Lord have mercy! ...Pastors accused of abusing 12-year-old - Alleged victim vow to fight for justice

The Star
January 24, 2017

http://jamaica-star.com/article/news/20170124/lord-have-mercy-pastors-accused-abusing-12-year-old-alleged-victim-vow-fight

Rev. Dr. Paul Gardner has been charged with carnal abuse.

As far back as 2002, Pastor Jermaine Gibson had sexual relation with a young woman who was 12 years old at the time, the police Corporate Communications Unit alleged yesterday.
The communication arm of the police force said that two years after Gibson allegedly abused the teen, another pastor, Paul Gardner, allegedly had sexual relations with her.
Following investigations by detectives from the Centre for Sexual Offences and Child Abuse, both pastors were yesterday charged with carnal abuse.
The alleged victim, Stacy*, has welcomed the latest development.
“I am happy that they have both been charged and my resolve to see it through is even greater, especially given their insistence on saying the charges are unfounded as per the statement issued by their lawyer,” Stacy told THE STAR.
“I know that it will not be an easy journey, but I am prepared to travel to the end. Whatever the result ... . I am grateful for an opportunity to put that on the record,” the alleged victim added.
Gardner and Gibson are booked to appear in the Manchester Parish Court next week.

ALLEGATIONS OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT
Gardner quit as president of the Moravian Church in Jamaica and The Cayman Islands earlier this month amid allegations of sexual misconduct within the organisation. Gibson, who was his deputy, also resigned.
Lambert Johnson who is representing Gardner and Gibson, has dismissed the allegations against his clients as “vile and malicious”.
The foundation of the Moravian Church has been shaken by recent allegations of sexual misconduct by its leaders.
Rupert Clarke, 64, another Moravian minister, is currently before the courts for alleged sexual misconduct. He has been charged with having sex with a 15-year-old girl.
Following the charging of Clarke, a woman wrote to the leadership of the Moravian Church, claiming that she had been abused by two ministers of the church. She said that the incidents happened in Manchester.

“I remember the light-blue bra that I was wearing. I remember the way his body moved against me and I remember my silence. And then he stopped ... ,” she wrote.
“ ... He offered to take me home and I went into his vehicle that was parked close to the manse. We sat in the car for a moment with no words between us until again he started fondling me, and before I knew it, he was in the passenger side with me. I felt his erection. He undressed me, and shortly thereafter he penetrated me.
“I never consented, but in my shocked state, I never resisted, I cooperated. When he faced me, he realised my face was wet with tears. He immediately stopped and then begged me to forgive him. He said he didn’t know what came over him, that he couldn’t believe I was 15. He drove me home. I answered with the words, ‘Don’t worry, I won’t tell your wife’.”
*Name changed