Deep Thoughts: Pastor Joseph Fultz arrested

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Pastor Joseph Fultz arrested

Pastor Joseph R. Fultz formerly of Grace Evangelical Free Church in Longmont, was arrested for failing to report alleged sexual abuse. From my read of he story, it sounds like he’s the victim of a witch hunt.

Fultz allegedly failed to report sexual activity between boys attending his church and a private Christian school. The boys were members of I”wiener club”. Club members, boys from 5 to 12 years of age, would fondle each other while in the bathroom. Fultz allegedly told the boys to keep the incident quiet. He did not participate in the alleged sexual activity, nor from what I can tell, did he encourage it. Yet he was reported to police for failing to report “the abuse”.

Prosecutors allege that Fultz had reasonable cause to suspect the children had been abused, and he was bound “in the course of professional duties” to report the incidents to Walworth County authorities.

Since when is childhood sexual curiosity considered abuse? I don’t think these charges will hold up in court. The case is further undermined by a statement released by Faith Christian School (pdf), where some of the abuse is alleged to have happened. They deny the abuse happened.

School officials knew of only one incident in which two 5-year-olds touched each other inappropriately in the bathroom during a break, the letter states.
Fultz's connection to the school was that his son was a student, but the minister was never assigned to conduct any investigation, the letter states.

Is this incident something that you arrest a man over? Where is the crime? The story could have gone down something like this: Fultz is made aware of the Weiner club. He investigates and then tells the boys to, “knock that shit off and tell no one.” He gets arrested because a mother wants to shift blame from her son to another.

I could be wrong. Let us see how this one plays out.

Technorati Tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse

Comments (23)

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+2 Vote up Vote down

mikespeir · 722 weeks ago

If this is all there is to it, somebody needs to be slapped. It's too easy to ruin a good man's life.

4 replies · active 722 weeks ago

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Kristin · 722 weeks ago

The church is in Walworth, WI not Longmont. I am a member of the church, and there IS more to it than just that, unfortunately. Some information that was not provided to the press regarding some of the incidences does indicate that sexual abuse of some of the 'perpetrators' is possible, even likely. It's unfortunate, but the media does not always get their facts straight.

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Terry · 722 weeks ago

Then the burden of proof is on you to provide the "missing" information. Right now, I will choose to believe the media over your ungrounded comment and opinion.

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Terry · 722 weeks ago

Then the burden of proof is on you to provide the "missing" information. Right now, I will choose to believe the media over your ungrounded comment and opinion. Notice also that the media says nothing is for certain, rather, the incidents were alleged. It seems to me that he is simply the victim of vicious human nature, looking for someone to blame. So, before you make a claim, please get YOUR facts straight.

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sue · 722 weeks ago

sounds to me like kristin may have more facts than you, terry. she speaks from the heart, not trying to bash anyone but simply provide some clarity to the situation. the burden of proof is not on her in this context. the children are minors which means the information is confidential. the incidents are only alleged because he hasn't been convicted yet. that doesn't mean it didn't happen. if i killed someone, i would be alleged to have done it until proven guilty in a court of law.

you, my friend, are incredibly naive if you truly believe everything that the media throws at you. my hope is that someday you learn of God's grace and truth rather than the lies satan constantly feeds the world through media.

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Baconsbud 96p · 722 weeks ago

I have to disagree with you Mojoey. I figure he will be tried and probably convicted because no one wants to believe that their kids would do this on their own. It is possible we haven't got all the info but from what we do have this is a witch hunt nothing more.

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deleted8470268 143p · 722 weeks ago

A fair and balanced post. This man is just a victim of his own sense of doing the right thing. I hope everything works out for him in the end.

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Anonymous · 722 weeks ago

all I can say is that you have no idea the extent of what actually occurred with these incidents and the ages of the children involved in each one, and I can assure you that this man will probably plea bargain if he can. He knew the kids involved, knew the extent of what was done forcibly, and since they are all minors no one will ever know the full extent of what happened. Since I know one of the families personally, I can assure you all that this is no witch hunt.

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deleted8470268 143p · 722 weeks ago

Anonymous, please enlighten us ,or at least the police. If you have evidence please come forward . No one wants to see a good man punished or a bad man to go free !

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deleted8470268 143p · 722 weeks ago

Thanks I hope you do the right thing.Some of the people who visit this site think that Mojoey by virtue of reporting these cases of clergy abuse has judged them. ( He has not ) Many who come here seek to profess special knowledge of the case when in fact they do not. Nearly every time these men of faith are found guilty by the court system. So why do people of faith defend the indefensible ? Wake up people ! A Shepard is not always a sheep's best friend ; especially during a feast . Your children !

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Brenda · 722 weeks ago

Knowing this pastor personally, my guess is that he made a terrible mistake in not reporting the incident(s) to the police, assuming speaking with parents was sufficient. Likely it never crossed his mind that perhaps one or more of these kids could be the victims of abuse. Hopefully it isn't the case that there was abuse. As well, note that he's been charged with an unclassified misdemeanor (a matter of public record) hardly something to plea bargainwith. I don't think even that will stick.

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guest · 722 weeks ago

Knowing the situation intimately, this guy was in a tough spot, a catch-22 none of us would ever want to find ourselves in. Because children are involved, details can't be disclosed, but these details would exculpate him. Let's see what the judge thinks.

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Dan · 722 weeks ago

There were at least 6 incidents over 2 years. At the school, at HIS HOUSE during bible study and at his church during youth group. Yeah there sounds like there is more to this then we will ever know. Sounds like he was covering something up.

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bacopa 2p · 722 weeks ago

There may have been some coercion going on, but I think "knock that off" followed by stern monitoring is a pretty good way to go.

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anonymous · 722 weeks ago

question to ponder, think of any 5 year old you may know........how could they possibly know how to perform any sex acts without having been a victim or at very least witnessing it happen to someone else?

being charged with failing to report means there was something worth reporting in the first place. which also means it was more than kids being curious and looking and touching each others' private parts simply to explore.

the only person in this situation that can pass judgement is the judge presiding over the matter. the rest of us are left to speculate. if the church is truly seeking God's will, He will provide justice and guidance for them to overcome this situation.

4 replies · active 722 weeks ago

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Mojoey 107p · 722 weeks ago

Sex acts are what adults call it. Children can act without knowing what we call it in complete innocence. We have no idea what was invovled.
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Being charged with failing to report means that somebody thinks something happened. It's completly subjective. That's like saying he's guilty because he was arrested. The same could be said of a zero tolerance policy. If something happened, what the hell was it?
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We can all pass judgement based on facts. There are so few in this case. It's deeply troubling. I want to know what he did or did not do that go him arrested.

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anonymous · 722 weeks ago

you're right, adults call them sex acts. children have no idea how to perform them until someone shows them how. research shows that a child's brain does not have the capacity to know how to engage in sexual activity. yes, children do sometimes touch each other's private parts in exploring and learning about their world. however, the difference lies in how far that contact is taken. children simply do not know how to do those things without having been exposed to it.

let me get this straight, you're willing to put these children through even more trauma because you have to know about something that doesn't even impact you one way or another? these kids lives will never be the same because of what happened. if he would've simply reported it when he first found out, many of these children and their families could've been saved the scarring that will be with them forever.

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Baconsbud 96p · 722 weeks ago

I have to disagree with you that they can't do the acts without someone telling them what to do. I was under 12 or so and did some stuff with others that would be called sexual but we didn't really know. I would agree that most kids would need some outside source for some acts but that doesn't mean it came from an adult. It could have been kids just a few years older or it could have been an adult. Making guesses doesn't do any good instead wait for the facts before you jump to conclusions. Yes in an earlier comment I jumped to a conclusion but it was based on things that have happened because adults didn't want to believe their kids know stuff of this nature.

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*** · 722 weeks ago

under 12 perhaps, 5 no.

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anonymous · 722 weeks ago

tell me, have you ever had a conversation with a child, a small child at that, who was exposed to sexual activity that at their age they have no idea about; then, come to find out, as they get older and start to understand what was done to them and how wrong it is, suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, personality disorders, severe depression, etc.? have a conversation with a child who has gone through what some of these children have and then tell me that their story deserves to be told to the whole world so that people can look at them with disdain, pity, and utter disgust at times.

sometimes you just don't get to know all of the facts but have to trust in the people who have been trained for years to deal with situations like this and not only be sure justice is served but that victims, people can heal because justice was served.

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Anonymous · 721 weeks ago

As I read this article and the comments following I am appalled at the lack of integrity, compassion, and understanding. The children involved in these incidents are now scarred for life, and all you can do is judge them? It is the duty of every parent to protect their child and train them in the way they should go. The woman who reported one of the incidents was protecting her child. Don't you dare say she's shifting blame! If you saw a robbery or a murder wouldn't you report it? Sexual abuse is just as wrong and just as against the law as any other crime. Treat it as such. Sexual abuse has way more damage than you can possibly think. I know several people who have been abused in sexual acts. They need compassion and help in their situation, not judgment and scorn. The pastor failed to report and now has the law to answer to. May justice be done!

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A firend · 671 weeks ago

I am quite convinces that the person names "Anonymous" is the parent of one of the kids. Never forget that to make the Pastor look bad takes the blame of these dumb kids doing dumb things. Kids learn sex acts from watching TV...duh. Here is the real kicker....every single one of the kids parents were involved..... informed by the Pastor himself that these events had happened. Why aren't they being arrested? The likehood is this.... The family that is pushing this case is hiding something. They know that is they can pin this on the pastor, then they look innocent. Doesn't anybody wonder what the parents responsibilty was? I can affirm that all the parents were personally informed that this events had taken place by the Pastor himself. You can be damn sure that when he met with the parents and told them that their little Johnny was performing oral sex on another little Johnny they were not like, "Dude, lets call the police and let the papers know what my son has done. No way! Instead they find a scape goat.... its the other kids fault... my kid is innocent.... no better yet...its the pastors fault. Shame on you. I hope this Pastor is proven innocent and if he has any fight left in him to go after these "Brick for Brains" parents for all they are worth.

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Guest · 626 weeks ago

THANK THE LORD that the TRUTH was realized and Pastor Joe was found to be NOT GUILTY today! God is still on His throne. I pray for the people who tried to take His place on it!

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