TEXAS
Radar Online
Posted on Apr 20, 2016
Joel Osteen and his Lakewood, Texas, megachurch continue to dominate the pop religion realm in America, with several bestselling books, a Sirius radio station, and arena events across the country. But do his legions of fans know what goes on behind closed church doors?
RadarOnline.com has learned that in 2010, Lakewood was at the center of a Child Protective Services investigation after a church volunteer was accused of “inappropriate” sexual conduct with a special needs child at the facility!
According to court documents obtained by Radar, Alvaro Daniel Guzman “was a volunteer in the special needs children’s ministry at Lakewood,” known as the Champions Club, in 2010.
On February 13, 2010, a fellow volunteer “allegedly witnessed [him] touching the child assigned to [him] in an inappropriate fashion.” The woman relayed her claims to her superiors, the documents state, and they “advised her that she should contact Child Protective Services and report to them what she had witnessed.”
Before long, “CPS began an investigation into the allegation,” and on February 17, “Lakewood staff met with [Guzman] and advised [him] he would no longer be allowed to serve as a volunteer because an allegation of inappropriate touching had been made against him.” On February 25, the documents state, Houston Police detectives “interviewed Lakewood staff regarding the alleged incident.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.