Fundy Walk of Shame: Scandals and Crimes

[Bluebirdbluebell]

🚩🚩🚩🚩

Trigger Warning: horrific abuse at a Summer Camp (link)

Spoiler

Influential and up-and-coming Calvary Chapel pastor, Chet Lowe, runs a Christian boot camp in southern California that simulated torture as a part of its discipleship process, according to numerous former students who spoke recently with The Roys Report (TRR).

The students said the boot camp—Patmos: Reality Discipleship—pushed them beyond their breaking point. Patmos used firing squads and middle-of-the-night chases by “Muslims” to make them rely on God, they said, leaving some traumatized and some questioning their faith. One said she left the camp in a wheelchair. Another said he was forced to survive alone outside in the snowy mountains for four days with only communion crackers and grape juice.

 

Not enough flags! This article describes the most insane abuse I've read about.

Edited August 20, 2022 by Bluebirdbluebell

[Howl]

Black Collar Crime: IFB Youth Pastor Sean Higgins Indicted on Numerous Sex Crime Charges

Good grief, y'all, what IS it with these youth "pastors"? His dad is the pastor of the church and Higgins also taught at the K-12 "academy" under the church umbrella. This guy was calculating in his blackmailing of teen boys -- totally Machiavellian, just evil, manipulative and utterly cruel.  

This is how the police described his scheme in the charging documents: 

Spoiler

The investigation revealed that Higgins would adopt the persona of a teenage girl and utilize Snapchat and Instagram to begin a conversation with a juvenile male, introducing himself as Julie Miller. After establishing a rapport, he would suggest that they trade photos. Higgins would then send pictures of an unidentified female teenager, the prosecutor said.

In return, Higgins would often receive nude photos that the victims took of themselves. Immediately upon receiving those images, he would take a screenshot of the victim’s friends list that was visible on the forward-facing social media platform. Higgins would send that screenshot back to the victim and threaten to send the nude photos he had just received to the list of the victim’s friends unless the victim did exactly what Higgins demanded, Bradshaw said.

In most of the cases that were investigated, Higgins then demanded that his victims go into the bathroom at their residence and place the phone on the floor, or at an angle looking up, and would instruct the victims to masturbate or perform sexual acts on themselves. Higgins would record what was transpiring.

According to the videos made by Higgins that were obtained during the investigation, victims would often beg Higgins to be allowed to stop engaging in sexual conduct, but Higgins would demand that they complete his instructions, or face the consequences of having the recordings he was making of the incident be sent to their list of friends.

 

[hoipolloi]

From the Fuck Around and Find Out Dept:

 

[JermajestyDuggar]

I am truly starting to wonder if predators are choosing to be a “youth pastor” at higher rates so they have access to being alone with kids. This seems to be something that happens at much higher rates than other youth leader positions. 1) all youth pastors should have regular background checks and 2) they should never be alone with kids. There should always be another adult around. These two things likely won’t stop everything. But it’s a start.

[Howl]

3 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

1) all youth pastors should have regular background checks and 2) they should never be alone with kids. There should always be another adult around. These two things likely won’t stop everything. But it’s a start.

Kids should always know about appropriate boundaries. Fundamentalist/patriarchal churches are dismal about this because they teach instant obedience, physical "discipline" (beat children into submission) and have zero concept of children and even young women having boundaries. This makes children in these environments especially vulnerable to abuse. 

[SisterCupcake]

Info out of Gloriavale, the New Zealand cult that was featured on a documentary in 2015. Apparently some of the ex members are suing them in NZ’s employment court for unpaid work they were forced to do and really just shining  a light on the cult more generally.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/gloriavale-tv-series-bride-woke-at-2am-to-make-sure-daily-work-done-details-long-and-arduous-days-for-women-at-commune/5WIFHUC4N4FBMFXNNJKBTB2EOQ/?utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=nzh_fb&utm_source=Facebook&fs=e&s=cl&fbclid=IwAR3HG8frSzizKseonNk-eHzgq5JiCrbFItfqBZEzbpbUmL2FD_daYWYKVPA#Echobox=1661839624

Edited September 1, 2022 by SisterCupcake
Misspelling

[Howl]

Matt Chandler, mega pastor of a mega church, tearfully stepped down for "a season" for reasons no one quite understands.  He had an inappropriate online relationship with a woman that was neither sexual or romantic, and his wife knew about it and was OK with it.  So...WTF? 

In this post on Robin Thinks talks about

Why Matt Chandler's Behavior May Be Even More Disturbing Than We Think   As people continue to chew though Chandler's rather bizarre "confession" on Sunday, some things just don't make sense. Here are my thoughts on the "missing pieces."

Robin's main points: 

• ...communications between Chandler and another party were not sexual or romantic in nature, why even reveal that the other person involved was a woman in the first place? 
• ...while he seems to be implying here that the elders looked into the conversation, what actually happened is that a law firm looked into them.
• ...I don’t think the problem was that he was telling jokes, I think the problem is that he was talking shit about members of his church community.

And by talking shit, she's referring to sensitive information revealed to a pastor that shouldn't be discussed inappropriately. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

1 hour ago, Howl said:

Matt Chandler, mega pastor of a mega church, tearfully stepped down for "a season" for reasons no one quite understands.  He had an inappropriate online relationship with a woman that was neither sexual or romantic, and his wife knew about it and was OK with it.  So...WTF? 

In this post on Robin Thinks talks about

Why Matt Chandler's Behavior May Be Even More Disturbing Than We Think   As people continue to chew though Chandler's rather bizarre "confession" on Sunday, some things just don't make sense. Here are my thoughts on the "missing pieces."

Robin's main points: 

• ...communications between Chandler and another party were not sexual or romantic in nature, why even reveal that the other person involved was a woman in the first place? 
• ...while he seems to be implying here that the elders looked into the conversation, what actually happened is that a law firm looked into them.
• ...I don’t think the problem was that he was telling jokes, I think the problem is that he was talking shit about members of his church community.

And by talking shit, she's referring to sensitive information revealed to a pastor that shouldn't be discussed inappropriately. 

I’m not religious, but I would never tell a pastor super personal things. And here’s why. They are part of my community. It is likely he is a pastor to some of my family members and a lot of my friends. He’s conversing all the time with people I likely know well. I don’t want my very personal info possibly being let out of the bag to my all my friends at church. I know church clergy are supposed to keep it all to themselves. However if I went to a therapist who knows none of my friends and none of my family, then I wouldn’t worry about them accidentally telling my friends or family members. I wouldn’t tell a pastor anything I wouldn’t tell the congregation myself. 

[hoipolloi]

2 hours ago, Howl said:

Matt Chandler, mega pastor of a mega church, tearfully stepped down for "a season" for reasons no one quite understands.  He had an inappropriate online relationship with a woman that was neither sexual or romantic, and his wife knew about it and was OK with it.  So...WTF? 

There's a history here. Chandler met his wife, Lauren, when she was a 17 year-old student at the camp where he was a 23-year-old pastor. The couple talks about it in this old 2015 video they made for a marriage class. Notice her body language throughout much of the video.

Red flags, anyone?

[Howl]

37 minutes ago, hoipolloi said:

There's a history here. Chandler met his wife, Lauren, when she was a 17 year-old student at the camp where he was a 23-year-old pastor.

Interesting. Someone on that twitter thread referenced Chandler's "grooming" of his wife.  I also wondered if Chandler was inappropriately discussing his wife. 

Edited September 1, 2022 by Howl

[Red Hair, Black Dress]

Hmmm. .. Adult in authority. Minor under his control.  Grooming anyone?

[Jana814]

Does anyone know how many kids this couple has. 

[Howl]

2 hours ago, Jana814 said:

Does anyone know how many kids this couple has. 

Three kids. 

[Howl]

Does it never, ever end with these youth pastors? 

 

[Joyster]

There is a GoFundMe for Nathan Rager, the hate KJB preacher in Florida who was accused of assaulting his wife, and then Nathan claimed she was beating him.  Nathan also pressed charges against his mom.  He has been seeing his daughter, and now it looks like he has custody of her for a little bit and can't work unless it is from home.  There hasn't been an update on the court cases since November.  He has spent the summer street preaching at a park "church" in Florida.  

Go fund me link

Edited September 5, 2022 by Joyster

[Bluebirdbluebell]

28 minutes ago, Joyster said:

There is a GoFundMe for Nathan Rager, the hate KJB preacher in Florida who was accused of assaulting his wife, and then Nathan claimed she was beating him.  Nathan also pressed charges against his mom.  He has been seeing his daughter, and now it looks like he has custody of her for a little bit and can't work unless it is from home.  There hasn't been an update on the court cases since November.  He has spent the summer street preaching at a park "church" in Florida.  

Go fund me link

Rager frequently pops up on the twitter @ Bad Sermons. It's features lots of clips of bad sermons. Mostly from IFB preachers. The clips are short. I recommend it for learning more about fundies.

[Jana814]

3 hours ago, Joyster said:

There is a GoFundMe for Nathan Rager, the hate KJB preacher in Florida who was accused of assaulting his wife, and then Nathan claimed she was beating him.  Nathan also pressed charges against his mom.  He has been seeing his daughter, and now it looks like he has custody of her for a little bit and can't work unless it is from home.  There hasn't been an update on the court cases since November.  He has spent the summer street preaching at a park "church" in Florida.  

Go fund me link

Did his mother do anything to him?  Also did his wife do anything to him or did he just accuse her of doing something. 

[Joyster]

His mother pushed him during an argument.  I do not know if Rager's allegations against his wife had some truth.  He claimed on Facebook that she had mental problems and regularly beat him.  I am inclined to not believe this (she is very petite and it would be difficult for her to beat a man the size of Rager); however, I do know abuse can happen to men.  I admit that my judgment is very biased because of his nasty beliefs. That's why I wish there was some movement with the court cases.  

In the spoiler is an October 31 Facebook update from a woman who helped the wife by setting up a Gofundme for court costs.  

Spoiler

 

[Bluebirdbluebell]

I don't believe Rager on the abuse: I think he is trying to save face by making counteraccusations. Yes, men can be abused, but as far as I know he made allegations against after she fled him and claimed he abused her.  Also his mother is helping his ex-wife, which is telling.

I went back  to @ Bad Sermons to find the clips of Rager talking. Hopefully it's not too complicated.

Clip 1 link

Clip 2 link

Clip 3 link

Clip 4 link

Clip 5 link

[Howl]

Decided to post this here - it's FLDS offshoot so Mormon related, but I suspect this guy started his own offshoot to get out from under Warren Jeff's crazy edicts and  to have access to girls and young women for sex;  just another scumbag cult leader. 

Leader of polygamous group in AZ charged after police find 3 young girls in his enclosed trailer   Samuel Bateman of Arizona left the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to start his own offshoot group

[Howl]

This again - rapist youth pastor, red flags for years and years, victims not believed: FOX 4 Investigates: 14 girls sexually abused by North Texas youth pastor; the red flags the church ignored

This guy was sentenced to 33 months in prison as part of a plea deal. The judge wanted to sentence him to 25 years. 

[older than allosaurs]

https://www.invw.org/2022/10/02/how-jehovahs-witnesses-allegedly-covered-up-child-sexual-abuse-in-washington-state-for-decades/

This article from Investigate West covers a lot of ground. I hadn't realized that my state is the worst, apparently, in letting churches off the hook on reporting sexual abuse.

[Howl]

54 minutes ago, older than allosaurs said:

This article from Investigate West covers a lot of ground. I hadn't realized that my state is the worst, apparently, in letting churches off the hook on reporting sexual abuse.

That was a very, very painful read.  The lack of protection for children in Washington and Alaska is disgusting.  There are so many children in Alaska, in particular, living in isolated conditions...

[Bluebirdbluebell]

I created a thread in the quiverfull of politics for Herschel Walker. He's an evangelical running for office and he's facing multiple scandals. Link to the thread here.

[hoipolloi]

Another posthumous revelation of a career of abuse and predation.

Don Ogden, who founded the music department at Grace College, turns out to have been a prolific serial predator. His daughters learned about this in 2021, years after his death in 2015. They tried to get Grace College to act but the college was more worried about the effect on its fund-raising than justice for Ogdenʻs victims. Eventually, the College agreed to hire an independent investigator who substantiated the allegations.

Quote

 

Diane [Ogden] said she and her sister were “mortified” when a whistleblower told them in February 2021 that their father’s predation on young boys had spanned more than 40 years.

“[He] had been molesting boys for over four decades. Incidents occurred touring across the country, in people’s homes, our home, malls, youth conferences, and other places,” they said in their statement...

“The [subsequent] investigation substantiated claims of sexual harassment and sexual assault perpetrated by Mr. Ogden within the course and scope of his employment at Grace College. The reported incidents occurred between 1960 and 1990, with most incidents occurring in the 1980s. The investigation also revealed that some former employees had knowledge of the misconduct and failed to appropriately respond to the information at the time,” the brief said, noting Ogden’s 1993 arrest as well.