- Jun 30, 2015
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Police arrested an employee at my company on several charges related to lewd behavior and communication with a minor. In addition to working for my company, he also owned a local ice cream shop and was a foster parent.
I was processing his termination and going over the details of his arrest and kept thinking that his name sounded familiar.
I realized that a couple of months earlier, I was talking to a fellow Believer at work about trying out his church. He told me about a fellow employee that was also a member and a stellar example of a Christian saying how he and his wife had several foster kids over the years and how he volunteered with the youth group and was a local business owner as well.
I never met the guy (5100 employees) but did attend the church a few times. It wasn't a good fit for me so I stopped attending.
After I found out about the arrest, I talked to my Believer friend to confirm it was the same guy he was telling me about earlier. It was. He was absolutely shocked to find out what had happened and didn't believe that his friend of fifteen years did anything wrong. I have family and friends in local law enforcement and was told it was a pretty compelling case and the guy confessed. My friend is refusing to believe any of it and is staunchly defending him. I guess I can't blame him; he's known the guy for fifteen years. A lot of pedophiles and sexual offenders are very, very good at fooling people and appearing to be upstanding citizens.
They seem to be common in churches since Believers are quick to assume the best about people and in some cases even refuse to believe the truth even when presented to them.
My brother is a detective and worked a similar case a decade or so ago involving a man who was a younger good-looking guy that was a natural charmer. Problem was that he had a thing for teen girls and liked to get violent.
When my brother approached the pastor of the church the guy was attending, he refused to believe any of it and he and the elders rallied around the guy to the point of obstruction of justice. The guy ended up doing a little time, then got out and married a very young girl in the same church. A few years later they divorced after he was arrested again for domestic abuse. The church pastor still supports him, but several church members have told him he is not welcome there anymore.
This all came out when my brother and I visited a newer church in the area and he saw the guy after the service in the foyer laughing and joking with people. My brother got visibly upset and told me the whole thing over lunch that day.
Really no point to this thread other than to get it off my chest and remind people that the church has it's share of wolves lurking about and to be vigilant in reporting suspect behavior involving children.
I was processing his termination and going over the details of his arrest and kept thinking that his name sounded familiar.
I realized that a couple of months earlier, I was talking to a fellow Believer at work about trying out his church. He told me about a fellow employee that was also a member and a stellar example of a Christian saying how he and his wife had several foster kids over the years and how he volunteered with the youth group and was a local business owner as well.
I never met the guy (5100 employees) but did attend the church a few times. It wasn't a good fit for me so I stopped attending.
After I found out about the arrest, I talked to my Believer friend to confirm it was the same guy he was telling me about earlier. It was. He was absolutely shocked to find out what had happened and didn't believe that his friend of fifteen years did anything wrong. I have family and friends in local law enforcement and was told it was a pretty compelling case and the guy confessed. My friend is refusing to believe any of it and is staunchly defending him. I guess I can't blame him; he's known the guy for fifteen years. A lot of pedophiles and sexual offenders are very, very good at fooling people and appearing to be upstanding citizens.
They seem to be common in churches since Believers are quick to assume the best about people and in some cases even refuse to believe the truth even when presented to them.
My brother is a detective and worked a similar case a decade or so ago involving a man who was a younger good-looking guy that was a natural charmer. Problem was that he had a thing for teen girls and liked to get violent.
When my brother approached the pastor of the church the guy was attending, he refused to believe any of it and he and the elders rallied around the guy to the point of obstruction of justice. The guy ended up doing a little time, then got out and married a very young girl in the same church. A few years later they divorced after he was arrested again for domestic abuse. The church pastor still supports him, but several church members have told him he is not welcome there anymore.
This all came out when my brother and I visited a newer church in the area and he saw the guy after the service in the foyer laughing and joking with people. My brother got visibly upset and told me the whole thing over lunch that day.
Really no point to this thread other than to get it off my chest and remind people that the church has it's share of wolves lurking about and to be vigilant in reporting suspect behavior involving children.