Posted on 09/25/2012 4:08:33 PM PDT by Morgana
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A 17,000-member megachurch deep in Oklahoma's Bible Belt has been rattled by allegations that five employees waited two weeks to report the rape of a 13-year-old girl in a campus stairwell, allegedly by a church worker.
Tulsa police say the girl is among at least three victims of alleged sex crimes by two former employees of Victory Christian Center who face criminal charges. A child crimes investigator says more victims could surface as police continue to investigate.
Authorities, however, fear some parishioners in the large, tight-knit south Tulsa congregation may choose to pray about the allegations rather than provide concrete evidence.
Police said this week that the worldwide ministry's pastor and co-founder, Sharon Daugherty, whose daily broadcasts are beamed via satellite to more than 200 countries, knew about the abuse allegations, but trusted ministry employees to follow in-house policies on reporting such incidents.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Female pastor? I don’t accept this body as a true Christian Church.
That being said I hope the lot of them go to jail.
I can’t get past the fact they wanted to “pray about” it. Call the police then pray.
In a group of 17,000 there are bound to be creeps, they should have called the police the minute they found out.
The person accused, needs to be removed immediately until an investigation is conducted by the church and authorities.
Sure pray about, no question.
The people who did not report the crime, should be arrested as well for being complete in the rape.
I think she is the widow of Billy Joe Doherty and is continuing the ministry they originally started back in the ‘80s.
How many of these church members went to Penn State? /bad sarc.
I don’t doubt what you say.
I just hate cover-ups. I’d have more respect for them had they reported it.
Calling the police is first thing they should have done. Then a church investigation following what the police say.
This I just don’t get.
Probably none, this wasn’t homosexual pedophilia.
Bad sarc but that mentality seems to be more common that we first thought.
As I’ve said many times, the cover-up is often worse than the actual abuse or rape.
Hopefully someone goes to prison...
The two perps probably will spend some jail time if convicted. However the five church employess are only charged with misdemeanors so that will result in a slap on the wrist most likely.
snip;
Chris Denman, 20, is charged with raping a 13-year-old girl at the church, court records show. Israel Shalom Castillo, 23, is charged with making a lewd or indecent proposal to a child and using a computer to facilitate a sex crime.
Both are members of the church and worked there recently as janitors, information provided by the church showed.
Five Victory Christian Center staff members, including Daugherty’s son and daughter-in-law, were suspended from employment in addition to being charged with misdemeanor counts of failing to report child abuse.
end snip
One of the references is to taking up serpents. There's laying on of hands with counseling and prayer, and lots of Pentecostalism.
I doubt they think you are Christian either ~ but they've targeted and bracketed themselves quite nicely into a niche traditionally occupied by some of the Apostolic Charismatic Church of the First Born ~ so I wouldn't be surprised if these folks also had a high infant mortality rate among the congregants.
This is the first time I've seen a group bring all that stuff together in one spot ~ makes me wonder if this crowd doesn't also keep a Book of Mormon around as well.
They claim to be very diverse with members of 30 native American tribes in the church ~ which is kind of high even for Tulsa.
So, a rape takes place in a church like that ~ a news update reveals 5 employees have been arrested and there's maybe another they are looking for ~ this is for not reporting the crime ~ and given that counseling and prayer ARE FIRST, possibly even before the snakes, it's amazing anyone at all reported the crime.
They’re praying for the individual who preyed on their victims... and the congregation is confused how to deal with it.
***How many of these church members went to Penn State? /bad sarc.***
Maybe they graduated from Billy James Hargis’ university in Tulsa.
They should arrest the parents for not calling the police if they knew about the crime. You don’t call the raping organization and let them handle the crime. You call the police.
I think I’m with everyone else here, just report it to the police. This nonsense people pull about internal “procedures” or investigations doesn’t make sense. It’s the police department’s job to do investigations, not churches. They just aren’t equipped to handle that.
Hargis’ college in Tulsa was closed about 40 years ago. There’s a bio at http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKhargis.htm that reveals he was only ever a member of the Christian Church (the independent branch which arose out of the Christian Church Movement that also created the Disciples of Christ). Theologically he had more in common with Reverend Jim Jones but he was certainly on the opposite end of the politics eh! I presume you were being facetious.
***I presume you were being facetious.***
Of course I was. I was living in Tulsa when Hargis self destructed and took his empire down with him. ;-D
If only church employees were allowed to marry this sort of thing would never happen...
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