Youth pastor Nicholas Carnes arrested

Child porn and youth pastors go together like alter boys and catholic priests. At least for youth pastor who love children too much. Youth pastor Nicholas Arthur Carnes played the Port Huron church youth scene by providing his special brand of youth services to several churches. His run is over. Somebody allegedly observed him  looking at child porn on a computer.

Carnes was arrested after police found he had been collecting sexually explicit photos of minors, Jones said. Police confiscated photos and computer equipment Tuesday from a home in the 2800 block of Wright Street in Port Huron after someone reported observing some of the materials. According to court records, Carnes lives at 2805 Wright St.

I’m sure it was just research. In order to understand how one can best serve a teen’s needs, one must first see them naked, preferably in sexually suggestive poses. Freak…

There will be some expensive fallout from his arrest. I sure hope the churches involved have paid their insurance premiums. This comment is most telling.

Angeredcitizen09 wrote:

It is obvious that concerns about Carnes was presented at both Hillside and Grace Ministrys[sic] and yet they were thrown aside. If there had not been proof enough for the law to get in, than the LEADERS of the church should have taken it upon themselves to not allowing Carnes to be alone with children of ANY age! And as to being a paster[sic] at both churches, in which in both, attention was brought about Carnes, how is it that you can be SURPRISED!! The only thing that you can be surprised about is that you WERE NOT RIGHT! You were wrong, you completely failed to take into effect[sic] the concerns of parents and children, and you FAILED to protect the innocence. The only thing you are trying to protect now is your behind, and still FAILING to make admittance to YOUR MISTAKE. Now is time to be the PASTER[sic] and stop being a child!

So… if I read this right. Angeredcitizen09 has knowledge that at least two churches were warned about questionable behavior and did nothing. I hope no children were harmed.

Opiniononly2 writes

I am one of the parents who voiced a concern about Nick years ago while he was a youth leader at Hillside. They AGGRESSIVELY protected this man against any concerns of the parents and children. There was proof he told children to lie to their parents about his interactions with them. There was proof he lied about his background to gain sympathy as a reason to be close to minors. There was proof he bought gifts for kids, and had numerous gatherings at his home with minors and no other adult supervision…

If this is true then the churches involved owe its congregants some answers. If this is true and there are victims, then the churches may be culpable. Churches should be held responsible in a civil action if there is evidence they did not act will sufficient care to protect their children. Criminal accountability is required if the church knew of abuse and did not contact the police.

I often hear pleas for the sanctity of the church or its mission. That somehow the fact the the church is serving god makes it except from accountability for its mistakes. A church is a business, and just like any other business, they must be held accountable for their mistakes.

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