The Province
April 16, 2010
http://www.theprovince.com/news/Church+aide+jailed+abuse/2914155/story.html
 |
| Chad Mossing, 42, was a volunteer with the New Heights Church and took youth on sports excursions. Above, the church's small storefront office in Mission. Photo by Bill Keay, PNG |
A man who posed as a church leader and "mentor" to Fraser Valley youth has been sentenced to seven years in jail for his massive "betrayal" of trust.
Chad Blaine Mossing, 42, was sentenced this week in Abbotsford by B.C. Provincial Court Judge Kenneth Skilnick to seven years in jail but will serve five years and a month because he has been in custody since April 25, 2009.
Mossing pleaded guilty to 11 of 22 counts of sexual offences committed against eight victims under 16, "all but one [of whom] were male and all were young persons with whom the accused occupied and abused a position of trust," said Judge Kenneth Skilnick in his written reasons for sentencing.
Mossing also won the parents' trust "that he would keep their child safe and that he would not injure them either physically or emotionally," the judge wrote. "In each case, he betrayed that trust."
The abuse occurred from about 1998 to 2008, and ranged from cases of "wandering hands" by Mossing during sleepovers to a "most severely victimized" young boy who suffered invasive sexual assaults lasting up to "several hours."
One of the most vile aspects of Mossing's pedophilia was his violation of the children's spiritual beliefs which the judge said "he damaged [for] his own perverse gratification . . . perhaps irreparably in some cases."
The judge wrote that one father said in a victim impact statement that "the accused would manipulate the children, making blasphemous comparisons between his interactions with children to those of Christ."
A mother's victim impact statement to Mossing said: "You stole my child's youth, his education, his safety, his trust, his security. You taught [children] to trust in Christ and then you betrayed them. You counselled them to practise abstinence and then you sexually assaulted them.
"You have shattered our faith."
Crown counsel Wendy van Tongeren Harvey and Pastor Greg Elford of the New Heights Church in Mission note that in this case -- unlike some churches' past tolerance of pedophilia -- the community did the right thing.
"This is where we are in 2010, where we can identify these issues so the abuse doesn't go on for decades," said van Tongeren Harvey.
Mossing worked as a volunteer with the church and took youth on sports excursions.
The judge paid tribute to the "courageous and exemplary young persons" who came forward and co-operated with police and prosecutors.
"Despite the intense emotional pain that doing so has caused them, they have stopped a serial pedophile and have saved untold numbers of young persons from being victimized," said Skilnick.
Elford said when the first parent came forward to him with his son's disclosure about Mossing, he called the RCMP. Then he made the painful decision to notify the friends, parents and youth who might have been victimized.
"When I was made aware of allegations of abuse, I turned the matter over to the authorities to investigate and I worked to ensure that the appropriate pastoral care was to be available to the victims, their families and friends," said Elford.
That was in keeping with the tenets of the Free Methodist Church of Canada, a Protestant evangelist group to which the New Heights Community Church belongs.
The FMC, whose bishop is Keith Elford, Greg Elford's father, said in a statement it was "encouraged" that the Mission congregation followed policy, which calls for zero tolerance of child abuse within the church.
New Heights is a "community" church which holds meetings in large public theatres and parks, sponsors a mission to Thailand and has a small storefront office in Mission, where it holds gatherings.
But the scope of Mossing's betrayal extended far into the lives of people he befriended in more than one Fraser Valley church, and through teen hangouts, such as skateboard parks or snowboard sites.
Abbotsford businessman David Faulkner, a former New Heights Community Church member and father of four adult children (none of whom were victimized by Mossing), said he had known Mossing for about 10 years when the abuse allegations surfaced.
"It just blew us all out of the water," said Faulkner, who said Mossing tried to ingratiate himself by relating to youth "on their level and being a pal. Oh my Lord, I've never been so shocked by anyone or anything in my life."
Faulkner said he has not lost his Christian faith, nor have his children.
"Pastor Elford absolutely did the right thing in this case by going forward to the police and to the congregation, and we all support those brave young people for their disclosure," said Faullkner.
Contact: sfournier@theprovince.com
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.