UNITED STATES
Religion News Service
Boz Tchividjian | Jun 27, 2014
“We’re firm believers in the Bible, so if God’s forgiven you, then we’re in no position to treat you otherwise.”
These are the words of the interim pastor at New Gospel Outreach Church, shortly after learning that the senior pastor was arrested for sexually abusing a fourteen-year-old boy. What is so incredibly dreadful is that the senior pastor was a convicted sex offender when he was hired three years ago. What is so incredibly appalling is that the church knew that when they hired him! Yes, the folks at New Gospel Outreach Church knowingly hired a convicted sex offender as their pastor! This church just doesn’t get it.
At first glance, many who read this news story may dismiss it as an extreme situation and being thankful that their church would never do anything so horrific. Sure, most churches are not knowingly hiring convicted sex offenders to be pastors. That is good! However, churches and faith communities are increasingly faced with decisions related to sex offenders and disclosures of sexual abuse. My hope is that we can all learn from this church that just doesn’t get it. Here are just four lessons:
“The allegations were false”: At the time he was hired, the pastor informed the church of his past conviction and claimed the allegations were false. Despite the fact that a court of law found sufficient evidence to convict this man of a sexual offense against a child, the church preferred to believe his words. I have seldom encountered child sexual abusers who did not claim that the allegations made against them were false. I even prosecuted cases where the defendant gave a full confession to law enforcement as he maintained his innocence to friends and family. Anytime we are dealing with someone who has been prosecuted for sexually abusing a child, we don’t have the luxury to accept his or her words of denial. Here are some basic steps anyone can take to guard against being deceived:
* Review the court file. If a person has been prosecuted, the courthouse will have a file of their case that is available for review. Oftentimes, these court files contain critical information about the offender that he or she would prefer you never read.
* Speak with the investigator. Every child sexual abuse case is assigned a lead investigator who knows more about the case than anyone else. Though they may be limited in what they can share with you (though I have found that most are happy to tell you what they know), they will certainly be able to confirm or deny what the offender has told you about the allegations.
* Meet with the probation officer. If the offender is or has ever been on probation for the offense, a probation officer will have supervised them. This person will not only be very familiar with the facts of the criminal case, but they will be in the best position to give you a current assessment of the offender’s character and behavior.
It is time for our faith communities to stop placing greater value on the words of sex offenders than the bodies and souls of our children. This church just doesn’t get it.
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