Thursday, June 28, 2012

No salvation in Texas

Salvation Army youth pastor Luis Leonel Valdez was arrested for raping a 16-year-old girl. It’s not a pretty picture. It sounds like he gave her a rufie.

According to a police report, the girl told police she felt pain in her vaginal area when she woke up in Luis Leonel Valdez's bedroom without pants or underwear and with her blouse pulled up. She said Valdez was getting dressed and when he walked into the kitchen, she left running and called police. During the 911 call, records show, the girl was crying and "speaking hysterically."

Source: Salvation Army Youth Minister Accused Of Raping 16-Year-Old Girl

The Salvation Army has a policy called “Safe from Harm”. It’s supposed to check for potential abusers via a rigorous screen process. We already know that screening is a policy and not a practice. The issue here was not one of screening. It is one of behavior. Valdez was alone with the girl in an unsupervised situation. This should never happen. The fact they were together doing church business means the church grants tacit approval to the behavior. You cannot simply mind the door, you must mind the store too.

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What's disturbing is the realization that most such stories probably never even get reported. If our eyes could be opened to how often this kind of thing really happens, we'd all be out looking for a length of rope, just out of despair of the prospects for the human race.
Michael Phillips's avatar

Michael Phillips · 559 weeks ago

Question? Does anyone know the disposition of Valdez case. He's not listed as an inmate in the TDCJ system. Did he get away with it... and is he still an officer in The Salvation Army?

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