http://thewartburgwatch.com/2013/04/01/will-the-gospel-coalition-continue-to-laud-mahaneysgm-amid-allegations-of-abuse/
Will The Gospel Coalition Continue to Laud Mahaney/SGM Amid Allegations of Abuse?
"He heals the brokenhearted
And binds up their wounds."
And binds up their wounds."
As you may know, Sovereign Grace Ministries, et al has filed seven motions seeking dismissal of a lawsuit. Gleanings, a Christianity Today website, recently reported:
"SGM asked a Maryland court to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that "courts can’t get involved in the internal affairs of church business" (Associated Press paraphrase) and that the allegations against it are too vague. CT reported on SGM's First Amendment defense in January, noting how legal observers question whether clergy-penitent privilege applies in this situation."Last week (March 27, 2013), the plaintiffs' attorneys filed a response to the request for dismissal called Plaintiffs' Opposition to Defendants' Motions Alleging Pleading Failure.
We have read this document and found the following statements to be of great interest:
"Defendants seek to evade accountability and hide the truth about their egregious wrongdoing". (page 1)We will continue to follow this lawsuit and keep you apprised of any developments.
"Defendants quibble that that the FAC (First Amended Complaint) does not identify the precise amount of damages sought, but the Plaintiffs' Hearing Statement made it quite clear that expert witnesses are quantifying the compensatory damages. The Statement also made it clear that punitive damages attributable to the class action are approximately $50 million. (page 4)
"Defendants continue to conspire to prevent secular authorities from detecting and incarcerating predators,,," (page 11)
"Defendants simply have not stopped their conspiratorial efforts to encourage and facilitate sexual and the sexual and physical abuse of children, and to prevent past sexual and physical from being detected by law enforcement" (page 12)
"As alleged in the FAC, Defendants continue to permit known predators to have direct contact and continual access to children without providing any warning to parents" (page 12)
"Defendants continue to hide facts about predators from law enforcement" (page 12)
We find it most interesting that just as serious charges are being leveled at Sovereign Grace Ministries, et al, there in a growing outcry against abuse, especially when it involves children. First there were the pedophile priests in the Catholic Church. Then there was the Sandusky scandal, which drew international attention. With each new report of child abuse, sexual or otherwise, we believe the chorus of those who are outraged grows stronger.
Just 12 days ago Jack Schaap was sentenced to 12 years in prison for having sex with a 17-year-old-girl who attended his church (link).
And last week John and Charica Daugherty, son and daughter-in-law of the senior pastor of Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, pleaded no contest for failing to report the rape of a 13-year-old-girl for two weeks. (link)
The Daughertys were headed for a jury trial, but they pleaded no contest (meaning they did not contest the evidence the state had against them) with each receiving a five year suspended sentence.
According to the TulsaWorld (see link above), the judge said:
"I would convict them, but the (maximum sentence) is a year, and I want to hold the hammer over your head for longer."Here is an interesting excerpt from that TulsaWorld article:
"Hiddle gave the Daughertys a choice of a conviction with the same 30-day jail sentence currently being served by two other staff members or the five-year deferred sentence, which is not a conviction.It is definitely worth noting that before the judge ruled in this case, the Tulsa County Assistant District Attorney argued that the Daughertys should be held to a higher standard of responsibility because they are leaders at the church. According to District Attorney McAmis:
As senior staff members, the Daughertys, Hiddle said, should have the same responsibility to report the crime as the lower employees who first knew about it. However, the evidence was not as strong against employees further up in the church's hierarchy.
"I'm constrained by the evidence," he said. "The evidence is strongest against the lowest person."
The Daughertys were ordered to meet regularly with the judge during the five years of their deferred sentence and to go before other organizations that supervise children to talk about their policies and what happened at Victory Christian.
Hiddle also ordered that they establish a policy for reporting child abuse that he would review.
Within the five-year deferred sentence, Hiddle ordered the Daughertys to present the policy to 20 organizations.
"We respect the judge's decision and sincerely hope that today will serve as another part of the ongoing healing process," according to a Victory Christian statement following the judgment."
"Any true leader, any person of character, and person of God … would stand up and say, 'The buck stops here…They are the leaders. The way they responded was, 'I'm too busy.' "As can sometimes be the case, when one crime is discovered, there can be other victims who have not yet been identified. In this situation a 13-year-old year girl's rape brought about an investigation that "uncovered more victims of sex crimes and a second child-sex-crime suspect, who was also allegedly not reported to authorities during a two-week period last year."
The TulsaWorld concludes with these sobering statements:
"Chris Denman, 20, pleaded guilty last year to six felony child-sex charges, including the rape of the 13-year-old girl. He was sentenced to 55 years in prison and five years of probation.We certainly hope The Gospel Coalition crowd will address the serious matter of abuse when they hold their national conference in Orlando. In addition to all their 'gospelrific' messages, it would behoove them to tackle this topic head-on and start walking the walk, not just talking the talk.
The second suspect, Israel Shalom Castillo, 23, was charged with making a lewd or indecent proposal over Facebook to a 14-year-old girl, according to court records. He has pleaded not guilty and faces a jury trial scheduled in August.
Victory Christian Center is involved in a civil lawsuit filed by the 13-year-old's mother seeking damages for negligence and intentional infliction of emotion distress, according to court records."
Thankfully, it appears the world at large no longer turns a blind eye to child abuse. It would behoove Christian leaders to speak out against such atrocities if they want to be respected. A failure to do so will likely have dire consequences in the years to come.
Lydia's Corner: Judges 13:1-14:20 John 1:29-51 Psalm 102:1-28 Proverbs 14:15-16
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