Posted on 07/14/2015 7:33:17 PM PDT by Gamecock
COLUMBIA, SC The pastor at Grace United Methodist Church has been charged with criminal sexual conduct with a minor.
Walter Ballenger, III, was arrested Monday following the allegation that he touched a female minor in a sexual manner on June 27, Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said.
Ballenger is listed as the pastor of the Grace United Methodist Church at 410 Harbison Blvd.
An investigation into the case continues. More charges are pending, Holbrook said.
This will ONLY work if the ‘victim’ is black.
Didn’t you get Al Sharpton’s Memo? *SMIRK*
Not a lot of info here....so I’d wait to pass judgment...
How old was this female minor...?
It would not be the first time a minor accused someone of sexual Misconduct for a perceived violation that amounts to nothing actually happened ...
He is a United Methodist. Many atheists are closer to being Christians than that denomination. John and Charles Wesley would be appalled with today’s “methodists”.
Oh come on now!
HE is 59 that means at a minimum there is a 40 year age difference.....
Yep, pretending we Methodists don’t have our perverts would be a mistake. The same for the non-Catholic denominations in general. They get to hide behind their lack of organization hierarchy and identity in many cases.
“Not a lot of info here....so I’d wait to pass judgment...”
A 59 year old with a minor teenager, and you need more info ?
And Catholic priests get to hide behind their massive organizational hierarchy, which will protect them from having the words *arrested*, *charged*, and *jail* used in the same sentence with *inappropriate contact*.
It’s not like it would be the first time someone was set up.
Time will tell and God knows.
His bigger problem is going to be standing before God some day and answering for it if he did it.
I looked at the title quickly and thought it said “animal” sexual conduct. Although I suppose the Supreme Court will be requiring states to sanction that eventually.
This will be very hard on his parish. We should pray for them.
Funny how a thread about a child-molesting Protestant pastor gets twisted into an attack on those wascally Catholics. Planks in eyes, etc.
Have you been living on a deserted Pacific island for the last 20 years, metmom? Aren't you aware of the number of Catholic dioceses which have been bankrupted by lawsuits? Do you not understand that every Catholic diocese in the US has been required, at least by their insurers, if not for other obvious reasons, to put extensive safeguards and background checks into place?
Are those safeguards perfect? Of course they aren't; they're man made, but the idea that nothing is being done or that the bishops can somehow shield a molester once his behavior is known is laughable.
By the way, there are innocent priests imprisoned in this country unjustly, right now. Today.
Soon, there will be a lot more.
So much for being "shielded" by the "massive organizational hierarchy".
Sure.
NOW.
After they were exposed by people who refused to be cowed into silence any more.
If it weren’t for the negative publicity and the lawsuits, I doubt anything would have been done, as hadn’t been done for uncounted years before.
Things didn’t begin to change until the church was forced to.
I don’t really care what Catholic priests do. I’m a Methodist, and this alleged pervert is a Methodist.
We can’t pretend we don’t have issues, too. And neither can the other non-Catholic denominations. They get hidden because they don’t have organizations that are easily identified, but they are still there. It’s too easy to google it.
**We can’t pretend we don’t have issues, too.**
I don’t think anyone here is doing that.
The perp has been arrested and will face a court of law.
Some faith groups move their spiritual leaders around, allowing them to hide in plain view. That is the travesty.
It’s wrong, but hierarchies do that.
We just call it different. “He received counseling...blah, blah, blah...”
A 59 year old with a minor teenager, and you need more info ?
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