James struck a deal in Feb. with the Madison Co. District Attorney's office to enter a diversion counseling program for 1st-time sexual offenders before the case came to trial.
Under the agreement, he is required to pay at least $1,000 of his own money for the program and the charges will be refiled against him if he does not complete the program. Source: Huntsville Times 2/25/97
The state medical board said in Feb. that Gary J. Baker posed "a clear and immediate danger" to public health and safety.
All 6 patients complained to the Eagle River Primary Care Clinic office manager.
One woman reported that Baker insisted she memorize a bible verse and swatted her on the buttocks when she did not.
In Jan., Baker and his wife, Joyce, won a federal complaint after they refused to rent to unmarried couples on religious grounds. Baker argued that he is a devout Christian who should not be forced to accept tenants whose lifestyle he disapproves of. Source: Fairbanks Daily Newsminer 2/23/97
Goldenberg pleaded not guilty in Dec. to 1 felony count of committing lewd and lascivious acts with a minor and 2 misdemeanor counts of annoying a child and posted $100,000 bail. In Jan. 4 other young girls came forward with similar claims. Source: San Francisco Chronicle 1/9/97
Deacon Makes Deal In Exorcism Case. Glendale Korean Presbyterian Church deacon Jin Hyun Choi, 47, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in Feb. in exchange for his testimony about the exorcism ritual death of a missionary.
Kyung Jae Chung died of internal injuries last July when Choi, the victim's husband and a visiting exorcist from China used their bare hands and feet to force the "evil spirits" from her body during a 6-hour ritual.
Choi faces only 3 years in prison if he testifies at his co-defendants' trial in March. Source: San Francisco Chronicle 2/24/97
Scout Leader Arrested For Molestation. Assistant Boy Scout troop leader Carlos Gutierrez Abarca, 44, was arrested Feb. 25 and charged with 19 felony counts, including continuous sexual abuse of a child, oral copulation and sodomy, after a series of allegations surfaced in Jan.
A former scout told Arcadia police that Gutierrez had molested him repeatedly for 8 years. Two more former scout members say they were also sexually abused by Gutierrez during troop outings or in his car.
The victims were 11-12 years old when the incidents reportedly began and continued in at least 1 case until last year. Source: Los Angeles Times 3/12/97
Pastor Accused Of Embezzlement. Roman Catholic priest William J. Ryan was removed from his pastoral duties in Jan. after pleading innocent to criminal charges of embezzling $76,000 from the Cathedral of the Annunciation. Trial is set for early April. Source: San Joaquin Valley News 1/31/97
The priest was sentenced to 6 months in prison and 20 years of probation.
The girl told police that she had sex with Cikovic at his Ft. Myers home, on cruise ships out of Miami and at motels in Charlotte, Orange and Dade counties. Source: Sarasota Herald Tribune 2/28/97
Pastor Booked For Kidnapping. Trinity Assembly of God church pastor Charles Evans, 45, was arrested in March and held without bail on charges of aggravated battery, aggravated assault and kidnapping after a dispute over money.
The pastor reportedly bound, kidnapped, pistol-whipped and threatened to kill a man after accusing the victim of stealing $3,000.
The 15-year veteran stepped down from the pulpit in Feb. when a videotape of Evans dancing, fondling and giving money to a Daytona Beach club stripper surfaced. Source: The Orlando Sentinel 3/11/97
Minister Caught Looking Up Skirt. A Tennessee minister was charged with disorderly conduct in March for reportedly videotaping up a saleswoman's skirt at a Panama City shopping mall.
Robert S. Coombs, 45, was arrested when shoppers alerted the saleswoman to a camera lens poking out of the minister's bag. Coombs was released from the Bay Co. Jail on $500 bail. Source: The Orlando Sentinel 3/17/97
Pastor Charged With Lewd Acts. Westview Baptist Church youth pastor and music director Tracy Lee Creech, 28, was arrested Feb. 6 at his Brandon home and charged with 3 counts of committing lewd and lascivious acts on a girl, 14, at the Tampa International Airport.
Creech reportedly engaged in sexual acts with the girl in Aug. in an airport parking lot.
The victim's mother became suspicious of the pastor and contacted authorities. Creech was released on $4,500 bail. Source: St. Petersburg Times 2/2/97
Internet Sex Sting Nets Priest. Sarasota priest Jeremiah Michael Spillane, 43, pleaded not guilty in Feb.--although police say he made a full admission when arrested--to charges of attempting to entice a child under the age of 16 to commit a lewd and lascivious act, and seduction of a child by computer.
The Incarnation Catholic Church priest and chaplain for the Cardinal Moody High School reportedly offered and arranged a sexual encounter at a Tampa hotel via computer with a Clearwater police detective who posed online as a 13 year old boy.
Spillane, a New York native and 21-year member of the Legionaries of Christ, arrived at the Clearwater gas station meeting point with condoms, lubricants and homosexual erotic magazines.
The priest was assigned to schools in Mexico, Spain and Rome before moving to Florida in '95. Sources: The News-Journal 2/12/97; Sarasota Herald-Tribune 3/27/97
Troubled Priests Banished. The Orlando Diocese banished 2 priests accused of sexual misconduct with boys in west Volusia parishes.
Bishop Norbert Dorsey announced in early Feb. that James M. Coyle, 40, and Oscar Salazar, 38, would never return to diocesan duties in the Orlando area.
Coyle is accused of sexually molesting as many as 7 boys during a 5-year span in the 1980s while at St. Peter's Church in DeLand.
A Deltona boy, 17, reported that Salazar groped him in Aug. and Sept. in the cleric's room at the Our Lady of the Lakes Church. Source: Orlando Sentinel 2/4/97
Priest To Get Plea Deal For Testimony. Odessa bait shop owner Joseph Mondeau, 36, was charged with extorting more than $200,000 from a Catholic priest between 1994-96 by threatening to expose their sexual relationship.
Rev. Simeon Gardner, 70, was charged with grand theft but is expected to get a plea deal for his testimony against Mondeau, whom the priest says approached him for money in '94 for overdue bills. Gardner told investigators that he and Mondeau had an affair for more than a year.
Mondeau reportedly demanded money from Gardner, threatening to expose the relationship with phone calls to the Diocese in St. Petersburg and with audio and videotapes of their sexual encounters.
The priest was released in Dec. on his own recognizance. Mondeau was released on $10,000 bail. No trial date had been set. Source: Tampa Tribune & Times 3/18/97
Buckley pleaded guilty in Jan. to 9 counts of sexual misconduct and 4 counts of criminal sexual abuse for engaging in a lengthy sexual relationship with the victim beginning in '94 at the Christ Community Church. Source: News-Sun 2/22-23/97
Missionary Worker Jailed For Stealing. A couple who operated the Missionary Literature Distributors, which sends free bibles and religious literature to needy people worldwide, was convicted in Oct. of stealing $25,000 from the organization.
Mark Strelow, 55, was sentenced in Feb. to 1 year of weekends in jail, 3 years of probation and fined $5,000. Betty Strelow, 64, was sentenced to 2 years of probation and fined $2,500. Source: Associated Press 2/12/97
Baptists Plead Guilty To Molestation. Two Lake Co. Baptist Temple workers in Waukegan pleaded guilty in March to 9 counts of sexual molestation for incidents involving a teenage female student.
James Kerr, 41, choir director/youth pastor, and Neil Taylor, 35, teacher at the school, both admitted they had sexual encounters with the girl in the school's hallways, computer room, a storage room, in vehicles in the school parking lot late at night and in the basement of Taylor's home between Dec. '95-July '96.
The victim and her father agreed to reduce the original charges of criminal sexual assault to attempted criminal sexual assault. The men face up to 7 years in prison.
The relationships were exposed when the victim showed letters she received from the men to another student who showed them to her mother. Copies of the letters were given to a Baptist pastor who contacted authorities. Source: News-Sun 3/6/97
Rudolph C. Berndt, 53, pleaded guilty to 1 count of filing a false income tax return in '90 and faces up to 3 years in federal prison without parole and a maximum fine of $250,000. He was released on bond until sentencing May 16. Source: Quad-City Times 2/22/97; Des Moines Sunday Register 2/23/97
Pastor Guilty Of Bigamy. Baton Rouge pastor Ernest Brownell, 61, pleaded guilty in Jan. to 1 charge of bigamy, a felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
Brownell, pastor of the True Christian Church and the Church of God, told a state district judge that he had thought his divorce from his 1st wife was final when he married for a 2nd time in Feb. '95. Although the judge informed the pastor that he was not guilty of bigamy if he honestly thought he was legally divorced from his 1st wife, Brownell entered a guilty plea anyway, stating he didn't have time to fight the case.
The pastor reportedly did not tell his 2nd wife about the 1st marriage and stated on their wedding certificate that he had never been married. Source: The Advocate 1/28/97
Records Unsealed In Sex Case. Case files which were sealed 10 years ago after Catholic priest Gilbert Gauthe was sentenced to prison for child molestation have been unsealed for use in another molestation case.
A Lafayette man filed a civil lawsuit in July '93 against Gauthe, the Catholic Church, the Diocese of Lafayette and its insurance companies stating Gauthe had molested him in 1978 at a motorcross event in Eunice when he was 8 years old.
In 1985 Gauthe pleaded guilty to 11 counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, aggravated crime against nature and pornography involving a juvenile. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but was released after only 10 years for good behavior. Over the years Gauthe has been accused of molesting 31 children at parishes in Vermilion and Iberia between 1974-83.
Families of 13 children Gauthe molested were paid a total of $5.5 million in out-of-court civil suit settlements. All case files, including the LaFayette man's files, were sealed until a district judge ordered them reopened in Feb. Source: Louisiana Saturday 3/8/97
Priest Arrested For Indecent Behavior. St. Joseph's Catholic associate pastor Mark Richard, 29, was arrested in Jan. after police found the priest parked on a dead-end road in Rayne at 1 a.m. with a boy, 14.
A sheriff's deputy approached the vehicle and noticed a condom by the car. The priest's and the boy's clothes were in disarray and neither were wearing shoes. Richard told the officer the boy had problems "and needed to talk." Source: The Advocate 1/15/97
Priest Sentenced For Molesting Boy. Roman Catholic priest James Finan, 64, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for molesting a boy at a Kensington church more than 30 years ago. The St. Nicholas Church pastor was arrested last year in Laurel after the victim, now 41, contacted police. Source: Washington Post 3/15/97
Llanos moved to Washington from California in '94 after 6 men reported that the priest had sexually abused them between 1973-90 at 5 parishes in the Long Beach and Los Angeles areas. More than 20 young men came forward with similar accusations. No criminal charges had been filed, but a civil suit was pending against Llanos.
The priest reportedly entered a psychiatric treatment facility for priests in Maryland after the Archdiocese of Los Angeles placed him on leave in '94. After treatment he began working at a Barnes & Noble bookstore and moved to a quiet residential neighborhood.
The priest's body was discovered by a housemate who did not know of Llanos' past, nor that he was a clergyman. He was lying on his bed, dressed in black, with a plastic bag over his head fastened by a rubber band and wearing headphones that played easy-listening music. Authorities said Llanos had taken cold syrup and sleeping pills.
Neighbors with small children contend they should have been alerted by the archdiocese of the sexual allegations against "Ted" Llanos. Source: San Francisco Chronicle 1/17/97
Geoghan has been accused by 28 people of molesting them as children at various Greater Boston parishes during his 31-year career.
One of the suits, involving 3 brothers who say they were abused in the early 1990s at St. Julia's in Weston, was settled last year with the Archdiocese of Boston for an undisclosed amount. Four other suits are pending. Source: Boston Globe 2/25/97
Men Accused Of Torture. Raynham brothers Karol and Harold Simonton are accused of forcing 2 mentally disabled men to beg on the streets of Boston and turn over the money by torturing them with hammers, sticks and scalding water.
Karol, an ordained minister, was arrested in in Feb. when police found a mentally disabled man, 59, soaking his badly injured leg in the bathtub at the Simonton home. The victim's nose was broken, there were wounds and bruises on his back, his skin had been scalded with boiling water and his body bore scars in the shape of a radiator.
The younger victim, 27, told New Hampshire police in mid-Feb. that he ran away because he was abused.
An arrest warrant was issued for Harold, 57, who was not at the Raynham home. Police suspect the brothers were stealing the older man's government aid checks and are investigating whether the victims, who lived at the Simonton home for 2 years, were sexually abused as well.
Police found 3 handguns, 2 shotguns, vice grips, 3-lb hammers, monkey wrenches and several sticks in the Simonton's home.
"These men were mentally challenged enough to be trusting," said Raynham Det. Sgt. David Bonaparte. "They were held captive. It was a sadistic, brutal inflicting of punishment." Source: Associated Press 2/21/97
The victim said he had repressed memories of the incidents at the Sacred Heart Seminary between 1972-81 until he underwent counseling in '92. Source: Oakland Press 3/4/97
Leo Shea, 69, was convicted of sexually abusing a boy, 14, while at the Immaculate Conception church in Troy and served half of his 3-6 year sentence when a Superior Court judge denied the priest's request for parole.
Prison officials noted that Shea "experienced minimal benefit from the program" and had "difficulty in recognizing offense patterns and in applying concepts to his offending." Source: Caledonia Record 2/12/97
The minister was arrested in Jan. when a computer repair technician notified police that he had found 30 pornographic images of children on Hess' home computer.
Hess pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of obscenity and is required to undergo counseling, forfeit his personal computer and not have any unsupervised contact with children under 17. Source: New York Times 3/6/97
Crack Pipe Smoking Priest Arrested. Just 3 weeks after he was hailed as a hero for fighting off 2 bandits, Chester LaRue, 54, was arrested at the St. John's Episcopal Church in Jan. on charges of criminal sale and possession of cocaine.
A robbery suspect fended off by the cleric told police there was a drug operation in the church. Undercover officers staked out the rectory and caught LaRue smoking a crack pipe while typing his Sunday sermon on a computer. Source: Associated Press 1/18/97
Worker Gets Probation For Theft. Former manager of the Brooklyn diocese's pension office, Vincenza Bologna, 53, admitted to stealing $1.2 million from a pension fund and was sentenced in Jan. to 5 years of probation, 1,000 hours of community service and ordered to repay $239,724. Bologna was earning $65,000 a year when her thefts were discovered. Source: The Advocate 2/14/97
Stolen Church Money Recovered. Huguenot Memorial Prebyterian Church bookkeeper Linda Hull, 45, pleaded guilty to 3rd-degree grand larceny and was sentenced in Jan. to 5 years of probation, 500 hours community service and an $800-a-month restitution schedule to Pelham Manor church for the theft of nearly $50,000. Source: Norwich Bulletin 1/18/97
The pastor was arrested by police after a foot chase and admitted exposing himself to the women. He pleaded guilty to charges of burglary, criminal trespassing, attempted burglary, indecent exposure, open lewdness and 4 counts of harassment and stalking, stemming from separate actions last year. Bail was set at $50,000. Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 1/7/97
Deacon Accused Of Raping Boy. House of God Pentecostal Church deacon Wayne Colson, 45, was charged in Feb. with raping a mildly retarded teen boy.
Colson, arraigned on charges of rape, statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual assault and related offenses, was released after posting only 10% of his $25,000 bail.
The deacon reportedly had sex with the boy, 14, on 2 occasions--once at his cleaning business in Dec. and in the church office on Feb. 17. The church incident was reportedly witnessed by another boy.
Both boys were foster children staying with a congregation member.
"He feels secure, and then he is violated..." said Norristown Police Cpl. Willie Richet. "How devastating can that be to a young child?"
Colson was given probation in 1984 for assaulting his wife's niece, 13, and a 16 year old girl. Source: Philadelphia Inquirer 2/28/97
Connolly was charged with 1 count and of indecency with a child by sexual conduct was held at the Tarrant Co. jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.
A therapist notified police that Connolly told him he had fondled the daughter of a friend he was living with.
Connolly reportedly admitted to detectives that he has fondled 20-50 Texas children and has exposed himself to numerous children.
Police Sgt. Fred Pendergraf said Connolly reportedly would pull up next to school buses and masturbate in front of the children.
Last spring, the pastor resigned after he was accused of exposing himself to a church member's child. No charges were filed in that incident. Sources: San Antonio Express-News 3/1/97; Dallas Morning News 2/28/97
Cleric Ordered To Pay For Misconduct. A Ft. Worth jury ruled in Jan. that 7 women and a husband should receive $3.7 million for sexual misconduct of defrocked First United Methodist Church pastor Barry Bailey, 70.
Three women testified that they had sex with Bailey, and 5 said he fondled them, made lewd comments, and harassed them with late night telephone calls. The man claims his marriage was ruined by Bailey's insistent relationship with his wife.
Bailey denies any wrongdoing, but jurors found he inflicted emotional distress on the women, invaded their privacy, exploited a counseling relationship and defamed the women by calling them liars.
One victim, who had a 10-year affair with the pastor after approaching him for help with an eating disorder when she was 16, received most of the award, a little more than $1 million. Sources: South Bend Tribune 1/19/97; New York Times 1/19/97
Pond resigned from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the Trinity Broadcasting Network Station in West Valley City in Nov. Source: Arizona Republic 2/4/97
Seidler reportedly used school-related activities to meet the 3 girls between Dec. 16-Jan. 8 at the school, a Fairfax Co. home and in the parking lot of the Government Center.
Siedler was hired at the academy 18 months prior and had a clean record. He was held on $25,000 bond. Sources: Fairfax Journal 1/22/97; Washington Post 1/22/97
Jeff Smith, 58, TV's "Frugal Gourmet" and an ordained Methodist minister, denied claims that he used alcohol, threats and physical force to have sex with the teen in 1976. The victim was a high school student enrolled in a vocational education program at Smith's Tacoma restaurant and catering business.
The victim, now 36, filed a civil lawsuit against Smith seeking unspecified damages, stating he became suicidal and has mental and emotional problems as a result of Smith's sexual misconduct. Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 1/25/97
Sharlow was given a reduced charge of 4th-degree sexual assault in a plea bargain which dropped 6 other charges of sexual assault, 2 of which were felonies.
Sharlow was ordered to pay restitution to the victims and not to practice healing rituals on women. Tribal leaders question Sharlow's claim of being a medicine man since sexual touching is not a part of American Indian ceremonies. Source: Associated Press 2/1/97
The priest who cannot be named under Queensland law until after the committal process, was charged with 17 counts of indecent dealing, 6 counts of indecent assault and 2 counts each of attempted indecent dealing and aggravated assault for incidents involving boys 13-17 years old from 1963-78 in various places in southeast Queensland. The cleric was released on bail until sentencing in April. Source: The Australian (Melbourne) 2/20/97
At least 12 women are reportedly preparing to file statements against the lay order regarding the physical and emotional abuse they suffered. Some instances reportedly involved sexual abuse, but no criminal charges have been filed involving the orphanage. Source: Leader Post 1/29/97
Bible Study Peer Accused of Murder. Accused killer Steve Bugden, 24, of Nepean, has been charged in an Ottawa court with 1st-degree murder of a Carlton University student he had known through a bible study group.
The partially clothed body of Angles Tong was found stuffed in a hockey equipment bag in a snowbank behind the Embassy West Hotel in mid-March. She had been stabbed several times in the back. It is not yet known if she had been sexually assaulted.
Bugden and Tong were acquaintances through a Christian group that met twice a week to discuss scripture and pray. Source: Penticton Herald (B.C.) 3/18/97
Church Appeals Molest Award. The Catholic Church and former Bishop Emmett Doyle, of Nelson, filed an appeal in Feb. of a $210,000 judgment awarded to a former altar boy who was reportedly sexually assaulted by priest Paul Pornbacher, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay $20,000 in damages.
The church claims Pornbacher was not an employee and his acts did not occur under his terms of employment. Source: The Province (Vancouver) 2/9/97
The men claim Maciel, the founder of the international Legionaries of Christ, molested them in Spain and Italy when they were boys and young men training to be priests during the 1940s, 50s and 60s.
Several said Maciel told them he had permission from Pope Pius XII to seek them out sexually for relief of physical pain.
The men have not filed legal action or sought financial compensation from the lay order or the Catholic Church. Victims say they are coming forward now because Pope John Paul II has not responded to letters seeking an investigation from 2 priests in 1978 and 1989. In '94, Maciel was praised by the Pope as an "efficacious guide to youth." Sources: San Jose Mercury News Service 2/24/97; San Antonio Express News 2/24/97
Archbishop Accused Of Fraud. A rare criminal trial against Sicilian Archbishop Salvatore Cassisa, 75, began in late Feb. Cassisa is accused of defrauding the European Community and taking a kickback for renovation work on the Monrale Cathedral, just outside of Palermo.
Cassisa reportedly accepted a $2,500 bribe from a building contractor in exchange for a work contract on the cathedral and is accused of inflating the church vineyard's size to receive a $450,000 EU community subsidy. Source: Associated Press 2/26/97