UNITED STATES
The Raw Story
Ex-youth pastor describes felony sex crimes as extramarital ‘friendship’ in Christian journal
By Travis Gettys
Friday, June 13, 2014
An online journal for Christian pastors published a lengthy account this week of one man’s “easy trip from youth minister to felon” that critics say makes apologies for rape.
Hundreds of Twitter users have urged Leadership Journal, which is published by Christianity Today, to #TakeDownThisPost.
Although the online journal has not removed the 2,540-word essay, it added a postscript that addresses the controversy.
“In response to readers’ concerns, the author of this piece has offered the following clarification: ‘I recognize that what I initially considered a consensual relationship was actually preying on a minor,’” the postscript added. “Youth pastors who do the same are not ‘in relationship’ but are indeed sexual predators. I take 100 percent of the responsibility for what happened.”
The piece is as noteworthy for what the writer does not say than for what he does say.
The writer, who pleaded guilty to two felony charges and is currently serving a prison term, does not use the word “rape” once in the piece.
He does not mention the words “crime,” “law,” “statutory,” or “illegal.”
“Leadership Journal allows a convicted child abuser a platform to manipulatively frame this as a story of personal selfishness and infidelity without one word about molestation, statutory rape, sexual grooming, or the abuse of power and children entrusted to the care of adults at a church,” writes blogger Susannah Paul, at The Smitten Word.
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