Patheos blog
Dec. 28, 2019
By Barry Duke
BACK in June we reported on the kinky behaviour of the Rev Jonathan Fletcher, above, a leading London evangelical who, among other things, would beat men on their bare butts with tennis shoes, and force them to give him naked massages.
When the goings-on at Fletcher’s Emmanuel Church in Wimbledon came to light in the summer, there were flurries of lurid headlines concerning allegations that he “spiritually abused” vulnerable adults. But then all went quiet until this week when it was reported that Fletcher, 77, who was banned from preaching at the church 2017, may now face a criminal investigation.
His alleged victims are seeking legal advice to see if his behaviour warrants criminal charges.
Emmanuel Church, they claim, did not take their concerns seriously, despite their reporting of the abuse. One victim said:
We don’t feel that we can go anywhere, basically. There’s no one high up that we trust.
An Emmanuel Church spokesperson said an independent review has been commissioned into safeguarding and Fletcher, with alleged victims, is encouraged to participate.
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