People are starting to send me these stories from all over the country. The whole Baptist sexual abuse problem is much bigger than people realize.
A new trial date was set yesterday in Lucas County Common Pleas Court for a onetime Toledo Public Schools board of education candidate charged with several counts of child endangering.
Richard Brown III, whose address is listed on court documents as 1146 Hamilton St., will go to trial Jan. 28. He is charged with four counts of endangering children and two counts of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles. If convicted, he could face a combined maximum punishment of 28 years in prison.
Mr. Brown, 34, is accused of abusing two brothers, now ages 16 and 18, whom he met as a youth pastor at Friendship Baptist Church, 5301 Nebraska Ave. According to the prosecutor’s office, two of the counts of child endangering involve coercing the boys into posing for inappropriate photographs and two of the counts involve corporal punishment.
Mr. Brown, who at one point in 2007 was the endorsed Democrat for the school board, withdrew his candidacy prior to the election.
Richard Brown joins the long list of pastors Baptist pastors charged with a sexual offence in 2007. I hope 2008 is a better year. Our children deserve it.
