Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Pastor Bruce Sanders arrested

BruceSandersDid pastor Bruce Sanders see this post coming? He is my target pedophile pastor after all. His is a Baptist pastor who has a live-in teenager who is not his daughter, and limited adult supervision in a private residence. It is a perfect storm for sexual abuse. It is as if I wrote the screenplay for this travesty.

Police arrested Baptist pastor Bruce Sanders on charges of sexual battery and rape with an instrument. The victim claims the abuse started at age 16 and continued through high school. She is 19 now.

The specific charges (read the affidavit)

On the count of rape by instrumentation, the affidavit filed by the McIntosh County District Attorney’s office states that Sanders is accused of inserting his finger into the vagina of the girl against her will or consent.

On the count of sexual battery, the DA states that Sanders fondled the breast of the girl against her consent in a lewd and lascivious manner.

On the count of indecent exposure, the DA states that he exposed his genitals “lewdly” to her while on a trip to Robbers Cave.

The abuse started with a promise ring. How screwed up is that?

The community reacted predictably:

“It's shocking, it's shocking to anybody who's looked up to him, his congregation, the kids at school,” she said. "He sits on several different committees and works with a lot of youth."

"We all know each other and we all go to church,” Eufaula resident, Tina Hile said. “You think you know them but you don't know unless you're there every minute."

Sanders is the pastor at North Fork Baptist Church. The church took down its Facebook page (cache), which is a good indicator that they intend to hide from this scandal.

Sanders pleaded not guilty and was released on a $100k bond.

The problem I have with this case is that I believe the victim. My experience tells me that pastor Sanders will go to jail. I just learned of a case where a man’s reputation was ruined by a false accusation. Now he is a registered sex offender. He did nothing more than reject the love of a woman he was dating. There was no evidence. He accepted a plea instead of going to jail. It was a terrible deal. Now when I review a case, I ask, where is the proof? Oh wait, police have a recorded admission. Never mind. Sanders will end up in jail.