DELAWARE, Ohio–Brian Williams, a former Delaware County pastor was charged in March with sexual battery after a young girl told police she went to Williams for counseling. The young victim said that he sexually assaulted her. Williams pleaded guilty yesterday; he could face 10 years in prison.
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A church pastor accused of having a sexual affair with his daughter in the Northern Division has been charged with two counts of incest.
Divisional crime officer north Luke Rawalai said police charged the Assemblies of God church pastor yesterday and kept him in police custody.
Mr Rawalai said the pastor will appear in the Labasa court today.
The pastor was suspended from church duties after he was accused of having sex with his daughter between December 2006 and early 2007. It is alleged that he threatened his daughter not to tell anyone.
The matter came to light when the victim shared the experience at a church camp in Nadi two months ago and it was reported at the Nadi Police station.
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SYDNEY —The lawyer who filed a class action lawsuit against the Diocese of Antigonish says he’s been contacted by a number of people saying they’re survivors of sexual abuse by priests and he knows there are others out there.
John McKiggan filed the lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of Ronald Martin, a native of New Waterford. Martin’s brother, David, killed himself in 2002, leaving behind a suicide note which led to charges of sex crimes against former priest Hugh Vincent MacDonald. Ronald Martin says he also endured abuse from MacDonald.
The former priest was facing 27 charges when he died in 2004.
The class action claims the diocese failed to protect the children in its care when it became aware of the abuse, and also names the Roman Catholic Church and a church official. The suit, which contains allegations not yet proven in court and was filed under Nova Scotia’s new Class Proceedings Act, involves claims that MacDonald and several other priests sexually abused children in their care between 1962 and 2008.
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Two more men are set to file suit against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Boy Scouts of America. They’re filing suit for abuse they suffered between 1989 and 1992 at the hands of Timur Dykes.
Dykes is a convicted pedophile from Oregon. According to the Multnomah County Department of Community Justice Parole & Probation, Dykes has been convicted of Sodomy II, Sodomy III and Sex Abuse I. The department says he used his positions in his church and as a scout leader to prey on vulnerable boys and families.
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The jury in the Christchurch historic sex abuse trial has retired to consider its verdicts.
Rodger William Moloney, 73, a former prior of the Order of St John of God, which ran Marylands Special School, denies 23 charges of sexual abuse of nine boys at the school.
The jury began its deliberations at 11.30am after a summing up of about two-and-a-half hours in the High Court at Christchurch, by Justice Graham Panckhurst.
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A Pennsylvania man becomes the latest plaintiff in a sexual abuse lawsuit filed against the Diocese of Wilmington.
WDEL’s Carl Kanefsky has the story.
John Vai claims he’s the victim of more than 100 acts of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of Reverend Francis DeLuca.
Vai’s attorney Stephen Neuberger says the father of another alleged victim of DeLuca’s complained to the Diocese, but officials chose to cover up the crimes.
Neuberger read a statement on his client’s behalf, expressing Vai’s frustration over the fact the he didn’t speak up.
According to Vai, the abuse covered a four year period, when the now 56 year old was between the ages of 13 and 17.
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Robert D. Bennefield, a convicted sex offender spared prison a decade ago by a judge who granted his request for treatment, was back in front of the judge Friday on a new charge of raping a child.
Bennefield, 53, of Sifton, pleaded not guilty to raping a 15-year-old boy.
His trial was set for Aug. 18.
In 1998, Bennefield pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree rape of a child and one count of attempted second-degree assault involving two brothers. The boys attended the small Lighthouse Christian Center in Rosemere, where Bennefield was a pastor.
In that case, Bennefield also admitted to molesting nine other boys he’d met through the church, according to court records.
At his 1998 sentencing, a Clark County deputy prosecutor sought the maximum sentence of 12 years in prison.
Bennefield “is no more opportunistic than a spider who uses a web,” Deputy Prosecutor Scott Jackson argued to Superior Court Judge Robert Harris.
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A former Colorado Springs lay pastor at a church, charged with sex assault on a child, was in court Thursday. A preliminary hearing was scheduled, but Jon Moore waived it.
The 51-year-old is accused of sexually assaulting a teenager. The allegations span over three years. The two met at Lighthouse Baptist Church near Austin Bluffs and Academy.
On his way into court, we asked Moore about the charges against him. He didn’t want to answer any of our questions.
Moore used to work as an assistant to the preacher at Lighthouse Baptist. He’s charged with sex assault on a child by a position of trust.
A seven page police report spells out how the alleged relationship between Moore and a teenage girl began. She claims she met him when she was dating his son.
She said that’s when he began coming onto her, “kissing her and touching her, skin-to-skin.”
Some of the alleged sex assaults over the course of a few years happened when the two of them were at church functions. The girl told Springs Police she was worried about getting pregnant.
Since April, when we first told about Moore’s arrest, the story has remained one of the most popular on our webchannel with dozens of comments from viewers; some of them coming to Jon Moore’s defense.
He will be in court again in August. No word if the case will go to trial or if he’ll accept a plea deal. If Moore is found guilty, he would become a registered sex offender.
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A former Bibb County minister has been arrested for allegedly raping a child.
Timothy Fulgham, 40, is charged with second-degree rape, second-degree sodomy, second-degree sexual abuse and enticing a child for immoral purposes.
Investigators say Fulgham used his power as a minister at River Life Church of God to win the young girl’s trust, and take advantage of her.
According to court documents, Fulgham assaulted the girl in both Bibb and Tuscaloosa counties. He has currently bonded out of the Tuscaloosa Metro Jail.
“Just believing that the truth will be revealed, and we believe in the system; we just don’t talk about it here. It’s not really relevant to us. The former pastor resigned. I just want to let everyone know in our community that our church is a great place to be. It’s a safe place to be,” said Brandon Morrison, current pastor of the River Life Church of God.
At the time of the attack, the girl was between 12 and 16 years old.
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Austin lawyer Christa Brown says she was molested as a teenager by a minister of a Baptist church near Dallas. She has worked on behalf of sexual abuse victims and wants churches to do more to help them.
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