Catholic Priest Gets Five Years on Child Sex Charges
A Roman Catholic priest has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of sexual exploitation of a teenage boy in the 1990s. Maurice Joseph Praught, 70, entered the plea in a Charlottetown courtroom Tuesday morning. He was arrested in 2022 following a joint investigation by Summerside police and the RCMP after the Diocese of Charlottetown reported the allegations.
A few hours after the sentencing, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlottetown issued a statement about the case. "I sincerely apologize to the victim and his family for the abuse, pain, and harm that was perpetrated by Father Praught, and I offer my most earnest apology for the failures of the Church," the statement quoted Bishop Joseph Dabrowski as saying. The statement noted that the diocese has had a sexual abuse response policy in place since 1992.
A 25-year-old man is facing charges after court documents say he had inappropriate contact with a minor while he was serving as a pastor at a Markle church.
Court records show Zachary Luke Petree was charged with child seduction while having a professional relationship with the child, dissemination of matter harmful to minors, and sexual battery. Prosecutors say Petree was acting as a pastor at a church in Markle at the time.
Court documents say between January 1st and February 22nd, the 16-year-old victim stayed the night at Petree's home to help him care for his kids. In a Motion to Enter a Plea of Guilty, Petree says he showed the teen sexually explicit photos, sent the teen explicit messages, and admitted to having inappropriate contact with the girl.
A Butler County pastor is in jail Wednesday evening after engaging in what state police are calling inappropriate sexual contact with two minors.
Herman Clarence Rushing Jr., 67, of Portersville Borough is facing charges of corruption of minors, endangering the welfare of children, and indecent assault. Rushing is in the Butler County Prison as of Wednesday after failing to post bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for December 14th.
Troopers say the charges and arrest come after an extensive investigation that tracked activity spanning from January 2021 to this September. The two young victims were listed as 10- and 13-year-old girls, both from Prospect.
An Independence pastor is facing child molestation charges. Court documents state that multiple people under the age of 18 accused Virgil Marsh of sexually assaulting them between 2011 and 2018. Marsh, 71, is now in the Jackson County jail.
He was charged with two counts of first-degree of child molestation and first-degree statutory sodomy. A probable cause statement indicates that Marsh told police he was a current pastor in Independence, and admitted he had "inappropriately touched" one of the victims.
He also told police he has asked for forgiveness with God and is no longer the man who "had previously done things to the victim," the probable cause reads.
A 39-year-old Centralia minister has been charged in Marion County Court with four counts of child pornography. Ian Maphet of Edgewood Lane was taken into custody by Centralia Police at the Calumet Street Christian Church on Wednesday where he is Worship Minister.
A federal jury today convicted a Lame Deer pastor of sexually abusing three children while they were staying at his home, on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.
After a six-day trial that began on December 4th, the jury found Dean Alan Smith, 67, guilty of aggravated sexual abuse, abusive sexual contact by force, and two counts of abusive sexual contact by force and of a child.
Smith faces a maximum of life in prison, a $250,000 fine, and five years to a lifetime of supervised release. The jury acquitted Smith of one count of abusive sexual contact of a child.
U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. The court set sentencing for April 10, 2024. Smith was remanded into custody pending further proceedings.
The government alleged in court documents and at trial that Smith was the pastor of a local church in Lame Deer, on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, and that during his time on the reservation, he and his wife housed several foster children, and temporarily hosted other children from the community.
In approximately 2021 and 2022, four girls, identified as Jane Does 1, 2, 3 and 4, disclosed being sexually abused by Smith between 2017 and 2020 when they were staying or living at Smith's home.
The government alleged that Smith abused each of them, separately and in private, on multiple occasions. All of the victims were under the age of 12 at the time.
More than a month after leaders of International House of Prayer Kansas City announced that at least one allegation of abuse including "sexual immorality" made against the ministry's founder Mike Bickle has "some credibility," the embattled minister confessed on Tuesday to sinful misconduct he committed over 20 years ago.
"With a very heavy heart I want to express how deeply grieved I am that my past sins have led to so much pain, confusion, and division in the body of Christ in this hour. I sadly admit that 20+ years ago, I sinned by engaging in inappropriate behavior—my moral failures were real," Bickle said.
Bickle's confession comes after a woman identified as Jane Doe alleged that for approximately three years, from 1996 to 1999, Bickle paid for her apartment and engaged in every sexual act with her except copulation. She said the IHOPKC founder wooed her with Scripture when she was 19, and he was 42, then made her a kept woman for several years as he established his now popular ministry.
Evangelical Leader Resigns Over Lewd Arrest in Public Park
The pastor of Philadelphia's Tenth Presbyterian Church—an influential Presbyterian Church in America congregation—resigned after a past arrest for improper conduct along with another church leader was made public.
Liam Goligher, who had been pastor of Tenth since 2011, resigned on December 1st, according to a statement from the church. His resignation was first reported by Ministry Watch, a nonprofit evangelical watchdog group.
Goligher was arrested in 2014, along with a female church leader, and was cited for "personal conduct" in a public park in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The term "personal conduct," Lancaster police told Ministry Watch, can refer to "lewd or sexual behavior."
Catholic Priest Gets Six Years on Child Porn Charges
Calling his crimes egregious and an enormous violation of the trust to the parishioners he once served, a federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a Roman Catholic priest to serve six years in prison.
"I'm strongly inclined to give you more than that," U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith said in sentencing Rev. James Ward Jackson, 68.
Smith exceeded the five-year term agreed to Assistant U.S. Attorney John McAdams and Jackson's lawyer, John Calcagni, in sentencing Jackson, a pastor at St. Mary’s Catholic Parish on Broadway, to 72 months for receiving child pornography.
Jackson was already in jail because he violated his pre-trial release conditions by possessing child porn.
A youth minister of a Floyd County church was sentenced Thursday to serve 15 years in prison on child molestation and possession of child pornography charges, alongside another 25 years on probation.
When Austin Wray Perkins was arrested on March 9, 2022 as part of a sting targeting child pornography, police discovered he was also the guardian of a minor living at his home who he sexually victimized.
"After officers were able to get into both phones completely, we're talking about hundreds of images," Mayo told Floyd County Superior Court Chief Judge John Niedrach. "There are some images of infants under a year old (being subjected to sexual abuse)."
The chaplain at Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth has just received a life prison term for the sexual exploitation of children.
Because Michael Dale Downs is 71 years old, the 60-year prison term imposed by a federal judge is effectively a life prison term. Federal sentences do not carry early parole.
Investigators say Downs' wife cooperated and gave police several electronic devices, and that police found numerous videos of Downs engaging in sexual misconduct with the minor.
A North Texas youth pastor has been arrested for possessing child porn, and police are asking for possible victims to come forward in the case.
The Frisco Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children Unit says it received a cyber tip that 36-year-old Kyle Timothy Poff was in possession of child pornography. During the investigation, detectives obtained a search warrant.
Frisco P.D. says on Thursday, December 14th, Poff was arrested at his home in the 2700 block of Pine Trail Drive in Little Elm. Poff has been charged with possession of child pornography, a 3rd-degree felony punishable by two to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.
A 46-year-old pastor at a church in Aurora was indicted Wednesday on 16 counts of sexual assault, and some of the victims were children, the Washington County Sheriff's Office said Sunday.
According to deputies, Seferino Tosie's victims attended Missionary Memorial Church in Aurora where he worked as a pastor. Following his indictment, another victim from the church has come forward.
The reported abuse occurred in Washington, Marion, and Clackamas counties between 2008 and 2016.
Christian School Teacher Arrested on Child Sex Charges
Cornelius Police stated that on August 2nd 2023, they began investigating the inappropriate relationship between a student and teacher at Southlake Christian Academy.
Officials state that after the investigation, they were able to obtain warrants on Tyler Melton, 26, for felony sex acts with a student and indecent liberties with a student.
Melton turned himself into the Mecklenburg County Jail and is being held on a $10K unsecured bond.
Melton and the student reportedly met daily for sex in parking lots.
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Dec 5th, 2023 11:55 PM
