ARKANSAS
The Daily Beast
Suzi Parker
Bill Gothard’s evangelical teachings found fans in Mike Huckabee and the Duggars, but he and another pastor allegedly used by them to take advantage of women.
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas prison chaplain Kenneth L. Dewitt was charged last week with 50 counts of third-degree sexual assault for allegedly pressuring three inmates at a women’s state prison into providing him sexual favors.
Dewitt based his prison classes on the teachings of Bill Gothard, an influential evangelical minister who is also accused of sexually harassing as many as 30 women under his influence. Gothard has deep ties to former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who opened prisons to his teachings, and the Duggar family, who sent their son Josh to be counseled under a Gothard program after he molested two of his sisters.
Gothard, who received a degree in biblical studies from Wheaton College, became popular in the 1970s with a program called Basic Youth Conflicts, which focused on seven life principles based on the Bible. In 1989, he changed the name of the program, which by now had become a profitable business, to Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), based in Oak-Brook, Illinois. Over the years, Gothard also created many spin-off ministries and businesses including the Advanced Training Institute (ATI), a popular Christian-based homeschooling program that the Duggars use and promote. In fact, Josh met his wife, Anna, during the Duggars’ annual trip to the ATI conference, and family members appeared at the IBLP conference this year.
The ultra-conservative ministries also include programs on anger control, financial management, prison rehabilitation, and marriage counseling. (Gothard has never married.)
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