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	Hudson-A Former Hudson Clergyman Has Been Charged with Unlawfully Fondling Another Member of the Clergy By Diane Valden The Independent August 10, 2007 http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18686960&BRD=248&PAG=461&dept_id=462341&rfi=6 The case is the second incident of charges of a sexual nature being filed against an area clergyman in recent months and may have opened up a larger discussion within the church community about the need for safe spiritual care. Arvin W. Schoep, 60, of Earlton, was charged with "forcible touch-ing of another's sexual/intimate parts" by Livingston State Police, August 4. Mr. Schoep was the pastor of the First Reformed Church at 52 Green Street from 1999 to April 29, 2006, when he was suspended from his pastoral duties in connection with a separate sexual misconduct matter, handled through the internal church disciplinary structure. The current charge stems from an incident on December 2, 2006 at about 6:30 p.m. on Columbia Street in Hudson during Winter Walk, when the Reverend Joanna C. Tipple, pastor at the Livingston Memorial Church in Linlithgo, alleges that Mr. Schoep hugged her inappropriately. The formal complaint charges that Mr. Schoep "intentionally, knowingly and unlawfully rub[bed] in an up and down motion the right breast of said complainant without her consent. Said action by the defendant did degrade said complainant. All contrary to the statute in such case made and provided." The charge is a class A misdemeanor. "A person is guilty of forcible touching when such person intentionally, and for no legitimate purpose, forcibly touches the sexual or other intimate parts of another person for the purpose of degrading or abusing such person; or for the purpose of gratifying the actor's sexual desire," according to the court information document. Rev. Tipple was acquainted with Mr. Schoep in her professional capacity. She served on a church appointed committee assigned to see to Mr. Schoep's pastoral care. In her statement to State Police Investigator Carmen Martino, Rev. Tipple said that Mr. Schoep "was holding me for a long time, it was longer than a quick friendly hug." She had on a heavy winter coat, but felt pressure to her right breast, which she described as a rubbing motion, which Mr. Schoep "was doing during the hug." Both Rev. Tipple's husband and Mr. Schoep's wife were present at the time, but Rev. Tipple told The Independent in a phone interview that neither could see or were aware of what she alleges transpired. In Mr. Schoep's statement to police, he said a sawhorse that was part of a barricade was between Rev. Tipple and himself, "but we spontaneously hugged across the barricade. We had hugged before. The hug was a bit awkward because Joanna did not turn to face me but kept her body perpendicular to mine. "I was not conscious at any time of touching her breast. With my wife at my side and her husband immediately behind her, touching her inappropriately is the last thing I would have thought of doing," Mr. Schoep said in his statement. Initially in shock over the incident, Rev. Tipple told her husband about the incident about two hours later and about a month later filed charges against him within the church. Of the delay, Rev. Tipple said Christmas was coming and as a pastor herself, there were many demands on her time and she didn't want to deal with it. At the internal church trial conducted by the Classis of Columbia-Greene, an official judicial body within the Reformed Church in America, conducted May 26, 12 people believed he was guilty as charged and 12 people believed he was not guilty. The deadlock did not result in Mr. Schoep's ordination credentials being revoked, as Rev. Tipple hoped, but rather maintained him on the indefinitely suspended status he had been since April 2006 after admitting to sexual misconduct with a woman member of his congregation. The suspension keeps him under church supervision, requires him to undergo counseling and to pay for his victim's counseling. "He is not just cut loose," said Gary Shaver, vice president of the First Reformed Church Consistory Board and a congregation member. The situation that resulted in their pastor's suspension came as a major "shock and blow to our church. We've been around since 1836 and never had anything like this happen," Mr. Shaver told The Independent. "The church has a new pastor now and we're moving forward," he said. Following the not-guilty ruling of the classis in her case, Rev. Tipple decided to take the matter to the State Police, recognizing that "we have consequences in our legal system." "The bottom line is what he did was illegal and reprehensible," she said, also voicing the hope that her pursuit of charges will put an end to his inappropriate behavior. "This is my person, my dignity, it is a big deal," she said. Michael Howard, Mr. Schoep's attorney, said last week that the church classis has a lower standard of proof than the public court system and has already found his client not guilty. Though Mr. Howard said he advised Mr. Schoep not to comment on the case, the attorney said his client denies these charges. Mr. Schoep is to appear in Hudson City Court on August 14 to answer the charge. In the aftermath of the arrest of the Reverend Raymond Ethier, the priest at the Saint John Vianney Catholic parish, charged with possession of child pornography May 30, the Reverend John Perry wrote a letter to the editor for the Hudson Interfaith Counsel, which appeared in the June 29 issue of The Independent. In it, he wrote that the Interfaith Council is "dedicated to ensuring that our various places of worship, and our communities, are places of safety for all God's people, and most especially for all children." Rev. Tipple responded in a letter that appeared July 24, in which she wrote, "We in the Protestant and other faiths have had far too many opportunities to point our fingers at our Catholic brothers and neglected to face out own sin. It is much easier to look elsewhere at the problems inherent in humanity than to take responsibility for own." In the published letter, she recounted events surrounding Mr. Schoep's suspension without naming him, charging that the Interfaith Council, of which Mr. Schoep was a member, ignored his conduct. "And in a show of support for the perpetrating pastor, there was one or two members of the Interfaith Council who spoke out on his behalf even suggesting that he could come preach in their congregations." Reached for his comments on Rev. Tipple's observations, Pastor Jack Wilder of St. John's Lutheran Church in Hudson, president of the council, responded by email, "I have consulted with other members of the Interfaith Council and they were also unaware that members of the Council are alleged to have supported the pastor in question in the way that Pr. Tipple describes. We believe that this particular allegation may be the result of a misunderstanding; at least one member of the Council invited the pastor in question to attend worship services at his congregation. That did not mean that he was inviting that pastor to preach or to act in any official capacity. We understand that the Columbia-Greene Classis did not bar this pastor from attending worship, although he has been barred from performing pastoral acts. "The Interfaith Council itself did not undertake to support the pastor in question in the manner described by Pr. Tipple. If any members of the Council did so they acted on their own without the backing of the Council. Therefore, I do not see that this situation necessarily casts a pall over the Interfaith Council." Pastor Wilder described the council as "a fellowship of local pastors and lay people." He said it does not have authority over its members and leaves matters of church discipline to the various "judicatories." The council, as a fellowship, continues to "pray for the pastor in question, as well as those who have been affected by any actions on his part." He said the council also sent pastoral letters to St. John Vianney Parish and Fr. Raymond Ethier and held a service of healing and reconciliation at St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Churchtown open to the community. In his e-mail, Pastor Wilder said the council held a training workshop July 12 on clergy sexual abuse. He said the council members would continue this type of training and have agreed as a council "to seek professional training led by a qualified member of the Samaritan Counseling Center in Albany." The council continues to discuss clergy abuse at its meetings, he said, adding, "A number of us have plans to address the issue from the pulpit." To contact Diane Valden, e-mail dvalden@IndeNews.com.
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