Toledo, Ohio. Pastors Cordell Jenkins and Anthony Hayens were taken into custody by the FBI for recruiting, enticing, harboring and transporting younger than 18 for commercial sex acts. Basically, the pastors were pimps and their victims were underage girls.
The Life and Time son Bruce Gerencser, an excellent blog by the way, has the full story.
Pastor Jenkins stands accused of the repeated violation of a girl, starting when she was just 14 years old. He allegedly turned the child into a prostitute and used threats to keep her in line.
According to that document, Mr. Jenkins took the girl, identified by the FBI as Juvenile No. 1, to a Red Roof Inn in Toledo on “at least two occasions,” including once after Mr. Jenkins had pressured the girl to find an acquaintance for a shared sexual act and she complied. Source: Toledo Pastor, 2nd man accused of sex with teen.
One aspect of this case that I find repeats itself in other stories of clergy sexual abuse is the “church as a business” where unqualified people open churches like the Abundant Life Ministry, and then assume the mantle of legitimacy which they then use to exploit others. In this case, children.
