Posted on 03/11/2007 6:58:18 AM PDT by siunevada
Alleged Sexual Assault Occurred In Library Bathroom
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A Sacramento church pastor was arrested Friday, accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy in a library bathroom.
Fredrick Drew, 34, of the Praise Tabernacle Church, was booked on charges of sexual assault on a child and false imprisonment.
Sacramento Police say a 13-year-old boy was assaulted on Thursday afternoon inside a bathroom at Martin Luther King Jr. Library on 24th Street.
A security guard at the library told KCRA 3 that the boy reported what happened right away.
"He was crying and he told me that a man tried to rape him inside the men's room," security guard Alfear Wright said.
Wright said the boy pointed out the man, and Wright tried to stop him. He got away, but not before Wright said he got a good look at the man and his car.
Police say based on that information they arrested Drew.
Outside Praise Tabernacle Church, one church member spoke to KCRA 3 about the allegations.
"It's unimaginable when you are professing to be a Christian and you're a pastor over a large congregation like that," church member Adrienne Henning said.
The allegations are under investigation. Anyone with information in this case should call the Sacramento Police Department.
This wouldn't have happened, of course, if Protestant pastors were allowed to marry. </sarcasm>
Luckily for society, this pastor won't be secretly moved to lead another church.
Hmmm. Not a priest!
Not now he won't.
Oh wait, this was a Protestant minister? Well, that means this will be a dead thread. Let's all face it, most religion-board Freepers don't care about molestation unless they can use it as a stick to beat Catholics with.
Yes! One of the things the Inquisition bashers overlook - and I'm not defending the excesses, particularly in Spain, where it became very politicized - was that one of the biggest targets were corrupt clergy. When the Inquisition came to Mexico, the majority of those put to death or punished in any way were priests, often for things like sexual abuse, particularly of Indians, and enslavement of the Indians. Naturally, I don't think we should burn them at the stake, but immediately separating them from their livelihood and appearing not as witnesses for the defense, but for the prosecution (since they have wronged the Church as well as the individuals) might be a start.
That said, this guy was apparently a Protestant and possibly black (judging from the name of his church), so he'll get off scot-free from any type of judgment, religious or secular.
The headline could have said "Accused of Molesting Boy" and been more informative with fewer letters.
Give it time...someone will come up with some info that this guy once knew a Catholic and therefore the Catholic Church is somehow implicated in yet another scandal. Bring it on...we're big enough to handle persecution - it only makes the Church that much stronger.
The man's name is Fredrick Dew, not Drew.
No wonder I had such a hard time googling this!
You're so right. If this man were a priest, the board would be hopping with people pointing out how this incident proves that celibacy leads to abuse.
But here is one interesting fact about the story that leads me to wonder about the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. This boy immediately went to a security guard to complain that he had been assaulted in the restroom and the police arrested the pastor shortly afterward, based on the boy's description of him. In other words, the victim immediately reported the incident to the authorities.
Why didn't more victims of abusive priests come forward right away? Why did their families take their complaints to the Church or to their bishops instead of to the police? When a crime has been committed, you go to the police. This is something I have not been able to figure out. Also, if sex abuse is so traumatizing that its victims can't come forward until years later, then why did this boy report the incident immediately? Just wondering.
The Sacramento Bee has a follow up story that I would post but it's today's issue, I don't want to register and they demand excerpting anyway.
He's not making any statements to the police but he denies it was him to the reporter.
The accusation is against an African-American and he says he was misidentified based solely on his race.
Please imagine a smart aleck remark by me at this point.
Unrelated but interesting, to me, detail in one of the TV reports of his arrest: he recently moved his tiny congregation to a campus shared by three other churches.
Kind of like an industrial park or business park, in my imagination.
You don't want to miss this.
Thanks, AB. I read the story this morning. Every incidence of child molestation should be reported and highlighted in order to prevent further abuse.
It just seems clear there are thousands more of these stories coming out of the RC church than from Protestant churches.
A married clergy would curtail MUCH of the demonic abuse that has gone on in the RC church.
Did you see last night's "Sins of the Father" on CNN?
I think he was probably the pastor of one of these sort of "free-lance" churches that proliferate in certain areas. We have little churches down here in the South where I'd swear the only congregants are the 10 closest members of the immediate family of the pastor.
"Seems" ... interesting choice of word ...
Did you see last night's "Sins of the Father" on CNN?
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away ... I learned NOT to believe anything "reported" on ABCCBSNBCCNNWashPostNYTimes. I learned to be particularly suspicious when the so-called 'reporting' tended to support my own prejudices. Whenever they report on a topic of which I have personal expert knowledge, they get it wrong. Often, they get it catastrophically wrong. Those who continue to believe them do so at their own peril.
Meanwhile, I hold out the hope that others will similarly wake up and see the lies. Bees sting. Skunks stink. MSM reporters lie. It's just the nature of the beast.
Nothing? Do you live somewhere besides Ohio? Do you believe there was an earthquake in Ohio yesterday, as reported by the MSM?
Do you believe the priest in last night's CNN special did NOT sexually molest young boys in his congregation?
In the story one of the boys pressed charges and was ridiculed by the majority of the church who supported the priest...until another young man came forward to detail how the priest had destroyed his life, too, and very nearly destroyed his faith in Christ.
The priest was convicted and served time in jail. I guess someone believed the victims.
Nothing. I consider everything they report to be in some fashion slanted, to contain only part of the truth, and to contain at least some falsehood. It's possible to filter some facts out of the morass of falsehood and distortion, but it takes considerable effort.
Do you believe that Frank Dew, of Praise Tabernacle Church, stands accused of the (attempted?) rape of a teenage boy? Do you believe the posted story, above, is complete? Do you think that story warrants any comment on your part? Perhaps you'd like to offer Praise Tabernacle Church some unsolicited advise as to the selection of their clergy? I'm sure they'd give it all the consideration it's due.
Do you believe that CNN told you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about that particular story? Do you believe that CNN is generally in the habit of telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Finally, I'd like to remind you, in case you'd forgotten, that "Praise Tabernacle Church" is protestant.
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