Preface for the Book
'Preying on Our Children'

It would be no ‘scoop’ to report that cases of child molestation appear to have mushroomed across the globe over recent decades. And such growth is hardly surprising when we reflect on the multitude of different ways the Internet inflames perverts and helps them commit abuse. (Several other facets of modern Western society also encourage abuse of children. For specifics, see chapter 5 of this book.) 

       Thus it would stun few readers if I noted that, back in the year 2000, the U.S. government estimated there to be 400,000 convicted child molesters residing in the United States [i]. This figure is all the more gut-wrenching when one considers that as few as 5% of molesters are ever caught and convicted [ii].

       The resulting problem is so familiar to us that I doubt it would come as a particularly great shock if I were to mention a Boston University study which concluded that, by the time they reach 14 years of age, 25% of American girls (yes, one in every four) has been sexually abused, and that, by the age of 16, one in every six boys has been so abused [iii].

       Similarly, many readers will be well aware of the degree to which this curse has afflicted Catholic circles. And most of us will have come across at least a handful of cases within the Episcopal, or ‘Anglican’ world… 

       But this book will uncover the child molestation today within my beloved world, to which - for simplicity’s sake - I’ll assign the umbrella term “evangelical”. One web site alone lists hundreds of confirmed attacks within evangelicalism [iv]. 

       To certain people, a total in the hundreds may not seem desperately serious on a worldwide scale. But this is just one site. And it’s a site which focuses exclusively on abuse by individuals in positions of authority, rather than dealing with all molesters [v]. In addition, many of the site’s cases involve multiple victims, and the site only looks at a very small number of countries. (The list’s compilers ceased collecting further examples back in 2003 after apparently deciding they’d made their point. Other sites expose subsequent cases - and indicate that things are getting worse as each year goes by [vi].)

       Just as disturbing, an FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin says that as few as 1% of child molestation incidents get disclosed, let alone prosecuted [vii]. There is also evidence that, even where abuse is disclosed, most churches cover it up for fear of destroying their witness to the lost. All told, a figure in the hundreds is obviously just the tip of the iceberg.

       It’s also plain that no denomination is exempted from this problem. Whether a church is Brethren or Baptist, Methodist or Mennonite, Presbyterian or Pentecostal, Church of the Nazarene or Church of God… Or Apostolic, Calvary Chapel, Charismatic, Congregational, Elim, Foursquare, Lutheran, Orthodox, Purpose-Driven, Reformed, Salvation Army, Vineyard, Wesleyan, Non-Denominational; you name it. All are being affected.

       And the problem now appears to be threatening every hue of church within each denomination, from strongly evangelical to deeply emergent, and from thoroughly cessationist to ultra charismatic. (This book is about every such church. Sometimes I shall need to use the term ‘evangelical’ to refer to them all in one go. But that’s just my shorthand way of distinguishing them from the Catholic and Episcopal worlds. When you see “evangelical” in this book, please don’t be tempted to assume, for instance, that emergent or contemplative fellowships aren’t included [viii].) Further, this problem of child abuse within churches appears to span the globe. As we look into the matter, it will become unquestionably clear that no fellowship, regardless of its geographical location or doctrinal stance, can afford to ignore this danger. 

       In 2007 the American founder of a ministry specializing in warning evangelicalism about societal issues which undermine it stated, “One of the major problems that Christians need to address is the presence of juvenile and adult pedophiles within the church. … During one of my recent visits to a major city I heard reports about pedophiles in four prominent churches I visited. … The stories I hear like this are too numerous to remember” [ix]. The situation is patently bad.

       The extent of the problem doesn’t seem widely known. One reason is that churches are understandably less than eager to advertise the fact that it’s possible for molesters to operate in their midst. We will look at other reasons shortly. Below is just a brief, introductory selection of molestation cases to illustrate the sort of horrors that are going on and to help prove that this challenge exists across the denominations. 

       Readers are now requested to brace themselves for some appalling information. While I have kept this book free of any gratuitous material, it's just impossible to write a ‘decent’ book on such a very indecent topic, and unless we're confronted with the reality of a subject, it’s easy to give it less importance than it deserves. Of course, Holy Scripture commands, “whatsoever things are pure, … lovely, … of good report; … think on these things” (Php. 4:8), but this doesn’t mean we never need to face up to things that aren’t pure, lovely, and of good report. God’s word itself exposes rapes, murders, gruesome deaths and so on. “Revolting as this subject is, it is also imperative that [we] not bury the issues surrounding child sex offenders in an attempt to escape their vulgarity. Paedophiles [the British spelling] are not going to go away, so we must … educate ourselves". 

Important Note: Such is the distressing nature of the topic discussed in this book that I have felt obliged to accompany it with a heartfelt warning and disclaimer.  If you have been a victim of abuse, you are asked to read it before continuing. Please see this endnote [x].) 

“An instructor at ... Grace Evangelical Lutheran church ..., Fritz A. Callies, 61, has been sentenced to 8 years in prison for sexually assaulting 2 girls, ages 9 and 10. Over a dozen women have come forward saying Callies abused them as girls” [xi]

“Ambrocio Martinez Sabala, a former pastor at a Foursquare Church ..., was sentenced … to seven years in state prison. He had pleaded no contest to molesting several of his daughters” [xii]

“[Baptist [xiii]] church pastor Larry Nuell Neathery was convicted … of 25 felony charges involving sexual assault or molestation of five boys” [xiv]
 

       ATTENTION:

The three cases below are unutterably horrible
(although I could have cited even worse ones).
I had no choice but to include them though,
as the only people who are helped if we
constantly obscure the true nature
of such crimes are the people
committing those crimes.
 

        Sincere apologies for all offense caused by the above, but for reasons given earlier I could see no option but to publicize some of the things being endured by our children.

        The iniquities just go on and on. For instance, consider the "evangelist" and professing evangelical Tony Alamo. In 2009 he was convicted on ten counts of ‘Interstate Transportation of Minors for Illegal Sexual Purposes, Rape, Sexual Assault and Contributing to the Delinquency of Minors’. “Prosecutors said Alamo took five underage girls across state lines for sex … [O]ne was … [just] 9 and was ‘married’ to the evangelist” [xiii].

       I’ll need to cite more cases, and more denominations, as we proceed. But to underline how serious things are, here's one more observation for now. The biggest child molestation case in the history of the entire U.S. State of Missouri occurred in an evangelical church [xix].

       I guess we’re all tempted to assume that God would never let anything terrible happen in our own fellowship. However, I beseech readers to finish this book before making a definitive judgment on that. The Bible speaks of God allowing people to commit some awful crimes, including the murder of Abel, the murder of John the Baptist, the murder of Stephen, and so on. God also permitted Doeg to slaughter huge numbers of priests of the Lord - plus their wives and children (1 Sam. 22:18-21). God allowed Athaliah to murder all but one of the children who comprised the “seed royal” (2 Kings 11:1-2). God also allowed both Pharaoh and Herod to destroy young children belonging to His People. God even permitted the rape of King David’s own daughter (2 Sam. 13:14). 

       Unfortunately, the solutions touted today for safeguarding our children are extremely dangerous. The first chapter of this book explains that statement. It then offers a simple, practical, and God-honoring way to deal with the whole problem. (I have concentrated on making the text as sound, accurate, helpful and clear as possible. This means the prose is not the most elegant ever seen, but I honestly believe the protection it affords us and our youngsters makes it very valuable.) 

       For any readers who are curious as to why I spent five years of my life researching and writing this book, please know that I was not molested myself. I simply heard of enough cases to warrant proper investigation. I quickly had cases coming out of my ears, but could find little from evangelicalism about the problem, far less any material on a proper solution. My concern for God’s People constrained me to study the situation further, and He definitely seemed to be with me throughout the project. As for myself, I was graciously saved more than 30 years ago and have been in “full-time” ministry for 15 of those. May our glorious God bless you through this volume.

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