I hate writing this post. The way Google works, this post will be the top search result for the name Joshua Williams for years to come. I hate it because a
little boy in Florida deserves a good name. Yet an older man with the same name stands
accused of raping a young man who attended his church.
Joshua Williams, 22, is accused of engaging in sex acts with a young male member of the First Assembly of God church in Lewiston.
An Androscoggin County grand jury indicted him of three charges of gross sexual assault and three counts of unlawful sexual contact. Williams was a former youth minister at the church.
The victim was 15. There were
several incidents.
Williams was indicted by an Androscoggin County grand jury last month. One of the felony sexual assault charges stems from an alleged incident in Bar Harbor on Aug. 15, 2009, during a camping trip. Another of the assault charges allegedly occurred Oct. 15, 2009, in Auburn, according to court records. The third assault charge allegedly happened in Lewiston on Feb. 15, 2010. The contact incidents occurred twice in Auburn and once in Lewiston during the spring and summer of 2009, according to the indictment.
I often wonder how a 22 year old man is considered a pastor. How much experience and maturity can a typical 22 year old bring to his or her post? It’s a cop-out. Churches need cheap help and young adults fit the bill. It’s a formula for disaster.
