There are few things worse than a vitriolic hater of all things gay, committing unthinkably amoral acts on children while hiding behind his faith. I can't help but pity the man. Caleb Hesse is a hypocrite and hater who has admitted to molesting a number of young boys in his capacity as a youth volunteer at the Evangelical Free Church of Yucca Valley.
According to KTLA, the incidents occurred mostly during Hesse’s overnight volunteer trips with the church. Hesse allegedly met many of his underage victims during these outings. Authorities believe the most recent crimes occurred as early as last week.
Held on a $2.5 million bail, Hesse has been charged with four felony counts of lewd acts with a child and was due in San Bernardino Superior Court on August 20.
Source: Caleb Hesse, Anti-Gay Activist and Prop 8 Donor, Arrested for Sexually Assaulting Boys
I've had several conversations with a member of the First Evangelical Free Church of Fullerton, the parent church of the Yuca Valley branch. His church has a progressive approach to clergy sexual abuse, one in which an overnight outing with Hesse the hypocrite would be inconceivable. I wonder if the Yucca Valley branch of the church follows the same policies? I'll have to pull some strings and get a copy of their polices.
In an interesting twist, the church did the right thing after discovering the problem.
Bill Wilcox, pastor of Evangelical Free Church, said he drove Hesse to the sheriff’s station in Joshua Tree Wednesday morning after Hesse gave Wilcox “something of a confession.”
I am happy that pastor Wilcox drove Hesse to the police. It was the right thing to do. I have questions though. Was Hesse's confession spontaneous? Or, as I suspect, was the church investigating a sex abuse allegation? If it is the later, then investigating a charge inside the church (excluding law enforcement) is not something I support. It places the victim at risk and exposes the members of the church to a violent response from the accused. I understand that the intent is to protect the church, but the focus must be on protecting the victim. Take the allegation to the police first. Let the professionals deal with the issue.
Technorati Tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse, Hypocrisy
