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Prosecutor: Pastor's touching was not criminal

By Nicole Hayden
Times Herald (Port HurMI)
August 30, 2017

http://www.thetimesherald.com/story/news/local/2017/08/30/prosecutor-pastors-touching-not-criminal/616888001/

A pastor accused of sexually assaulting a young woman will not face prosecution because the woman doesn’t fall under any classes of victims as outlined by state law, officials said Wednesday.

Pastor Mitch Olson, of Grace Ministry Center in Smiths Creek, was being investigated after the 20-year-old woman filed a police report in June alleging that Olson sexually assaulted her while performing a religious act. The Times Herald does not publish names of sexual assault victims. At the start of August, the St. Clair County Sheriff Department submitted the case to the prosecutor for review seeking a criminal sexual conduct charge.

The prosecutor concluded no criminal activity occurred.

“The conduct of suspect Mitchell Olson directed towards 19 year old Victim was morally reprehensible. The Grace Ministry Center head pastor’s conduct appears to be highly questionably and not religious in nature. It also appears to have violated the standards of the church. However, based on the information and law cited above, this conduct despite being immoral is not illegal according to Michigan criminal law. For these reasons we are unable to prosecute this case,” said Senior Assistant Prosecutor Paul Soderberg in the case review released Wednesday morning.

The woman told the Times Herald that she was heartbroken by the decision.

“It’s frustrating to know that it did happen but that Michigan law can’t protect me,” she said. “It’s very frustrating. I think if Michigan law was different he would be prosecuted … it’s frustrating that he can continue to do to other women what he did to me … I have learned through this experience that sexual assault is so minimized and that it’s easier for people to brush it under the rug rather than take action.”

Olson declined to comment Wednesday afternoon.

The alleged assault

In July 2016, the woman approached Olson seeking counseling on how to strengthen her relationship with God. Olson suggested she be anointed, a religious ceremony involving crowning the subject with oil. According to the police report, Olson stated that he did not have anointing oil at the church, but could perform the ceremony at a later time. Around 9 p.m. that same day, Olson texted the woman asking for her address. Olson then stopped by her Port Huron apartment, where she lived alone. He asked her if she wanted to do the anointing ceremony then and she agreed.

“Olson directed victim to remove her sweater and began the 'religious' process. During the actual anointing process, Olson asked victim if he could place his hands down her shirt on her breasts and she consented. Olson later asked if he could place his hands on her butt down inside her leggings, and she reluctantly consented. Olson then later asked if he could place his hands down the front of her vagina under her pants, and she reluctantly consented. Each time, victim trusted that Olson knew best,” according to the prosecutor’s case review. The victim believed Olson had to carry out the ceremony as he did before God would forgive her for her sins.

After the ceremony, the woman told her mother what happened. Her mother told her the ceremony was conducted inappropriately. The woman felt violated and reported the incident to the church. She and her family were not satisfied with the church’s actions and eventually decided to file a police report.

Why it’s not criminal

The prosecutor’s case review does not argue if Olson committed the alleged acts or not, but states that the allegations are not criminal according to Michigan law.

“In reaching this conclusion, the People thoroughly reviewed the evidence presented in the sheriff department’s criminal investigation. It included the multiple disclosures and statements made by victim, which were consistent and reliable … The review also considered the statements of suspect Olson, who appeared to minimize his actions and while also deflecting away from the issue at stake,” said the prosecutor’s review.

To be a criminal act in Michigan, the victim either had to fall under a special class of victims or there had to be proof beyond a reasonable doubt that there was force or coercion involved in the alleged sexual assault.

The special class of victims includes children under the age of 16, incapacitated victims, family members, students of a certain age, special education students, persons in foster care, clients of mental health professionals, prisoners, and patients of medical doctors, among others.

“In contrast, there currently are no laws in Michigan that specifically list or protect members of a religious organization as ‘status’ victims against sexual contact by religious leaders, authorities, or pastors, etc,” according to the prosecutor’s review.

But while Olson may have manipulated the victim to consent to his touches, the actions were deemed consensual and not criminal by the prosecutor as there was no force, violence or threat of injury.

“It should be noted that a knowing consent to the touching is a valid defense to this (criminal sexual conduct) charge,” said the prosecutor’s case review.

David Moran, University of Michigan clinical law professor and co-founder of the Michigan Innocence Clinic, said consent is generally a fair defense to all criminal sexual assault charges.

If a victim knows the sexual conduct is happening, even if they are tricked into it, it’s hard to criminalize the action, Moran said.

“If a guy at the bar says I am a second cousin of (the president) and can get you a job in the government if you sleep with me, but it turns out he actually is not related, is that rape?” Moran said. “It’s very hard to draw the line between the different types of lies people use to get sex … everyone can agree it is unethical for a pastor to take advantage of a member of his flock, but it’s hard to draw the line if it’s criminal … It is innocence in a legal sense.”

Moran said often times sexual harassment lawsuits in civil court are available in cases where it is impossible to charge someone with a criminal sexual conduct charge.

Other states

While Michigan law does not state that it is illegal for clergy members to engage in sexual activity with church members, other states have amended their laws to include that language. Other states have also amended their laws to say that consent is not a defense in certain criminal sexual assault cases.

Wesley Skoglund, now retired, was the Minnesota House of Representatives judiciary committee chairman when the state passed a law making it illegal for a person in the clergy to have any sexual contact with a church member they were counseling. Skoglund said many people seek counseling from a pastor rather than a psychologist, so the relationships should be regarded the same.

Minnesota was one of the first states to amend their criminal sexual conduct law to include the word “clergy” in the early 1990s. Other states eventually followed suit, such as Texas, New Mexico and Arkansas, among many others.

“We said you don’t do it, period,” Skoglund said. “When in treatment, people are in vulnerable situations. We said consent can’t be used as a defense. The minister can’t say she consented to it.”

It was acknowledged that clergy in counseling roles have more power than a typical counselor or psychologist because clergy are also connecting parishioners to God, said Gary Schoener, a psychologist in Minnesota that consulted on the legislation changes in the early 1990s. Since then, Schoener has also provided testimony for other states looking to similarly update their criminal sexual assault laws in regard to clergy members.

In the St. Clair County Sheriff police report Olson does state that he and the woman had a counselor-counselee relationship.

Schoener said while churches may have ethics codes, none are sufficient at getting rid of the problem of clergy members taking advantage of those vulnerable subjects they are counseling. Schoener said he believes if a pastor fools a counselee into agreeing to a sexual act that is not consent, even if there was no physical force or threat of injury involved. He said the only way to hold those people of power accountable is to criminalize the action.

“It is a very serious problem,” he said. “I have interviewed over 1,000 victims over the years and it has a very serious mental health impact. It’s incredibly confusing for victims who struggle with understanding what happened. They become very troubled and very confused and sometimes that can last for years. It can lead to depression and loss of self-esteem and sometimes results in suicide.”

In the St. Clair County Sheriff police report, the mother of the woman stated that her daughter has since started attending counseling and has made two suicide attempts in the process of trying to recover from the trauma.

Schoener said he believes Michigan legislatures should consider updating the criminal sexual conduct laws to include the word “clergy.”

“The nature of laws are that the legislature does their best to foresee circumstances that might challenge the language,” he said. “But when something goes wrong, you fix that law. That’s how our system works. Unfortunately, things have to go wrong sometimes to force people to wake up and understand why other states have laws the way they are.”

Grace Ministry Center board members Gordon Farnsworth, Joseph Forth, Dave Frazier, and Lewis Hurley declined to comment for the story. We could not reach board members Caremy Snellenberger, Bev Wilson, Tim Holcomb or Hannah Herr. Some of the board members have since resigned, according to the police report. Former Assistant Pastor Justin Mcburney declined to comment and has since resigned from his position.

Contact: nhayden@gannett.com




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