It has been well known over the decades that there have been some ministers, elders, deacons, ministers sons, department heads, TV studio employees, and others who have been sexual predators in the Armstrong Churches of God. It has been reported upon by Ambassador Reports and numerous blogs and web sites. Many cases have went to trial with leading ministers and church leaders being sent to prison for their heinous crimes. But far too often, church members were/are embarrassed or afraid to confront their abusers and they keep it secret. leading to horrendous pshycological problems with the victims, so much so that some have committed suicide.
Who can they turn to when the person that was supposed to be "Christ's representative" is the one abusing them?
Are they to wait and let God take care of it later, as some have been told?
I say they should immediately bypass all church leaders and go directly to the police!
On a previous thread about Kevin Dean, the following was posted:
Kevin Owen Dean: New Arrest Warrant Issue
- I AM the girl who escaped from KD when his daughters came back from swimming at SEP. I was working in the kitchen that session. He sent for me and under the pretense of giving me a back adjustment (he went down the front) proceeded to touch me in all the private areas. I was FREAKED out and told no one. Do you know why? Because somehow I knew I would be blamed for it. Took me 9 years before I was brave enough to tell my parents. All of the stuff listed above is true.
- March 25, 2019 at 3:20 PM
- My kid sister was 15 when she was raped by a married member of the Armstrong family. (NOT GTA) When it came to light, my mother, a member of over 40 years at the time, and my sister were brought in front of the "council of elders" in the Administration building to stand on the charges of my virgin 15 year old sister seducing this pedophile. My mother sat, very submissive and never stood up for her. My sister, asking to go to the bathroom, left the grounds. I was never told of this story until about 5 years ago. Incredulously, my mother still ashamed and embarrassed, I looked her in the eye and told her that her daughter was RAPED! Until that moment, she had never considered this, as the elders made my sister out to be the guilty person. Did Pasadena harbor rapists and pedophiles? You bet they did.
- March 27, 2019 at 11:06 AM
- Anonymous said...
- Just to clarify... when he was with the girl at Imperial, she was at least a Jr, as she was a year younger than me, which means it was going on for at least two years, and started before she was 18. (This is my first time commenting, so many kids at school knew about this affair. We just had no idea what to do about it. Who do you tell when the person in charge is the one breaking the rules?)
- March 27, 2019 at 1:27 PM
Yes of course it has.
ReplyDeleteSexual immorality is rife and has been for decades.
In my congregation alone a unmarried speaker has openly bragged about having sex outside of marriage for years and years. The brethren have been forced to accept it as the Pastors accept it.
Who are you going to complain to when the ones bragging about sinning are extremely close to the ones in charge ???
Aren't all horror movies about puritans getting aroused by evil?
ReplyDeleteThe concepts are all the same. The bad hormone filled youngsters get killed first at camp (or out there in the woods) and the chaste virgin gets to be killed last. After all the action when all is done, the last seconds of the movie set in for one last resurection of the slayer/judge/avenger to freak us out one more time.
This "Dean" episode strikes me as the last hair raising second of such movie.
nck
I just wanted to clarify that, while absolutely wrong, someone who has sex with a younger person who has reached puberty (so, any teenagers for sure), is not a peadophile, that’s not the correct terminology. A peadophile is sexually attracted to prepubescent children, not physically developed teens. The distinction is important.
ReplyDeleteDean's behaviour is more predator than pedophile. It is likely that Mary was only 12 or 13 when pregnant with Jesus, a fact that would be shocking in today's society. So the ages of Kevin's teenage lust victims are not the primary issue it's the power imbalance. A predator gets what a predator wants because his/her craving and urges are out of control and this combined with a keen sense of opportunism makes them very, very dangerous.
ReplyDeleteWhen someone with out of control urges towards teenage girls is placed in a school, or youth ministry, or sports coach environment, for example, the individual is likely to exploit the fact that they are in a position of power and influence over the girls.
Some victims will feel special or honoured or flattered to be receiving the individual attention of someone with high status. If that predator is 'charming' and funny and handsome or pretty, the person who is impressionable and looking for acceptance and to be loved is in a position of vulnerability.
Even in a non-predatory situation where a teenager and an older adult genuinely and mutually 'fall in love' with each other, being in a position of power and influence over the other person (e.g. teacher/student) warps clear thinking and makes the likelihood of a healthy relationship almost impossible.
I guess the "Missing Dimension in Sex" book, and "sleeping on ones back to induce relief and release in a natural fashion" , was ineffective in its proclamations.
ReplyDeleteHah! I had a classmate at AC who, when one of his buddies asked him how he was doing, would respond with, “Just great! I’ve been sleeping on my back!” I guess that was the AC equivalent of gettin’ some at a “worldly” college”.
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It's almost as if trying to control members' sexuality, which has been proven to be a basic human need, is a dumb idea 🤔🙄
ReplyDelete"Who can they turn to when the person that was supposed to be "Christ's representative" is the one abusing them?"
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of a god appoints evil people as his "representatives"? An evil god?
What kind of a god needs "representatives" in the first place? An incapable god?
Let the gods represent themselves. There would be significantly less evil in the world if we just did that.
I quit UCG because of this very thing. There was a man in our congregation that I and many others warned the ministry about and they did nothing, He would inappropriately hug young girls and women and touch them in places he should not. The excuse was that he was older and that is just the way they did things.
ReplyDelete12:58pm said:
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of a god needs "representatives" in the first place? An incapable god?
Let the gods represent themselves. There would be significantly less evil in the world if we just did that.
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EXACTLY!!!!!!!!
The bible does not teach a clergy class, nor a "church government".
Until those in an acog cult understand that, they'll continue to be abused and in reality some, if not most, of the fault is their own!
Kevin McMillen
2:52pm
ReplyDeleteJohn Foster
Christain cults involve submission to God and authority. The dynamic of sex will then also revolve around some kind of a submission to an authority figure. And those who hold authority in the cult are seen as being closer to God, so naturally they must be assumed innocent, because the victim is almost always further from God in relation to the authority figure who is closer.
ReplyDeleteDBP
ReplyDeleteAnonymous at 2:52 PM said...“I quit UCG because of this very thing. There was a man in our congregation that I and many others warned the ministry about and they did nothing, He would inappropriately hug young girls and women and touch them in places he should not. The excuse was that he was older and that is just the way they did things.”
The fact is that some people are simply bad, and that is why they just do things wrong and behave badly.
The UCG has always been all about bringing in unconverted weirdos and letting them behave very badly, and getting rid of anyone who says anything about what they are doing. This is the opposite of the way things ought to be.
I believe in the continuing evolution of humanity. To me, the age of consent laws which we have in play today reflect much more wisdom, greater humanity, and better psychology than the practices of the past. The only way in which they can be enforced is through the criminalization of underage sex. What does it say about us as a society if the vulnerable and naive are not protected? There is no way a 13 year old girl can understand the full implications of pregnancy and or STDs, and the limitations such things can place on one’s future.
ReplyDeleteIn sales and service, we always say it’s not our employer who is actually paying our wages. It is the customer. Along those same lines of thought, it makes no sense to protect a church corporate entity to the exclusion of the members who compose it. Ultimately, the church is its members, not the building, not the administration. An environment in which a young girl is thought to have seduced a pedophile doesn’t deserve to exist and survive. I don’t care how many tithes a pedophile contributes, an organization which is supposedly dedicated to God should trust God to replace the tithes of evil people who must be put out!
Of course, if our former church had been founded by a pedophile.......
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