Seth Werling, 22, was interning at Apopka Calvary Nazarene Church when he was arrested for sexting and sending lewd photos with a 14-year-old girl.
In March , Werling drew henna tattoos on the girl and her 14-year-old friend during the girls' spring break from an Orlando high school.
After drawing the tattoos, Werling sent phone text messages to the girl and asked her to take pictures of the tattoos and send them to him.
The girl complied, and Werling's messages soon became more suggestive and demanding. The girl sent him photographs of herself in a bathing suit, underwear and partially nude as well as videos of herself. He in turn forwarded photos of himself that included snapshots of his genitals, according to the affidavit.
The story goes on to talk about how the church’s youth pastor did an internal investigation, even confronting Werling, before he went to the police. I’m sure he thought he was doing the right thing, but his first call should have been to the police. Youth pastor Jason Roberts made a grave mistake. He may have even endangered he life of he victim. How could he be so stupid? My guess is lack of training. I’ll drop a note to the church and find out.
Of course, I’ll want to know if the church had a cell phone/texting policy. I’m betting no.
Update: Member of the the church claims the church has a texting policy. I’ve requested the post a copy or send it to me along with proof Werling was trained.
62 comments:
First of all, what makes you think that the church needs to send YOU proof of anything???? You are in no way, shape or form involved in any of that.
Also, the allegations of the report did not happen on the church property, it clearly says so in the report you reposted on your blog! It's says during the girls spring break! So, before you call anyone stupid, you should know your laws to if something happens outside of church not on the property then none of the pastors have any obligation to report anything. However, in this case pastor Roberts was the one who was notified of the behavior, and then he found out the truth and did call police........
Yes I think you should request their texting policy and ask when this policy was created and ask for the actual date this became part of their policy. If there is nothing to hide or be in fear of it should be no problem. Your last person that commented-if you truly are a Pastor ( I am) then your obligation is to protect and help those who look up to you for guidance and I would hope that your "obligation" would not stop at the church doors.
First of all the post that the Youth Pastor called the police is incorrect. The parents had to because the pastor and youth pastor told him to leave town. When they found out they should have called the police period. Jesus always encouraged his followers to do the right thing not cover their rear ends.
I am glad you are a pastor! I am a youth pastors wife! No one said that the obligation stops at the church door. However, if something is going on outside of church and no one knows then how does anyone expect something to be done. In this case, it happened outside of church. The youth pastor was notified and then it was taken care of. Also, this Werljng was not an intern at Apopka only Lake Bridge. And he was an intern the summer of 2010 not this year. He came down on his own free will and was not paid as an employee By the church bit was employed by the school that resides on the church grounds. If anyone would do their research they could have found this out. But, people who are in no way associated with this case want to put their 2 sense worth in and have no Idea of what really went on. Werling was a graduate of Mt Vernon Nazarene University in Ohio with a youth ministry degree. He was just volunteering at the Apopka church. As for the youth pastor himself, I think he did what was asked, but how do we really know what was asked or done since no of us were there....
The comment about the parents calling the police is also incorrect. The youth pastor called DCF first and them called the police. The police then said that the girl and the parents had to report it because she is the one who told what happened.....
Get your facts straight. The first call to the police was by the parents and I do know a little bit more about this than you may know. Don't defend what you don't know about.
You get your facts straight.....I was there!!! Thank you! So that means I know way more than you think you know....
my question is this: Did the Pastor inform the church or any of the other parents that there may be a concern immediately? Did this person confess and after the confession did the Pastor and youth paster allow him to leave anyway-in the article it said yes they did. How could you allow someone to leave when you know they just confessed they victimized a child and allow them to leave to destroy evidence? I pray everyone involved will be able to live with their decisions when the time comes to stand before the Lord.
If you was there, who are you the youth pastor's wife
Mojoey, I have to say... you are a complete fool. Your self-righteous, yet seemingly desperate cry for some sort of significance in this life are utterly disgusting. Perhaps we could could all cowardly sit behind a computer monitor and judge all actions of YOUR life, posting our opinions online for the sole intention of controversy and attention. Are you that desperate for human interaction, that you go to such lengths? I highly suggest you drop this nonsensical subject, and take a long trip into yourself. Yes, people make mistakes, myself (and definitely yourself) included. Instead of continuing to fuel your words with ignorance, I sincerely hope you find the meaning of the word integrity, because the incredible staff at that church has. You know nothing of what you "blog." Educate yourself, for your own sake.
You don't have to know about this church you only have to know what is right and wrong. The right thing would have been to call the police when he was confessing in front of you and not make the family go thru all of this. Simply right and wrong. No gray here. Don't defend what was clearly wrong. Stop defending these actions.
K - is that your best? Belive me, I get much worse. I've documented over 1000 cases of clergy sexual abuse over the last five years. Your righteous and misguided indignation is pretty weak. Here is why you are pissed. You, and your church, don't like the attention. When you type the name of your church in google, my post will always show up in the first page or two. I know that I know its staff by self-serving hypocrites full of pseudo Christian love, I'll be sure to keep posting on the story. People need to know about the case and your church.
Mojoey is correct. This bad publicity all could have been avoided by the people in the key positions especially the pastor, doing the right thing instead of trying to sweep it under the rug. Don't try to defend bad actions and worse decisions. Stand up for what is right and not for what might make you look good.
If the person who commented that stated you are a complete fool and self rightous-what a sad example of being Christian! I am a Christian and such anger and attacks are not what being a Christian is all about! If you truly are the Youth Pastor's wife I pray that you need to self evaluate and pray for the fruits of the spirit-self control, kindness, patience,-Jesus would never attack others, he did present the facts but with a Christian attitude. I will be praying for you! I will pray the God has decided a wrong must be made right for this brave child and parents:!
I just read this article-I think the following questions should of been asked and answers demanded: 1.Was the lead pastor notified immed-if so did he also meet with the victim and parents immed? 2.When the youth pastor and lead pastor got the facts from the accussed-why did you let him go? 3.Was there any red flags prior to this-did others raise questions/concerns about this individual? If so what did they do with this info? 4. Was there any urgency to make sure there was no other victims?
Such a sad story-I pray everyone involved becomes wiser and stands up for the right thing!
In answer to those questions;
1. Yes the lead pastor was made aware and shifted interviewing the teen over to the youth pastor. He only met with the parents after the youth pastor interviewed her. SAD
2. Good question, why did they let him go. Their first responsibility is to the entire church. They should have called the police with him while they were interviewing him.
3. There were other allegations made but none substantiated, but he was still given unlimited access to the teens.
4. Let's see, no, probably the first most of the church members have heard of this is thru the paper.
Poor, Poor, Judgement
Well, apparently most everyone who has commented on this article has never done anything wrong in their lives....why don't you all keep being self righteous asses and look for other people wrong doings and not worry about what you have done or are in fact doing right now and that is judging.......
I think we should step back for a second and see that something bad or life changing has happened to a young girl here and pray for her. Instead we quickly show how human we all are and judge the pastors of the church and who is right and wrong here. I believe the Pastors did what they thought was right at the time and what was best for everyone involved(the victim, parents, and the church). Regardless of any decision anyone ever makes about anything, people will always be able to look at it from there point of view and say what they think was right and wrong. No one will ever be able to make the right decision or make a decision that everyone will always agree on. I have been a member of this church for a long time and I trust the pastors there whole heartedly. Even when they make a decision I dont agree on I still support them. The church here shouldnt be the main focus of this though. The focus should be on what happened between the young adult and the young child. We should pray for both of them. I pray that justice will be served to Werling and that he will accept what he did and know that it was wrong and i pray that he will find peace in his heart eventually. I pray that the young girl will find peace in her heart and continue to be a kid and enjoy growing up. I pray that she will still have the spirit of a young child and be able to trust people again. So, before you come on here and tell everyone you are a better christian than them or you are the youth pators wife, we should step back and look at ourselves and see what we can do better as adults to make sure that something like this doesnt happen again. We are all human and we all make mistakes but if i do something differently than you do but in the end the kids are safe and the bad guy is in jail who is wrong?
To err is human that is true! But when you take the call by God to be a pastor you are expected to live up to a higher level just like a professional sports person. You are looked differently for you are called by God to nuture, protect,serve and guide your flock. Can anyone predict how someone is going to act-NO. Could anyone predict such a tragic thing would happen-NO. But when this did happen to me it looks like the Pastors did not do everything in their power to protect, serve, and guide this victim, the family or the rest of the congregation. If this happened in a school the police would of been notified immed, and I believe a church would act in the same quick manner for the sake of the child and any others that may not be known. The child in this case needs to be protected, needs to be praised and the family also for their bravery to make sure it doesn't happen again. The church should of had the same attitude. Praying for this child and family and thanking God they stopped him before it could happen again.
Protector
(Acts 20:29 KJV) For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
We saw in our passages from 1 Samuel 17 that when the bear and lion came into the flock that David was keeping, he immediately went after those beasts with the job of freeing the lamb and bringing it back to safety. The pastor must have the same mindset in protecting his flock. He must be vigilant in protecting his flock from false gospels coming into the church. If a person comes into the church with some type of false gospel, then he needs to address it immediately. The best way to protect his flock from the incursion of false gospels is to escort the person out and in this way the false gospel will have been expunged. If he does not deal with it immediately, then the poison will spread and there will eventually be a divided congregation which will lead to a great church upheaval and a church split. 2 different gospels cannot survive inside the same building. I know this from experience. The problem is too many pastors sacrifice truth for the sake of the phony love being propagated in the church. Would you let a bank robber in your house with a gun and say he is welcome because you love him? Then why would you want a soul stealer in your church with a false gospel? Protect your sheep at all cost because this is your calling.
Protecting this child and others must be a priority with any Pastor. Only the Pastors know if their priority really was this-they only know if others raised flags they did not investigate-they only know if they seeked out others to make sure no one else was hurting-they only know if they allowed this person around others knowing information that others did not know.
to all people involved a quote comes to mind: The truth is the kindest thing we can give folks in the end.
Harriet Beecher Stowe and of course the truth shall set you free!
Praying that this victim comes out of this stronger, wiser, and sees how much her family loves her to fight for her!
After reading the article and comments here, the individual who defends the pedifile Seth Werling and says the pastor/ youth pastor called the police could clear any doubt by stating the name of the police officer that responded to the call. Perhaps the police officer could better explain why he advised the pastor/ youth pastor to tell the pedifile to leave town. Perhaps that is standard police policy to let the criminal flee the state and take evidence with him? Would the Offiecer in question confirm this for the record?
After reading these comments and article on this youth worker some questions come to my mind that if answered would clear up confusion for everyone-Number one is Lakebridge the original church mentioned in anyway connected to Apopka Calvary? Did the youth pastor or this worker receive any training that is on record? Did this individual meet the child at the church? Did this individual do things outside the church with kids and the youth pastor or church was aware he was? Did anyone at any time question this guy's behavior and inform the Pastoral staff of this-if so what did they do, is there written record of it? When the pastors found out what happened why would they not feel obligated to contact the police or call 911?
I would like to leave a comment on this matter. This person was invited into the homes and lives of members of the teen group. These people that are so up in arms obviously have a double standard in their beliefs. First off, why would the parents of this child, willfully invite this adult camping with teen girls and their family? Doesnt some responsibility have to be placed on the parents? Or how about the fact that when the pastoral staff found out, wanted to bring in authorities and the parents of this child did not want the authorities brought in because they did not want the embarassment that would ensue for their daughter.If there is blame, fine. But please distribute the blame accordingly. Was this child taking photos at church?No,they were taken at home where her parents and not a pastor should be supervising. What parent does not keep tabs of their childs text messages or FB or cell phone. Its ironic that the same "christians" that claim being judgemental is a sin, will do it themselves as long as its being done in a christlike manner? There are alot of people to blame here, but using the pastoral staff as scapegoats for inadequacies shown by the parents in not having an idea of their childs actions is apalling.You should be ashamed of yourselves
Blame the parents all you want. My focus is on religion and it's pastors. In this case, they deserve criticism and their share of blame.
And enough with the Anonymous posting. At least use a nickname so people can respond to your comment using a name.
Blame the parents all you want. My focus is on religion and it's pastors. In this case, they deserve criticism and their share of blame.
And enough with the Anonymous posting. At least use a nickname so people can respond to your comment using a name.
Lets take a look as to what we have here. We have someone who chooses to utilize his soap box for his disdain and distrust for organized religion. I am fine with this because we are blessed with the freedom of speech. However, if the internet world is lucky enough to hear your opinion and dissertations, are we only able to respond in kind? To focus only on one aspect is not only idiotic but incredibly biased as well. These are peoples lives here and to allow only negativity to be spewed about good people is a travesty. If you paid attention to what i wrote, i clearly stated the blame goes around, but to admonish ony one side while not levying the fair share to the other parties is incredulous on your part. What we have is a young man who fooled a lot of people and took advantage of a situation. I am simply saying that the parental duty is to protect THEIR children. While it is a pastors duty to guide his congregation and feed them the word of god from whatever denomination they seem fit, are you also implying that they are to parent these children at home as well and monitor their day to day activity? As far as "anonymous" postings go,Mojoey? Really? You wish to throw stones when your name is Mojoey?This comment is almost not even dignified enough to respond to, but if a name somehow makes me more credible, then fine. My name is tooanonymousforyou.
Did I say, don't criticize the parents? No. I said that I do not choose to do so because the focus of my blog is on clergy sexual abuse. I did not attempt to influence your response. I clarified my position. I focus on religion and pastor because its a systemic problem and a worthy cause. I make no attempt to hide my bias, none whatsoever. Your angry retort is puzzling. Is it that I post about religion that bothers you? These pastors deserve every bit of criticism I can give them. Does that bother you?
As far as "anonymous" postings go,Mojoey?
Did you read my post or simply react to it? I said that you should use something other than anonymous so that when people respond to your rants, they can say so. As in, Mojoey, I think your ideas...
I did not say use your name. I did not even imply it.
tooanonymousforyou is a great friggen name - use it.
Sir, i am neither angry nor bothered by your blog or your views. I sense a relatively high level of education and vernacular in your blog entries, and I can respect that. What you seem to fail to respect or realize is that the beauty of America is that we can all speak, and disagree freely. Hence my past opinion. You must be able to accept praise and criticism alike in your opinions or what purpose does it serve other than to feed some sort egomaniacal persona? Your blog is about clergy sexual abuse. To the best of my knowledge neither the senior, or the youth pastor committed any sort of sexual abuse. Although i agree that any sort of sexual abuse should be brought to light, and those offenders be held accountable for their actions, you continually ignore the actual situation here. The person that should be; and will be held accountable is a volunteer by the name of Seth Werling.
PS. I think its a great friggen name too
to the tooanonymous comment-you profess people are being judgemental-look at your own comments on your views of the parents-so sad. To me this is an example similar to when a teacher takes an advanatage of a student..why would a parent think they would have to worry at school? Why would a parent think they would have to worry at church or with someone who has been working with the teens at church? You are taughts early-if you have problems you can talk to us (church), if you need help you can come to us, if you need guidance you can come to us-why would alarms go off? In schools,hospitals and even daycares if an individual did this 911 would of been contacted first and then parents notified that authorities are on their way-this should of happened here. Is this jerk in jail-YES but it's because of the parents you state should share some of the blame-it's the parents that got this jerk in jail and hopefully forever prevents him from working in a church setting or with kids again. signed-SAD
Any Pastor that really preaches the truth knows that when it comes to standing up for what is right there should be no question what their obligation is! Any Pastor who truly knows they are called by God knows that we protect our flock. Any Pastor that stands up at the pulpit each Sunday preaching God's word knows that we may not be able to fortell such a tragic thing would happen knows without a doubt if it happens that you show the victim what church family stands for! My question-is this family still at the church? If not why? signed-truthful
I am not believing these comments. The only one that is accurate it tooanonymous, and no one liked what he said. But he is right. Everyone is looking for someone to blame. In this case the pastor and youth pastor. But how about the girl, why has she had no discipline or reprimand?? She is in fact old enough to know better. I know I probably just made everyone furious but oh well! The youth pastor told the parents over and over he would call the police right then. They said no, that they didn't want their daughter to be embarrassed. Well oh well about embarrassment, because the police where still notified. So the embarrassment is still there. So all these comments are getting old. No one can make everyone happy. We are all entitled to our own opinions. And the truth hurts. The fact is that- the guy is in jail and he has to pay for what he has done. But not by all of us, by God! I think that we all need to take a step back and see that the Satan has torn this church apart and everyone that left basically left their family behind. Let's look at it like this- if daughter had done something like this would you walk away and leave her behind?? My guess is probably not. So why up and leave our church family?? Our church is strong and will get through this with or without you! Just remember thy just as you judge, you too will be judged! This guy will get what the Lord has planned for him not what we have planned for him just the same as the pastors will be!! And my opinion is that the pastors did everything they were supposed to do. Do you think that while the pastors where in school training to be pastors that the teacher came in one day and said" ok, today you are going to have to know what to do when this guy comes in and fools everyone and secretly send pictures back and forth to a fifteen year old girl?? Um, my guess is no?? So as far as the training, really???
Signed
The truth hurts!
It's unethical to point to one of your own posts and write about it like somebody else wrote it.
This case has me so pissed I'm doing a full on write up on the systemic failures of the church and its pastors. It will hit my front page in a few days after I'm done with interviews.
Btw - My guess is that the wife of the youth pastor (or the youth pastor himself)is the person who keeps trying to point the finger of blame at others.
There is a lot mentioned throughout these comments. But I find myself agreeing with few, and full heartedly disagreeing with the majority of these posts. What has gone on here is a horrible thing. You can sit here and blame the parents, but did you ever give it the thought that maybe they had no reason to 'stalk' their child? Of course children make mistakes, but not all children are bad. It sounds to me as if the parents care very much for their child. If they didn't, I feel they would have just let this Werling guy leave. But they cared enough to get the officials involved. No one can even imagine how these parents are feeling right now, their child has been terribly affected by this and how do we possibly know how they are feeling unless it happens to one of us-If one of our childrens were manipulated by someone, which is something I can't even bare to think about, much less have it happen. I am a Christian. And I believe all things happen for a reason. Of course you can look at this now and say; now this child will be stronger in the future. Now this child can be a teacher to those who need teaching. And now this student can be a leader towards Christ, leading those who have similar instances. All of this is great and it's one of the only positives about this situation. The other positive is that the parents, took it into their own hands, called the police, and put this idiot behind bars. Which in this case, the parents should be praised. Give them some credit, that they could even handle what had happened and contact the police on top of dealing with the problem within their household. One other thing I would like to point out before I give my opinion on some of the other postings is, when you are a pastor, you are to support the people of your church. You are to do what is best for them. And you are to always care about them. Maybe by sending Werling away he thought it would help keep the congregation safe? But does that really show strong pastoral actions? I feel that the only logical way would have been to contact the police as soon as they found out this could be happening. In some of the articles, it states that Roberts met up with the child at the church to discuss what was going on. In my opinion this never should have happened. The officials should have been contacted and they should have been the ones talking to the child. If this would have occured, none of this would be happening on this blog. Strong pastoral actions? Or 'only caring about how bad I'm going to look so let's push it away and act like nothing happened' actions?
-The Right
First off I would like to refer to this "pastors wife"- you seem to know quite a bit about Werling and his interactions with the church. And from what I am reading, it looks to me as If you are defending the church. From what you say, the church had little to do with Werling. But apperently Werling was involved in the church. As for you saying that the youth pastor did what was asked, I disagree. Part of being a pastor is looking after who you preach to, and helping others outside of the church to find chirst and do the best you can at preventing Satan from reaching others. Clearly stated above the youth pastor along with the senior pastor asked Werling to leave. By doing this are they doing what is best for who they preach to?-No. Are they doing their best at preventing Satan from reaching others?-No. Do YOU really think that by sending a criminal away, to harm someone elses family, reflects well on the pastor and their beliefs? To me it looks as if the pastors wanted to keep the church congregation from finding out any information, by sending Werling away, hoping to push it aside and act like nothing happened. Of course I can understand why the church would want to do this. If the congregation found out, who would they think is at fault? The pastoral staff, for allowing a criminal into the house of the Lord. It makes me wonder-maybe if this situation would have been handled properly the first time, with the pastors calling the police, would we be sitting here today, talking about how the pastors should have handled it differently? Or would we be sitting here praising the pastor for making the right decision, and showing godly behavior when it comes to the assurence of the children, parents, and people of the congregation?
-The Right
For the 'person who was there'- this obviously means you are either one of the pastors, or perhaps in the family? If you are one of the pastors- Rather than posting on blogs of how you know more than others, maybe you should put it to good use and admit that what was done was wrong. Did you ever think that what this family is going through may be something you will never understand, but that, if you are one of their pastors, you should have been there for them through all of this, INSTEAD of pushing it aside, and now blogging about it? Think about it, this is life, you can't run away from your issues, and if you can, they will surely catch up to you in the future.
As for the person who states 'camping with the teen girls and family'- maybe because they trusted him? From what i've read, he worked at a school and church. Why wouldn't they trust him? And you seem to know a lot about this. But do you really think that the parents WOULDNT want to get the police involved, due to ruining their childs reputation, when their own child had been harmed, hurt, and manipulated? I feel that such things would be the last on their minds. In this type of situation, the one thing that is wanted, is get this criminal behind bars and out of reach of their child, their family, friends, and anyone else who could be in harm.
-The Right
'tooanonymousforyou'- if the pastor really cares about his congregation, he should care about what goes on outside of the church. Isn't that the whole point of being a pastor? Teaching the word, and trying to lead the people of the church in the direction of Christ? How can you direct the people without knowing where they need to be directed from?
'the truth hurts'- do you really think that the child hasn't been punished? I personaly know how hard it is to go through this, with all the questions and officers you have to talk to. She must have been scared out of her mind. It takes a lot of gut to actually admit anything, at any age, much less go through all of this at the age of FIFTEEN. This young girl has to live with this the rest of her life. She's going to have a hard time trusting anyone ever again. You don't think she feels bad about what has been done? But I think she deserves alittle more credit than what you're giving her. At least she stood up and did what's right so that this lunitic will be behind bars and won't be able to harm anyone else. She messed up, but she sure as heck has a lot of strength for being able to go through being manipulated by someone she's trusted, admitting she did wrong, and putting that person behind bars. It's not an easy thing to do. At all.
-The Right
I am so sick of these people defending what was a mistake. I am an ex-member of this church. Ex, because of this situation. I am so sick of every time something wrong happening that it is covered up. It was wrong. I know the parents and I talked to them on this. They know their daughter was wrong on what she did but she is 15 and he was a pastor who was brought into contact with the teens by the church. He went to camp with them, sat in Sunday school with them and was invited to virtually every church function of the teens by the church. The church put this person in contact with the teens and continually gave them access to them. Did they know this would happen, of course not but you drop a bomb and the parents and expect them to make a rational decision, I would like to know what you would do under that scenario. Just admit a mistake was made, that is the problem. This is ridiculous. Sure everyone makes mistakes, but I guess the pastors involved with this situation did nothing wrong. Please. Yes, I left the church over this, not because of what happened but because of how it was and is being handled. I believe Jesus would call this hypocrisy.
to all that blame the child or parents-shame on you! How can you place any blame on the victim or parents? How can you proclaim proudly to be a member of this church and state that all blame is on the victim? Did Jesus go to the market place and just ignore what was happening-NO he knocked over tables and told them they were wrong! Being a Christian is living by example not shoving blame on the innocent or trying to shift blame onto another. Being a Christian is being CHRIST like-truthful, standing up for what's right even if you are the only one willing to do it, compassion for the hurting and admmitting when you are wrong and asking for forgiveness. I pray for this child-how could she or anyone her age be prepared to know what to do in this situation? This person worked with the teens with approval from the youth pastor-to me as a parent I would figure that meant he was cleared and ok-to me I would put my trust into the pastors that safety is their number one priority. To me, I would figure they would protect my child at no cost-just like I would figure a school, camp or any other caring institution would be expected to do. I wouldn't expect if my child got hurt for someone to wait to call 9-1-1, I wouldn't expect if my child is missing for someone to wait to call 9-1-1, I wouldn't expect someone to wait to help my child if they witnessed my child being bullied or getting hurt by someone, I would expect help immed. not later, not after I notify the parents, not after the fact. This child and family needs love, support and prayer NOT blame, hate, and hurtful comments! signed: SHOCKED at U!
From:tooanonymousforyou
If everyone had previously read what was written by me, i clearly stated the blame goes around. And yes, that does include the parents. Mojoey, i do not go to this church, so i have nothing personal vested. You have a distorted and very misguided perception of what religion really means. You grab on to singular detrimental aspects and spew venemous rhetoric that other misguided people can latch on to, as well as "sad" former church leaders. The "sad" part is that as a christian, she would use this as a makeshift soapbox to exploit her personal disagreements with not only the decsion making process of the senior pastor but the church as a whole. I am growing weary of all of this disguised ranting. People act as though they are more than their actual being when they sit in front of a keyboard. I admit, i have been anonymous throughout this, but no more. My name is Noah Williams and i will stand behind each and every statement that i have made on here. Will all of you? I have known the youth pastor for over 20 years and have told him personally that he has to bear his load of the blame. But for all of you "christians" to sit here and lob these anonynous assaults on his character is ludicrous. This man has worken day in and day out for your children without monetary benefit from the church. His love for your children and his desire that each and everyone of them reaches heaven is his reward. In closing, EVERYONE of you say you strive to be more like christ, yet you sit here and set a deplorable example of what christianity is to this atheistic man and his blasphemous agenda. Shouldnt you be a witness to him and show him the positivity that being saved with Jesus' blood would not only uplift him,but his spirit as well?
to Noah-first of all stating your actual name to me is a big safety issue mayb thats why people don't do that. second-if you have children I only hope that nothing this evil ever happens to one of your children. What would you tell your daughter-you should of known better! Third-the father of this child must be outraged that an adult male took advantage of his child-placing blame on him only produces judgemental hurtful views you blast others for making. Fourth-you are the youth pastor's friend? Is he proud you put blame on the child and parents? Is he proud that you put some blame on the church but focused most on a child and not the evil person, not Pastors who had other indications this guy might b someone they need to watch closely? Did you, yourself make comments that you thought he was inapprop? GOd is a just GOd, not one that just says oh it's ok, He expects us to admitt to our sins, he expects us to ask for forgiveness, He expects us to surround a child that has been hurt on the pastor's watch to be surrounded by love-NOT blame, isolation, or feelings of abandoment.I pray daily for this guy as well as the parents and child-Signed praying hard
Mojoey,
I'm doing a newspaper article on this event. I would like to ask you some questions to use in my article. How can I get in touch with you for an interview. Email will work best for me. Thanks.
News 101 - email is mojoeyATgmailDOTcom
mojoey-did you say florida is one of the few states that doesnt require mandatory reporting from clergy? If this is true I would like to take up this cause and make a difference by trying to get this law changed! D
Yes - Florida is one of the few who do not require the clergy to be mandatory reporters.
Personally, All i see is a girl and a guy she liked and she was sexting him end of story. Was it wrong of him? yes it was. Was she deeply hurt and traumatized or taken advantage of? Personally no she is 16 years old she has a brain she couldve used it and thought to herself maybe its not such a good idea. He wasnt forcing her to text him back anything or er to look at his text. Shes iled all these charges because she didnt want to get in trouble after her parents found out now shes this poor victim. If she hadnt of told anyone this wouldve gone on for a long time without her being hut or traumatized, just her being her.
this is sick, it's gossip I attend this church and yet knew nothing and I have children. Wow you know somethings you should make parents aware of in your congregation. Or do you care about your congregation
Read the Orlando Sentnel and research the facts yourself-sad story,innocent people hurt and forever changed and parents who did the right thing
funny but in the Orlando sentinel yesterday there's an article about a church that found out a youth volunteer had porn material-the Lead Pastor worked with police and WROTE A LETTER TO ALL PARENTS telling them to speak with their kids about being around this worker-THIS WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO!
He plead no contest on Monday 3/19. He will be sentenced in April. The funny thing is that the church is still denying they did anything wrong in handling this matter. It is sad. If they believe in God, I would hate to have to be them and stand before God and explain myself.
Plead guilty this morning. Sentenced to 2 1/2 years prison and 10 years probabation with alot of stipulations related to a Sexual predator. Admitted in court to the parents what he did and apologized. Both the court and the defendents own attorney addressed him a a youth pastor at the church. I guess all you idiots at the church, who have been defending him on this blog and blaming it all on the parents, should look at yourself in the mirror and recognize how much of a hypocrite you are.
The punishment does not fit the crime. He could have had sex with the girl and been guilty of less. Sending text messages should not have such stiff laws, as it is - the wise people of Florida changed the law recently and it's a lesser charge but since this crime was before the law change, only the parents of the victim could have shown leniency and they did not. Instead they want blood from the kid and blood from the church. Kids see far more nudity in school and you tube. Imagine if the police prosecuted the parents for allowing their kids to watch nudity on you tube, half of the kid’s parents in America would be in jail because at one time they have seen more then what this Seth sent to this minor. You really need to ask your self – does the punishment fit the crime? How many times have we seen smaller crimes get slammed and the bigger crimes people walk! This family got what they wanted, now let’s see how long the girl stays out of trouble?
Finally - Now the parents, who lost their cars, lost their home due to the real estate financial crunch - almost lost everything before this can finally get their pay day through their lawsuit against the Church or should I say God. Biblically should they sue - hummm - well maybe they don't believe and so it's PAY DAY! Will we see pictures in Hawaii soon on Facebook?
such hate shown through the last two comments reinforces the fact that JUSTICE has been served! How can You or anyone connected to this church justify his actions? A judge that has no connection to either party believed he was guilty, believed he needed to serve time and believes he has a problem-how can you justify that his actions were anything but evil? Jesus didn't go to the temple and see the market and stick his head in the sand-He made sure they knew they were wrong-God doesn't want us to allow evil to just happen and say it's ok, He expects us to stand up for what is right and do something-the parents had no choice but to do something for no one else would, the parents made sure protection would happen for all others with a great cost! I myself can face my maker knowing I didn't bend on my morals that I did what God expected me to do-Love, support and offer my hand to the hurt, to the victim, to the innocent child and family
Let's be clear - This was not a trial that the Judge found him guilty - he plead no contest and would take the punishment that the prosecutor and judge would agree upon since he did do wrong but not to the extent your claiming. Also OJ and Anthony got off from our Court system - so please don't claim their perfect and they always get it right. Many death row inmates have been released because of unlawful prosecution and not enough evidence and in some cases the punishment did not meet the crime. The parents were not pressing charges at 1st but they had friends who convinced them otherwise. Friends who had their own issue with the church. Instead of doing something themselves they found someone to do it through. Take a bow and pat yourself on your back!
Wow I can tell ThaT there are so many godly people on here people that have clearly said they go to apopka have really showed there true colors Seth is clearly a creep and deserves what he got and for anyone to stick up for him should be ashamed of themselves and if anyone sticks up for the church should be asking themselves if the church did everything if anything right and if you think they did well I just pray for you in this whole ordeal there was no winners just people making sure he did not hurt anyone else
No, Let's be very clear. He plead guilty. Read the court documents. I was there yesterday and heard it from his and his attorney's mouths. The fact that you are showing your ignorance and defending these actions and trying to put blame on the victim and their family shows your true character or lack thereof. Justice has been served according to the law of the land. Just because you or the church feels guilty about this and you want to justify it in your mind, doesn't change anything
here's the facts: Fact: Seth stated in his own words he has a problem since no one else did anything the parents did what any parent would do-make sure this cannot happen to anyone else. Fact: the state attorney and judge acknowledge Seth was "a youth pastor at APopka Calvary" when this happened, not just an unpaid worker. Fact: Seth had unlimited access to all the youth even AFTER people voiced concerns, Fact: Seth was introduced to the victim through the church, Fact: The judge even thought he deserved jail time and probation and labled a sex offender due to evidence in front of her. Fact: A true friend does what the pastors should of done, get police involved, make sure no one else gets hurt, help the family anyway you can and stick up for what is right no matter the cost. Fact: He will never be able to work with kids again, he will never be able to pastor a church or be a youth pastor why? ONLY because the parents decided they had to stop him before another child became a victim.
Oh yeah we forgot one more FACT: He admitted in his court evaluation that he had sexual feelings for 6-13 year olds. But to those of you who are defending him, I guess that is OK.
Whatever happened to Love the sinner, Hate the sin? We are all to busy casting stones to realize that most of the time people turn from God because of the ways they are treated by his followers. Lest we forget we have all sinned and fallen short. I've known guy since college and find it all hard to judge him since none of us are blameless in God's eyes.
3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
*New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
You cannot blame the victim in this situation. That is my best friend. She was 15 years old and manipulated by a scum bag. How can you even say that? The regret and pain she felt after this was tremendous. She had never been in this situation before and this was a man we all trusted. We all depended on him and believed in him. This was NOT HER FAULT IN ANYWAY. She was cohereced and manipulated by a man who had probably done this time and time before. Do not get on here and blame her. She went through so much during those times and did not need additional blame for something she was unfortantley dragged in to. So please do not blame the victim. Do not blame my best friend. She is the strogest person I know.
Fuck you.
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