Prison Chaplain Facing Rape Charges Influenced by Gothard

[ViolaSebastian]

Kenneth Dewitt, a former prison chaplain from Arkansas, has been charged with 50 counts of third-degree sexual assault, after three inmates accused him of pressuring them into giving him sexual favors.  Dewitt is reportedly a devotee of Gothard and used Basic Life Principles in his prison work.  

Makes me think of this little ditty from Matthew: Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/12/prison-chaplain-charged-with-raping-inmates-was-strongly-influenced-by-disgraced-minister-tied-to-duggars/

[CyborgKin]

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/12/prison-chaplain-charged-with-raping-inmates-was-strongly-influenced-by-disgraced-minister-tied-to-duggars/

 

Quote

A former Arkansas prison chaplain accused of raping inmates based his classes on the teachings of the evangelical minister who influenced the Duggar family’s homeschooling of their 19 children.

Kenneth Dewitt was charged last week with 50 counts of third-degree sexual assault after investigators accused him of pressuring three inmates at a women’s state prison into providing him with sexual favors, reported The Daily Beast.

The chaplain was strongly influenced by Bill Gothard, the disgraced founder and former head of Institute of Basic Life Principles — who resigned over sexual harassment claims made against him.

...

The 67-year-old Dewitt founded the faith-based Principles and Applications for Life program rooted in Gothard’s teachings about 16 years ago, when Huckabee was governor.

More about Gothard and Dewitt (and Huckabee) at the link.

[BackseatMom]

This seems pretty consistent with what Gothard teaches about how people in power should treat those beneath them to me.

[apandaaries]

I'm only surprised that it took this long for a scandal to emerge.  That said, I suspect there's more out there, but prisoners are such an isolated and abused portion of our society that we'll not likely hear about it.  I know some people applaud Pa Keller for "ministering" to the prison population, but I can think of few teachings I'd prefer less for them to have than Gothard's worldview.  Everything around that man's cult is a damned mess, and I for one would prefer to have real rehabilitation, job training, and counseling going on in our prisons, not this "save your soul and subscribe to our ideology --and be reformed like Josh Duggar! Just smile and pray and it'll be okay!"  

[Iamhispurity]

Mods, could you merge the two threads?

[CyborgKin]

Thanks.  I did a search for Dewitt but ViolaSebastian's thread didn't show up.  Sorry!

[Cleopatra7]

3 hours ago, amandaaries said:

I'm only surprised that it took this long for a scandal to emerge.  That said, I suspect there's more out there, but prisoners are such an isolated and abused portion of our society that we'll not likely hear about it.  I know some people applaud Pa Keller for "ministering" to the prison population, but I can think of few teachings I'd prefer less for them to have than Gothard's worldview.  Everything around that man's cult is a damned mess, and I for one would prefer to have real rehabilitation, job training, and counseling going on in our prisons, not this "save your soul and subscribe to our ideology --and be reformed like Josh Duggar! Just smile and pray and it'll be okay!"  

It makes absolutely no sense that prisons got rid of educational and vocational programs, supposedly because prisoners are there to be punished not rehabilitated, but fundamentalist religious groups are given free reign. The message appears to be that prisoners' minds are not worth cultivating, but their souls are fair game, and then we wonder why the recidivism rate is so high.

[enigmata]

How on earth did he manage to abuse on such a large scale?  Is there no oversight.  Surely he isn't just allowed free reign with no monitoring?

I guess that they use the excuse of personal counselling but I've always been told that Christian leaders should never be in the position where they open themselves up to the risk of accusation.

It is a total abuse of power and makes me sick.  He deserves to see prison life from the opposite side of the bars.

 

[doggie]

How on earth did he manage to abuse on such a large scale?  Is there no oversight.  Surely he isn't just allowed free reign with no monitoring?

I guess that they use the excuse of personal counselling but I've always been told that Christian leaders should never be in the position where they open themselves up to the risk of accusation.

It is a total abuse of power and makes me sick.  He deserves to see prison life from the opposite side of the bars.

 

He learned it from the best from of scum. Gothard

[Bethella]

Bumping to note that he pleaded guilty to 3 counts out of the 50 counts of third-degree sexual assault he was originally charged with. He could have faced up to 500 years, now he's expected to get only 5 years and could be out on parole after serving less than 1/6 of his sentence- less than a year  The article makes a good point comparing this case to Brock Turner (the guy who only got 6 months for raping an unconscious woman). The rapes in and of themselves are disgusting but the lack of outrage in this case compared to the other is horrid.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sexual-assault-prisons_us_578808e5e4b0867123e0893c

[doggie]

You beat me to it. A real chip off the corodded block.

[AnnaSofia]

Full story at HuffPo

 

Quote

Kenneth Dewitt, a charismatic prison chaplain, welcomed her into the Principles and Applications for Life, or PAL, program ― a religious initiative for inmates that’s based on the teachings of disgraced evangelical fundamentalist Bill Gothard.

Last week, the former chaplain pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting three female inmates who were involved in the PAL program, including Villarreal. While he was initially charged with 50 counts of third-degree sexual assault ― which could have meant spending up to 500 years behind bars ― he ultimately pleaded guilty to only three charges, one for each of the victims.

After working for the Arkansas Department of Correction for 13 years, Dewitt is expected to be sentenced to five years in one of the state’s prisons. It’s possible that he may be eligible for parole after serving only one-sixth of his sentence. In other words, he could be out within a year.

 

An older article discussing Dewitt, and the program.