Child sex abuser quits Meyer ministry

St. Louis Post Dispatch ^ | 12/07/03 | Carolyn Tuft and Bill Smith

[Holly_P]

Nearly every Friday night, Pastor Richard L. Jones led volunteers - often teenagers visiting from churches around the region - through St. Louis streets seeking out homeless to help.

During their weekend visits, the teens would spend days and nights at the St. Louis Dream Center, where they knew Jones as one of several pastors.

[Holly_P]

Joyce Meyer is the St. Louis area "minister" who has a corporate jet and mansion and has two of her adult children and her husband on the payroll.

[Holly_P]

Crimes against teens





My apologies, I didn't post the entire article nor did I say it was an excerpt. Here's the rest of it:




In 1994, a jury convicted Jones of 27 counts of deviate sexual assault on two teen boys. At the time, Jones was pastor of the now-defunct Family Life Church in what is now Park Hills, Mo., about 40 miles south of St. Louis in St. Francois County. The boys were members of the youth group Jones headed.

In 1990 and 1991, Jones had spent considerable time with the teens, playing games and taking them on outings, according to court records on file at the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse in Jackson, Mo.

Several members of the youth group testified that during that time, Jones often drove them to the St. Louis area, including the Metro East, where he showed the teens strip clubs, gay bars and prostitutes. They said Jones sometimes took them to Forest Park, where they watched gay men perform sex acts.

One of the teens Jones was accused of molesting told the Post-Dispatch in a recent interview that he was struggling with his mother's second divorce when Jones befriended him. He was 14 at the time.

"He acted like he was 14 years old, but he had a car, money," said the victim, now 28. "He makes you feel like you fit in."

The victim asked that his name not be used in this article. The Post-Dispatch typically does not identify the victims of sex crimes.

The victim testified at the trial that one night Jones invited him to spend the night at his home. He told the court that as the two watched the "Star Trek" television show, Jones began touching him with his foot and then masturbated him under a blanket on the living room couch.

A second boy, 15 at the time, testified that Jones did the same to him some months later. Both boys testified that over the next several months Jones led them into multiple sexual encounters.

The 15-year-old testified that Jones told him that sex with boys was sanctioned by the Bible - that there are biblical references to a king taking boys into battle to use them as warriors and sexual partners.

After the jury convicted Jones, the St. Francois County judge who presided over the case sentenced him to 189 years in prison. As he sentenced Jones, Circuit Judge Kenneth Pratte called the sexual assaults "the most heinous types of crimes I can imagine."

"Anyone who clothes themselves in God - minister, counselor, whatever it may be - and uses that position in a fashion that I'm satisfied you did, deserves to be punished and deserves to be punished accordingly."






New Life steps in









Soon after his trial, Jones began working with his lawyers and the Rev. Larry Rice on an appeal. Rice, head of the New Life Evangelistic Center in St. Louis, said last week that he had been appalled at the length of Jones' sentence and offered to help him.

In 1996, the Missouri Court of Appeals overturned Jones' conviction. The appeals court found that Pratte had wrongly allowed testimony from a Farmington police officer that Jones had been accused of sexual contact at his former church in Springfield, Mo., as well as testimony from church members about other allegations for which Jones had never been charged.

Jones was freed as he awaited a new trial. He took a job with Rice's ministry, although Rice said he made sure that Jones did not work with children. Rice also gave him a piece of property on a gravel road called God's Country Lane near his TV tower in Jefferson County. Jones built his home there, which is next door to the home of Terry Gwaltney, the Dream Center's senior pastor.

Just before the new trial began, Jones pleaded guilty to two counts of deviate sexual assault involving the two boys. In a plea bargain, prosecutors agreed to drop the remaining 25 counts and Jones was sentenced to six years in prison.

On Nov. 19, 1998, Jones was paroled from prison under community supervision. In June 2000, Joyce Meyer Ministries said it hired Jones as a telephone operator. It said the ministry was fully aware of Jones' criminal background.

In November 2000, the state dropped its supervision of Jones. And, in May 2001, the ministry moved Jones to the Dream Center, where he began working as a pastor and team leader for the homeless and prostitute ministries. Jones began taking groups of volunteers of teens and adults around St. Louis as part of that work.

The ministry said that it hired Jones knowing his background because he had made a "great turnaround in his life." It said the ministry also had consulted with Rice about Jones.

But Rice said no one from Meyer's ministry ever asked about Jones' background.

"If they would have, I would have encouraged them not to have him work around children," said Rice, whose TV station airs Joyce Meyer's television show.

On a recent evening, one of Jones' victims stared at a photo of the pastor working with teens in August. A boyish sadness fell over him.

"The idea that he can even come back to a church to work after pleading guilty to something like this is just wrong," the man said. "I lost everything, all my friends. My life has never been the same. It probably never will."


Reporter Carolyn Tuft
E-mail: ctuft@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8105
Reporter Bill Smith
E-mail: billsmith@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8125

[woofer]

Joyce Meyer is the St. Louis area "minister" who has ...

Ever heard of "Life in the Word"?That's Joyce's gig. Her operation was in the same industrial park where my old office was. Used to get a kick out our UPS driver's stories of how she'd constantly be calling his supervisor, trying to get him fired, for making comments like:

"My, that's a nice diamond necklace you've got on, Joyce."
"Wish I had a fur coat to like yours to wear this winter."
"How much are the listeners paying for each of these 'prayer' videos you're shipping?"

Netted enough money between her and her husband to build their very own studio and headquarters building just behind the Biltmore complex. And true to her form, it's as gaudy and as out of place as a festering thumb.

[martin_fierro]

Joyce Meyer (just engaging in some "prophiteering")

[demnomo]

I've seen her perform. That white suit she is wearing in your photo is a bit toned down from her usual sequined, beaded, flashy attire. She wears way too much gold jewelry, too.

I feel sorry for people who send her their money. They'd do better to attend a small chuch and pay a tithe. Sad. Another Tammy Faye Baker fall from grace in the making?

[TrueBeliever9]

"My, that's a nice diamond necklace you've got on, Joyce."

"Wish I had a fur coat to like yours to wear this winter."

You are so right! WHY should a Christian have diamonds or a fur coat? Don't they know they are supposed to be poor and wear rags! The nerve! [sarcasm off now]

[VOA]

Joyce Meyer (just engaging in some "prophiteering")

Hank Hannegraff (sp?) of The Christian Research Institute has been
pretty pointed in criticism of Meyer.
Sounds like Meyer fits in with the Bennie Hinn crowd...fleecing the flock, Inc.

[TrueBeliever9]

Netted enough money between her and her husband to build their very own studio and headquarters building just behind the Biltmore complex

Imagine that!!! A Christian building a state-of-the-art facility to spread the Gospel???? Horror! Whatever is the world coming to??? If I were you I would run though because some of the Excellent teaching that Joyce Meyers does might get on you and you might become a Bible-thumping Christian who actually donates so that others can grow in The Word!

WHEW LOOK OUT WORLD THE CHRISTIANS ARE BEING BLESSED!!

[cyborg]

I agree... I am not the most religious person in the world, but who said that christians had to be dower and poor? Joyce Meyer is a survivor of child sex abuse herself, but she was just demonstrating her faith by giving the man a job. I'd like to see him six feet under, but that's life. It makes sense to NOT have him work around children because the bible says avoid temptation.

[TrueBeliever9]

I agree! I would not send a Christian recovering from alcoholism into a bar to minister! And, I am sure that Joyce and Dave Meyers would not want to lead anyone into temptation either!

[TrueBeliever9]

http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Psychology/cri/law.htm

[dubyagee]

I listen to Joyce on a regular basis. She is no Hinn or Baker. Her program consists of practical biblical advice on living life. At the end, and announcer offers tapes for purchase.

They accuse Christians of being judgmental...she gave someone a second chance. I don't agree with it, but I don't think it's cause to denigrate her. Especially if you've never listened.

[VOA]

Thanks for the link on Hannegraff/CRI.
I checked out some of the articles on the net about Hannegraff before, but can't
fully tell what happened with the CRI...as to whether it was just a nasty "succession" battle
or if Hannegraff was the real bad-boy who should have been tossed on the street.
Christianity Today covered the power struggle (without naming names).
But, like all teachers/commentators I listen to, I never give them sainthood status.
And Hannegraff could be correct about Meyer...and be a bad egg himself at the same time.

[TrueBeliever9]

Hannegraff denigrates every Christian that makes a difference in this world - I find that very perplexing. Don't you?

[TrueBeliever9]

Everytime I hear Hank's name I hear: Proverbs 6:19 A false witness [that] speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

[VOA]

Hannegraff denigrates every Christian that makes a difference in this world -
I find that very perplexing. Don't you?

Well, I guess we'll just agree to disagree.

[Clintons Are White Trash]

I drive by Joyce's house at least once a week or so and it is far from being a mansion. It is a very nice home with some great landscaping but thats it.

I haven't listened to her in a bit but she is a down to earth speaker with a knack for getting the scripture across to people on their level.

It is not my place to judge her.

[txzman]

Thanks for posting. Joyce Meyer is a person whose style attracts many, but whose Gospel message is flawed and corrupted. (See Hank Hannegraaf - the Bible Answer Man) From one of Joyce Meyer's booklets published in 1991: "There is no hope of anyone going to heaven unless they believe this truth I am presenting. You cannot go to heaven unless you believe with all your heart that Jesus took your place in hell" No this is not some mis-print if you like Joyce, Her Biblical views cannot be supported by any mainstream reading. What is harmful is that she leads people into her ministry for the sole purpose of making money - IMHO the worst kind of person, especially one who callse themselves Christian.

[Holly_P]

I drive by Joyce's house at least once a week or so and it is far from being a mansion.

According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch her house cost $2,000,000. The cost of her childrens houses was a combined total of $2,000,000. The corporate jet she OWNS cost $10,000,000.

Her "ministry gives approx. 10% to the "poor" of the millions that she rakes in every month.

No I don't expect her to be poor but that kind of lavish life style is outrageous and an insult to all the poor people who donate.

Before you put me down as an atheist . I am not.

[Holly_P]

Ole Anthony, head of the Dallas-based religious watchdog Trinity Foundation, says, "She is in the typical genre of the TV evangelists who have become wealthy on the backs of the poorest people they are supposedly ministering to."

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/special/joycemeyer.nsf/0/C5099399D2FCC5FA86256DDF00661C5F?OpenDocument