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	Black Churches Protect Predators While Neglecting Victims By Marian Hubbard Jefferson Louisiana Weekly August 6, 2007 http://www.louisianaweekly.com/weekly/news/articlegate.pl?20070806o Dallas — Research has shown that allegations of clergy sexual abuse can have a great impact on victims and their families, affecting them spiritually, socially, economically and psychologically. And after the abuse, many victims become even more disillusioned at the response of the church as some churches place greater emphasis on blind forgiveness and restoration of the perpetrator, rather than the healing and support of the victim, as in the cases of Sherman Allen, Terry Hornbuckle and Ruben Thankful, ministers convicted of sexual assault against women in their congregations. Countless victims suffer silently in the pews of Black churches for years, with feelings of shame, guilt, fear of reprisal and disbelief from those meant to guide and protect them. Meanwhile the Black Church consistently fails to lift their voices with a collective moral outcry against this devastating act of betrayal Wolves in sheep's clothing € Sherman C. Gee Allen In May, Ft Worth pastor Sherman C. Gee Allen of the Shiloh Institutional Church of God in Christ was suspended by the national body of the Church of God in Christ. Allen was originally indicted on sexual assault charges in 1983, after a 21-year-old woman accused him of drugging, then sodomizing and raping her with a club. According to local reports, allegations have once again been made against Allen. In fact, 35 women are accusing the local pastor of abuse. Among the complainants is 33-year-old Davina Kelly, a former member of Shiloh. Kelly, a married woman attending Allen's church. Kelly first became acquainted with the charismatic Allen after seeing the changed life of a friend but soon found that Allen was very different from the character he displayed to the rest of the world. Kelly said that by their third meeting in 2001 he was asking her to grab her ankles and take a paddling and by 2005 her punishments escalated from paddling to the use of sex and physical threats of violence to both she and her minor children in an effort to manipulate and control her. "I was very scared," Kelly told reporters. "I was even scared in a way that I wouldn't even stop in the middle of that and really question him. I thought I deserved it." Allen has been suspended from all leadership positions and his church has filed bankruptcy. € Ruben Thankful Thompson 52-year-old Ruben Thankful Thompson of Waverly, Florida was arrested for five counts of incest. The charges stemmed from revelations made by Thompson's 32-year-old daughter who told police that she had been molested by her father since she was age 17. According to Lake Wales police detective Lynette Townsel, the then 32-year-old said she kept the secret of the abuse for 15 years because she was fearful, ashamed and did not believe that anyone would take her word over that of her father. Thompson, founder and pastor of Real People Church of God In Christ, was charged with five counts of incest for allegedly fathering his own grandchildren with his daughter. Some in the church recounted that there had been rumors for some time but that many disbelieved and dismissed the allegations. € Terry Hornbuckle "You have hurt me beyond belief," said one of Hornbuckle's victims. "My faith has been shattered. There are no words to describe what I go through every day. You have been my only pastor. You baptized me. You were my spiritual leader. You were the person who raped me. You took my virginity from me." Another of Hornbuckle's victims had this to say: "You should lower your head in shame. You preyed on people you were supposed to protect. You temporarily destroyed my life. You stole what little trust I had in people." This past September Hornbuckle was convicted of three counts of rape. Hornbuckle's wife Renee now shepherds what is left of the church ministries, which include a ministry to women and a day care. According to the Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence in Seattle, there are two categories of clergy sexual abusers - predators and wanderers. These abusers tend to have little sense of the damage their behavior causes, have little impulse control, are often charismatic and secretive, confusing sex with affection with little idea of just how much power they actually wield. And yet, the Black Church, despite the severity of this modern-day plague on its people remains largely silent with respect to a collective and definitive plan toward working to end clergy sexual abuse and sexual assault among its members. This was confirmed in a recent conversation with the Rev. Dr. Marie Fortune, Director of Faith Trust Institute. Fortune pointed out that much work has been done with various denominations toward empowering survivors and strengthening the faith response to the all too prevalent problem of clergy sexual abuse. Faith Trust Institute's National Declaration of Religious and Spiritual Leaders shows that more than 40 national religious leaders have signed a pledge indicating their acknowledgment of the severity of the problem of sexual abuse and their commitment to eradicate it. But, Fortune acknowledged, little has been accomplished across the religious isle when it comes to the response of the Black non-Catholic church toward taking an active role in the eradication of clergy sexual abuse. Protestants lag behind in handling of sexual assault allegations In the past 15 years more than $1 billion has been paid out in court and attorney fees and victim/survivor awards by United States Bishops to deal with the clergy sexual abuse convictions (http://biblia.com/christianity/clergy.htm#Cover) and recently the Sydney Herald reported that lawyers for more than 500 people who say they were sexually abused by members of the Catholic clergy have settled their claims against the Los Angeles Diocese for $760 million. But real figures for clergy sexual abuse in the Protestant church have been a bit more difficult to come by and are sketchier because Protestant churches, as opposed to their Catholic counterpart, tend to be less centralized and more independent, making reporting of sexual abuse by members of the clergy more difficult, the Associated Press reported.
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