expected something with children after so much precedents…but no, this guy was arrested for –cough– public lewdness….

….wait for it….

….at an adult video store.

Doesn’t that actually happen all the time…by anyone who goes in the back rooms?

Dec 2010 – Nondenom – Justin Amoroso – Colorado. A “21-year-old youth pastor accused of sexual assault on a 14-year-old girl” …. there is a theme that has surfaced that has me wondering about sex ed in the United States and its obvious religious origins. Hmmm.

Jan 2011 – Unspecified Evangelical – Larry Gene Martin – Texas. Okay…this one is just gross. Not only did he sexually molest a 12-year-old girl for months, after he had moved in with her family (*blink*) — then moved out. Except…his claim was that he was in love with her and wanted her to be his bride.

Eeeeyeah.

Jan 2011 – Santeria – Miguel Leon – New York. Santeria…WOW. Like Mojoey, the song jumped into my head instantly (aaaah, Sublime). Anyhooo…this interesting gentleman molested two brothers for several months, telling them that by having sex with him, they would “acquire spiritual energy, power, and a higher level of enlightenment.”

Jan 2011 – Nondenom – Jason Allen Roberts – Florida. Another case that’s just strange. Yeah, child molestation. The girl told her boyfriend, years after the “alleged” incident happened…and the chain began.

Feb 2011 – Unspecified Evangelical – Jeffrey Crosley – Pennsylvania. Another case of a minister being charged –years after the fact– of sexual molestation of teenage boys. I hate to look at his image and assume anything, but….

Mar 2011 – Jewish – Nechemya Weberman – New York. Ya don’t actually hear about a lot of Rabbi molestation in the news, though I’ve heard through “whispers” that it is not uncommon at all. In this case, a girl who was 16 years at the time of this rabbi’s arrest asserts that he’s been molesting her since she was 12 years old. Thing is, her dad sent her to the rabbi for counseling, just as he had her older sister. And the twist in this story? Click the link.

Apr 2011 – Nondenom – Angelo Deboray Golatt – Louisiana. Smiling youth pastor…let’s just dive in, shall we? “The Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office has filed 49 charges additional of aggravated rape…” on top of the already-established “one count each of aggravated rape and sexual battery and two counts of molestation of a juvenile” from March (same year) and “four counts of molestation of a juvenile, four counts of sexual battery and two counts of attempted aggravated rape” from April (same year). This guy was 28 years old at the time of the new charges.

Apr 2011 – Pentecostal (AG) – Tommy Pitts – Oklahoma. Then again, this guy has 70 charges against him.

May 2011 – Nondenom – Joseph Spencer – California. The linked article says, “An assistant pastor of a Temecula church accused of raping a teen choirgirl repeatedly picked her up from school and took her to his apartment”…then has three pictures of this handsome guy. The choirgirl was 16 years old. I suspect he used his looks, combined with his position of trust. For some reason, good-looking guys often “get away with” a lot more than they otherwise might.

May 2011 – Nondenom – Joel Huddleston – Florida. There are a few different mugshots of this guy. He definitely ran. From charges of lewd and lascivious behavior against a child.

May 2011 – Methodist – Ruth Shrader – Tennessee. The second of two women. A modern-day Mrs. Robinson story? I guess as a teacher (and a minister), she had a few options.

May 2011 – Nondenom – Ray Mosley – Nevada. More creepy child molestation by a really old and nasty pastor.

Jun 2011 – Baptist – Douglas Randall Pope – Georgia. Yet another youth pastor, charged with “three counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes and one count of child molestation.”

Given how many are here in Georgia, I’m glad my kids have expressed next-to-no interest in going to their friends’ churches.

Jun 2011 – Lutheran – David Radtke – Minnesota. This football coach-lookin’ pastor molested a foreign exchange student who (I’m surmising) stayed in his home as a guest family home.

Jul 2011 – Baptist – Daniel Mooneyham – Oklahoma. Another youth pastor…but this one actually does have a different little twist. Mooneyham here “pretended to be a young woman on the fake Facebook profile and went by the name Terri Smith. He would often send naked images of a woman to lure the boys to send naked images of themselves in return.”

A nod for creativity…a slap for being disgusting.

Aug 2011 – Methodist – Richard Rogers – Pennsylvania. Indecent exposure seems really mild by now.

Aug 2011 – Catholic – Michael Miller – Connecticut. This friendly-looking friar — okay, kiddie pr0n & obscenity charges. Oh, and online Facebook chats…with young male parishioners. One of the comments says “innocent til proven guilty” — and of course I agree with that. Buuuuut… (I’ll admit I haven’t followed up…I know he plead not guilty, but I don’t know where the status of the case stands at this point.)

Sep 2011 – Unidentified – John Edward Gamboa – California. This guy was “arrested on suspicion of committing lewd acts with one of his underage female Bible study students” — who was 14 years old at the time of his arrest. I don’t know the current status of this one, either. Because of the girl’s age, the church was not identified, so I don’t know the denomination.

Sep 2011 – Baptist – Joe Nix Ivey – Maryland. Just two points of note, and I’ll leave it to you if you want to read further. This pastor was 74 years old at the time of his arrest. You know it’s sexual molestation, right? The “alleged” abuse took place a year and a half prior to his arrest…and the girl was 13 years old at the time of the arrest.

Oct 2011 – Unidentified – Joe Cheater Jr. – Oklahoma. One of those unfortunate names…youth pastor, as it happens… arrested with “seven counts of lewd molestation and 4 counts of first degree rape.” And of course, his plea is not guilty.

Oct 2011 – Interdenom – Christopher Raymond Olague – California. The opening line says it all: “A pastor and youth soccer coach has been arrested on suspicion of molesting an 8-year-old girl.”

Oct 2011 – Seventh Day Adventist – Birger Draget – Kansas. This man? He’s “accused of rape, aggravated criminal sodomy and aggravated indecent liberties with a child” — 21 counts of ’em.

Oct 2011 – Protestant (Apostolic) – Darrel Coffman – Indiana. Youth pastor…sexual indecency with a young male. Almost seems blasé at this point.

Nov 2011 – Pentecostal (AG) – Barry Caudle – Illinois. Another pastor arrested for attempting to solicit sexually someone he thought was a child. I can’t help but wonder what the fuck attached itself to some of these men’s sexuality during their formative years…

Nov 2011 – Presbyterian – Louis “Skip” ReVille – South Carolina. …and that idea really hits home with this case. This guy strikes me as sociopathic, honestly. It’s another of the VERY ugly cases in this list, and I’ll just leave it to you do decide whether or not to click.

Dec 2011 – Full Gospel (nondenom) – Jasmine Brown – Arizona. The next-to-last…go figure, another youth pastor, accused of molesting a 12-year-old boy at a church youth camp. At least he doesn’t deny the accusations…he just insists the sexual liaisons were consensual.

Dec 2011 (from the 80s) – Jehovah’s Witness – David Nelson – Arizona. Finally…the end of this list. Closing up with a JW. And he was arrested for playing strip poker with a 14-year-old boy…along with other stickiness. The catch? The case is decades old. I won’t share the details. Once again, I’ll leave the decision to tread into those waters entirely to you, gentle reader.