N E W S - Spring / Summer 2001

Phillip Dumke, pastor of Westwood Grace Lutheran Church, has been indicted on four counts of "gross sexual imposition." Dumke befriended the two sons of a widow and molested them. He received five years probation.

SOURCE: ChannelCincinnati.com

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The 62-year-old pastor's name has been withheld in consideration of the two adopted daughters he molested. The man was convicted of nine sex-related charges and faces up to 23 years in prison. The younger daughter was forced to have sex with her adoptive father when she was eleven in the study where he wrote his sermons. The man is father to his older daughter's son.

SOURCE: AP

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Robert Burns, a priest at Saint Mary's in Charlestown, is facing new charges of molesting two altar boys. Burns pleaded guilty in 1995 on three separate charges of molesting a child under 13. In 1981 a bishop had sent Burns "for testing and evaluation because he sexually molested two boys in Ohio."

SOURCE: TheBostonChannel.com

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Running late for church a grandmother left her daughter's baby in the hallway of her apartment building. A neighbor called the police, who are determining if charges can be filed.

SOURCE: ChannelCincinnati.com

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Rev. Gordon Winrod, 73, pastor of Our Saviors Church, was convicted of kidnapping six grandchildren, holding them for years, and indoctrinating them with anti-Semetic beliefs. He face 30 years in prison.

SOURCE: AP

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Richard A. Elliott, a music pastor at an unnamed church, pleaded guilty on five counts of "committing a lewd act on a child under 14." Elliott had just completed a one-year probation imposed by his church for making lewd comments to female parishoners. Elliott faces six years in prison, though counseling is being considered as an alternative.

He had been convicted in 1991 in a murder-for-hire plot.

SOURCE: AP

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The superintendant of Roloff Homes, a Christian home for troubled youths, has been charged with felony unlawful restraint which caused two sprained ankles, welts, and bruises discovered by the mother on her 18-year-old son, a resident.

The Baptist-run Roloff Homes have fended off charges of abuse since 1973, and closed the homes in 1985 after losing a Supreme Court appeal to prevent investigation of the homes.

In 1997 then-Governor George Bush, testing his faith-based scheme, signed Texas legislation allowing church-run homes to bypass state accreditation for licensing.

Other charges against the Roloff homes include a 17-year-old girl being bound with duct tape and beaten, a boy's head being knocked into another boy's head, and forcing a boy to dig a 15 foot deep pit. In the pit incident the boy was allowed to quit digging when he could jump across the pit. An attempt left him with two sprained ankles.

See also: http://www.roloff.org.

SOURCE: AP

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Rev. Kurt Behrel, 51, pastor of a Grayslake church, was arrested and charged with molesting two boys in the 1980s. Officers found cocaine and illegal guns in Behrel's home during his arrest.

SOURCE: The Daily Herald

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Leesa Walters, 45, an employee of Earle's Grove Baptist Church, has been charged with "breach of trust with fraudulent intent," in connection with $400,000 missing from the church's building fund. The money had been raised by church members through yard sales, barbeques, benefits, and other events.

SOURCE: TheCarolinaChannel.com

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Robert K. Larson, 71, a Roman Catholic priest confessed in court to molesting several boys over the course of his 30-years of employment with the church.

The charges were originally filed by the parents of a man who committed suicide. Larson had molested the former altar boy when he was 12-years-old.

The victims, all around 30 years of age, were seeking closure and found satisfaction in Larson's guilty plea. Larson faces 3-10 years in prison, though the judge recommends a 90-day jail sentence and 5 years probation due to Larson's age.

SOURCE: Yahoo!

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Dr. Matthew Tyler, formerly a teen basketball coach for a local church, was sentenced to seven years in prison for molesting boys in four states over a 20 year period.

In 1979 Tyler had been accused of performing strip searches and "hernia checks" on boys at the Louisiana residential facility where he worked. Tyler molested several boys at church functions.

SOURCE: TheMilwaukeeChannel.com

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Glenn Given, 22, a student at the State University of New York, was interrogated by Secret Service agents for authoring an editorial asking Christ to "smite Bush."

The prayer read, "Dear Jesus Christ, King of all Kings, All I ask is that you smite George W. Bush."

Given's apartment was searched and he was asked to sign a release of his medical records.

SOURCE: AP

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Beloved dinosaur Senator Robert Byrd made the following statement during an interview:

There are white niggers. I've seen a lot of white niggers in my time... I'm going to use that word.

Byrd's critics point out that he had been vehemently criticizing former President Bill Clinton shortly before making the remark. Many black Americans have voiced the opinion that Clinton was this country's first black president.

Byrd apologized. He claimed he was trying to make the point that character is not tied to race.

SOURCE: Fox News Sunday

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The Christian hip-hop band "Raze" has cancelled its tour because of sex charges pending against band member Ja'Marc Davis.

SOURCE: AP

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Kenny Carter, 40, was praying and crying one day, at a particularly moving church service, when he heard the voice of God say, "You will be a vegetable." A friend helped him out by constructing a bell pepper costume, and Carter found work as a hawker for a local grocery store chain.

A former crack and heroin addict and pimp Carter is now living a clean life - encouraging and praying with others as "Peppy the Pepper."

SOURCE: AP

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Five men are being held for allegedly defrauding investors, including elderly church members, of $550 million by withholding crucial information. The Foundation of Arizona was part of the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention. The foundation began in 1948 as a way to raise money for Baptist causes. The state has accused the foundation of running a ponzi scheme.

SOURCE: The Arizona Republic

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266 Roman Catholic Bishops met to set policy for Catholic colleges and hospitals. Health professionals are not allowed to perform sterilizations, which are deemed "intrinsically immoral," but they also cannot refer to other institutions.

Professors at Catholic colleges are being asked to sign oaths swearing that their teaching will conform to Catholic doctrine. Many professors are abstaining.

SOURCE: AP

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