Pastor Lewis
Posted on 11/23/2009 2:00:24 AM PST by markomalley
At the bustling Church by the Glades in Coral Springs, pastor David Hughes usually preaches the gospel, the good news. But Sunday, the news was bad.
``There is brokenness, anger and a lot of hurt. This is an ugly story,'' Hughes told a sanctuary packed with several hundred worshipers for the 11:15 a.m. service.
The story broke Saturday when Coral Springs police arrested one of the church's youth pastors, Russell Dion Lewis, 28, and charged him with custodial battery and 10 counts of lewd and lascivious molestation.
Police said Lewis molested a 14-year-old girl and tried to rape her. Investigators added that the contact between Lewis and the girl, even if it was consensual, was illegal because of the girl's age.
Lewis was held Sunday in the Broward County jail on $20,000 bond.
(Excerpt) Read more at miamiherald.com ...
What are these “pastors” up to?
Pastor Lewis
I hear you...
But to their credit, when he was found out, he was turned over to the cops. But the question is, did the senior pastor turn him over or did the parents of the girl? The article doesn't say one way or the other.
Were he a Catholic priest caught like this would the Church simply transfer the pervert at this point?
Not bashing the Catholics, just not sure what their position is at this point?
Oh puleeze.
Good.
If guilty he should go to jail and not shuffled to other churches like some tend to do! (Example: Roman Catholic)
Oh, and his pension should be taken from him.
Hey pal,
For years the Catholic Church covered up for their priests diddling young boys and an occational girl.
They’d simply transfer them to a distant place and they have paid dearly for it. Cept too few went to jail for the actions or the cover up.
I am simply asking what their position is at this point?
Or you can knee jerk a response and I do not get an answer.
Thanks for your informed and enlightened response.
You are a scholar.
No, they would have him become a leader of a Cub Scout Troop.
James McGreavey.
So what? If law enforcement had enough credible evidence to arrest and prosecute the alleged perp, then why does the arrest venue matter?
Since you're not bashing Catholics...
Were he a Catholic priest caught like this would the Church simply transfer the pervert at this point? Not bashing the Catholics, just not sure what their position is at this point?
Nowadays, he would be immediately removed from any form of ministry. If he was reported to the cops, the cops would deal with it. If he was reported to the Church superiors, they would investigate and if there was any possibility of it being a legitimate complaint, the Church would turn him over. The way the rules are written now, he is basically guilty until proven innocent. See here for the norms for handling these cases (even though they say that the accused has the presumption of innocence, you can be sure that they are defensive enough that if there is a question, they will err on the side of caution).
But I think you are asking about the situation back in the late 60s and 70s (when most of the abuse happened).
If the pervert was reported to the cops by the parents, then the legal system would take charge. Mostly, though, that didn't happen.
In the majority of cases, the pervert would tell the kid that he was bound to secrecy and would go to hell if he revealed any of what happened. That is why the majority of cases weren't revealed until after the revelations in 2001-2002. You will remember a flood of people coming forward after that point in time.
In those cases where the parents did report the pervert to ecclesiastical authorities, the ecclesiastical authorities would investigate the incident, and if they found it to be legitimate, they would handle it as a treatable mental disease...send the pervert to treatment. Once the pervert was declared "cured," he would be placed in another parish.
Of course, this was back in the 70s when it was believed that psychotherapy could cure anything.
And it should be noted that there were a few really notable exceptions. Out of the priests accused (4692), 149 were identified in this study as "serial" abusers -- 10 or more children.
Also of interest are the specific types of abuse reported
The point is that the definition is a whole lot more generic than what we would normally consider "sexual abuse" in casual conversation. Not that it is right. But you should keep that in mind. (Obviously the numbers above do not all add up to the number of priests and deacons accused: 4692 -- so some did more than one perverted act)
The full demographic study done on the situation is here: John Jay study
Hopefully that answers your question.
The Church’s position is ZERO TOLERANCE.
You wrote:
“Hey pal,
For years the Catholic Church covered up for their priests diddling young boys and an occational girl.”
No. The Catholic Church NEVER did that. SOME bishops did. SOME did not. The previous diocese I lived in turned over the last priest to the police in a heartbeat. He went to prison. That was years ago. The bishop simply would not tolerate a priest in his diocese harming minors.
It all depends on the bishop.
It doesn't.
But it would make a difference if the parents reported it directly to the cops or if they reported it to the senior pastor and the senior pastor reported him to the cops or not.
The graph immediately above this claim is completely at variance with your statement. "A flood of people coming forward..." in 2001-2002 is very different from the graph which shows reported incidents dropping to less than 25 per year.
Someone is lying, big time.
Thanks for edumacating me there markmalley,
Very good job.
I was not clear just what they were doing to rectify their little problem, you’ve made it clear they have changed their positions.
Thanks, I was a little cofused after I’d seen the report of McGreavey becoming a priest.
Good position,
Thanks
Thanks for the info vladimir998,
Glad to see there has been an about face.
markomalley, in post number 12 did an excellant job describing how the problem is being handled at this point.
I know the Church has paid a dreadful price for its actions.
That's when the incidents were supposed to have happened, not when they were reported. That's a different graph:
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