Youth pastor Joe Cheater Jr. arrested

His name should have been a warning. Joe Cheater Jr.… Pastor Joe Cheater was arrested for allegedly molesting several girls. The victims were between the ages of 12 and 14. They were innocent children who trusted pastor Joe because that is what you do, Children trust their youth pastor. Right?

Cheater is a youth pastor for Catoosa area churches.   Several female children between the ages of nine and 14 have come forward about Cheater.  He is charged with two counts of first degree rape, and three counts of lewd and indecent proposals or acts with children under 16

Source: Catoosa area youth pastor charged with sex crimes

Pastor Joe Cheater qualifies as a serial youth pastor. I have to ask, is being a  youth pastor a lifelong profession? Or, is it a step along the way to becoming a pastor? When do we start asking questions about adult males who spend their careers in youth ministry? I don’t have answers here; just a lot of questions. People like Cheater make me question the motives of others. I think that’s the right thing to do. It falls right in line with my motto of trust but verify; especially a lifelong youth pastor named Cheater.

Technorati Tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse,Rape,Child Molestation

Photo: Girl at Starbucks

This is a companion photo to Hip and alone, which I posted last week. I did not like my angle, but could not move for a better shot. I took a few shots of her while absorbed in her phone. I struck me as odd that a pretty girl setting across from her boyfriend would spend almost all of her time looking a a phone and zoning out. Is this how relationships work these days?

I shot this with my Nikon D7000 with the ISO set to 2000. It was handheld and extend out on to by table with a fast Nikor 50mm lens. This is my favorite of the series.

Technorati Tags: Photography,Cerritos

Youth pastor Demetrius Allen guilty

Youth pastor Demetrius Darnell Allen apparently did carry on a year long sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl from his church. Since he admitted to the rapes by pleading no contest to 3 counts of lewd acts on a child, we can expect Allen to spend a few long years in prison. How long? Well that depends on the deal he worked out in exchange for his plea. My guess is 6 years. What say you?

Allen was the youth pastor at the Frist Baptist Church in Venice. There was so much love expressed by Allen fans in my original post that I fear the church should be shuttered. They, “don’t get it.”

she was not RAPED , it was her own fault, she had the choice , she made the decision, no one else did There was much love express for the victim in my original post:

And

she was not RAPED, i think we all need to learn facts before we put judment on people , a man is INNOCENT untill PROVEN GUILTY, we need to remember that !

And

there are still 2% that AREN'T guilty, this girl is NOT a child, people are so quick to point fingers without thinking the possible situations through, your right, me personally, i will NEVER apologize, i KNOW she is wrong, and i KNOW she is no type of VICTIM. If that qualifies me as a "sick fuck" than so be it.

You get the picture. It’s the 14-year-old girls fault. I think that’s a Baptist thing.

Technorati Tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse,Rape,Child Molesters,Baptist

Cracks opening in the Brijbag case

Youth pastor Brian Brijbag was a accused of having a threesome with two girls. One girl was 17. Now it appears that the 17-year-old victim may have been coerced into making a false accusation by rouge police officer, Marc Davidoff. Among the allegations are that he threatened to release a photo of her in a compromising position with another girl, and that he guided her confession to fit the facts given by another witness. Davidoff was subsequently fired for attempting to kiss a women who was in his custody.

Hyslop said the girl who ultimately made the accusation against Brijbag was "brow beaten" into giving the police the information they wanted.
The prosecutor in the case, Brian Trehy, is still having difficulty "nailing down" the date in which the incident happened, Hyslop said.
Source: Sex crime iffy by Tony Holt

Brijbag may see the charges dropped if this article is even partly true. When you have a bad cop pressuring a witness, revising confessions to fit the facts, and coercing behavior, the facts of the case become questionable. Brijbag will benefit from the confusion.

Original Post: Youth pastor Brian Brijbag arrested for threesome (April 2011)

***Update 5/12/2012 – Brijbag pleads no contest

Pastor Tracy Burleson sentenced to life

Pastor Tracy Burleson had his wife murdered in order to collect a meager life insurance policy. Apparently, his wife’s life was worth all of $60k; less what he paid his son to do the hit. Burleson is a pastor bereft of morals. He had his wife executed by his son while having an affair with his son’s girlfriend. What the hell is up with these miscreants? He was a pastor… But wait, that carries so little wait anymore.

Burleson will serve life in prison. He son is likely to get the deal penalty He’s facing trail in Texas. That’s never good for a murder.

Technorati Tags: Clergy Misconduct,Murder,Texas

Pastor orders gay son beaten

If the story is true, pastor Jerry Pittman order his son, Jerry Pittman Jr. and his son’s boyfriend, beaten in the parking lot at Grace Fellowship Church in Tennessee. Pastor Pittman allegedly set his deacon on his son when they arrived to attend church.

“My uncle and two other deacons came over to the car per my dad’s request. My uncle smash me in the door as the other deacon knocked my boyfriend back so he couldn’t help me, punching him in his face and his chest. The other deacon came and hit me through my car window in my back.”

Source: Pastor, deacons accused of assaulting gay couple by David Edwards.

It’s a family affair, that much is for sure. It also crosses the line. It’s clear from the once sided description that the victims think they were beaten because they are gay. I think that qualifies as a hate crime. It would be here in California.

What bothers me most about cases like this is the violence. How violence consistent with living a life like Christ? Ordering a beating is hypocrisy. I’m pretty sure Jesus did not order  any beatings. That was so Old Testament, yet pastor Pittman allegedly ordered a beating for his own adult son and his son’s boyfriend. How is this a Christian act?

Technorati Tags: Clergy Misconduct,Gay rights,Hate Crimes

Photo: Hip and alone

Cerritos, California has very little nightlife. A few tea and coffee shops serve in place of the normal city bars scene. Most of what is open is dark by midnight. I found myself alone at a Starbucks last week in the late evening waiting for a friend that never showed up. I turned my Nikon D7000 and 50mm lens on the locals while waiting. This was my favorite shot. This young hip teen had all the right gear, yet he was alone. Near the end of my stay his amazingly beautiful date showed up. They ignored each other while concentrating on their various electronic gadgets.

I was approached by 3 lonely men during my hour at Starbucks. Each only wanted to connect for a few minutes. It was an interesting experience. I’m not much of a connecting type, but I played along.

I carry the D7000 with a fast 50mm lens whenever I want to indulge my street photography jones. It’s a reliable camera with two programmable presets that give me a good chance to capture the moment. It’s hard in Cerritos though, as there is no street its all shopping malls and strip malls, all with no heart.

Technorati Tags: Photography,Street Photography,Cerritos

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Best bumper sticker ever

My friend David mailed this to me. I don’t have the source yet. I’ll look it up and post it later.

“Abstinence makes the church grow fondlers”

Technorati Tags: Catholics,Clergy Sexual Abuse,Abstinence

Conflating atheists with the unchurched

I’ve had lengthy conversations with two Christian friends recently on the question of atheists and people who do not go to church. I found that they confuse the two types of people and conflate roles and characteristics. In a conversation about prison ministry, they repeated the Christian canard that prisons are full of atheists. I countered with statistics showing that almost all inmates believed in god or professed a religion of some sort. My friends asserted that prisoners declare a  believe in God, but they are  atheists. Their reasoning was simple, if they were Christians, they would not be in prison. I usually get a headache at this point.

I explained that atheists are people who assert that there  are no gods. People who profess a believe in God are theists, but they may not be Christians because they do not subscribe to a specific Christian theology.  I refer to theists who fit in this category as the unchurched, a term I learned from a pastor. I think it fits. There are lots of unchurched and few atheists. What bothers me is that many lay Christians do not see it this way. They often refer to what I call the unchurched as atheists or event agnostics. It is maddening.

My only weapon is dialog. I repeat myself as often as I can. I tell the story every time the question comes up. I even ask that my friends re-tell the story. I think its important to clarify things so that it paints the proper characterization. I’m not looking for god. I’m not interested in going to church or in religion at all. I think I speak for my fellow atheists. We are not the droids you are looking for.

Technorati Tags: Atheism

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Ted Haggard sells his dignity

Well – I should say that Ted Haggard sells his what’s left of his dignity. He’s agreed to appear on ABC’s reality show Celebrity Wife Swap, with B list actor Gary Busey. I don’t understand what drives people to the spotlight. Especially those who have fallen from grace as publically as Ted Haggard. The outcome cannot possibly be good. It must be the money, or maybe the fame. If it is for money or for the fame, how is this Christ-like?

Ted Haggard did not show up for the first scheduled tapping at a Colorado Springs GLBT Pride Center where he and Gary Busey were supposed to put together care packages for deployed gay soldiers. Haggard did not offer an explanation. Man up Haggard. Gays don’t bite. You know that.

Technorati Tags: Reality TV,Ted Haggard,Religion

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More Wiccan oddness. Now with cats

I have a Google news filter watching all things Wiccan. I want to catch Wiccan crime. I’ve had to rename it Wiccan oddness. Sure, Wiccans commit crime, but they do a lot of weird shit too. Take Wiccan Gabriella Bernabei. A judge accepted her Alford plea on animal cruelty charges. During the investigation, authorities found  over 100 dead cats in her freezer. Bernabei wanted to give the cats a Wiccan burial. She is claiming religious persecution.

The mother of three maintains her innocence and says she’s been unfairly targeted because of her Wiccan beliefs.

“I feel this is an attack on my religion,” Bernabei said. “I was told, ‘Unless you accept the plea offer, you’ll be arrested ... and will spend 10 years in jail.’

“I felt like I had no choice (but to enter into the agreement).”

Source:: Woman found guilty of animal cruelty, child neglect

Did I mention it was a non-functioning freezer?

Technorati Tags: Nutballs,Religion,Wicca,Animal Hording,Cats

A sad end to a corrupt life

George Washington Burnett was a former pastor and a convicted child molester. At 82, his neighbors though of him as a kindly old neighborhood grandfather. I believe his neighbors did not know of his past.  Somebody he knew murdered him. He was shot and stabbed to death. It was a cruel end to a tragically sad life. At times like this, I must reconsider my telling of the story.  Do I praise his good works, or do I say that street justice caught up with a religious hypocrite? I’m inclined to be kind. He served his time, but that is often not enough for the victims who carry the scares of abuse for life.

There were multiple victims; there may be more that did not come forward. One may have settled an old score. Of course, it could be a case of robbery gone wrong or that of a prostitute turning on her John. The possibilities are endless.

A few years into the abuse, she was confronted by a woman who said Burnett raped her. At first she denied anything had been done to her, but when she found out she wasn’t the only victim, she broke her silence and told her family. Burnett was charged with five offences in 1993. He eventually pleaded guilty to three of those charges.

Source: Homicide victim a convicted sex offender

I would write the story like like this. Former pastor and convicted pedophile murdered in his own bed. A sad end to a corrupt life.

Technorati Tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse,Pedophiles,Rapists,Murder

Church Accused Of Running Prostitution Ring

Sometimes hypocrisy is not hypocrisy. Sometimes what seems like hypocrisy is simply a common crime hiding behind a religious facade. The Phoenix Goddess Temple is simply a front from prostitution. It could just as easily been a massage parlor. So, thanks for all the tips, but this one does not actually rise to the level of religions hypocrisy. No, this case is less serious and much more humorous.

We can have a whole separate conversation on the subject of prostitution. I lean libertarian so I don’t have a problem with it. What about you?

Technorati Tags: Religion,Prostitution,Hypocrisy

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Foo Fighters - Keepin it Clean in KC

From the Foo Fighters.

On Aug. 30th, 2011 Westboro Baptist Church called for a picket of the Foo Fighters show in Kansas City. We had a little something up our sleeve. God Bless America.

Suck it Westboro Baptists

Westboro Baptists, Religion, Hate, Foo Fighters.

A small victory against hypocrisy

Ernest Willis is the worst sort of Christian. One who spouts holiness and chastity, and then rapes a 15-year-old girl. What’s worse is that he managed to impregnate the child, cast her as the willing vixen in a bizarre staged apology, separate her from her family and church, and then see to it that his illicit child was put up for adoption. After all these un-Christ like behavior, he simply went back to attending Trinity Baptist Church in Concord as if nothing had ever happened.

In a small victory for belated justice, Willis was sentenced to 15-40 years in prison for rape. He was busted because of the internet and the conscience of somebody who attended the church and saw the victim’s apology.

Before his jury trial, Willis pleaded guilty to one count of statutory rape. In May, a jury convicted Willis of forcibly raping the girl twice in 1997.

Concord police had shelved the case in 1997 when they couldn't locate the victim. But a former church member who witnessed the girl's discipline session later described it on the Internet, and the investigation was revived last year when police learned of her whereabouts.

Source: NH convict in shamed girl's rape gets 15-30 years by Lynne Tuochy

I posted on the victim, Tina Anderson, in May of 2010.

13-years-ago a 15-year-old girl named Tina Anderson was forced to stand in front of her church and apologize for becoming pregnant. An adult member of the church named Ernest Willis allegedly raped her. She was his babysitter. After her public humiliation, she was spirited away to Colorado, where she lived with another pastor until she gave her baby up for adoption. If you need additional proof that religion is a sickness that eats the mind, look no further than this statement.

This crime stands as one of the worst examples of Baptist hypocrisy. The pastor at the time was Chuck Phelps. He should be held responsible for his part in this injustice. If not criminally, then a civil suit is justified. Phelps is the worst of the worst when it comes to Christian leadership. Yet he still preaches his poison, and there is no telling how many other young girls may have been victimized by his overzealous biblical discipline sessions. Baptists – why do you let this man preach? Hell, why do you follow this man at all?

Technorati Tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse,Baptists,Hypocrisy,Justice

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