Youth pastor Gregory Forehand arrested

Youth pastor Gregory Douglas Forehand was arrested for allegedly molesting a 16-year-old boy in 2005. Forehand is the youth pastor at Real Life Christian Church. He is 40. 

The victim was 16 years old at the time of the abuse. It was reported that he had been sexually abused by the youth minister on several occasions at the suspect’s home, according to police.
Investigators learned that children would stay over at the suspect’s home for church events. 
Source: Va. Beach youth minister charged with abusing boy

I sent a tweet to the church asking why they allowed their youth pastor to have sleepovers.

@rlcconline saw the news about Pastor Forehand. Why did you allow him to have sleepovers with the kids?

So far, no response.

***Update 9/10/13: Greg Forehand was found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison.

Technorati Tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse,Pedophiles

Damn you Pat Robertson

Pat Robertson blames atheists for the Sikh temple shooting. What a fool.

Photo: Homeless at my favorite restaurant

I saw this homeless guys leaning against my favorite chicken restaurant in Buena Park, Juan Pollo. It’s healthy chicken server hate free. While I waited for my order, two other people hit me up for cash. Down the road I saw hookers and more homeless. Something has changed. More people are living on the edge here.

Technorati Tags: Buena Park,Homelessness,Photography

Mitt Romney must disclose his taxes

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Technorati Tags: Politics,2012 Elections,Mitt Romney

Nickel Bag Joe Arpaio must go

I hate bullies. To be more accurate, I hate opportunistic bottom feeders whose primary motivation is fueling their own egos. Arizona Sherriff Joe Arpaio is the best example of this type of bully that I know of. His target victims are Hispanic. He uses fear and intimidation as his weapons. His victims are largely hard-working innocent people who help keep our economy moving. He’s a bully of the worst sort and needs to be slapped down. I hope the Feds do it. The stage is certainly set for action and there is abundant evidence supporting his systemic racial profiling. His constituents share the blame. He feeds on their fear of illegal immigrants, or their fear of Mexicans. Choose an option. Arpaio will pander to either definition.

The Rolling Stone has an outstanding article on Arpaio: Culture: The Long, Lawless Ride of Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Joe Arpaio, the 80-year-old lawman who brands himself "America's toughest sheriff," is smiling like a delighted gnome. Nineteen floors above the blazing Arizona desert, the Phoenix sprawl ripples in the heat as Arpaio cues up the Rolling Stones to welcome a reporter "from that marijuana magazine."

Hey! You! Get off of my cloud!

The guided tour of Arpaio's legend has officially begun. Here, next to his desk, is the hand-painted sign of draconian rules for Tent City, the infamous jail he set up 20 years ago, in which some 2,000 inmates live under canvas tarps in the desert, forced to wear pink underwear beneath their black-and-white-striped uniforms while cracking rocks in the stifling heat. HARD LABOR, the sign reads. NO GIRLIE MAGAZINES!

Read more: The Long, Lawless Ride of Sheriff Joe Arpaio by Joe Hagan.

By reading Hagan’s article I learned that Arpaio earned the nickname Nickel Bag Joe because of his penchant for focusing on small crimes while working for the DEA. It explains so much about Arpaio’s character. He brought his small-minded approach forward with him by focusing on detaining Hispanics for small crimes (or no crimes) over investigating more serious crimes, including sex crimes.

My personal opinion is simple: the man is a stinky turd who needs to be flushed away to oblivion.

Technorati Tags: Crime,Politics

Related articles

• Sheriff Joe Arpaio Trial Sees Repeated Denial of Responsibility (hispanicallyspeakingnews.com)
• Sheriff Joe On Trial: 'Tough' Guy is Looking Pretty Pathetic (crooksandliars.com)
• Poll: Opinions mixes on Sheriff Joe Arpaio's approach (bizjournals.com)

Prostitution snags another pastor

My advice to pastors, don't buy an off-the-street hooker. Use an escort service instead: it is much more discreet (or so I hear). Pastor Gary Elg… are you listening?

RED WING, Minn. (KTTC) - A Red Wing pastor resigns from his church after being charged with soliciting  prostitution.

60-year old Gary Elg was cited last week for allegedly exchanging money for sex with an undercover officer in St. Paul.

Elg has been Red Wing's First Presbyterian Church's only pastor for the past 23 years.

He submitted his resignation from the church the day after the citation.

Elg will make his first court appearance September 10th.

Source: Pastor accused of soliciting prostitution

Why would a pastor flush his life's work down the toilet by using a hooker? At 60, you do not get a do over. You are done. A failed pastor. What else is left?

***Update 8/3/2012: His church is sad to see him go. They are offering a separation package. 

This weekend the congregation has been asked to consider a "separation package" for its former pastor; the session has recommended up to two month's salary, with benefits, along with paying the remaining two weeks of vacation Elg is due in 2012. A vote will be held Sunday after the 9:30 a.m. service

Source: Red Wing pastor resigns after prostitution charges

Rev. Shawn Ratigan to plead guilty in child porn case

The Rev. Shawn Ratigan, a Catholic priest out of the troubled Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, is set to plead guilty in a sickening child pornography case. Ratigan, profiled here, was charged with taking up-skirt type photos of 12-year-old girls. 

Ratigan attempted suicide after Diocesan employees found photos of girls' genitals on his computer. As the case developed, it became clear that the Diocese knew Ratigan was a problem and acted to protect the Church rather than the children. It is a horrific example of hypocrisy. 

Let's hope for the maximum sentence. 

Creepy video of accused Christian youth worker

Christian youth worker Ronald William Brown, profiled here, used to volunteer as a ventriloquist for his local church. I use the past tense because we now know he allegedly harbored child molestation fantasies that included killing and eating children. Brown is safely behind bars now.

Technorati Tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse,Pedophiles

Pastor Robert Thomas arrested

This is a sad story. A would be pastor of a storefront-type church in Salisbury allegedly conspired with his grandson to steal $15,000 from his employer. The crime was simpleminded. The police put together the facts and made an arrest with little effort. I'm guessing Thomas was not a master criminal. 

Deputies say Thomas and Beck went to breakfast every morning at Richard's BBQ in Salisbury at 8:30.  They say one day recently when they got back to Beck's home on Winding Way, they noticed the attic door pulled down in the garage.  Thomas called 911 and a deputy came to investigate.  The deputy noticed that insulation was on the floor and the back door of the house had been opened.  Beck noticed that more than $15,000 in cash was missing from the house, while other items like guns and prescription medication were not disturbed.

Source: Pastor accused of using grandson to steal thousands from best friend

"Pastor" Robert is going to spend his twilight years in prison. I wonder if he will be able to bunk with his grandson?

Youth pastor convictions

Youth pastor John A. Astorga was sentenced to 36 months in prison for molesting two 16-year old girls. He thought his acts were mutually desired. One victim cried in court as she read her statement. He faces similar charges in a neighboring county. 

Youth pastor Calendario Cerdo was sentenced to 20 years in prison for molesting children who attended his church. The victims were 14 and 15 years old. He also faces 20 counts of child sexual assault in a neighboring county. 

Youth pastor Michael Norris was found guilty of child rape and child molestation in a local Portland area court. He had already been convicted of similar charges, including the production of child pornography, in Federal court. He is already serving a 25-year sentence. Sentencing for this case is in September. I don't expect lieniency.

Police don’t investigate sins Pastor Jack Schaap

Sins… let’s call it what it really is. If the police are investigating anything, it is an alleged crime; not a sin. Right pastor John Schaap?

Jack Schaap, 54, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Hammond since 2001, was fired by a deacon board, said Eddie Wilson, director of public relations for the church. 

Wilson said Tuesday church officials didn’t believe anything criminal occurred, but information was turned over to the sheriff’s department “for the sake of transparency and honesty.”

I have my fingers cross with this case. I don’t want this to be another story of abuse. I don’t want to hear that another child was hurt. Please be infidelity or something to do with money. Please…. I am afraid it is something to do with sex though.

“They’re trying to reconcile their marriage,” Wilson said. “The church will move on and begin the process of calling a new pastor.”

The “they” in the quote above is pastor Jack Schaap and his wife Cindy. Reconciliation sounds a lot like the have marital issues to work out.

The First Baptist Church of Hammondis a mega church with 15,000 members. They did the right thing and went public with a press release.

First Baptist Church Pastor Dismissed
Hammond, IN–At this time, we deeply regret the need to announce that First Baptist Church has dismissed our pastor, Dr. Jack Schaap, due to a sin that has caused him to forfeit his right to be our pastor. First Baptist Church is in full cooperation with our local authorities in their investigation of this matter. Our church grieves over the need to take this action and the impact it will have on our people. 

We ask that everyone pray for the families involved and pray that the situation will be handled in a Christ honoring manner. We look forward to the days ahead as we continue to service the needs of our surrounding community and the Chicago area. 

For any media-related questions, please contact First Baptist Church spokesman, Eddie Wilson at (219) 945-6475.
Source: First Baptist Church Pastor Dismissed

*** Edited 8/1/2012: Corrected misspelling.
*** Update 8/1/2012: Schaap allegedly had an relationship with a girl that may have been as young as 16. The FBI and local police are investigating. The relationship may have crossed state lines.
*** Update 8/1/2012: Schaap admits to sleeping with an underaged teen. 

Technorati Tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse,Hypocrisy

Pastor Charles Savage indicted

Pastor Charles Savage is back in trouble again. This time he’s been indicted by the Adams County Grand Jury or the following crimes.

Charles Savage, 68, of Xenia, was indicted on the charge of Sexual Battery (seven counts) and Corruption of a Minor (four counts), felonies of the third degree.

He was charged with a similar crime in September of 2010, but his charges were dropped. I’ve been harassed and threaten by Savage’s supporters for almost two years. I even had to disable comments on my original post. I almost never disable comments. I am happy he’s heading back to court to face justice.

I’ve got a copy of the indictment. It’s chilling. The victim was a child between the age of 13 and 16 and was a not family member, the condition that applies is loco parentis. The indictments read:

Corruption of a minor: Being eighteen years of age or older, did engage in sexual conduct with another, who is not the spouse of he offender, when the offender knows such other person is thirteen years of age or older but less than sixteen years of age, or he offender is reckless in that regards.

Sexual Battery: Did engage in sexual conduct with another, not the spouse of the offender, when the offender si the other person’s natural or adoptive parent, or a s stepparent, or guardian custodian, or person is loco parentis.

I will follow this case closely. Every bit of information I find will be posted here.

Technorati Tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse,Pedophiles

Photo of the day: Mitt and his red umbrellas

Mitt Romney’s crew in Poland at a political rally obscuring a Ron Paul poster with red umbrellas. It evokes communist China. Dumbass.

Technorati Tags: Photos,Politics,Mitt Romney

Is Mitt a twit?

I don’t follow politics here on Deep Thoughts much. My attitude changes once a candidate starts to embarrass our country. Sarah Palin is a good example. There are others politicians who catch my attention. The Republican primary was full of them. Take Mitt Romney for example. I think his behavior during his recent international trip has officially nominated him as a member of the political nutball club. He is embarrassing. I should have posted when he screwed up his visit to England, but his gaff while visiting Israel is too large to pass up. Plus it pissed me off.

Romney on Monday said Israel's GDP per capita, a way to measure wealth, is more than twice that of the Palestinians.

He says the "power of at least culture," in addition to an innovative business climate and the "hand of providence," are the reasons why Israel is so much wealthier.

Source: Romney courts donors before leaving Israel

This is slave-owner thinking. Romney is suggesting that Israeli culture, which includes the suppression of the Palestinian people, is better is better than Palestinian culture because it is backed by God and as a consequence, is wealthier. It’s breathtakingly dumb. And Mitt… that hand of providence, it was wrapped around my tax dollars.

Is Mitt a twit? Yep.

Technorati Tags: Politics,2012 Elections,Mitt Romney

File this one under wtf

Christian ventriloquist Ronald William Brown of Largo, Florida, was arrested for possession of child pornography. But wait, there's more…

Arnett and Brown, via Internet chat, discussed one specific boy at the church whom Brown fantasized about murdering and cannibalizing ("I imagine him wiggling and then going still," commented Brown) and how human flesh tastes when prepared in various ways. They also talked about "snuffing" kids, and how they'd go about it: when Arnett sent Brown a photograph of a strangled three-year-old girl, Brown was enthralled, and said that's how he'd "do" the young parishioner they had discussed earlier.

Read more: Longtime Church Puppeteer Arrested For Harboring Fantasies of Pedophilia, Cannibalism and Murder by Anna Breslaw of Jezebel

I’m actually at a loss for words here; creepy comes to mind, but does not do the case justice.

Hypocrisy, Christians, Pedophiles