Not saying this guy is innocent, just sharing a recent event where the suspect truly is innocent.
I checked out the church website. I think they’re handling it well. They changed the site to be password protected for members and have a very good, well-crafted statement right up front on the site.
This has the power to destroy a church if handled improperly. If handled properly, it’s a really big shard speed bump.
Churches and their individual ministries have a solemn duty to their members and families to protect them. Background checks, robust youth protection training for all individuals who work with kids and transparency in operations are critically important.
We’re currently searching for a new church. One of the reasons is that they rely on legal protections after the fact rather than pre-emptively protecting children. They don’t do background checks on volunteers, they allow a single adult to be with kids. The Sunday school rooms have solid doors with no windows and no visibility. They have no formal security team instead prefer to maintain the veneer of friendly openness. These are all things I’ve complained about over several years.
I work with a youth program that has strong background checks, robust youth protection and a strict policy of never being alone with a youth. We also teach the youth what their responsibilities are. Buddy system etc.
The church we attend and volunteer at (and the prior one) has a full background check for us volunteers with kids. And there's always at least 2 adults, and always 1 that's female. And a married couple doesn't count as 2 (security procedures-wise, we count a couple as 1 person, though for practical planning we always like extra help from the spouse).
To get to the hall with the elementary aged children's church rooms you have to check in that morning and have a printed sticker either as a parent or as a volunteer. Just to walk into the hall someone is greeting you and verifying that you're allowed into the hall. Kids have stickers too with a number code that matches the parent/grandparent who checked him in. Thus kids can't leave their room until the parent comes in and picks up the kid with a matching code #.
I haven't volunteered with youth (middle school and older) since I joined this church. I honestly don't know if they have a check-in/check-out procedure when they meet. I just know that the staff and volunteers have to go through the same background check and do similar training to mine.