Back rubs with teen girls evolved into sex

[MineralMan]

http://www.modbee.com/news/article209378504.html

This is yet another story about a youth pastor taking advantage of kids while they were in his charge. It's nothing new. But this Modesto Bee story is very good at digging into the problem and showing why such people are so successful in getting teens to go along with their sexual conquests. It's also a good example of church organizations silently shifting the problem elsewhere by moving offenders from one church to another. This sort of thing happens every day somewhere in the United States. A young teen is convinced to have sex with a charismatic youth pastor he or she trusts. It is the trust that is violated, through religious pressure and coercion, that is the key to these terrible people's success at abusing teens. The damage from this can last for decades. I encourage everyone to read the entire story. I can only post a brief excerpt here:

Back Rubs with Teen Girls Evolved into Sex; Another former Modesto Pastor Accused

The founder of a popular megachurch in Arizona admits having sex with girls in his charge when he was a married youth pastor at a prominent Modesto church four decades ago.

"I sinned and harmed the most important relationships in my life," Les Hughey said in a statement issued after being contacted by The Modesto Bee. "Unfortunately, it's impossible to undo what happened, so I instead accept and live with the consequences."

His victims came forward soon after The Bee's February report on Brad Tebbutt, who like Hughey was a youth pastor at Modesto's First Baptist Church.

Tebbutt sexually abused a girl from age 14 to 17 in the 1980s, said the victim and a former First Baptist pastor who said Tebbutt confessed to him. Earlier this month, Tebbutt was placed on leave while an independent firm led by Billy Graham's grandson investigates Tebbutt's past for his current employer, the International House of Prayer of Kansas City.

[forgotmylogin]

1. Easy for HIM to "accept it and live with the consequences"...

Poor victimized sinner! The victim is the one I'm worried about.

I understand the religious concept of "confession" but that shouldn't imply absolution and freedom from consequences.

[MineralMan]

2. Yes, isn't it?

I'm not sure what his current congregation will do about him. It's the church he started, after all, now. Maybe they'll just "forgive" him and keep following his preaching.

Apparently churches don't understand that this kind of thing isn't just a "sin." It's a crime, punishable by prison. That's the thing that always gripes me with these cases. You rarely hear about prosecutions of the offenders. They just move on to "sin" somewhere else with someone else's children.

Feh!

[forgotmylogin]

17. Exactly - confession is not absolution.

It falls under the "pay unto Caesar what is due Caesar..." kind of thing. A person can steal a car then "confess" and get right with God and the congregation perhaps, but that doesn't mean the police aren't going to arrest them.

[Voltaire2]

3. IHP is a notorious shit show.

[MineralMan]

4. IHP? I'm not familiar with that acronym.

[Voltaire2]

6. International House of Prayer.

Decades of abuse allegations.

[MineralMan]

9. Thanks!

I missed that reference about the previous offender at that church.

[Major Nikon]

16. Not to be confused with IHOP

Which undoubtedly would have done a better job of ferreting out child rapists.

[marylandblue]

5. When I saw your OP title my first thought was

that it would be about mating rituals in early hominids.

[MineralMan]

10. Well, that might lead to consensual activities

with humans, too. But, adults should keep their hands off teenagers. It's the law.

[Igel]

13. The appeal to authority doesn't always work.

"Yeah, you shouldn't be using marijuana. It's the law."

Lots of examples. When we think it's okay, the law's wrong and we should question authority; when we think it's not okay, we use the law as a baton to cudgel others with our authority.

Human sexuality isn't really good at being law-abiding. Knew one couple that was very happy. They got married when she was barely 17 and he was 22 or 23. (Good thing, too. He had Marfan's syndrome and she was widowed when she wasn't yet quite 19. She had a couple of miscarriages along the way.)

Some 16-year-old "kids" are as mature as many of today's 21-year-old kids. It's all in the distribution and how we implement zero-tolerance laws on top of that distribution.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

11. My thought was "It's a tale as old as time."

And then I read the OP and it switched quickly to "ewww."

[Igel]

14. It's both, in fact. n/t

[Lordquinton]

7. Sinned?

Bruh you committed a felony!

[MineralMan]

12. Indeed.

No criminal prosecution occurred, though, as so often happens in such cases.

[Igel]

15. Criminal prosecution is often difficult.

If the victim doesn't want to testify or doesn't have permission to testify, then the rest of the case often collapses. In that case, justice is served, directly or vicariously. Not every crime needs to be punished. The victim might be merciful, and justice is served; or the victim might be afraid, and justice is cheated; or the victim may have other reasons. And if it's the parents who deny permission, then the wrongness of the outcome is theirs.

Then there are statute of limitation bars in many cases--and while we recoil at the idea of somebody doing something wrong and not being punished for it (esp. if we don't like the person involved, or take special offense at the offense)--statute of limitation restrictions are there to serve justice, not to serve retribution. The memories of those involved change over time, evidence is lost, possible witnesses vanish or die. We focus on the victim, and say "screw the alleged victimizer" because we forget that "alleged" doesn't mean "guilty".

[MineralMan]

8. Now this Hughey guy is on leave from the church he founded.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/scottsdale/2018/04/22/scottsdale-pastor-highlands-community-church-responds-allegations-sexual-abuse/540334002/