[Austin, TX] Church leaders accused in beating -- Boy in intensive care with kidney failure

The Houston Chronicle ^ | July 9, 2002 | Armando Villafranca

[Illbay]

Church leaders accused in beating

Boy in intensive care with kidney failure

By ARMANDO VILLAFRANCA

Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

AUSTIN -- An 11-year-old boy who read the wrong Bible verse at church was severely beaten with a tree branch by a Baptist pastor and the pastor's brother, the boy's family said.

	Photo supplied by family attorney Bobby R. Taylor An 11-year-old boy suffered kidney failure after being beaten on the back and buttocks with a tree branch, a police affidavit says.

The boy suffered kidney failure as a result of the beating and spent the Fourth of July weekend in the intensive care unit of Brackenridge Hospital sedated with morphine, according to a police affidavit.

Austin police issued arrest warrants Monday for Joshua W. Thompson, 22, of Austin, and his twin brother, Caleb D. Thompson. They are wanted on charges of first-degree felony injury to a child.

Joshua Thompson is pastor of the Spanish-language congregation at the Capital City Baptist Church. Caleb Thompson is an assistant to the pastors. They are accused of using an inch-thick tree branch to discipline the boy.

"(The boy) was accused of not taking this very seriously," said Bobby Taylor, an attorney for the family.

According to Taylor and family members, the beating occurred Wednesday while the boy and other children practiced for a Bible competition.

"He was trying to find the verse and he was on the wrong verse, and they thought he was goofing around," the boy's mother said.

She said church assistants summoned Joshua Thompson, who took the boy to Caleb Thompson's house.

Taylor said the boy was placed facedown on a bed and beaten with the tree branch on his back and buttocks. When the boy tried to break free, Caleb Thompson held him down so the beating could continue, Taylor said.

Taylor said the beating lasted 90 minutes, during which the boy was allowed to use the bathroom one time. The boy told his family the Thompsons turned up a radio to drown out his screams.

The family said the Thompsons brought the boy home and suggested he wear long sleeves for a while. The family said one of the brothers told the boy's stepfather, "It's your turn now" and that they suggested he "finish the job."

According to the police affidavit filed in support of the arrest warrants, the stepfather told investigators the Thompsons said they tried to break the child and make him repent from wrongdoing.

"Their idea of discipline was to take him out of school and beat him until he was black and blue," said the boy's uncle, Felipe Garcia.

A photograph provided by Taylor showed deep purple bruises and scabs on the boy's back and buttocks. The police affidavit noted the boy also was bruised on his arms, legs and head.

Attempts to reach the Thompsons on Monday were unsuccessful. Jerald Finney, a lawyer for Joshua Thompson, told the Austin American-Statesman that "facts have been distorted."

"These are two very responsible young men," Finney said. "Anybody can make allegations. That's what the criminal justice system is for -- to sort out truth from fiction."

The boy's mother said she and her family had attended the independent Baptist church for four years and that the sermons never endorsed severe discipline.

"It was a surprise to me; it was shocking," she said. "I never heard nothing like this. I never heard the pastor preach like this. I have no idea why they beat him so badly."

The family intends to file a civil lawsuit against the church.

[Kevin Curry]

I'll bet some others like Kevin Curry can come up with more.

I know of none.

[Kevin Curry]

You find similar phenomena among Communists,Nazis, and members of other non-Christian cults or ideologies.

E.g., atheists. Over one-hundred million were brutally murdered in the unholy name of atheism in the 20th Century alone.

That total doesn't include aborted children.

I am a very conservative Christian. I have never physically beaten my children--ever. I have never had to do anything more than give any one of them a swift swat on a well-diapered rear with an open hand, and then only two or three times total.

My children are well-behaved, well-adjusted, and cheerful. And they are devout as well.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

That total doesn't include aborted children. 142 posted on 7/9/02 5:10 PM Pacific by Kevin Curry

Excellent point. Plenty of sick control freaks among suburban liberals. Some exterminate their own children. We just don't need pathological sadists or anal-retentive control freaks with violent tendencies masquerading as professional Christians. Gives us a bad name.

[strela]

I used to have to go pick my own switch. Cruel beyond words. Once or twice is all it took.

I was "allowed" to do that, once. When I returned with a twig, Mom went out and cut her own switch then applied it to my backside. (Hey, I thought the twig thing was funny at the time - Mom failed to see the humor).

[strela]

You must have proof for such an accusatory statement.

Did they not teach the definition of the word "apparently" at your school? In my town, the pastors/priests/rabbis are well known in the community and pretty darned easy to find. The fact that arrest warrants had to be issued in an attempt to find these thugs makes it clear to any thinking person that the police are apparently not getting a lot of cooperation from the flock in finding these wayward "shepherds".

[strela]

The two are not analogous situations.

Yes, they are.

[Kevin Curry]

You know nothing of Islam and apparently less of Christianity--hence your molasses-thick mental and moral confusion and absurd conflation of the two.

[Kevin Curry]

Authentic Christianity does not tolerate such violence; authentic Islam not only tolerates--it commands it.

Peaceful and nonviolent Muslims are peaceful and nonviolent despite their religion--not because of it. Peaceful and nonviolent Christians are peaceful and nonviolent because of their religion--not despite it.

Muhammad freely murdered entire cities of men, women, and children to establish his religion. Jesus Christ healed the sick, restored eyesight to the blind, loved the children, and and allowed violent men to put him to death.

Now whose example were the men who beat this boy emulating--Muhammad or Jesus Christ?

Don't pop an artery in your frontal lobe pondering an answer to the question. It's really quite simple and straightforward.

[strela]

You know nothing of Islam and apparently less of Christianity--hence your molasses-thick ...

SLAP!!

Yeah yeah, so's your ma.

Come back and post when you've got something to contribute besides petulant ad hominem.

[strela]

Authentic Christianity does not tolerate such violence;

(snicker)

Tell it to the Incas, Mayans, and southern blacks who were lynched by the hundreds by those good ol' Christian boys.

Jesus Christ healed the sick, restored eyesight to the blind, loved the children ...

Nice to know that at least a few Catholic clergy are following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, wot? And yes, that was a cheap shot.

[RGSpincich]

http://www.news8austin.com/content/top_stories/?ArID=39463

Pastors accused of beating boy turn themselves in
Updated: 7/9/02 8:58 PM
By: Jitin Hingorani


Joshua and Caleb Thompson turned themselves in Tuesday afternoon.
Police arrested two pastors of Capitol City Baptist Church accused of beating an 11-year-old child. Now, former church members are speaking out about child disciplinary practices they say were delivered in sermons.

With their lawyer present, the Thompson brothers surrendered to police after arrest warrants were issued Monday. Police say the pastors beat an 11-year-old boy with a tree branch last week because he wasn't taking his Bible studies seriously.

The boy is still hospitalized, after being in intensive care for five days; his mother wants justice.

"He gets me angry, so angry because he didn't have no right to hold him down, and the other one to beat him,” said Norma Arellano. “They don't have a heart."

The men's father is the head minister at the church. News 8 Austin asked him what he knew about the incident.


The boy's injuries, five days after the incident.
"My son would've used a thin switch,” Thompson said. “That I'm positive of. I'm sure of that. I just know my boys that well. My policy would've never been on the back like that, ever. It would've been on the bottom."

One woman, who wants to remain unidentified to protect her business, says she's familiar with the church's child disciplinary practices. She said they were preached in Senior Pastor Thompson's sermons.

"He would explain how you had to use a rod because the belt didn't do it, because it would just leave lashes. But the rod would get into the soul, would get deep down into the skin," she said.

The woman said she was a member of Capitol City Baptist Church for 10 years, but said she left soon after she understood the church's philosophy on what she called "breaking" a child.

"Everybody had a different way of telling you how the will is broke,” she said. “Some of them would say the will is broke if they don't move anymore; some of them would say the will is broke if they just faint, if you just spank them until they have no more energy. And I left because I just couldn't take it."

Former church members told us if you obey the rules, you can earn a book, What the Bible Says About Child Training, which advocates using a rod as a means of punishment, you could also get your own paddle with holes to inflict more pain.

"I don't do this to my children. My husband don't do this to my children. Why should anybody else do this to my kids?" Arellano said.

It’s a question police are asking the suspects in this case.

Joshua and Caleb Thompson have been charged with injury to a child, a first-degree felony. If found guilty, the men could be sentenced from five years to life in prison.

Police are asking anyone who is familiar with the church's disciplinary practices to call (512) 834-3890.

[Poohbah]

OK, so how do we "correct and chastize" these twerps? Stake 'em out on an ant hill?

[RGSpincich]

http://www.news8austin.com/content/top_stories/?ArID=39479

www.NEWS8AUSTIN.com


Accused pastors' father speaks out
Updated: 7/9/2002 9:38:51 PM
By: Doug Shupe
The father of the two men police have accused said he is struggling to come to terms with what has happened. News 8 Austin's Doug Shupe spoke with Pastor Hank Thompson of the Capitol City Baptist Church Tuesday afternoon.


"I do not believe all that's there was done by them, but we'll have to wait to see what the court says,” Pastor Thompson said.

He said he wants everyone to wait for the facts to be heard in court before judging his sons. "I think there could be so many witnesses that will come forward in this town that know those boys, who will tell you they are compassionate boys. They've always cared about young people.”

Pastor Thomspon is a father who's grief stricken and worried about his sons, his congregation, and his reputation.


Pastor Hank Thompson
The pastor admitted he preaches to his Capitol City Baptist Church congregation about disciplining children. This quote comes from an audio tape News 8 Austin obtained from a former member of his congregation:

“My mom would discipline me, but after she was always tender. She'd always hug me afterward. She'd always say to me this – I used to never believe her. She'd always say, ‘Son this hurt me worse than it hurt you.’"

But Thompson said his sermons never encourage parents to punish severely, frequently, or out of anger: "It must be done out of love, patiently, and it should be only for severe matters."

Pastor Thompson said there's a no discipline policy in his church, but he said he's unsure about the policy of the Spanish congregation, which his sons operate in the same building.

Whatever the policy is, somehow, by someone, a young boy was severely injured following a Bible study at that congregation. Now a father and his sons’ futures could change drastically.

When asked about his sons now behind bars, he said, "My concern is that truth comes out. I believe they are sorry with all their hearts that they ever did it too, thinking they were doing good. I think they are broken about it to that. They will, I believe with all my heart, they will be honest. They will pay the price they have to pay with dignity and with respect to the law, but I don't believe we're guilty in any major manner. I believe, I think what they are being accused of, when the truth comes out, my boys will be exonerated.”

[RGSpincich]

Pop seems pretty sure of his boys.

[strela]

When asked about his sons now behind bars ...

Ah, so they were caught by the authorities. Good. Here's hoping they get a fair trial. Then hang the guilty so-and-sos.

[RGSpincich]

They "surrendered". Post # 151.

[Poohbah]

Give those guilty men a fair trial and hang 'em in the morning. Navy justice bump...

[Zon]

The bigger they are the harder they fall.

[strela]

"My son would've used a thin switch,” Thompson said. “That I'm positive of. I'm sure of that. I just know my boys that well. My policy would've never been on the back like that, ever. It would've been on the bottom."

Unbelievable. Do parishioners in this church get a free chiropractic session on the rack if they don't put enough in the collection plate?

[strela]

Say what you will about the Brits, but keelhauling definitely improved many a truculent sailor's attitude.