Markus McDowell pleaded guilty

It is with great pleasure that I make this post. Youth pastor Markus McDowell took responsibility for the heinous act of molesting young girls under his care.

A former Camarillo youth minister, Markus "Mark" Holland McDowell, will be sentenced on Oct. 14 after he pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of molesting a minor victim and two counts of digital penetration, said prosecutor Gilbert Romero.

McDowell, 48, could get as many as four years behind bars when he is sentenced, Romero said.

"I was looking forward to trying the case, but I think Mr. McDowell decided to take responsibility," Romero said.

Source: Man pleads guilty to molestation : Local News : Ventura County Star

I've posted on McDowell twice:

• Markus McDowell: Trial date set

• Oh the shame

I've met the man. Plus, since his arrest, I've corresponded with several of his victims, a couple of professors who worked with him, and others who had interacted with him at various times in his life. I'm personally involved in this case. My bias is showing. I was planning to attend his trial. But I am happy the bastard took a plea.

McDowell has brought shame to my alma mater, Pepperdine University. Worse yet, he damaged a couple of nice young women in ways that will take years to heal. He is the very definition of Christian Hypocrisy. Four years in prison is not fare punishment for the crimes he has committed. Unless they put him in with the general population.

Technorati tags: pedophilia, clergy abuse, pastoral abuse, molestation, youth pastors, Pepperdine

Markus McDowell: Trial date set

Markus McDowell, a local pastor accused three girls, has a trial date set for June 30. I plan on blogging his trial.

Hat tip to my anonymous tipsters. Keep them coming!

Technorati tags: pedophilia, clergy abuse, pastoral abuse, molestation, youth pastors, Pepperdine

Marcus McDowell goes to prison

Former Pepperdine professor and pastor Marcus McDowell was sentenced to prison yesterday. One of his victims posted this in the comment thread of a previous post.

sentence is 3 years, 4 months plus the five years probation sex offenders get, plus he has to register as a sex offender and pay for our therapy.

i have never been so happy to see anyone walked away in cuffs.

thank you to all those that supported us through this.

The family of the first victim in this case was kind enough to invite me to dinner last night. I could not go because of my vacation travel plans, but I was there in spirit. I want to thank the victim for coming forward. It took a great deal of personal integrity to stand up and hold this man accountable for his crimes. I hope the sentence will help you heal with some sense of justice.

Related Posts:

• Oh the shame

• Markus McDowell: Trial date set

• Markus McDowell pleaded guilty

Technorati tags: pedophilia, clergy abuse, pastoral abuse, molestation, youth pastors, Pepperdine

Oh the shame

Pepperdine is a conservative Christian university. The campus in Malibu is among the most beautiful in the world. I have a graduate degree from Pepperdine. I spent most of my time 70 miles away at the Orange County Campus (which is not so beautiful). I made a dozen trips to the main Campus. It was an amazing experience each time.

I like follow of what goes on at Pepperdine. I subscribe to the alumni newsletter and have a news filter setup to track their volleyball and basketball programs. While reading Pepperdine news this morning, I was shocked to find The Malibu Times reporting on an alleged pedophile professor at the university.

A former adjunct professor who taught religion at Pepperdine University for nearly 10 years was arrested last week at his Camarillo home for allegedly molesting and sexually assaulting three girls during an eight-year period. The girls were members of the youth ministry program at Camarillo Church of Christ, where the accused, Markus Holland McDowell, served as the youth minister. McDowell was also accused of possessing child pornography on his home computer, according to Ventura County Sheriff's officials.

My first post on McDowell did not mention his involvement with Pepperdine. I checked my records. I think I met McDowell at a conference hosted at the Graziadio Business School. It gives me the creeps. He is charged with:

McDowell, 46, was arrested and booked at the Ventura County pre-trial detention facility last Thursday. He was released the next day after posting a $50,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in Ventura County Superior Court for his arraignment on Friday. The charges McDowell faces, according to the court's Web site, include four counts of "lewd act upon a child," two counts of "lewd act with child," two counts of "oral copulation of a person under 16," two counts of "anal and genital penetration by foreign object" and one count of "possession or control of child pornography."

One of McDowell's friends (or McDowell himself) has been posting snarky comments in the tread of my first post. One of the alleged victims had posted anonymously.  In response, McDowell's friend asked:

Miss Anon, I do not want to in anyway disrespect what you've gone through, I'm just not sure what I believe right now, if at all possible are you able to disclose what it is exactly you say he did to you?

What McDowell is charged with is a matter of public record. Wanting to know the details, for whatever reason, is just plain creepy.

Technorati tags: pedophilia, clergy abuse, pastoral abuse, molestation, youth pastors, Pepperdine

Coach Jonathan Shawn Russell

I read about Little League baseball coach Jonathan Shawn Russell in a Rawstory post by Bethany Palma Markus on 03 Jun 2016. Apparently, Russell liked to give bare-bottomed spankings to 8 and 9 year old children on this team. The spankings were justified by a Christian tome, Shepherding a Child’s Heart, by Tedd Tripp.

One of the children told his mother he was spanked for saying “dang it.”

“I had no words for (my son) that would erase the fear and embarrassment that this man made him feel from this humiliating and sadistic manner,” she testified. “The acts of this man have left wounds that a Band-aid or doctors can’t heal.” - Via Rawstory

For some reason, this dumbass figured it was ok to spank his young charges because he spanked is own kids. Of course, this is the same kind of screwy thinking that causes Christians the world over to attempt to legislate morality and control our behavior.

I should also mention that this occurred in LGBT-hostile North Carolina and that the crime could have been prosecuted as a sex crime, but was not. I assume it is because they took into account his pure motives…

I’m not so sure. This quote, by one of his victims, paints a different story, “What happens at Coach Russell’s house stays at Coach Russell’s house.” Apparently, Coach Russell would take his victim into a bedroom, lock the door, pull down his victim’s pants and underwear and then spank his bare bottom. He would tell his victims that there was no need to tell their parents about the spanking. Why the secrets? Why the locked door? Why the spanking at all?

“If you fail to spank, you don’t take God seriously and don’t love your child enough,” - Coach Russell.

Nutball!

Pastor Steven Wintersteen arrested

I think it’s safe to say that Steven Lee Wintersteen is a former pastor, but in my book once a pastor, always a pastor. Back in the day (a few years ago), Pastor Wintersteen was the pastor at The Shaver Lake Church of Christ in Modesto. He left his job, wife and family to hook up with a women in the Philippines that he met online. Now he’s been arrested by the FBI for trying to have sex with an 8-year-old girl.

Told that the woman had an 8-year-old daughter, Wintersteen allegedly sought to arrange a meeting for sex.

At one point, Wintersteen told the woman he had a friend in China who was interested in young girls and "extream” pain and suggested that the woman and her daughter travel to China with him so the girl could meet "six men there,” according to the affidavit.

He sounds like a peach. I know of Wintersteen from his connection to pedophile pastor Markus McDowell. Apparently McDowell would visit Wintersteen’s church each year with children from his youth group. I thought it odd that Wintersteen would be connected to McDowell. I guess they run in packs.

Technorati Tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse,Pedophiles