February 1, 2011: Donny Ray Horton Jr. age 46 was sentenced to five years in prison for setting fire to an Alabama church back in April 2010. Donny Horton was arrested for setting fire to the Gardendale First Baptist Church, located about 15 miles from Birmingham, Alabama. Donny Horton pleaded guilty to the April crime in September of 2010. Donny Horton was sentenced on January 26, 2011, on two counts of arson and one count of mail fraud. The judge ordered him to pay $340,629 in restitution, and to forfeit $78,769 to the government as proceeds of illegal activity.
Posted By rodneypires on January 31, 2011
Category: Church Arson
Tags: Church Arson
January 25, 2011: Six Portland men sued the Mormon church and the Boy Scouts of America on Wednesday, seeking more than $25 million for alleged sexual abuse by a church teacher and Scout leader more than 20 years ago.
The lawsuit contends that Timur Van Dykes, 51, molested Boy Scouts in Troop 719, which was supervised by the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. The lawsuit includes two brothers who dropped a previous complaint. It does not name Dykes as a defendant.
Dykes, a registered sex offender who now lives in Southwest Portland, has been convicted of at least 26 sex crimes since 1983. He is one of
about 50 Oregon leaders expelled by the Boy Scouts for sex abuse has been convicted of at least 26 sex crimes since 1983. He is one of
since 1946, according to confidential Boy Scout files and summaries obtained by The Oregonian.
The number of Boy Scout leaders ejected in Oregon eclipses the number of abusive priests identified statewide in the recent Catholic Church
sex-abuse scandal and presents an enormous potential legal liability or both the Mormon Church and the Boy Scouts.
Under Oregon’s flexible statute of limitations, victims of sexual abuse can bring cases once they’ve discovered how the abuse affected
them, sometimes decades after the actual crimes. The lawsuit reserves the option to seek punitive damages against both
the Boy Scouts and the Mormon church. Comment: Churches need to realize that they can be held liable for punitive damages for crimes on their premises by third party organizations. Churches need to protect themselves against risks from accidents on church property, fire, vandalism and theft to allegations of sexual abuse committed third party identities allowed to conduct business or activities on church premises. Your insurance in most incidents, will not cover liability costs of criminal acts committed by third party organizations on your premises. Call us today to learn how we can assist you in protecting your church from incidents of this nature.
Posted By rodneypires on January 27, 2011
Category: Sex Crimes
Tags: Sex Crimes
LOUISA, VA – January 25, 2011: A 51-year-old Louisa County woman is facing felony arson charges in connection to a string of fires in the county, including
St. John Baptist Church in Minera. Felicia Armstrong of Mineral is charged with one count of felony arson for starting three fires at the church and breaking and entering to start two of the fires inside the building, Renalds said.
Armstrong is being held at Central Virginia Regional Jail under a $10,000 bond. She was scheduled to appear in Louisa County General District Court today.
Posted By rodneypires on January 27, 2011
Category: Church Arson
Tags: Church Burglary
Posted January 2011: In September, a man was killed and his wife was wounded as they drove from church. Another parishioner was killed by a gunman in the church parking lot last January. Question: Has your church designed a safety and security team to respond to incidents? Who designed the team and what type of training did members receive? Who conducted the training? Is the training on-going? Was a Threat, Vulnerability & Risk Assessment conducted prior to the designing of your safety & security team? Was the team designed to address the vulnerabilities discovered during the assessment? Is your safety & security team “reactive” or “proactive”? Are you leaving the safety and security of your church in the hands of a few members or are you training and involving all staff employees and volunteers working in your church? Don’t wait for your church to becoming tomorrows headlines, get the professional assistance required to design a comprehensive team by calling us today!
Posted By rodneypires on January 27, 2011
Category: Church Shootings
Tags: Church Shootings
January 14, 2011 – Charged: Lewis Givens, 35, educational assistant, Olympia Brown Elementary School, Caledonia, Wisconsin and minister, Martin Luther King Church of Christ, of “two counts each of sexual assault of a child and sexual assault by school staff,” allegedly committed against a nine-year-old girl in the school’s special needs program. Story: Journal Times, January 14, 2011
Posted By rodneypires on January 20, 2011
Category: Sex Crimes
Tags: Sex Crimes
Sentenced: Henry M. Humphrey, 72, pastor, Shiloh Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky, to two years in prison, and ordered to pay $831,742.56 in restitution, “for conspiring to defraud the United States, soliciting kickbacks of federal funds, committing wire fraud, submitting a false writing to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and conspiring to launder money.” [press release, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky]
Posted By rodneypires on January 20, 2011
Category: Church Embezzlement
Tags: Church Embezzlement
New charges: Michael J. “Mike” Cimmino, 54, religion teacher, St, Thomas More Parish, and “Bear Den Leader” (Cub Scouts), Pack 22, sponsored by the First Congregational Church, Braintree, Massachusetts, originally charged with one count each of kidnapping and assault with intent to rape a child, and eight counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, to which he has pleaded not guilty; with a new charge of indecent sexual assault, allegedly against a second child victim. Story: Conservative Babylon, January 6, 2011; Wicked Local, January 13, 2011; Patriot Ledger, January 13, 2011; BraintreePatch, January 17, 2011
Posted By rodneypires on January 20, 2011
Category: Assault, Sex Crimes
Tags: Assaults
January 19, 2011 -
Gregory Sims, pastor at The Crossroads Church of Dade City, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for embezzling money from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 915.
As part of the sentenced, U.S. District Judge Virginia Covington ordered Sims to repay $813,142, the proceeds of the embezzlement, a statement form the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said.
Sims, who managed the IBEW funds, pleaded guilty in September. He was accused of unlawfully diverting money from the union funds to the Crossroads Church, the statement said.
Posted By rodneypires on January 20, 2011
Category: Church Embezzlement
Tags: Church Embezzlement
GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Friday the police arrested James Ben Harris, age 33, at Brookwood Baptist Church in Lawrenceville’s, Georgia. James Ben Harris is accused of having an ongoing sexual relationship with a 14-year-old boy according to police. James Harris met the victim while the boy was attending his Sunday School class. Reports indicate that James Harris went on trips together with the victim. James Harris was arrested by police and charged with six counts of child molestation. James Harris was working as a Sunday school teacher and youth counselor. Police arrested Harris at the church Friday after the boy’s parents found explicit text messages between the two. 
Comment: I wonder if the church conducted a Background Investigation on James Harris before allowing access to the children?
Posted By rodneypires on January 20, 2011
Category: Sex Crimes
Tags: Sex Crimes
Las Vegas, NV. Jan 11, 2010: 
A Las Vegas pastor will appear before a Henderson judge Thursday to face sexual assault charges involving children.
Otis Holland, 54, was charged with two counts of sexual assault of a minor under 14 years of age, one count of sexual assault of a minor under 16 years of age and two counts of lewdness with a child under the age of 14, according to a criminal complaint. He was arrested Dec. 17 for allegations involving a girl in his congregation — then on Tuesday a second alleged victim came forward, police said.
The first victim’s father alerted police Dec. 8 about the alleged sexual abuse after she told him about the encounters with Holland, a pastor of United Faith. The congregation includes about 80 members and meets in the lobby of Rob’s Tax Service in the 2400 block of East Hacienda Avenue in Las Vegas, the report states.
According to the police report, the alleged sexual assaults occurred on five occasions in a limousine and at his Henderson residence from April 2008 through Dec. 25, 2009. The victim’s parents had allowed her to go to Holland’s house under the pretense that she was receiving counseling.
The girl described to investigators numerous sexual acts Holland allegedly performed on her, according to the police report. At one point, she told police she saw a video camera in the “secret” back room where Holland is accused of assaulting her.
“Otis stated to her that she couldn’t tell anyone about what had occurred due to the fact that if he was caught, he would go to prison for a long time and the church would be ruined and it would be all her fault,” police said in the report.
Members of Holland’s congregation went to a police station after the allegations surfaced and argued Holland “was a good man who wouldn’t do that,” according to the police report. Investigators, however, instructed them not to dissuade other possible victims from coming forward.
According to the police report, Holland’s previous criminal record includes a conviction for disorderly conduct in California in 1981 and an arrest for domestic battery in Las Vegas in 2005. That case was later dismissed.
Holland was taken to the Henderson Detention Center and posted bail Dec. 20. His arraignment is scheduled for Thursday at Henderson Justice Court.
Posted By rodneypires on January 13, 2011
Category: Sex Crimes
Tags: Sex Crimes
Older Posts »
