Sexual Criminals attending church

com7fy8 · Sep 22, 2018

FireDragon76 said:
Those guys at your church are likely not "untreated". If they are on parole, even an accusation could land them in jail. I seriously doubt you have to be worrying about those folks beyond simple common-sense precautions.

I am not saying this applies to the ones we have talked about here, but in my city a boy was alone in a library section with a known released offender; the librarian gave the ex a long look, then left them alone in the area while she was not far around the corner, I think the report said, and he raped the boy. So, I will not say that you can assume a child is safe because a predator knows he or she is being watched or someone is close-by.

I do think you can tell if a person has become saved, though, and if the person can be trusted. But predators can be very clever and know how to make use of opportunities. And they can be very desperate to do what they want . . . according to what I read in an American Medical Association reference book in a library, if I remember the source right.

It seems that not all are suffering in guilt. I have been told that there are pedophiles who have organized to seek the legal right to have children for their gratification.

And a reportedly recovered predator with a ministry says in prison it is not uncommon to have an inmate wrenching his guts in a treatment group, about how he has violated people; yet, when he is out, he can soon be back in for re-offending. And ones ministering and other inmates can be quite upset and frustrated.

So, I would say not to make some one-size-fits-all assumption about what is true about all predators and what methods are sure to work with all, or how to make sure where each one is at.

Willie T · Sep 25, 2018

com7fy8 said:
In the case of the RSO, the crime involves seeking a pleasure which the predator treasures, but a murderer, for example, might have committed the crime in order to protect his or her treasured pleasure.

So, it might be the murderer will not find reason to kill anyone else, if no one else is effectively messing with the murderer's treasure pleasure. Meanwhile, the reoffending predator is going after his or her treasure pleasure, which is still out there when the person gets out.

Nope, you have missed it entirely. In fact, you don't fully seem to know what a RSO is.

Willie T · Sep 25, 2018

eleos1954 said:
... how is a policy going to give you more protection than the law?

Are you seriously asking that question? Common sense "policies" are far more effective than a bunch of laws.

eleos1954 · Sep 26, 2018

Willie T said:
Are you seriously asking that question? Common sense "policies" are far more effective than a bunch of laws.

If "policy" is an actual security plan, then yes. A security plan put in place not only for additional awareness of "persons" inside the church but outside of the (church grounds) as well.

The suggestion given of talking with known offenders, ie asking them what "restrictions" they think should be put in place on themselves I do not agree with.

Mountainmanbob · Sep 26, 2018

Itwill Beglorious said:
I need advice...

Our church has a great recovery ministry that brings in a lot of "really bad" people. This is a good thing because Jesus came for everyone. However, the issue comes up that we have multiple sex offenders that attend the church (including one member that is related to a staff member, we also have at least a couple that were convicted of child sexual abuse). They have all "served their time" and are in compliance with their probation. We also have a number of people who lived lives of "questionable character" before committing their lives to Jesus. They came out of very bad drug situations, prison, etc.

I think it is absolutely wonderful that these people are now participating in church. I praise God for them. However, we also have a number of children in our church.

What can we do to protect children and how can we make sure the sex offenders are accountable? What boundaries should we create? We want to extend grace, but as we all know, one case of abuse can ruin a child's life and set them on a similar course. So we want to be very careful with this situation.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Ones that have been convicted of sexual crimes should never be alone with any children in the church and when possible should stay a certain distance from them.

Better keep an eye on those recovering drug addicts and alcoholics also. One that we know (a church treasurer) at a church we used to attend just returned to his sin and is now sitting in jail waiting to get sentenced on four felonies and two misdemeanors.

The church wishes to support them when these ones return to their using drugs or drinking alcohol but, they can be very dangerous and need to be carefully watched with much scrutiny.

M-Bob

com7fy8 · Sep 26, 2018

Willie T said:
you don't fully seem to know what a RSO is.

What I understand is that a RSO is a person who has been convicted for sexually violating another person, and this person is legally registered in order to warn people that he or she is potentially a dangerous person.

What do you mean?

WolfGate · Sep 26, 2018

eleos1954 said:
If "policy" is an actual security plan, then yes. A security plan put in place not only for additional awareness of "persons" inside the church but outside of the (church grounds) as well.

The suggestion given of talking with known offenders, ie asking them what "restrictions" they think should be put in place on themselves I do not agree with.

You missed the key part that the church has a set of non-negotiables which set the protective baseline and then the discussion is around additional accountability guidelines the offender feels could help. Part of knowing if someone is serious about their recovery is them taking accountability for their recovery and the restrictions that are part of that.

carp614 · Oct 9, 2018

Firstly, In my church there is a written policy with prohibitions against those convicted of various crimes from serving in an official ministry capacity at the church.

I hope this parallel will help: One could argue that a consequence of my being a recovering addict is that ministering to addicts makes more sense for me than ministering to teenagers. That doesn't mean I couldn't help teenagers, it just means there are ministries that make more sense and ministries that make less sense.

I think I can understand the desire of a truly repentant heart who wants to show the world they are not to be feared, but at least as a matter of policy, I cannot imagine a church willingly accepting that risk.

As a father of two daughters, if a zero risk environment were possible, that is where I would put them.

I'm just some dude that goes to church and tries to follow Jesus, so you know, grain of salt...

Itwill Beglorious · Oct 10, 2018

carp614 said:
I hope this parallel will help: One could argue that a consequence of my being a recovering addict is that ministering to addicts makes more sense for me than ministering to teenagers. That doesn't mean I couldn't help teenagers, it just means there are ministries that make more sense and ministries that make less sense.

I like that! Good example. Because of the path you took on your way to finding Jesus, you have a unique "in" that allows you to speak to the hearts of those in a similar situation to your own.

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Sexual Criminals attending church

com7fy8

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Willie T

St. Petersburg Vineyard

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Willie T

St. Petersburg Vineyard

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eleos1954

God is Love

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Mountainmanbob

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com7fy8

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WolfGate

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carp614

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Itwill Beglorious

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