UNITED STATES
Watch Keep
A comparison of responses to allegations of child sex abuse- Prestonwood Baptist Church and Morrison Heights Baptist vs. Believers Church: image over child protection
AUBURN, AL (WTVM)
A longtime associate pastor at Believers Church in Auburn has been arrested on child sex abuse charges.
His arrest in May got him kicked out of the church where he had been for 30 years. Lee County Sheriff’s detectives say the two adult victims came forward in April to report they were abused in the early 1990’s.
Every Sunday, for nearly 30 years at Believers Church on Moore’s Mill Road, 53-year-old John Sluder, an associate pastor, would play guitar during services.
“People have shed tears because of what he appeared to be, a gentle old man. So yes, we were very shocked,” said attorney Ben Hand. …
Tears for the victims. Anger at the perpetrator. This is a refreshing response from a church who gets it. It’s not about them. It’s about the kids harmed by one of their own. But they don’t protect their own image and shun and silence these kids, now adults, who though it took a long time, bravely came forward to report the harm done to them. Kids will be safer now, and other possible victims of Sluder will know they are not alone and perhaps have the courage to come forward as well, begin to heal and protect others.
Prestonwood Baptist Church, where are the tears for the victims? Where is the anger at one of your own former ministers, John Langworthy, who confessed publicly to sexually abusing kids at your church? The only public anger we have seen from Prestonwood staff is at those who have dared to ask simple questions of the executive staff like why Langworthy wasn’t reported to police in 1989?
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