Religious Sex Abuse - It Was Never Just The Catholics

(Cartoon image is by Clay Jones at claytoonz.com.)

For the last few years now, Americans have heard about sex abuse by religious officials in the Catholic Church. The church tried to hide the abuse by not reporting it to law enforcement, and by shifting the guilty priests from one diocese to another. But it was never a problem just among Catholics.

Religious officials in all religions tend to be put on a pedestal, and considered next to infallible. And that kind of reverence without criticism lends itself to abuse. Now we learn that the problem also exists in the nation's largest protestant sect -- Southern Baptists. Here is just part of an expose in the Houston Chronicle:

More than 250 people who worked or volunteered in Southern Baptist churches have been charged with sex crimes, an investigation by the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News reveals.

It's not just a recent problem: In all, since 1998, roughly 380 Southern Baptist church leaders and volunteers have faced allegations of sexual misconduct, the newspapers found. That includes those who were convicted, credibly accused and successfully sued, and those who confessed or resigned. More of them worked in Texas than in any other state.

They left behind more than 700 victims, many of them shunned by their churches, left to themselves to rebuild their lives. Some were urged to forgive their abusers or to get abortions.

About 220 offenders have been convicted or took plea deals, and dozens of cases are pending. They were pastors. Ministers. Youth pastors. Sunday school teachers. Deacons. Church volunteers.

Nearly 100 are still held in prisons stretching from Sacramento County, Calif., to Hillsborough County, Fla., state and federal records show. Scores of others cut deals and served no time. More than 100 are registered sex offenders. Some still work in Southern Baptist churches today.

Journalists in the two newsrooms spent more than six months reviewing thousands of pages of court, prison and police records and conducting hundreds of interviews. They built a database of former leaders in Southern Baptist churches who have been convicted of sex crimes.

The investigation reveals that:

• At least 35 church pastors, employees and volunteers who exhibited predatory behavior were still able to find jobs at churches during the past two decades. In some cases, church leaders apparently failed to alert law enforcement about complaints or to warn other congregations about allegations of misconduct.

• Several past presidents and prominent leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention are among those criticized by victims for concealing or mishandling abuse complaints within their own churches or seminaries.

• Some registered sex offenders returned to the pulpit. Others remain there, including a Houston preacher who sexually assaulted a teenager and now is the principal officer of a Houston nonprofit that works with student organizations, federal records show. Its name: Touching the Future Today Inc.

• Many of the victims were adolescents who were molested, sent explicit photos or texts, exposed to pornography, photographed nude, or repeatedly raped by youth pastors. Some victims as young as 3 were molested or raped inside pastors' studies and Sunday school classrooms. A few were adults — women and men who sought pastoral guidance and instead say they were seduced or sexually assaulted. . . .

Several factors make it likely that the abuse is even more widespread than can be documented: Victims of sexual assault come forward at a low rate; many cases in churches are handled internally; and many Southern Baptist churches are in rural communities where media coverage is sparse.

It's clear, however, that SBC leaders have long been aware of the problem.

Should Sex Offenders Have Guns ?

This is not an urban legend. The Des Moines Register decided to find out who was able to get a concealed carry permit in Iowa, and they found at least 50 sex offenders (listed on the state sex offender registry) who are licensed to carry a concealed weapon. Most were convicted of misdemeanor sex crimes (although three were felons), but that shouldn't put anyone at ease -- many felonious sex offenders started out committing misdemeanors, and others had felony charges reduced to a misdemeanor in exchange for a guilty plea.

Jerry Dunbar, Washington County sheriff and president of the Iowa State Sheriffs and Deputies Association, said of the finding, "My concern of a sex offender having a gun is they try to typically rule in a bullish way to influence people -- and just the presence of a gun on a hip could be a threat to get people to cooperate. They intimidate to get what they want." The sheriff is right. As much as any criminal, sex offenders are intimidators -- and allowing them to carry a gun just gives them another tool with which to intimidate (and poses a substantial risk for those who might try to rescue one of their victims).

One sex offender (on the sex offender registry for an indecent exposure in 2005) with a concealed carry permit told the newspaper that he posed no danger to the public and only used his guns for hunting. But concealed carry permits are not issued for hunting rifles (since they cannot be concealed on your person). He has a permit to carry a handgun. What is he hunting with a handgun -- human victims? The only thing a handgun is good for is to intimidate or kill humans at close range.

This is just crazy. Sex offenders (and domestic abuse misdemeanor offenders) should never have a concealed carry permit. In fact, in my opinion, they should not be allowed to even own any kind of firearm -- because the sex offenders are likely to offend again (and the gun makes that easier) and the domestic abusers are the most likely to injure or kill a member of their own family with a gun.

It's time for some reasonable gun restrictions in this country. Guns may not kill people, but they certainly make it much easier for criminals and other dangerous people to injure or kill other people. It's time to ignore the NRA (which has just become a lobby for gun manufacturers) and pass some reasonable laws to make it more difficult for dangerous people to buy or carry a firearm -- and that includes ALL sex offenders.

Should Sex Offender Registration Be Changed ?

There are currently 62,000 names on the sex offender registry in Texas. There are those who say it has gotten so large that it can no longer effectively serve its original purpose -- to warn the public of sex offenders living in their neighborhoods. I don't agree with that, but I do think there are probably some on the list who don't belong there because they don't pose a serious risk to the public.

It's just a fact that all sex offenders are not the same (and not all of them are dangerous). Take for instance a 19 year old boy who dated and had sex with a 15 or 16 year old girl. This is not something the general public would like to see happen and it is against the law, but it doesn't generally mean the offender is a predator who poses a danger to the community. He certainly shouldn't be put in the same class as a violent rapist, stalker or abuser of small children.

In the last legislative session here in Texas a law was introduced and passed by both houses that would have given judges discretion on whether to place a person on the offender registry if the person was 18 or 19 years old and had sex with a person not over four years younger (it was called the teenage lovers bill). Governor Perry vetoed the bill.

I agree with the governor's veto for several reasons (although it makes me very uncomfortable to agree with this governor about anything). I'm sure he did it to avoid making his right-wing supporters angry, but there are some valid reasons for vetoing the bill. Some of these are:

1. It should not be up to a judge whether a person goes on the registry or not. Some judges are very strict and some are not, but people committing the same crime should get the same treatment from the court. It is simply not fair that one person goes on the offender registry because he was unlucky enough to get a strict judge while another is not put on the offender registry because he was lucky enough to get a lenient judge.

2. The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (a federal law) take effect in about a year and require all states to have uniform kinds of sex offender registry which would rate the offenders according to the crime committed. Any state that does not conform to the rules in this federal law will lose federal funds to offset the cost of keeping the sex offender registry (about $2.2 million for Texas). Texas cannot afford to bypass any more federal funds (because they are already looking at a huge deficit for the next biennium).

3. All states need to use the same rules for registering sex offenders. This would prevent sex offenders (especially the dangerous ones) from shopping around for a state with lenient registration laws. It would also let the offender know what the registration requirements are if he did move to a different state and remove the excuse of "I didn't know this state required me to register".

There probably are people being required to register that really don't pose a risk and should be removed from the list. However, it would be a mistake to address this on a state-by-state basis. If the law must be changed, then it should be changed on the federal level so all the states are still doing the same thing.

Dangerous sex offenders should be registered and tracked by law enforcement officials. There is no doubt of that. But it should be done the same in all states. Texas should change its law, but only to bring it into compliance with the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (and all other states should do the same).

Sex Offender Mayor Does It Again !

Last November, I wrote about the mayor of the Texas city of Poteet, a small town of 3600 people about 30 miles south of San Antonio. The mayor, Lino Donato, had just pled guilty to two counts of Indecency By Exposure (Child) and one count of Indecency By Contact (Child). He was given deferred adjudication, placed on probation and required to register as a sex offender.

Although Donato had pled guilty and was now a registered sex offender, the county attorney ruled that he didn't have to resign because he was given deferred adjudication instead of a final verdict. Doanto refused to resign. At that time, I called upon the people of Poteet to remove this pedophile with a recall election.

I don't know why, but the mayor was not recalled. Maybe the people felt sorry for him, or maybe they felt he was innocent (even though he had pled guilty). In any event, they allowed him to remain mayor of their city. Now, it looks like that was a mistake.

The mayor has done it again. On Monday, a grand jury in Atascosa County indicted Mayor Donato on three new child sex offenses -- all of them felonies. He is now charged with Aggravated Sexual Assault, Indecency By Contact (Child) and Attempted Indecency By Contact (Child).

The mayor's term does not expire until 2009, but I again call on the citizens of Poteet to petition for a recall election. Do you really want a pedophile as your mayor? Do you enjoy being the laughingstock of the Lone Star State?

Registered Sex Offender Won't Resign As Mayor

It looks like the city of Poteet has a problem. Poteet is a city of about 3600 people located about 30 miles south of San Antonio. Although it's not a large city, it does have a rather large problem. Its mayor is a registered sex offender.

Last week, Mayor Lino Donato pled guilty to two charges of Indecency by Exposure and one count of Indecency by Contact. The victims of his crimes were children. The mayor was given deferred adjudication and placed on probation. He is required to register as a sex offender.

It originally looked like he was going to do the right thing. He called a meeting for Wednesday to announce his resignation. But then he changed his mind and cancelled the meeting. Now he says he is not going to resign. Unbelievably, the City Attorney said he doesn't have to resign since he got "deferred adjudication", and technically that doesn't count as a conviction.

This whole thing is just sick. He stopped the trial and pled guilty to prevent the details of his sex abuse of two young girls from becoming public. Now he wants to sweep it under the rug, and go on like nothing happened. But deferred adjudication or not, the man is a REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER!

I can't believe the citizens of Poteet want to have a registered sex offender (and pedophile) as their mayor. If he will not do the decent thing and resign, then he should be removed. It's not like he was innocent -- he pled guilty!

Looks like it's time for a recall election in Poteet.

Not All New Laws Have The Desired Effect

In the last few years, communities all over the country have been passing more and tougher laws against criminals. This is especially true of sex offenders. These new laws are being passed in an effort to protect people, specifically children.

But this is the real world, and sometimes the real effect of a new law is far different from the desired effect of that law.

California recently passed "Jessica's Law", named after 9 year-old Jessica Lunsford who was kidnapped, raped and buried alive by a convicted sex offender in 2005. The law makes it illegal for a convicted sex offender to live within 2000 feet of a school or park. On the surface, this sounds like a good law that would have the effect of protecting children.

But in passing the law, no one took into account that some cities have no housing that is not within 2000 feet of a school or park -- San Francisco is one such city. Some might say the offenders should move somewhere else then, but the law also prohibits that. The law requires parolees to live in the county of their last residence.

Since the new law has made it almost impossible for them to find a place to live, many of them are declaring themselves to be homeless. Some are truly homeless, and others are now using this to hide where they really live. Since the law took effect, there has been a 27% increase in the number of registered sex offenders who claim to be homeless.

There is no reason to believe this trend will not continue, and that makes communities more dangerous. The police and parole officials are unable to effectively keep track of these homeless sex offenders. They are required to tell their parole officer each day where they slept the night before, but that does not mean anyone really knows where they are or how to find them.

The community was safer when the police knew where these offenders were living. As Deputy Attorney General Janet Neeley says, "Any law enforcement officer would tell you we prefer to have offenders at addresses where we can locate them."

It is only natural for people to not want these registered sex offenders to live in their neighborhood. But it really may be safer to have a known offender living in your neighborhood, where police and others can keep track of him, rather than have the offender homeless and able to roam any neighborhood without supervision.

This is not just a California problem. Many communities all over the nation are passing the same kind of laws, and these laws are having the same undesired effect. We must re-think these laws.

It is more important to have these offenders where police can check on them, than it is to pass "feel-good" laws that do not work.

Changes Are Coming For Sex Offenders

I apologize for the light posting for the last few days. I was in San Antonio attending the Juvenile Sex Offender Management Conference. Since I don't have a laptop yet, the only posts I was able to do were those few I did ahead of time (which my daughter was kind enough to post for me each day). I'm back now, and I hope to be posting more often.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in San Antonio. What a great city! If you've never been, by all means go. San Antonio is growing by leaps and bounds these days, but it still has its own unique flavor. Also, let this Mavericks fan offer congratulations to the San Antonio Spurs for their fourth championship in the last nine years -- a marvelous accomplishment!

Now for the topic at hand. Many in the general public think that all sex offenders are required to register, and are listed on the public sex offender web sites. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

The public web sites only contain those offenders that are required to register, usually those that could not afford to hire a high-dollar attorney to defend them. The sad fact is that many many sex offenders in our state are able to hire a good attorney, and then get their registration deferred or waived by a judge.

That means you will not find them on the public web site, and they are not required to check in regularly with the local police agency or sheriff's department. But that is fixing to change.

Last year, Congress passed and the president signed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. This new law does many things like mandating a public web site of sex offenders in all states. It also provides grants to help establish these, and to do research.

But one of the main things it will do is take away the ability of judges to defer or waive registration. It creates a new three tier system of rating sex offenses, and demands the registration of all adult sex offenders. Here is how it defines the three tiers of sex offenses:

Tier I are those other than a tier II or tier III.

Tier II are those other than Tier I with an offense punishable by imprisonment for more than one year and comparable to or more severe than the following federal offenses involving a minor: sex trafficking; coercion and enticement; transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity; abusive sexual contact. Also includes any offense involving use of a minor in a sexual performance, solicitation of a minor to practice prostitution, or production or distribution of child pornography.

Tier III are sex offenses punishable by imprisonment for more than one year and comparable to or more severe than the following federal offenses: sexual abuse or aggravated sexual abuse; abusive sexual contact against a minor less than 13 years old; offense involving kidnapping of a minor (parent or guardian excepted); or any offense that occurs after one has been designated a tier II sex offender.

Those found guilty of Tier I offenses will be required to register for 15 years (although this could be reduced to 10 years if a clean record is maintained). They will be required to renew their registration every year with the local police or sheriff's department.

Those found guilty that fall into Tier II will be required to register for 25 years. They will be required to appear at the local policing agency to renew the registration every 6 months.

Tier III offenders will be required to register for life, and they must appear at their local policing agency every 3 months to renew their registration.

Offenders falling into all three tiers will not only have to register, but will have their picture and information posted on the public sex offender web site. Juveniles will also fall under this law, if they are at least 14 and the crime rises to the level of Aggravated Sexual Assault.

This new federal law is much more restrictive than current Texas law. Texas will have to change it's laws to come into compliance with the federal law by 2009. If they don't, they will lose a large chunk of the federal law enforcement dollars they receive. I doubt they'll want to lose the money, so look for these changes to be passed in the next legislative session.