MI Church Worship Director and Musical Performer at CPAC 2019 charged with 11 (now 33)felony counts incl. aggravated "child sexually abusive activity"

essentialsaltes · Wednesday at 2:53 PM

Michigan church youth director facing child sex charges receives new trial date

A former Washtenaw County church youth director facing 60 charges for child sex crimes was back in court Thursday for a pretrial conference.

The number of charges for Zachary Radcliff has kept growing since he was first charged with 11 counts related to criminal sexual conduct, child sexual abuse material and using a computer to commit a crime.

While Radcliff's case was already bound over to trial, attorneys agreed to postpone it from starting on March 9, 2026, to June 15, 2026.

Church leadership knew about alleged sexual abuse by youth pastor, lawsuits claim

Oakwood Baptist Church and its pastor Frank Radcliff, along with other members of the Radcliff family and church leadership, “perpetuated a culture of silence and protectionism” that allowed the youth pastor Zachary Radcliff to sexually abuse 11 children, two lawsuits filed in the Washtenaw County Circuit Court indicate.

The lawsuits, which name multiple members of the Radcliff family and the Oakwood Baptist Church, were filed in April 2025 and January 2026 by two different John Does who allege to be victims of Zachary Radcliff. MLive/The Ann Arbor News typically does not name victims of sexual abuse.

JacquelineDeane55 · Thursday at 7:48 AM

*Deep sigh* I'm sorry this kind of person got a job at a church of all places.

Thankfully there is no one like this at my church. Everyone I've met offline there all seems to be normal people. Even the teenagers, although they can sometimes be rowdy...but I think most young people are. It's normal behavior.

But now I am wondering this: Why didn't the leadership over there simply do a background check on this guy? I mean, isn't that what employers are supposed to do when hiring new employees? You made no mention of them doing anything of the sort. And if they didn't, well then, that's poor leadership on their part. It's being irresponsible.

And then something like this happened.

essentialsaltes · Thursday at 8:46 AM

JacquelineDeane55 said:
Thankfully there is no one like this at my church.

How can you be sure?

JacquelineDeane55 said:
But now I am wondering this: Why didn't the leadership over there simply do a background check on this guy?

Possibly they did, but as far as I know this is the guy's first legal trouble.

Possibly they didn't, since I think he's the son of the head pastor.

RileyG · Thursday at 3:47 PM

essentialsaltes said:
Any chance of getting back to the topic of the thread?

Yes. Let’s do.

Carry on!

RileyG · Thursday at 3:48 PM

essentialsaltes said:
How can you be sure?

Possibly they did, but as far as I know this is the guy's first legal trouble.

Possibly they didn't, since I think he's the son of the head pastor.

Unfortunately, predators are master manipulators. It makes my skin crawl to think how many there are that walk and live among us…

linux.poet · Sunday at 12:06 AM

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timewerx · Sunday at 1:32 AM

RocksInMyHead said:
Might I suggest doing a search for all of the threads @essentialsaltes has created related to sexual abuse? There are plenty that have no connection to religion.

Actually as Christian myself of more than 20 years, @essentialsaltes threads have connection to religion.

A pattern is emerging and it is strong. There are two models of faith within Christianity.

One dispenses with justice, the other one does not. The vast majority of Christianity is with the former and no wonder there many examples of Christians who doesn't feel accountable to their actions and is indifferent to injustice as they believe they'll go to heaven anyway.

And many Christians equate material prosperity with God's favor. So if they're doing well financially despite the continued corruption, God must be on their side or they're entitled to continue whatever they're doing even if it's wrong.

And there are two g(G)ods in Christianity. One is good, the other evil.

The good one says it doesn't fight for its kingdom (no wars, no genocides, no violence) while the evil one fights and wages wars for its kingdom, wins wars for those who obey him to this very day and causes so much destruction.

The majority of Christians support the evil one who causes so much destruction because they believe it will bring worldly prosperity to them.

So it's not suprising that many Christians still commit crimes, many that are really really bad. Because the doctrines they have chosen to believe does not make them accountable to their actions.

Free2bHeretical4Him! · Sunday at 1:33 AM

This podcast grew out of the victims need for safety from those she was exposing. It happened in my own home town church in Grand Island NY. I personally know many of the men, pastors, elders, deacons and attendees. Kate is a warrior the Lord has used to expose the wolves in sheep clothing. The richest of them recently lost his futile attempt to silence her by taking her to court over a defamation lawsuit. He lost, case dismissed. Although none have been arrested, I have zero doubt about the validity of Kate’s story. NONE!

The Ugly Truth About The Girl Next Door

www.theuglytruthaboutthegirlnextdoor.com

Landon Caeli · Sunday at 2:49 AM

timewerx said:
Actually as Christian myself of more than 20 years, @essentialsaltes threads have connection to religion.

A pattern is emerging and it is strong. There are two models of faith within Christianity.

One dispenses with justice, the other one does not. The vast majority of Christianity is with the former and no wonder there many examples of Christians who doesn't feel accountable to their actions and is indifferent to injustice as they believe they'll go to heaven anyway.

And many Christians equate material prosperity with God's favor. So if they're doing well financially despite the continued corruption, God must be on their side or they're entitled to continue whatever they're doing even if it's wrong.

And there are two g(G)ods in Christianity. One is good, the other evil.

The good one says it doesn't fight for its kingdom (no wars, no genocides, no violence) while the evil one fights and wages wars for its kingdom, wins wars for those who obey him to this very day and causes so much destruction.

The majority of Christians support the evil one who causes so much destruction because they believe it will bring worldly prosperity to them.

So it's not suprising that many Christians still commit crimes, many that are really really bad. Because the doctrines they have chosen to believe does not make them accountable to their actions.

The devil is viewed by no one as a god in Christianity... That's false.

Pommer · Sunday at 4:56 AM

Landon Caeli said:
The devil is viewed by no one as a god in Christianity... That's false.

He’s the Leader of “the Bad Guys”.
Yeah, “God” is pushing it.

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MI Church Worship Director and Musical Performer at CPAC 2019 charged with 11 (now 33)felony counts incl. aggravated "child sexually abusive activity"

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Michigan church youth director facing child sex charges receives new trial date

Church leadership knew about alleged sexual abuse by youth pastor, lawsuits claim

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