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The Miami Herald has just published this unbelievable investigative story on how Jeffrey Epstein avoided serious prison time for running a large, multi-national sex ring that preyed on underage teenage girls. The original case, back in the mid-2000s, is the one that also involved Prince Andrew and Alan Dershowitz -- and yes, because it's Florida, Mar-A-Lago is mentioned. [Trigger warning for descriptions of abuse in article & related videos] Much, much more at the Miami Herald link.

It read like this is a breakaway sect from the Catholic Church. St Mary’s, Kansas. They’re drawing 4000 people and now the KBI is looking into sexual abuse allegations

Another fundie sick fuck

Just when you think you've heard everything. The AP has reported on a group formerly called Opus Bono Sacerdotii, now called Men of Melchizedek. From the AP story: Former leaders of Opus Bono Sacerdotii (OBS) included the recently ousted Cardinal Eduard Perrone, removed from his Detroit parish after allegations of sexual abuse. Perrone is an arch-conservative, Latin-Mass kind of guy. OBS morphed into the Men of Melchizedek after the Michigan AG busted OBS for breaking state law governing non-profits.

(This is a cut-and-paste entry from my public blog.) "Dad molested me when I was a kid." Those are hard words for anyone to say, hard words for anyone to hear. When preacher Jimmy Hinton heard those words, they punched him in the gut. Because the person who said those words, Alex Howlett, was Jimmy Hinton's sister. So when Alex said, "Dad molested me," she was saying that it was their father, Church of Christ pastor John Hinton, who'd preached for the Somerset Church of Christ in Pennsylvania for 27 years, who'd done it. Jimmy Hinton did two things. First, he told Alex, "I believe you." Second, he reported his father to the police. That report prompted an investigation which resulted in John Hinton pleading guilty to the sexual assault of four girls, ages four to seven. John Hinton is now in the Rockville State Prison, serving a 30- to 60-year sentence. Contrast this with an incident in the Uniontown Church of Christ in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. When a judge sentenced volunteer youth minister Clyde Brothers on charges of "corruption of minors and indecent exposure", part of his ruling was to order Brothers not to attend the church "until and unless there is a signed waiver of this provision . . .by the governing authority of the said Church." Soon after, the elders met to consider granting that waiver and to allow Brothers to continue worshiping with the congregation. A mother of one of the victims told the Christian Chronicle, "It's almost like Clyde is more important than the victims are." (The judge's decision was reversed on appeal due to the fact that the statutes of limitations had run out.) Les Ferguson, pastor for the Lake Harbor Church of Christ in Mississippi, is tragically familiar with the subject of sexual abuse. A member of his former congregation, the Orange Grove Church of Christ in Gulfport, Mississippi, offered to babysit Les' son Cole once a week. Cole was severely disabled, and Les' wife Karen badly needed the break. The member used that time to rape Cole, and he threatened Cole with death if he told. Cole eventually did tell, and Les and Karen reported the predator to the police. The man was arrested, released on bail, and while out on bail, he murdered Karen and Cole before committing suicide. And just last week, a Church of Christ minister in the Sarasota, Florida area -- a registered sex offender -- was arrested on charges of possession of child pornography. I've deliberately picked stories from Churches of Christ because they are my "tribe" of believers. The news media, over the last several years, has covered the abuse of children by Catholic priests, and more recently, they've covered widespread sexual abuse in Southern Baptist convention churches and in other evangelical churches. But this is not a problem that exists only in "denominational churches". Churches of Christ deal with it, also. We are no different. I grow weary of the continual reports of sexual abuse among people who claim to be Christians. Jimmy Hinton grew up admiring his preacher father, and it was because of him that Jimmy, himself, entered the ministry. Christians tend to be trusting of other people who claim to be Christians. We love a good repentance story and we love a good story of forgiveness. God does forgive. People do repent and change and stay changed. On the other hand, sexual abuse is a crime that stays with the victim for life. I don't think we appreciate just how shattering the crime of sexual abuse is. Too many of us treat it as a "sin" and tell the victim, "the Bible says you must forgive," and demand immediate forgiveness. I don't hear the same emphasis on telling the offender "you must repent and prove your repentance by your deeds". Jimmy Hinton still preaches. He also is an advocate for victims of sexual assault and consults with church leaders on the topic of abuse. Alex Howlett no longer goes to church. She said in an interview, "I don't like the idea of God as a fatherly thing. If that's who He is He wasn't there for me. If my dad was supposed to be someone who was spreading His word -- that's not the case at all." None of the victims from the Uniontown Church of Christ remain in church. One victim is in jail, and two of them have committed suicide. Les Ferguson has remarried, and he preaches, but he is still without his first wife and his son. (Snark alert here.) But go ahead, let's keep arguing about instrumental music, and whether or not women can preach, and whether or not we can have kitchens in a church building, and whether or not it's a sin to turn in your contribution to the church early because you're going to be out of town on Sunday. Because we all know that we are saved by the five-step plan of salvation in order to perform the five acts of worship -- preaching/teaching, singing, prayer, taking up of a collection, and taking the Lord's Supper -- on Sunday, and only on Sunday. After all, that's the most important thing. Isn't it?

The Cook County Sheriff's office said a 49 year old private school teacher in southwest suburban Burbank has been charged with sexual assault and soliciting child pornography in connection to incidents with two of her students. Teacher at Jordan Baptist School in Burbank charged

The snapchat gender swapping filter helped catch a perv in the act

Will the Church finally face the abuse committed against its lower ranks members? Cardinal McCarrick was suspended from his role after allegations he committed sexual abuse on a child 50yrs ago. But allegations of sexual harassment and abuse against him from seminarians and young priests date back to the early nineties. The Vatican knew about his love for organising retreats with young priests and selecting one to share his bed with. John Paul II (that I refuse to call saint) knew, as did Benedict XVI. It all was ignored and the man, a skilled fund-raiser, got promotion after promotion. This exposes how the absolute loyalty to the hierarchy put young adult priests at risk for sexual harassment and abuse at the hands of their superiors. There's no system in place in the RCC to manage this sort of situations. And unwanted touching on an adult isn't a crime according to canon law. Here you can find more about the Cardinal McCarrick abuses. What do you think, the position of the Church on sexuality is still reasonable? Most Catholics ignore Church teachings re birth control, pre-marital sex and sexual morals in general. Is it time for a reform for clergy ranks' approach to sexuality as well? Many (me too) are convinced that the celibacy of the clergy is no longer feasible as it has fostered every sort of diseased approaches to sexuality.

I searched but didn't find any prior posts about him. Dow was convicted of sexual assault of his daughter in the 90s. He and his 2nd wife opened an orphanage in Kenya in 2006. He fled Kenya after a warrant was issued for his arrest for the rape of girls under his care. His wife was arrested for child cruelty for forcing tween and teen girls to get birth control implants. Their church is of course standing by their side. https://www.nation.co.ke/news/Why-activists-want-suspected-American-child-molester-extradited/1056-4953110-11jtbud/index.html

So far it involves 38 clergy Hiring a hit man? How Christ like was that Fiala? Who would Jesus have clipped? This is why I don't have much use for the moralizing the church does on a regular basis.

Some news out of Michigan Here's the arrest warrant on Scribd

Ugh Now the diocese is doing the right thing because it's being called to account

Pro Publica has published a lengthy investigative article on the "charity" More Than Me run by Katie Meyler in Liberia. [Trigger warnings for linked article since it has details of sexual abuse & violence] She apparently got her start in foreign aid work as a fundie: She founded the More Than Me charity to establish a school for girls at risk of sexual exploitation and violence in the West Point area of Monrovia. It turned out that her primary Liberian colleague & sometime boyfriend, a man named Macintosh Johnson, was systematically abusing a number of the girls at the school, threatening them into silence with losing their scholarships or even their lives. The reporting is very detailed and devastating which is probably why More Than Me has issued a pre-emptive statement. It's not clear that there's still a fundie tie to this "charity" but then their website presence appears to be very curated -- pretty much the only links that show up in a quick google search are theirs or positive PR items.

Interesting news.

I hope I've managed to put this under the spoiler seperately in case it is a trigger for anyone. I can't understand people anymore, my heart is broken.

The latest on the church abuse scandals in Pennsylvania Here's a link to the report.

Mainumby was forced to give birth at the age of 11 after becoming pregnant via rape.  Paraguay would not allow her to have an abortion. This is what that orange fuck and his reich to life groupies would love to see happen in the United State

I hope I’m sharing this correctly. North Valley Baptist Church is trying to cover this up, but one IFB pastor refuses to let them. (Edit: I have no clue how to embed the actual tweet...)

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article206450249.html From the article: More in the linked article

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article207817404.html

Looks like IHOP (International House of Prayer - not the pancake place) has a Pastor with a history of sexual abuse working for them. Um, the language this place uses is just... yeah. And it looks like the victim is coming out with this due to Me Too. http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article202020974.html

Pope Francis declared he didn't see any evidence of misconduct against a Chilean bishop despite testimony of victims and dismissed them as slandering. This makes me so ragey. It's never the wrong moment to remind victims that their words don't matter as much as a bishop's words.

Rachel Jeffs (33), one of Warren Jeffs' daughters and author of her new book "Breaking Free", is being interviewed by Megyn Kelly for Dateline. She was sexually abused by Warren Jeffs as a child and teen and was forced into an arranged marriage in her teens and decided to escape after Warren Jeffs ordered her, from prison, to be banished from her five children for months at a time. Although she did grow to love that husband, he refused to leave and is still committed to Warren Jeffs. She's remarried (to a Blackmore) and is very happy in her new life. Megyn Kelly grates on my very last nerve, but this is a good show and I'd like to read her book: Breaking Free: How I Escaped Polygamy, the FLDS Cult, and My Father, Warren Jeffs

Good http://people.com/crime/mary-kay-letourneau-separates-from-vili-fualaau/

I'm familiar with this church. Lenexa is on the Kansas side of the Greater Kansas City area. And this is a mainstream/evangelical church. The perpetrator plead guilty to the criminal charges. In question here is the fact at the two victims - now under 16 and under 14 at the time of the abuse - remain anonymous during civil proceedings against the church. http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article88327962.html If true - I find the quoted appalling. I have volunteered in children's ministries. I have undergone background checks to serve in this manner. And have been part of at least one ministry where the attempt was made to always have a teacher and helper with kids at all times. Where teens have been monitored.