Reverend agreed to plea bargain saying he misrepresented himself as a Schaumburg gym employee.
A longtime pastor of the 101-year-old Second Baptist Church of Wheaton has been dismissed from his job after several women accused him of improperly touching them in a gym, according to church members.
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A 20-year-old man has accused a married pastor of sexual assault, but the man of the cloth says the charge is a conspiracy to oust him from the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP).
Matlalela Mthunzini, a 28-year-old politician and preacher in the Total Surrender Church, will appear in the Seshego magistrate’s court in Limpopo again today.
In Mthunzini’s first court appearance, the plaintiff said: “He turned me around and climbed on top of me. I tried to resist but he managed to overpower me.
“He had sex with me from the back as if I was a woman.”
He told the court Mthunzini had forced himself on him after he had asked him to look after his house on the night of October 21 last year .
Provincial ACDP leader Modiba Sedibane said: “Mthunzini is a disgrace to the party and does not deserve any sympathy from any church and the party.”
Not mincing his words, he added: “What he did was downright immoral. He dragged the name of the party into disrepute and we cannot support him for that.”
But a confident Mthunzini yesterday denied the allegations and said he will go to court armed with substantial evidence to exonerate him. He repeated that the charges were made up because of a political conspiracy against him by fellow party members.
He said that the complainant was paid to rubbish his political career.
“Look, there is infighting within the ACDP and people like Sedibane want to oust me from my position.
“While I was still in office, my position was advertised and filled without consulting me,” he said.
“People in the organisation have also accused me of being gay.
“But I am a straight man and I am married with one kid and my wife is expecting another baby. These allegations have caused more damage in my marriage. My family is not taking this matter lightly,” he said.
The ACDP’s Youth League spokesman, Maropene Molepo, echoed Sedibane’s sentiments.
“Mthunzini dragged the name of the organisation into the mud.
“We cannot speak on behalf of the judiciary, but we would like the law to take its course. While we don’t necessarily condone what he did, we wish him a fair trial.”
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The parents of a girl sexually assaulted by a day care worker have filed a Berks County Court lawsuit accusing the center of doing nothing to prevent their child from being abused.
The parents, whose names are being withheld by the Reading Eagle, claim that former day care worker Samuel A. Ervin repeatedly molested their daughter during nap time and bathroom breaks at the former Trinity Learning Center, 705 Friedensburg Road, Mount Penn.
The suit did not specify the age of the victim.
Ervin, 26, formerly of the 500 block of South 1612 Street, is serving a 36- to 88-year sentence for raping two 3-year-old girls and sexually assaulting four other girls, ages 2 to 10, between January 2004 and June 2006.
Ervin was fired June 5, 2006, after the charges were filed.
The suit claims the school was negligent and caused the girls pain, embarrassment and mental distress.
“Defendant Ervin was able to confidently create an atmosphere of terror, horror and physical, sexual and emotional abuse and without risk of reprisal, harm or discovery and was allowed to remain undetected for a period of two or more years,” according to the suit filed by Rick Long, a Wyomissing attorney.
The suit also claims school officials tried to cover up the molestation by failing to report complaints about it to the state Department of Public Welfare, which oversees day care centers.
At the time of the assaults, Trinity United Church of Christ operated the center.
The suit names as defendants Ervin, Trinity United Church of Christ, Trinity Learning Center and Peter J. Bourey, school principal.
Bourey has since resigned.
Jeffrey S. Fleischaker, a Bethlehem attorney representing the day care and Bourey, was unavailable for comment.
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Twenty-two priests assigned to dozens of Diocese of Davenport parishes abused more than 150 children beginning in the 1940s, according to additional information released Friday by the diocese about their credibly accused clergy.
Two members of the order of Franciscan Brothers of Christ the King also are accused of abusing two people — one teen and one young man in their order. The order no longer is recognized by the Catholic church.
Sixty parishes are on the list of assignments for the accused. Twenty-one of those parishes have closed or consolidated. The diocese now has 83 parishes.
Four of the priests — James Janssen, William Wiebler, Francis Bass and Thomas Feeney — account for nearly 100 of the claims. The remaining 20 have between one and six claims against them.
Sixteen of the accused are dead. Four have been defrocked. One was ordered by the Vatican to a “life of prayer and penance.”
More credibly accused may be named later this year, officials have said.
The additional information — including the church assignments, number of claims, earliest abuse and date of death — comes after victims and their advocates questioned why the diocese did not release more information with the initial list earlier this month. The list is a requirement of the diocese’s bankruptcy settlement.
Mike Uhde, who was the co-chairman of the committee representing victims in the diocese’s bankruptcy, said the list and its information is still not complete.
Six priests who have been publicly accused are not on the list, he said. They are:
* Now-retired Bishop Lawrence Soens, who is accused mostly of sexually abusing students while he was principal at Regina High School in Iowa City.
* Drake Shafer, the diocese’s former vicar general, who was accused of abusing a child in the 1970s.
* The Rev. Gerald Stouvenal, an active priest suspended in July because of claims made in the diocese’s bankruptcy. The diocese has asked that he be defrocked.
* Richard Poster, who was convicted of possession of child pornography.
* Martin Diamond and Joseph Hines, previously listed in the diocese’s bankruptcy.
Uhde believes some of the priests have more claims of abuse. He also questioned the completeness of the parish assignment lists. Specifically, he noted that Carl Meinberg was president of St. Ambrose College but was not listed as such by the diocese Friday. The diocese noted that “other assignments” were not included in the information.
Craig Levien, an attorney for several of the victims, urged the diocese to reveal where the living credibly accused abusers live.
And Terence McKiernan, who leads an organization called Bishop Accountability, said the additional information was a step in the right direction. However, because of the priests not on the list and because only parish assignments are given, “it gives only a partial sense of the magnitude.”
He added: “Why oh why oh why wasn’t it provided sooner?”
The diocese filed for bankruptcy in October 2006 after it lost its first civil sex abuse trial. The diocese, its insurance company and the creditors committee agreed to a $37 million settlement, with the stipulation that all Catholic entities in the diocese were to be released from liability just as the diocese will be released once the bankruptcy process is completed.
The plan also includes a detailed matrix that assigns a dollar amount to the 164 bankruptcy claimants based on the severity of abuse suffered at the hands of clergy. Claimants are allowed to take the bankruptcy settlement trustee to court if they do not wish to be paid on the basis of the matrix. The plan also lays out 18 nonmonetary agreements the diocese made with the claimants.
All told, sex abuse cases in the Diocese of Davenport have cost the diocese and its insurer at least $47 million. That number includes the settlement and $10 million paid to 45 victims before the diocese filed for bankruptcy.
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PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — A Putnam County church deacon working as a handyman was recently arrested after detectives said he sexually abused the women he was hired to help.
Investigators said 64-year-old Jim Bruce took advantage of two different women he knew from the College Park Baptist Church in Palatka.
They said Bruce was very trusted by the women he’s accused of abusing because not only was he a church member, he was also a deacon at the church.
“(It’s) despicable, disturbing — this is somebody that they trust,” said Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Keith Riddick. “He would be helpful, cheerful, pleasant, and the whole while he was planning to do what he did.”
According to police, Bruce was a handyman who did odd jobs around the women’s homes. They said one of the women had recently lost her husband.
The conversations eventually turned to sex,” Riddick said.
Deputies said things soon went from words to actions. According to police, Bruce forced himself on his victims.
Investigators said he exposed himself and fondled one woman, but the woman was able to fight Bruce off. They said a second victim was sexually battered.
“Their friends knew him and spoke highly of him. Everybody they knew spoke highly of him, so it was somebody they did trust,” Riddick said.
Bruce is charged with attempted sexual battery and sexual battery. He was released from jail on $5,000 bond.
While there was no answer at Bruce’s home, his wife told Channel 4 via telephone that her husband is innocent.
If convicted, Bruce could face up to life in prison.
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MANVILLE —A federal grand jury has indicted a priest from a borough Catholic church on charges he groped a 16-year-old girl sitting next to him on an airplane flight.
The Rev. Tomasz Adam Zielinski, 31, a Polish citizen staying in the United States on a religious visa, surrendered to special agents of the FBI on July 11 following an investigation of events on a Polish Airlines aircraft that arrived July 5 in Newark. Zielinski was charged with one count of abusive sexual contact aboard an aircraft, which departed from Warsaw, Poland and was bound for the United States.
Zielinski appeared in federal court on July 11 and was released by a federal magistrate judge on a $10,000 bond and ordered to have no contact with minors.
Joanne Ward, a spokeswoman for the Diocese of Metuchen, said Zielinski has since been removed from his position at Christ the King Church, 211 Louis St. Zielinski had served since April as a parochial vicar in assisting the Rev. Boguslaw Augustyn - the pastor at both the Christ the King and Sacred Heart churches - however, Zielinski’s duties were solely at Christ the King, Ward said.
According to the indictment handed up Thursday from federal court, Zielinski was seated next to the girl when he reached under a blanket covering her lap and began touching her inappropriately. The girl responded by blocking his hand and pushing the blanket downward. Zielinski then moved his hand down to the girl’s thigh and attempted to unzip her pants. The girl then asked the flight crew to change her seat and was accommodated, the indictment states.
Later in the flight, Zielinski allegedly approached her again, apologized and asked for forgiveness, the indictment states. The flight crew directed Zielinski back to his seat. The plane landed at approximately 9 p.m. July 5 at Newark Liberty International Airport. FBI agents interviewed the priest July 9 and he confessed, according to court documents.
During Masses last weekend at both Christ the King and Sacred Heart churches, a letter was read from Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski alerting the parishes of the incident. The letter stated, “I pray that your esteem for the church and the sacred priesthood will not be shaken by this occurrence, and I ask you to join me in praying for the Lord’s healing for all affected by this incident.”
“The Bishop wanted to be transparent and let them (parishioners) know,” Ward said. “His (bishop) long-standing policy is to address any allegations of sexual abuse immediately and appropriately.”
Ward added the letter also was meant in general, to encourage victims of sexual abuse to come forward and report incidents to authorities. She said, “It (letter) also was to show, in a sense to others out there, they can come forward to and should come forward.”
The next step in the case is for Zielinski to appear for an arraignment on the indictment. The case must be assigned to a U.S. District judge who will set a date for that arraignment.
Special agents of the FBI in Newark, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Weysan Dun, are being credited with the investigation of Zielinski. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney L. Judson Welle in Newark.
If convicted, the priest faces a maximum statutory penalty of two years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said the outcome of the case could determine if Zielinski will face deportation back to Poland.
“We’re not talking deportation at this time,” he said.
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A Baptist pastor is now in jail facing three charges for rape in Silay City, while an escapee from the Provincial Jail of Negros Occidental, was recaptured yesterday in Escalante City, police records show.
In Kabankalan City, a 13-year-old elementary school student was also allegedly sexually-molested by a 16-year-old boy, Wednesday, police and radio reports said yesterday.
The 46-year-old pastor whose identity is being withheld, gave himself up to a team of policemen led by SPO2 Mateo Requintina who served the arrest warrant on him at Tres Fuentes in Silay City, Wednesday.
Police records show that the suspect was charged for allegedly molesting his 14-year-old half-sister on Jan. 4 and 5, 2007. The victim is now under the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Silay City.
Silay Regional Trial Court Judge Reynaldo Alon who issued the arrest warrant denied bail to the suspect.
The girl in Kabankalan, whose name is being withheld by the police, was on an errand for her grandfather when she was waylaid and raped by the boy, identified as alias “Rico”, at about 5 p.m. Wednesday, DYHB reported.
Supt. Calixto Mabugat, Kabankalan police chief, confirmed the incident but added that he could not give complete details of the case yet because their station’s Women and Children’s Concerns center investigators are still probing it.
“Rico” was reportedly turned over to the police and placed under the custody of social workers after he surrendered to barangay officials at about 2 p.m. yesterday.
Last month a laborer was detained also for sexual-molestation complaints in Kabankalan.
Meanwhile, joint elements of the police and 6th Regional Mobile Group headed by Chief Insp. Leonardo Angcon yesterday recaptured jail escapee Valenario Pasague, alias Ka Bobby, and Valing, in Sitio Tugok, Brgy. Binaguiohan, Escalante City.
Angcon said Pasague, 51, is facing robbery with homicide charges in court.
San Carlos RTC Judge Katherine Go also denied Pasague bail. He is now detained at the Escalante City Jail.
In Valladolid and Kabankalan City, in the province, two persons were arrested for illegal possession of firearms.
One of the arrested suspects, a 16-year-old whose identity is being withheld, was disarmed of a .38 caliber revolver with two ammunition by PFC Amado Celiz in Sitio San Jose, Brgy. Salong, in Kabankalan.
A certain Diosdado Macapatan was also apprehended by the police in Brgy. Palaka, Valladolid, also for having a .38 caliber revolver with three live ammunition and two empty shells.
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MANSFIELD — A former Mansfield youth pastor was arrested Thursday in southwest Ohio on 10 sex-related felonies reportedly involving a teenage parishioner.
John Picard, 40, of Springboro, has been charged with 10 counts of sexual battery, all third-degree felonies. He is accused of having sexual relations with a girl starting in 1992 when she was 13 and continuing until she reached adulthood. Picard was a youth pastor at Grace Brethren Church on Marion Avenue at the time.
Police said they think there are other victims.
“He’s probably one of the most despicable pedophiles that there can be,” Mansfield police Lt. Allen Vandayburg said. “It’s a sad, sad state of affairs when somebody of trust can’t be trusted.”
Vandayburg and Detective Jeff Shook went to Springboro, in the Dayton area, to arrest Picard. He was being held in Warren County Jail pending an extradition hearing early next week.
Shook opened the case in 2005.
“It’s been open and closed, open and closed,” Shook said. “People have been coming forward periodically, giving bits and pieces.”
Shook said the problem with most sex-abuse cases is there are no witnesses. Police need corroborating statements to make their case.
They got them this time.
“We caught a break,” Vandayburg said. “A victim came forward.”
Police hope more people are willing to talk.
“I think he’ll be looking at a multi-count indictment before it’s done. At least I hope so,” Vandayburg said. “He manipulated these girls and used their faith against them to gain sexual satisfaction for himself.”
Shook said some of the alleged abuse occurred in the church “under cloak of counseling behind closed doors,” while other reported incidents happened at Picard’s 419 Sloane Ave. residence. Vandayburg said Picard has not been involved with Grace Brethren in about four years.
“Allegations started surfacing,” he said. “The ministers decided they didn’t need his services anymore.”
Vandayburg said Picard has been working in Springboro for a steel company for some time, but moved there only three or four months ago. He said Picard still has a house in Mansfield for sale.
In this case, Shook said the abuse occurred “once or twice or three times a month.” Prosecutors settled on two counts each year until the reported victim turned 18.
“That’s preliminary charges until we sift through other information,” Shook said. “We know of several victims. Their identities will be as protected as we can protect them.”
Vandayburg said Picard might have a hold on some of the reported victims.
“He still keeps up with some of these girls as adults. They’re still followers,” the lieutenant said. “That’s how much he’s brainwashed them.”
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A former pastor of a Lutheran church in Belmont County was arraigned Friday on kidnapping and rape charges.
The charges of sexual misconduct against Peter Pilger, 36, include a period of time while he was pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Martins Ferry.
Pilger is accused of sexually abusing a girl over the past six years, including a year while he was pastor of the Martins Ferry church between 1999 and 2003.
After he left Martins Ferry, Pilger became pastor of churches in Massillon and New Albany, Ohio.
Stark County prosecutors filed the charges after the girl told her friends about the abuse and they encouraged her to tell her mother, a Canton newspaper reported.
Pilger has been in the Stark County Jail since his arrest on July 2.
The current pastor of the Martins Ferry church said his congregation had two different reactions when they heard the news about Pilger.
“(They either said), ‘I really don’t believe it,’ or ‘I always thought he was strange,’” said Philip Van Dam, pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church.
An official with the Northeast Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church said council members voted to terminate Pilger in April, then voted to terminate him last week, meaning he is no longer a pastor.
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A Wheaton congregation will meet Saturday to consider whether to dismiss its longtime pastor for misconduct after several women accused him of improperly touching them in a gym.
Rev. Andre Allen, pastor of the 101-year-old Second Baptist Church of Wheaton, faces a backlash after members recently learned he was charged with battery and disorderly conduct after being accused of touching three women in a provocative manner at a Schaumburg gym in November, according to police.
Under a plea bargain, Allen pleaded guilty only to falsely presenting himself as an employee of the gym, according to Cook County court records.
In January, Judge Pamela Karahalios sentenced him to 10 days of community service and one year’s court supervision.
Two weeks ago, the church cabinet voted 16-3 to request his resignation, but Allen refused.
“This is not the type of activity you would expect from a minister,” said Deacon Frank Jarrett. “I mean, that’s the obvious. And as a congregation, we just need to address this.”
Reached by phone at home Friday, Allen, 54, declined to discuss the case.
“I think probably the best forum for me to address this issue would be with my congregation before I speak further about it,” said Allen, who has led Second Baptist for about 22 years and has been a leader on civil rights issues in DuPage County.
Police were called to Lifetime Fitness, 900 E. Higgins Rd., on Nov. 7 after three women said Allen, representing himself as an employee, had offered to demonstrate martial arts tactics. He then grabbed the women, lay on top of them and thrust himself against them, authorities said.
Wheaton attorney Vincent Cornelius said Allen is adamant that there was no sexual conduct. In a statement released by the lawyer, Allen emphasized that the only charge he admitted to was disorderly conduct in misrepresenting himself as a health club employee. Although he insisted he hadn’t lied about that, his “zeal” may have led others to that conclusion.
Allen was hoping to recruit interest in teaching a self-defense class at the Schaumburg gym, the statement said, adding that Allen has an interest in the martial arts.Allen was a Big Ten wrestling champion for Northwestern University in 1975. He became pastor of Second Baptist, 1520 Avery Ave., after graduating from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston in 1984.
He has been active in groups such as DuPage Voices for Racial Justice, and he served on Gov. Jim Edgar’s Task Force for Human Services Reform-DuPage Federation.
Membership at Second Baptist is about 400, drawing from Chicago and more than 30 suburbs.
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