Child Sexual Molestation by Protestant Clergy of Every Denomination 8/23/11 9:56 PM [ back to home page ] _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ WORCESTER, MA. A former pastor Andrew J. Bierkan, 54, at the First Congregational Church of Sutton who now heads a church in Ohio has been indicted here on charges of unnatural rape of a child and posing a child in a state of nudity. He is now pastor of St. Paul United Church of Christ in Cincinnati, according to Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte. (Worcester Telegram & Gazette, August 13, 2003) Ex-Sutton pastor charged with rape of girl from church _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ MINNEAPOLIS, MN-An organization calling itself SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) will file a lawsuit against an Episcopal priest who abused a California youngster years ago, and still serves in a parish today. David Clohessy, 46, a national director of SNAP told VIRTUOSITY that he could not name the priest pending the suit, but would release the name shortly. Clohessy did express one serious concern. "I fear that some 400 ex-Roman Catholic priests will surface in other denominations including the Episcopal Church." (Aug. 2, 2003) _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Eddie Thomas, pastor of St. Luke Baptist Church in Ringgold, LA., is arrested and charged with indecent behavior with a juvenile, aggravated incest and pornography involving a juvenile. (the Shreveport Times, July 17, 2003) Police seize videotape alleged to show sex with child _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ South Austrailia, AUS. A South Australian police task force into child sex abuse within the Anglican Church had identified 217 victims and 48 possible offenders, police said today. However the number of victims could rise to more than 400 as investigations continued, Police Commissioner Mal Hyde said. Mr Hyde today likened the scale of police investigations into child sex abuse to those for the infamous Snowtown bodies-in-the-barrels murders in 1999. (The Age, July 16 2003) Major sex abuse uncovered in Anglican Church _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Vicar Rev Robin Everett of Castle Donnington, Leics, is convicted of indecently assaulting two young girls. (UK Telegraph, June 7, 2003) Vicar faces prison for sex assaults _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Lake Wales, FL. The pastor at the Church of the Nazarene has been charged with sexually assaulting a male 17-year-old youth leader three times in 2001. The Rev. Gene Francis, 52, of Lake Wales, was arrested Tuesday and charged with unlawful sexual activity with a minor. (Sarasota Herald-Tribune, June 4, 2003) Lake Wales minister arrested in sexual assault case _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Tuscon, AZ. The Rev. David Valencia, 47, assistant pastor of a Pentecostal church is expected in court Wednesday on rape charges issued by Pennsylvania authorities. In Pennsylvania, Valencia was an assistant pastor at Christ Church at Grove Farm, an interdenominational church that uses Anglican liturgy. The pastor of Christ Church, the Rev. John Guest, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Valencia was dismissed in late 2001 because he was found to have pornography on an office computer after he was warned about a similar incident months earlier. (Tucson Citizen, May 31, 2003) Rev. David Valencia allegedly had sex with a 17-year-old girl he was counseling _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PORTLAND, OR. Church volunteer pleaded innocent to 26 counts of rape, sodomy and sex abuse. Derrick Mayberry was indicted by a grand jury on Tuesday and entered the plea on Wednesday. Mayberry, 23, was arrested May 15 on accusations of raping two teenage girls he met while volunteering at the New Beginnings Christian Center in northeast Portland. The victims were 13 and 15 years old. (KOIN TV, May 29, 2003) Church Worker, Coach Enters Plea In Sex Abuse Case Church volunteer, coach faces sex abuse charges _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Queensland, AUS. In the small town of Seymour, townspeople are shocked to learn that the late Anglican Fr. Sapsford molested dozens of alter http://reformation.com/CSA/allabuse.html Page 1 of 124 Child Sexual Molestation by Protestant Clergy of Every Denomination 8/23/11 9:56 PM boys while he was married with children, and after his serial molestation at another church was revealed in 1996. There are allegations by the parents of the victim boys that the Archbishop covered up the original allegations. The church is not compensating victims while they consult with legal counsel. Anglican Father Walliker says he is not shocked as he has seen this before in the Anglican Church. (ABC online, May 8, 2003) Cover-up left paedophile to prey on Vic altar boys _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ NEWARK, N.J. A convicted sex offender who was named pastor of a city church several weeks ago has been removed from the post. Shiloh Baptist Church leaders had hired the Rev. Chavalis T. Williams in mid-March, even though they knew he had pleaded guilty in Florida to charges of child abuse and using children in a sexual performance. (Newsday, May 7, 2003) Convicted sex offender removed as pastor of Newark church _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Unidentified clergyman in Norway defends himself by accusing boys of pestering him to provide pornography to them and pulling their pants down for him. Criminal defendants in Norway are not identified by name. (Nordlys, April 30, 2003) Clergyman says boredom led him to child porn _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ An associate pastor of a San Fernando Valley chapel was sentenced to 32 months in prison on Tuesday for failing to register as a sex offender. Ilger, a former second-grade teacher, was convicted in 1988 of molesting four students in his San Luis Obispo classroom. After being released from jail, Ilger and his family moved to Los Angeles, where he took a position with Hope Chapel of the Valley in Canoga Park. "We've lived and learned a painful lesson," the Rev. Jeff Fischer of Hope Chapel said outside court. Fischer has said he and about 30 church elders knew that Ilger had molested young girls before he was hired. Sentencing (Associated Press, April 3, 2003) _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Marty A. Hynes, 33, is charged with eight counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor, three counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor and one count of attempted criminal sexual contact of a minor. Hynes was a youth pastor at the First Assembly of God church when the alleged incidents occurred, between July and December 2001. (Las Cruces Sun-News, March 24, 2003) Trial of former youth pastor begins _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Milpitas, CA. A secretary to a LDS Bishop has admitted to sexually molesting four children, and will be sentenced to 14 years in prison. Craig Allen Harward, 54, pleaded guilty Monday to three counts of lewd and lascivious acts on children under the age of 14, and no contest to a fourth count of the same charge, Four of the case with the most convincing evidence involved four boys -- two of whom were 10, one 11 and another 13 years old at the time they were molested. (SAan Fransisco Chronicle, March 12, 2003) Child molester pleads guilty _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Visalia, CA -- A 38-year-old Visalia man who was a leader in a local Jehovah's Witness congregation may face up to 16 years in prison on charges of sexually molesting a 12-year-old congregation member. Louis Anguiano served until last year as an elder at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses at 5310 Caldwell Ave. He is accused of continuous sexual abuse, over a two-year period, of a girl who attended the same congregation. (The Fresno Bee, January 30, 2003) Visalian who was a Jehovah's Witness leader accused by girl, 12. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Tinley Park, IL. For the second time in two weeks, a Baptist pastor from New Lenox has been charged with molesting a child — and prosecutors said they are looking for more victims. Dennis Larry Shaw, 53, of the 2100 block of Sanford Drive, New Lenox, was charged Monday with aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a 16-year-old girl, according to the Will County state's attorney's office. On Jan. 31, Shaw was arrested on similar charges after a parishioner's 12-year-old daughter