See also http://www.jw-media.org/vnr/2122827332/7163532856.htm
1 Cor 5:9-13 "I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler--not even to eat with such a one." NASB

How Reliable are the Views of Dissidents? By Dr. Rodney Stark (in .pdf format)

New!!Abortion Clinics Do Not Report Statutory Rape:
An undercover investigation reveals that abortion clinic workers know what statutory rape is and the laws requiring them to report it. Yet most of the time, they say nothing. By Karla Dial

One book reports of a leader in a congregation that had for some time sexually abused children, and though the elders in the congregation knew, nothing was said about it. The above description would lead some opposers to view this with Jehovah's Witnesses in view, but this was written regarding an Evangelical Pastor, not JW's. See The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse by Johnson and VanDoren, p. 140.
The fact that there are pedophiles anywhere, in any churches, including those of Jehovah's Witnesses is indeed lamentable. But what is also lamentable is that many think that this story is indigenous to JW's alone. It is not, despite the emails I receive that speak of a "pedophile paradise" or that pedophiles are running amuck in Kingdom Halls everywhere, when it really only amounts to a few high profile cases latched upon by opposers of JW's.
To accuse JW's, and JW's alone of this is simply the product of a twisted and bigotted imagination. Any sins committed by individual members cannot even compare to the wholesale sexual deviance of the members of the mainstream churches.
I know that in my own area, these crimes are generally perpretrated by members of other churches, but this fact is generally not made known. The reason for this is as follows:

"Differences of power and size go far towards explaining what we know, or think we know, about differences in the conduct of small and large religious groups. If we observe that small groups are likely to have scandals involving sexual misconduct, particularly involving children, we might suggest that this type of misbehavior is a cult characteristic, and that would lead us to propose theories about the pernicious nature of leadership in these settings. But numerous recent scandals have taught us that sexual abuse is a common difficulty in all religious groups and denominations, including the largest and most respected, and some of the most outrageous instances of abuse by mainstream clergy occured in the 1970s and early 1980s, when the cults were drawing such intense fire.
 As always, the media reacted very differently to the churches and the cults. Stories of sexual deviance meshed precisely with public expectations of cult leaders. But they seemed improbable and atypical for established clergy, so that rumors would be such more likely to be investigated and published in the context of the small groups than the large. Also, while nothing was to be lost by offending the members of a quirky local commune, it took a brave editor to run a story attacking a mainstream denomination, which could respond with an advertising boycott or a venomous letter-writing campaign. Hence, the "pedophile priest" scandals in the mainstream churches were largely kept from public view for decades, until the explosion of public concern in the mid-1980s. And though financial manipulation and tax evasion have attracted less notoriety than sexual issues, the same principles apply to reporting ecclesiastical misdeeds in these other areas: larger and more powerful groups are let off more easily than the small and unpopular."

Media bias even enters into the discussions regarding the problems with Catholic Priests:
Defining the Catholic Church's Scandal
By Stuart Shepard, correspondent
The Catholic Church has been rocked by scandal recently, but is the problem properly defined as "pedophilia," or could it be something less politically correct?
The newspapers are full of stories on scandal in the Catholic Church. Priests sexually involved with young boys — betrayed trust. But some argue the language chosen by many pundits reveals media bias and hypocrisy.
Focus on the Family psychologist Dr. Bill Maier said "pedophilia" is often the wrong word to use.
"The American Psychiatric Association describes (pedophilia) as sexual activity with a pre-pubescent child, generally age 13 years or younger," Maier said.
But, he noted, most of the recent allegations against Catholic priests involve teen-age boys.
"Technically, if we have a man having sex with an adolescent boy, that would be considered homosexuality, not pedophilia."
While quick to add that in no way mitigates the gravity of the situation, the fact that many in the media have called it something other than homosexuality is revealing.
Andrew Dibley, a chiropractor in Indiana and a Catholic, believes the media is engaging in Catholic bashing.
"I think that they do not want to be seen as homophobic," Dibley said. "They have always, in my opinion, championed the cause of homosexuals."
Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, president of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, agreed, contending "the media is anti-religious, but pro-gay."
He compared the media's handling of the Boy Scouts with its treatment of the Catholic Church.
"They are shocked at the Catholic Church scandal, but they also denounce a policy of the Boy Scouts to prevent and to avoid such a crisis."
He said if the Boy Scouts give in to the pressure, they will wind up in the same predicament.
Even the Washington Blade — a newspaper for homosexuals — argues that pedophilia is not the correct term, but stopped short of calling it homosexuality.
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0020332.html see also http://www.frc.org/get/is02e3.cfm

"One-third of Episcopal Priests Gay? A homosexual lay delegate at an Episcopal convention said 33 per cent of Episcopal priests are lesbian or gay (2/24 Chr. News). He said: "They have lied to their bishop, they have lied to their congregations, and they have lied to themselves." He said, "They have had to lie to answer the call to the priesthood."" --CC
http://www.llano.net/baptist/nv087.htm#One-third

"...Mainstream organized religions often have the same problems (e.g. child abuse, misused funds) as some new religious sects, yet the former get off the hook. Although there may be some outcry about the specific incidents, no one in the mainstream uses these occcurences to smear organized religions as a whole....generally, if (say) a rabbi sins, he is seen as a bad rabbi, not as proofs of the evils of Judaism; if a 'cult leader' sins, that is proof of the evils of cults. Jews (and other mainstream believers) buy newspapers and will complain if their religion is abused; whereas cults are not seen as a serious constituency."

The bashing and media assault of certain groups is also indicative of their organizational structure and record-keeping. Protestant groups like the Baptists abhor the structure as what we see in the Catholic or JW organizations. Therefore, scandals in churches like the Baptists will remain localized, instead of national. One of the more extreme cases was one of Tony Leyva, a Pentecostal minister who had abused hundreds of boys in the 1980's, yet his case is NEVER mentioned in any case study of sex-abuse in the Churches.

"There is no Catholic case comparable to that of three brothers, all Baptist ministers, all facing simultaneous of child molestation, although this case too enjoyed only local notoriety."
Jenkins, Pedophiles and Priests, p. 12,

"Clerical Sexual Misconduct...including "pedophilia"...IS NOT just a Catholic problem. In fact, if anything, it is more of a Protestant problem, as show by these quotes from the Catholic League link:

Jenkins asks us to consider why there is no such term as "pastor pedophilia"? It is not for lack of pastors involved in sexual abuse, rather it has much to do with the way the issue of pedophilia has been "framed" by our social constructionists. For example, who ever heard of [Protestant Pastor XXXXX. ED NOTE: Decided to conceal name on my page. It's on the Catholic League link. SPH]

In the 1980s, [Protestant Pastor XXXXX] had abused perhaps one hundred boys in several southern states, but few of us ever learned of it. [Protestant Pastor XXXXXX] had the distinction of being a Pentecostal minister and was, therefore, not within the "frame" of those who were busy constructing reality. The same is true of the three brothers, all Baptist ministers, who were charged with child molestation in the 1990s: the public learned little about this highly unusual series of cases because it was not deemed worthy of dissemination by those fixated on Catholic scandals....

Notwithstanding the difficulties that such data comparisons hold, the available information on clergy sexual misconduct shows that the problem is bigger among Protestant clergy. For example, the most cited survey of sexual problems among the Protestant clergy shows that 10 percent have been involved in sexual misconduct and "about two or three percent" are "pedophiles." With regard to the "pedophile" problem, the figure for the Catholic clergy, drawn from the most authoritative studies, ranges between .2 percent to 1.7 percent. Yet we hear precious little about these comparative statistics.

I am not acting from the position of trashing Protestants with this information. Rather, I am acting more from a sense of relief...relief that Clerical Sexual Misconduct IS NOT really just a Catholic problem. (No, please don't confuse this statement with a perceived callousness towards Protestant clergy or, especially, their victims.)"

British Methodists To Welcome Pedophiles Into Their Churches
LONDON (CWNews.com) - The British Methodist Conference on Wednesday announced plans to welcome
pedophiles into their churches without alerting other members of the congregation in order to create a "community
of love, forgiveness, and reconciliation" for offenders.
The Conference had decided some time ago not to allow sex offenders to hold office in the church and to insist they were chaperoned at all times when they might be near children. And a working party set up in 1999 on Wednesday urged to the Conference's meeting in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, to accept that it was more appropriate to talk of sex offenders as "recovering" rather than "recovered" or "cured."
However, their report also noted that 25 percent of convicted sex offenders attended prison chapels while serving
their sentences and that a large proportion wanted to continue in faith on their release. It would be wrong, the report said, to turn them away.

Anxious Anglicans in a flap over sex claims
By Kelly Burke, Religious Affairs Writer

The Anglican Church moved into top gear yesterday on a mission of damage control over the escalating Governor-General controversy.
Bishops across the nation were busy composing statements for tomorrow's services to ease the anger and confusion of parishioners.
Sydney churchgoers will get the full version of Archbishop Peter Jensen's pastoral letter, released on Wednesday.
"Morale is at an all-time low," said one Sydney Diocese insider.
 "Procedures might be in place now to handle sex abuse, but we all know that in the past these things haven't always been handled very well. There's a feeling that nobody knows who's going to be next ... what awful
incident that happened 50 years ago might suddenly surface."
The Archbishop of Adelaide, the Most Rev Ian George, issued a plea to South Australian Anglicans yesterday to come forward if they had been victims of sexual misconduct or abuse within the church.
The Archbishop of Melbourne, the Most Rev Peter Watson, posted the diocese's sexual harassment protocol principals on the Internet. The Bishop of Tasmania, the Right Rev John Harrower, did the same.
On Thursday, the Anglican Primate, the Archbishop of Perth, the Most Rev Peter Carnley, admitted that the Governor-General controversy and his handling of sex abuse cases while archbishop of Brisbane in the 1990s
had "damaged the public standing" of the Anglican Church.
A spokesman for the Primate confirmed yesterday that Dr Carnley's statement, which also expressed deep regret at the pain and suffering caused by sex abuse in the church and wider community, would be distributed in churches across Western Australia for Sunday services.

Like the Jehovah's Witnesses, seven other religious denominations surveyed by The Courier-Journal expect their clergy to report all suspected child abuse in states where they are required to by law.
The approach among religions varies in states that do not mandate reporting.
Even in reporting states, variations are possible. For example, Kentucky and Indiana require citizens to report suspected child abuse. Indiana allows no exceptions. Kentucky allows exceptions for clergy-penitent and attorney-client privilege.

Roman Catholic Church: Policies vary by diocese. The archdioceses of Louisville and Indianapolis require priests to report suspected child abuse in all circumstances except when they learn of it in confession. Even in that setting, priests can counsel someone confessing a crime to go to a counselor or police. Archdiocese of Indianapolis spokeswoman Susan Schramm knew of no instance where that exception conflicted with Indiana law.

Southern Baptist Convention: Churches are self-governing, so regional bodies do not dictate policies. However, the Kentucky Baptist Convention trains staff and volunteers to recognize and report suspected child abuse to authorities, according to Wendy Dever, preschool and children's associate for the convention.

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.): Policies vary by regional governing body but are often shaped to follow state law. Pastors in the Louisville-based denomination are forbidden to reveal anything told them in confidence. The church does not make an explicit exception for suspected child abuse but pastors can violate confidentiality when there is a "risk of imminent bodily harm to any person."

Rabbinical Assembly (Conservative Judaism): Congregations are self-governing, but rabbis are expected to do everything to protect an abuse victim, including calling authorities. "One doesn't need a specific secular mandate that says protect somebody in trouble," said Rabbi Joel Meyers, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly.

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: Policies are determined by regional governing bodies but often follow state law on who is required to report, according to the Rev. Lowell Almen, secretary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

United Methodist Church: The church does not have a policy that requires clergy to report suspicions of child abuse, but clergy training emphasizes that laws often mandate reporting. If a pastor learns of abuse in a confidential setting such as a counseling session, "that's a decision a pastor would make on a case-by-case basis," Robert Kohler, assistant general secretary of the Division of Ordained Ministry.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons): Church leaders are instructed to call a denominational help line if abuse issues arise in the congregation. Those staffing the phone line include professional counselors as well as lawyers who advise local ministers on their state's laws. "The law of the land must be obeyed," said a statement from the Latter-day Saints public affairs department. "If a report is required, help line personnel assist the local church leader . . . as who should make the report -- whether . . . a family member, whether the perpetrator can be persuaded to self-report, etc."

No religious denomination contacted has even considered what some Jehovah's Witnesses are demanding of their church: that congregations be told of pedophiles in their midst.
[The official JW policy is "without equal in the religious comunity, see http://www.jw-media.org/vnr/2122827332/7163532856.htm ]
But many churches bar sex offenders from working with children, according to Dever of the Kentucky Baptist Convention.
And they increasingly conduct criminal background checks of potential pastors, youth workers and other volunteers.
"Small churches have a hard time with that, because they know everybody," Dever said. "But we really don't know everybody. We live in 2001. We have to be concerned about this."
Staff writer Megan Woolhouse contributed to this story.

"Having held Rome’s latest scandal up to the light for examination, let us now turn the light on ourselves.  We profess to have the light of Scripture in its purity, uncorrupted by human tradition.  We profess to follow the teachings of the Bible alone (“sola scriptura”).  We profess to have the Holy Spirit living within us as our Divine Teacher, Illuminator, and Guide.  These things being claimed, and rightly so, there is far less excuse for any Rome-like conduct among fundamentalists.  And yet it is tragically common; I dare say, practically the rule.
If I were to sit down and write a list of all the fundamentalist preachers, pastors, evangelists and professors known to me in my limited experience who jumped (not “fell” as though it were a passive act) into sexual immorality (usually adultery, but in at least a few cases involving homosexuality or pedophilia), it would be a very long and very troubling list.
And just like Rome, in many cases the scandals were “covered up” and the pernicious deeds concealed (“for the sake of the church”), leaving the perpetrator unrepentant, unpunished, and free to move on to another “ministry,” as though one’s conduct had no bearing on qualifications for the ministry.  Rather than concealing the sin and shielding the sinner, Paul gives explicit instructions: “Do not entertain an accusation against an elder, unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning.” (I Timothy 5:19, 20)
I think of one appalling instance from the 1970s--a noted long-standing professor in a Bible college undeniably engaged in homosexual activity with a student who came to him for counseling.  To “save face” for the college and the individual, a cover story (in plain English, a public lie) was fabricated to the effect that the individual was leaving the college to complete a doctorate degree (which of course never happened--he stayed in town, and in his church, undisciplined, and merely got alternate employment as a public school teacher).
Or the notorious case from the 1980s of a now-dead Chicago-area pastor whose son, known by his father to be guilty of repeated acts of adultery while on staff at his father’s church, was sent off to pastor a church in Texas, where he repeated and multiplied his adulteries until publicly exposed.  (The father himself was known to be scandalously involved for decades in an adulterous relationship, and yet a large number of fundamentalist preachers came to his defense when his sin was exposed publicly after repeated private admonitions in the spirit of Matthew 18:15-18 proved fruitless.)
And there is the (to me) infuriating case of a famous national ministry in which a prominent teacher/writer/editor has been removed for adultery at least twice and yet each time ultimately restored to a high profile place.  When is enough enough?
We who profess to have the truth and to follow it are solemnly bound to live up the standard we profess, if we wish to honor God and maintain any degree of credibility with the world.  Let Rome’s scandal humble us, and lead us to carefully examine ourselves.  There is no room here for us to gloat or boast or sneer.  Let us rather beware (see Galatians 6:1)."

Special Bulletin - From http://www.reformation.com/

                         Welcome! Catholic sex scandals dominate the news. Are we next?

                         A sample of our own scandals is below:

                   ALL denominations - 312 instances

                   Baptist Ministers - 59 instances

                   "Bible" Church Ministers (fundamentalist/evangelical) - 150 instances

                   Episcopalean Ministers - 31 instances

                   Lutheran Ministers - 22 instances

                   Methodist Ministers - 25 instances

                   Presbyterian Ministers - 10 instances

                         various Church Ministers - 13 instances

“We would be naïve and dishonest were we to say this is a Roman Catholic problem and has nothing to do with us because we have married and female priests in our church. Sin and abusive behavior know no ecclesial or other boundaries." Rt. Rev. William Persell, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, Good Friday Sermon, 2002.

"Literally every denomination and faith tradition has its share of abuse cases, and some of the worst involve non-Catholics. Every mainline Protestant denomination has had scandals aplenty, as have Pentecostals, Mormons, Jehovah´s Witnesses, Jews, Buddhists, Hare Krishnas -- and the list goes on. One Canadian Anglican (Episcopal) diocese is currently on the verge of bankruptcy as a result of massive lawsuits caused by decades of systematic abuse, yet the Anglican church does not demand celibacy of its clergy.
However much this statement contradicts conventional wisdom, the "pedophile priest" is not a Catholic specialty. Yet when did we ever hear about "pedophile pastors"?"

"The flood of sex abuse allegations against priests this year has focused attention on the Roman Catholic Church, but Protestants denominations have also faced sex scandals involving clergy over the years. In fact, while data are sketchy, at least one expert believes the incidence of clergy molesting young children may be about as frequent-or in frequent-in Protestantism as it is in Catholicism.
Others have found Protestant scandals have a tendancy to surface in cases where male ministers are counselling women or teen-age girls, while the allegations against priests have frequently involved underage males. Penn State historian Philip Jenkins argued in his 1996 book, "Pedophiles and Priests," that both secular and Catholic media exaggerate the extent of Catholic cases involving minors, while downplaying Protestant abuse. For instance, the Rev. Robert Eckert of Grand Rapids, Mich., a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, was sent to prison in 2000 for sexual involvement with a 15-year-old girl who worked as his baby sitter - but the case recieved rekatively little attention.
Jenkins, an Episcopalian, thinks a 1992 survey from the Chicago Archdiocese is more representative of the true picture in Catholicism.
Among 2,252 priests serving over four decades, 39 priests (1.7 percent) apparently abused minors. Only one abuser could be termed a pedophile under the strict, clinical definition of the word.
"I am prepared to be convinced that Catholics have a bigger problem" than Protestants, Jenkins said, but nobody has good data, partly because Protestant groups are too numerous. "I certainly haven't seen anything, and I'm looking hard." Minneapolis psychologist Gary Schoener agreed.
"There are no real scientific data" on Protestants, he said. Since 1974, his Walk-In Counseling Center has been consulted on more than 2,000 cases of clergy sexual misconduct of all types, two-thirds of them with Protestants."

"Orthodox pedophiles?
For years, most people in the Orthodox world assumed their religious way of life and tight-knit communities insulated them from problems rocking the larger world, like sexual abuse.
There is still a great deal of resistance to discussing the issue, and a lingering feeling among many victims and advocates that Orthodox institutions are more concerned with protecting the reputations of men accused of sexual abuse than with believing or helping victims.
But fueled by a combination of factors — recent scandals, a growing cadre of Orthodox psychotherapists in whom Orthodox Jews feel comfortable confiding, and American society's growing openness about sensitive social problems — that sense of insularity is eroding both among the fervently and centrist Orthodox communities.
Just as it has begun to acknowledge that there are Orthodox child abusers and Orthodox drug addicts, the community is gradually coming to grips with the fact that it, too, has sexual abusers in its midst. ....
In addition, there is a historic Jewish tendency, particularly acute in the Orthodox world, to keep quiet about sensitive issues for fear of publicly scandalizing the community.
Many Orthodox Jews also fear that embarrassing information could jeopardize future wedding matches for individuals and their families.
Another obstacle is that the many demands of an Orthodox lifestyle — and the fact that Orthodox Jews must live within walking distance of synagogue — make Orthodox communities tight-knit. That can make it hard for a victim to come forward, particularly if the abuser is prominent or well-liked."  From http://www.jewsweek.com/society/080.htm
Also from Jewsweek:
The case of Rabbi Baruch Lanner, an Orthodox Union official who was accused of molesting more than 20 teenage girls over a period of 30 years, was a watershed event in forcing the centrist Orthodox world to begin dealing more seriously with sexual abuse.
What many people found most disturbing about the Lanner case were the allegations that victims' complaints
had gone unheeded.
The National Conference of Synagogue Youth Special Commission investigating the O.U.'s handling of the Lanner case reported that it had received evidence of four occasions where some leaders were "put on direct and
specific notice of serious sexual misconduct by Lanner, but did not remove him from his position with NCSY."
See also http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63807-2002Jun28.html

13-year-old girl raped in church Kissimmee Methodist Church
March 21 2000

Russian Orthodox Church-Leader, Jeremiah Hitt (AKA Jonathan Hitt)
Profile: Convicted on eight counts of indecency with a child in 1999. Victim: teen-aged boy. The punishment will be up to ten years in prison. A civil case is still pending.
Hitt's colleague, Benedict Greene, founder of the Blanco monastery pled guilty of similar charges in  2000.
http://www.pokrov.org/phitt.html

1989: Bible School teacher Stanley Cummings sentenced to more than 2,000 years in prison after conviction on 60 counts of child molestation and sexual exploitation of minors. Cummings molested, sodomised, photographed and tape recorded beating his victims whom he met through his church.

1989: Foster parent Reverend Robert Schultz, 52, who had been honoured for his voluntary services to the community was sentenced  to 30 years after confessing to acts described as 'horribly perverse' on  foster children in his care.

1989: Baptist minister William Hendricks, 50,  pleaded guilty to sexual assault on his 7 year old girl victim whom he  molested on consecrated ground.

Pentecostal evangelist Antonio S Martinez 'married' a 12 year old girl whose grandmother forced her into the arrangement. He first assaulted her when she was 11.  He was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault after taking her to a doctor to ask why she wasn't pregnant. (1989)

1989:  Christian Childcare worker Heath Turner, employed by First United Methodist Church  convicted of sexually abusing a child in his care with toy boat, finger, and ice.

1990: Pentecostal Minister D Stenhouse from Solihull sent to jail after admitting five charges of indecently assaulting boys aged 12 to 15.

There were six girls abused by Rev Francis Haight, Baptist leader, sentenced to 20 years (1989).

1991: Evangelist preacher Alan Bradley of Skipton convicted of indecent behaviour. Caught by police after revealing himself to young girls.

Baptist Minister Ashby Breneman (1991) gets 18 yrs for molesting six boys at a Christian Youth Camp.

On July 22, 1999, a Melbourne factory hand, Earl Ross Blennerhasset, 27, was found guilty of trying to steal a young girl from a Seventh Day Adventist Church. A Melbourne court heard Blennerhasset had been listening to a sermon minutes before asking the 12-year-old girl to go to the toilets with him ...

A similar incident occurred in a Methodist Church at Kissimmee in the US, where it was revealed a 13-year-old girl had been raped while awaiting choir practice ... During the Blennerhasset trial it was revealed the girl was released as soon as she started screaming. But this appeared not to be the case at the Kissimmee church, which claimed some 2000 members ... The girl told police she had arrived early for practice at the First United Methodist Church and was standing alone near some vending machines.
A man allegedly approached the girl as a church service was about to begin and asked what she was waiting for. She told him she was waiting for choir practice and turned away.
It was then that the man grabbed her and, like Blennerhasset, dragged her into a men's toilet. The girl was then raped police told reporters ... "Our hearts are broken," Senior Pastor Grant Siegfried said in the Sun Sentinel on March 21, 2000. "Our first concern is our children and youth. We have a lot of safety measures in place. "We may have to hire security guards ..."

Rev. Thomas Streitferdt, 59, a Pastor in charge of the 700-member True Church of God in Harlem, was charged with rape and sodomy of two young sisters (ages 14 and 16) in his congregation.

1991: 62 yr old Sunday School teacher sentenced to 10 years for sexually assaulting numerous children who attended Sunday School classes.

1991: Baptist Minister Rev. Robert Burton charged after admitting long-term serious sexual abuse of his six and eight year old stepsons.

1991: Pentecostal Religious teacher who already had convictions for indecency against chldren was allowed to teach bible classes at a Cornwall church and used his position to sexually assault an 8 year old boy who attended his classes.

1991:  Minister Alfred Gatehouse 62, sentenced to 10 years for sodomy and soliciting paid sex with teenage girls.

1991: Baptist Minister Larry Bernard 45, sentenced to 7 years for molesting a boy of 14.

San Gabriel Valley Tribune 6/18/88
Rev. Randall Wayne Brewer, a youth minister of Faith Community Church in West Covina, Calif., is charged with 3 counts of oral copulation with a Redlands teenager who said he was bribed and molested after being befriended at home Bible studies in 1985. The youth, now 17, testified that Brewer gave him $200 from a church checking account for running naked
across an empty church hallway in a game called chicken. "I was told to tell everyone that I got the money for doing work at the church."

Samuel David Allen (AKA Symeon or "Brother" Symeon or Michael)
Profile: Samuel David Allen joined the Holy Order of MANS in the late 1960s before they claimed to be Orthodox. In 1989 while on parole for child molestation and registered as a sex offender, Mr. Allen broke the parole by attending church services out of his county at Holy Trinity Cathedral (OCA) in San Francisco. He was chrismated at Holy Trinity Cathedral on November 17, 1990. The offenses for which Mr. Allen received a fifteen year prison term were committed on November 29, 1990, and December 6, 1990 in Marin County. Mr. Allen was also accused of molesting several children at Holy Trinity Cathedral. "Brother Sam" was good friends with Holy Order of MANS leader, David Finkelstein, who appeared in court on his behalf in 1991. http://www.pokrov.org/pallen.html

Youth minister arrested for teen sex
May 2000<
A former youth minister at a US Baptist church and school was charged in May 2000 with having sex with a 17-year-old girl who was a member of his youth group.
Timothy John Dougherty, 29, was charged in Jacksonville, Florida, with having unlawful sex with a minor. Dougherty faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of violating a state law that prohibits anyone 24 or older from having sex with 16 and 17 year olds.
Police said the relationship began about two years ago when the First Coast Baptist Church and Christian School group visited Jamaica. Investigators said they were alerted by the girl's father and have since gathered love letters the two allegedly exchanged.
The Associated Press reported that Dougherty was married and had children ...

A few more newspaper clippings from a list of many hundreds:

Christian televangelist William Wasmus of Church of the Living Savior: had sex with children and video-taped it on church equipment. (Columbus, Ohio, 1994)

Christian Pentecostal evangelist Mario Leyva: sodomized more than 100 little boys. (Columbus, Georga, 1990)

Washington Post 5/13/88
U.S. Rep. Floyd Flake, pastor of Allen African Methodist Episcopal Church in New York, and a first term Democrat, is accused of harassing a church assistant into leaving her job because she ended a sexual affair with her.
Thelma M. Singleton-Scott complained that a panel of "elders" at the 4,000-member church held a "kangaroo court" review of the charges in January. She is now demanding back wages and Flake's ouster as pastor. She said that the church bishop was involved in offering her hush money.

Christian Chaplan assistant Steven Ritchie: raped a six-year-old girl. (Fort Lewis, Washington, 1990)

Father Emmanuel Koveos
Profile: Emmanuel Koveos was a Greek Orthodox Priest with the GOA. In 1997 while a priest, "Father" Koveos molested a young girl in his parish while giving her Greek language lessons. Koveos was convicted by the courts. After an uproar over his working as a chanter in a Massachusetts parish, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese finally announced Koveos defrocked in January, 2000. http://www.pokrov.org/pkoveos.html

Christian Evangelist Dom McCary: sodomized four little boys. (Chattanooga, Tennessee, 1992)

Christian Lutheran James Allen Weller: molested several children, some as young as ten years old. (Redwood, City, California, 1991)

Florida Times-Union 5/13/88 and 6/9/88
Rev. Joe Marino, host of Christian talkshow "Inner Visions" in Jacksonville, Fla., and youth minister/counselor at Beaches Chapel in Neptune Beach, plead no contest to custodial sexual battery and soliciting sex from a 16 year old member of his church. Other charges were dropped. The abuse was disclosed after a victim from the church had attempted suicide.

A British Moslem man ritually killed his daughter in 1989 by saying Bismilla and then slitting her throat and allowing her to bleed to death  because she had declared that she was to convert to Christianity after she had been enticed into a meeting held by Jehovah's Witnesses.

1989: Baptist minister Henry Waters, convicted of sexually abusing young boys whose souls he claimed would be 'saved' through his 'sex instruction'.

1989: Salvation Army Captain Jack Holcomb, 50, pleaded guilty to unlawful intercourse with a 14 year old girl Salvation Army member.

Christian deacon Henry Meinholz: raping and suffocating to death a 13-year-old girl. (Kingston, Massachusetts, 1991)

Christian Reverend Lloyd David of First Christian Fellowship: child pornography and sexual abuse of teen-age boys. (Waukegan, Illinois)

A Duval county minister, Rev. Roy Lynn Gaskins of Edgewood Heights Baptist Church, was accused of forcing a 13 year old boy at gunpoint to have sex.

New York Times 6/10/88
Former Mormon missionary Arthur Gary Bishop, 36, was executed on June 10th in Utah for killing 5 boys (ages 4-13) for sexual gratification, saying he was "misled by Satan."

Kenneth Lasky (AKA Father Konan, Father Kenneth, Kenneth Laskovsky)
Profile: Father "Konan" was a monk in a Michigan monastery (ROCOR) where he was convicted of repeatedly raping and having oral sex with two of the boys who lived there. One of the victims was the adopted son of the monastery's abbot, Father Gabriel Loynes. http://www.pokrov.org/plasky.html

Christian Reverend Virgil Carpenter of Bible Missionary Church: sodomized a nine-year-old girl. (Ontario, Oregon)

Christian Presbyterian minister Bruce Brigden: molested 11 girls, some as young as four years old (Alva, Oklahoma)

Father John Liadis (John Michael Liadis)
Profile:   According to court documents from 1989, John Liadis: did knowingly commit a lewd and lascivious act on or in the presence of a child under the age of sixteen years, to-wit: [victim's name omitted] born January 29th, 1974, by touching...in violation of Florida statute 800.04. http://www.pokrov.org/pliadis.html

Kansas City Times 6/1/88
Barry L. Deaton was charged with taking indecent liberties with a child for abducting a 14 year old girl from a gathering of Youth for Christ of Greater Kansas City.

1988: Born Again Christian Tate who works for a religous magazine, confesses to seducing ten year old girl.

Christian Reverand Richard Jones of Family Life Church: molested boys and told them the Bible sanctioned the abuse (Park Hills, Missouri, 1994)

Tampa Tribune 5/31/88
Rev. Cleveland "Rapper" Mack, 24, of Tampa. Fla., was charged with sexually abusing 2 young boys during "Bible lessons", including a charge of sexual battery which carries a possible death sentence. He struck a boy in the face when he tried to flee.

1989 A 'devout Christian; and a Sunday School teacher, Scott Williams, 29, admitted to raping  a 13 year old girl and strangling and beating her to death.

1989: Christian Evangelist Darlene Jackson, 33, starved her 4 year old daughter to death to exorcise her of evil spirits. She was sentenced to 7 years.

Christian youth minister Keith Geren of Wayside Baptist Church charged with child molestation. (Miami, Florida, 1994)

[Little Rock Arkansas] Gazette 6/10/88
Rev. J.D. Henderson, 51, of Russellville, Ark., was convicted of molesting twin 6 year old girls, and sentenced to 4 years in prison. Henderson is an ordained Free will Baptist minister.

In 1989, Minister  Bernard Ponder 46, already on probation for the sexual abuse of boys now accused of sexually abusing a deaf boy.

1989: Salvation Army member sexually abuses 14 year old girl whom he met at Sunday School. Jailed at York Crown Court.

Chapel child care volunteer (1989) charged with 50 counts of child molestation, kidnapping, child abuse and other offences at Spring Valley church. A former youth minister was convicted of molesting teenagers at the church in the early 1980s.

Father Benedict Greene (AKA Samuel A. Greene)
Profile: Benedict Greene is the founder of Christ of the Hills Monastary in Blanco, Texas. Greene and Jeremiah Hitt were indicted of indecency with a child in 1999. Charges stated that they sexually abused a religious student at their monastery.
http://www.pokrov.org/pgreene.html

[Rome] Daily Sentinel 5/28/88
Rev. Leon Dupree, 47, pastor of Lily of the Valley Church of God in Christ in Rochester, NY, is charged with first degree sexual assault and first degree burglary of a 26 year old woman. She said he was armed with a hammer and struck her with a screwdriver. Dupree was convicted of second degree manslaughter in a 1978 drunken driving fatality and served time in state
prison.

Christian Fundamentalist school operator Reverand Duane Smith: molesting children (Laporte, Indiana, 1992)

Arizona Republic 7/2/88, Phoenix Gazette 7/1/88
Rev. James Anthony Colyn, 39, former pastor of the Glendale (Az.) Bible Baptist Church, received a SENTENCE of seven and a half years in prison. Colyn was described by police as a "sexual predator" who molested a teenage girl who asked him for counseling because she was being abused by her stepfather.

Christian Mormon Sunday-school teacher John Midgett: molesting 8 girls, some only five years old. (California)

Oregonian 6/1/88
Todd S. Clark, 26, and Ralph W. Gantt, 26, both former youth leaders of the Royal Rangers boys' program at First Assembly of God church, Albany Oregon, were INDICTED for sexual abuse and sodomy of young boys. Hamilton Spectator (Canada) 7/9/88 Rev. Peter O'Hanley, 37, a priest from Fredericton, Ontario, was SENTENCED on July 8 to 3 months in jail after
PLEADING guilty to sexual exploitation and abuse of three teenage boys.

Christian Reverend Jon Walker of Springfield Baptist Church: molested a 13 year old girl (California).

Los Angles Times 7/2/88
Gilbert Crowell, 27, commander of the Salvation Army in Burbank and an ordained minister with a wife and 3 children, was CONVICTED on July 1 of molesting 3 girls inside the Army's office. He was convicted of 4 misdemeanor counts of child molestation and two counts of battery but was acquitted by a jury of 7 related charges.

Rev. Pangratios Vrionis (AKA Metropolitan Pangratios of the Archdiocese of Vasiloupolis, Queens, New York or Demetrios Vrionis)
In 1968 Father Vrionis was a GOA priest in Pennsylvania. He was apparently suspended and defrocked for "disobedience," and at the same time he was also charged with rape of two teen-aged boys by Dauphin county, Pennsylvania. After serving his sentence, Vrionis founded a children's school and his own Orthodox Jurisdiction in Queens, New York (the Archdiocese of Vasilupolis). http://www.pokrov.org/pvrionis.html

Christian Reverand James Randazzo of Spiral of Friends Church: drug use and child molestation (Molina, Colorado, 1989, brough to justice in 1992).

Scrantonian Tribune 6/29/88
Rev. Ronald Terry Litz, 50, of Riverside, Penn., SENTENCED to 2-5 years in jail for morals offences in Luzerne, Co., was SENTENCED in June to 6-23 months in the Northumberland Co. Prison on similar charges. He PLEADED guilty Feb. 4 to 3 counts of corrupting the morals of minors. Litz, former pastor of the Danville Apostolic Church, molested 2 boys at a church camp. His sentences are concurrent.

1988: Congregational Church Minister Ian Garvock 45, of Lanarkshire found guilty of raping a four year old girl in park. Judge said "The offence was an appalling one of a very severe kind with incalcuable consequences to the young child.

Christian minister and evangelist Tony Alamo reciently went to prison for tax evasion. During his trial it was discovered that he had "married" two fifteen-year-old children and was abusing them.
That's just a small sample from a vast collection. Missing from the above are the killings, maimings, and assorted inhuman atrocities Christians have inflicted upon American citizens in the past five years. Also missing are the tens of hundreds of Christian Catholic priests convicted of molesting children.

Hamilton Spectator 6/30/88
Rev. Russel Nicolle, 50, an Anglican minister from Elliot Lake, Ontario, RECEIVED 8 months in jail for "repulsive, disgusting and degraded" sexual abuse of a 12 year old and 16 year old boy. Judge M.C. DiSalle said he "seriously breached" his position of trust as rector of St. Peter the Apostle Anglican Church.

1988: Massive child porn ring smashed when police officers arrested a church official and siezed cache of indecent video tapes magazines and child pornography photos in a raid on a church in London.

1985: Rev. John Gargano 67 convicted of 14 counts of rape, sodomy, sexual abuse and child endangerment. His four victims, who were repetitively abused said that the minister represented himself to them as the angel Gabriel.

Scranton Times 7/14/88
Rev. Thomas J. Hunt, former pastor of East Benton United Methodist Church, of Scranton, New York, was ARRESTED for molesting a young boy. Rev. Hunt already faces TRIAL for sex crimes against a young girl.

Art Phillips, 43, of Arizona, was arrested in March and arraigned in April for fondling a 15-year-old girl and "solicitation to commit commercial sexual exploitation of a minor" (read: he wanted to take nude photos of her). Phillips is a Mormon sunday school teacher.

1983: Methodist Choirmaster admits repetitive abuse of five year old girl but is only cautioned by police. Parents begin private prosecution but Crown Prosecution Service stymie them.

Rev. Carey Mavor, an Arizona Methodist, pleaded guilty to 1 count of continuous sexual abuse and 2 counts of lewd acts with a child under 14.

In 1984, Methodist Minister Edgar Ford , 69, admitted to running a mailing list of 100 'young things' and housewives who wanted to pose for amateur and professional photographers' that he had taken photographs of housewives and models himself and that on one occasion he did submit to being photographed by a lady whilst they were both nude.

1988: Church of England Vicar Michael Walter, already having served time for indecently assaulting little boys yet allowed to continue his clerical career by the church, is found guilty of further assaults on children.

Rev. Wilputte Alanson Sherwood admitted recently to having sex with 1,800 males since 1984, at least 22 of whom were under 18. He also kept records and videotapes of the sexual encounters. He was sentenced July 29 by Superior Court and was on PAID LEAVE until then. Also from Arizona.

Philadelphia Inquirer 6/27/88
Richard J. Wagner, 26, a volunteer youth leader at the Warminister Hts. Community Church in Philadelphia, was CHARGED with assaulting a 14 year old boy and 3 others between the ages of 7 and 15 years of age, all part of the church youth program.

In California, Rev. Richard Allen Henry, 47, was sentenced to 8 years in state prison for having sex with 4 boys, all brothers, over a 6 year period. The Los Angeles archdiocese -- get this -- told the court not to imprison a "broken man" and unsuccessfully, praise Dobbs, offered to pay for treatment if probation was granted.

Sarasota Herald-Tribune 6/30/88
Rev. John Paul Marlow, pastor of Gospel Tabernacle, Inc. of Bradenton, Florida is ACCUSED of assaulting, battering and raping a member of his congregation. Pamela and John R. McLean charged Marlow with assaulting her when she sought psychological and religious counseling. They seek damages of $5,000 plus medical costs and lost wages.

Rev. Maurice McInerney was charged with sexually abusing an incest survivor who had trusted him to counsel her. McInerney has been relieved of his duties but IS STILL RECEIVING HIS SALARY.

Journal Tribune 7/15/88
Rev Jonathan Hamlin, 24, of Vicksburg, Miss., was CHARGED with shooting his live in girlfriend, Lula Sims, and burying her on July 3 hours before giving a Sunday sermon.

Rev. Mike Williams, 47, also of Colorado, was charged with SPANKING a man during a counseling session. He was acquitted of similar charges last year.

Dallas Times Herald 6/29/88
Rev. Gregory Charles Goben, a 28 year old Southern Baptist minister, was termed the "Village Rapist." The minister of Outreach Baptist Church in suburban Garland, married with 2
sons, is CHARGED with a series of sexual assaults in the Village Apartment area of North Dallas. Goben, who has a masters degree from Dallas Theological Seminary, is linked to 4 sexual assaults, 1 aggravated sexual
assault and a charge of attempted burglary. That attacks all involved break-ins in which the assailant wore a ski mask and tied the victims' hands.

1985:  Methodist minister Emyr Owen a homosexual later found to possess a collection of sado-masochistic pornography was imprisoned by Chester Crown Court for secretly cutting the genitals off corpses of his parishoners which were placed in his care for burial and for threatening to murder a four year old girl.

In Illinois, Rev. David Stalzer was REINSTATED to his parish despite a civil lawsuit accusing him of sexual misconduct with a minor.

Today's Sunbeam [Salem N.J.] 7/1/88
A new book "On Thin Ice" by Roy Howard Beck, former investigative writer for the United Methodist Reporter, claims knowledge of "outlandish behavior by ministers" around the country. "Caught in the act of bizarre moral actions involving sex, violence and finances were television evangelists, mainline preachers, bishops, well-known charismatic leaders, revered small
church pastors--Pentecostals, liberals and conservatives alike." Beck says moral turpitude by ministers cannot be excused because "they do a lot of good." He writes: "What people do along the way is just as important as what happens in the end. How many times have we watched as a person's legacy is reduced after one finds out about the people who were crushed or
hurt along the way."

FIVE priests from Belleville, Illinois were removed from the ministry (exception, not the rule) due to allegations, investigations etc. of sexual misconduct.

1986: Minister Richard Kearney found guilty of molesting 4 boys over a 5 year period. One victim said he had been abused 20 times and another said he was molested whilst under Confirmation instruction by Kearney.

Rev. Kevin Sullivan, of Decatur, Illinois, is being sued. Why? Because he impregnated Susan Hertel and then encouraged her to have an abortion.

In Indiana, Rev. Raymond Weber is being sued. He allegedly used LSD and alcohol to seduce a teenage boy.

Also in Indiana, deacon A.V. Ballenger was convicted of fondling a 7-year-old girl in Sunday school class and sentenced to 8 years in prison.

In Iowa, the pastor of the Wesleyan Church is accused of placing an ad under the name "Diamond Dreams" and agreeing to sex for $150 with an undercover officer while DRESSED IN DRAG. Rev. Jennfrey Dean McKelvey quit his job after his arrest.

In Kentucky, Rev. Earl Bierman attempted to seduce two boys by telling them all about other parishioners' confessions of sexual aberrations. He pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of 6 boys and was sentenced to 20 years.

Rev. Ronald D. Provost of Barre, Massachusetts was convicted for taking over 100 nude photos of boys. He refused to apologize to the victims' families, and the mother of one boy said that the diocese has "expressed no concern at all."

C. Eric Lincoln, a Methodist minister, is charged with assault, attempted rape and battery of a woman at Duke University, where Lincoln is a professor emeritus.

Donald J. Heydens, a priest in Grand Rapids, Michigan, admitted to molesting 5 girls. The girls claimed that Heydens submitted them to repeated assaults over a period of one year.

Rev. Wilson Smart molested or had sexual contact with 31 boys since 1950. His Helena, Montana diocese has encouraged parishoners not to sue but instead accept church counseling.

In lovely New Mexico, Rev. David Holley gets up to 275 years in prison for molesting 8 boys.

A third priest, Rev. Edward Pipala, was removed from a Hudson Valley, NY pastorate for accusations of sex abuse. He has ADMITTED to turning the parish boys' club into a sex club he called "The Hole," at which he provided beer to 30-50 minors and engaged in anal and oral sex and masturbation, all under an oath of secrecy (and threat of excommunication, I'll bet).

Martin Louis, a priest of the Cleveland, Ohio diocese, was sentenced to 25 years in prison. A woman testified that he molested her when she was 10 following her first communion. He repeatedly raped her, threatening her with hell and telling her that this was what all priests do (Possibly, but not probably).

I have not even gone into the myriads of allegations of sexual abuse by Catholic Priests. At any rate, the incidents involving Jehovah's Witnesses are dwarfed by those of mainstream faiths, it is just easier to pick on the little ones.

According to NY Times, Sunday August 11, 2002, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Denver had the following to say regarding Jehovah's Witnesses who were "no different from many other insular religions that aspire to theological and moral purity" that: "Groups that tend to be very tight-knit and ingrown historically have a higher incidence if sexual abuse and incest."
This fallacy does not (a) account though for the higher incidence of cases amongst mainstream faiths, and (b) the media silence of many other smaller and close-knit groups. What it comes down to is one or two groups who are unfairly targetted by the media. It is comparable to the anti-Semitism described in Jenkin's book on Pedophilia:
"If a newspaper accurately describes the dishonest or criminal activitiy of an individual who is Jewish, that would not of itself be anti-Semitic. It would however be grossly anti-semitic if the paper repeatedly described the criminal activities of Jews without noting the similar role of other ethnic groups, and further proposed that this form of criminality was peculiarly characteristic of Jews or arose from features of the Jewish religion or ethnicity."
Pedophiles and Priests, p. 13, Philip Jenkins (Oxford University Press)
This is nothing new.
"During the latter years of the nineteenth century, the climate for the new sects became chillier as the news media became more sensational in tone, finding rich material in the religious fringe... In the first decade of the new century, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle successively declared war upon Christian Science, the Emmanuel Movement, and the Watch Tower Society
The media found a continuing stream of ludicrous and scandalous material in various sects, some of which recalled the great days of communal expansion...Apart from depicting cult leaders as cranks, news stories also reinforced images of sexual excess and immorality." Mystics and Messiahs, pp. 42, 43
It is hate, it is discrimination, pure and simple, by those who seek to profit off the allegations of others and further prejudice a public that is already hostile to Jehovah's Witnesses.

The WTS Letter to Dateline