Youth pastor Brandon Lee Hamm does not fit my normal clergy predator profile. He is an openly gay man severing a LGBT church. Yet he stands accused of molesting a child just like all the other Christian pastors. How is this possible? I guess freaks come in all flavors.
His victim is a boy under the age of 16. It is believed that the abuse started when the boy was 15. The child was not associated with the church. Hamm allegedly hunted for victims on the internet using social media sites. Hamm sounds like a freak.
Over several weeks, the two exchanged emails and Hamm reportedly sent photographs of his genitals and requested the same. A detective who met Hamm at a prearranged spot reported him having a backpack full of sex toys, lubricant and a cellphone containing child pornography.
Hamm worked as a volunteer pastor at Peninsula MCC church in San Mateo. The church is dedicated to serving the LGBT community. This arrest is a blow to their ministry, but they are handling it openly.
Once again we see the a disturbing pattern. A young man serves his community by day and is a hero of sorts, but by night (or weekend), he attempts to seduce young men. I'm not sure how the two aspects are linked besides calling it a calcuated fraud. Church goers beware. Your youth pastor may have an agenda. Are you sure your church has vetted him properly?
To those of you how site sexual orientation as a primary driving force for abuse, I want to point out that almost all non-catholic cases of clergy sexual abuse involve men, and occasionally women, who identify as hetrosexual. It is very rare for a Christian pastor to self identify as homosexual. This case is one of a handful of cases I have on record that do not fit the pattern. Most pedophiles pastors differ from normal pastors in that they prefer children as sex partners. Sexual orientation does not appear to be a factor unless we consider that most abuse can be attributed to hetrosexual pastors.
Of course, I also have data which suggests that pedophiles prefer to abuse one gender when abusing children (Unless the abuse if physical). It is common for a pastor who abuses boys to only abuse boys and a pastor who abuses girls to only abuse girls. It is extremely rare to find a pastor who abuse both genders. in a large number of cases, these pastors will be married with kids of their own. Or in the case of the typical 24-year old pedophile youth pastor, single and attracted to 14-year old girls.
