I have been asked to repost this because certain COG groups are denying that there were pedophiles in the church.
For many decades the Church of God has had a string of child abuse cases that were quietly hushed up by the ministry and the administration. Only when the police or child protective services got involved did the stories ever make headlines. "What child abuse cases" you may ask, "I never heard of any." There is a reason for that.
Negative publicity was anathema in the Church of God. No one dared bring ridicule or scorn upon the church. The ministry and the administration made that well known. Those that did so were immediately put out of the church for doing so. This included families who reported the child abuse. Somehow it was their fault it happened.
The Jehovah's Witnesses are reeling from child abuse accusations right now that involve cover-ups of the abuses by their ministry and leadership. The excuses are the exact same ones the COG ministry used and STILL uses. This should not be surprising since we all share the same religious heritage dating back to the Great Disappointment with William Miller in 1844. That is the root of our religious heritage corruption.
Over the last several years I have reported on several high-profile cases on this blog. Click on the links under the pictures for the previous stories.
KENNESAW, Ga. -- A pastor was sentenced to prison Thursday when a jury determined he molested at least two young girls and took "no responsibility whatsoever" for his actions.
Jurors deliberated half an hour before convicting 78-year-old John Aubrey Pinkston of two counts of child molestation. Pinkston is the founder and former leader of Congregation of God Seventh Day in Kennesaw.
"Mr. Pinkston, you've been convicted of the unforgivable sin of molesting the most vulnerable members of your flock. You've taken no responsibility whatsoever," Cobb County Superior Court Judge Robert D. Leonard II said before sentencing Pinkston to 20 years with 10 to serve in prison.
A former Auckland teacher posed as a God-fearing churchgoer but behind closed doors molested children while reading passages from the bible, a court has heard.
Stephen Gough - who can be named for the first time after name suppression lapsed - was jailed for three and a half years at Waitakere District Court yesterday after admitting nine sex charges.
The 79-year-old man, who propped himself up in the dock with the aid of a walking stick, committed "persistent, relentless and repeated" offences against three girls and a boy between 1976 and 1987.
The Eastbourne Herald is reporting about a former deacon in the Worldwide Church of God who was convicted for child molestations. Koeneke is a minister in the Church of the Eternal God, also known as Global Church of God in England and the Church of God, A Christian Fellowship in Canada. He has ties to Raymond McNair, Wray Zehrung, Rod Meredith, Norbert Link and Ed Pope. He has also co-authored booklets promoting the myth of British Israelism and the supposed prophecies in the book of Revelation, among many others.Abused in Everyway in the Worldwide Church of God
United Church of God and Church of God a Worldwide Association
A former UCG member who jumped ship to the Church of God a Worldwide Association (COGWA) has been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of raping two little girls. The judge in the case is quoted as saying:
The judge also told the defendant the sexual abuse was similar to a life sentence for the girls. Binette said he took into that consideration plus a woman's testimony who alleged Wagner abused her decades ago -- and possibly at least five other victims -- when he decided the defendant's sentence. Child Rapist Gets Life Without ParoleBinette, according to the Sandusky Register, told Wagner he groomed the victims "in your own sick ways" and made his bedroom "a torture chamber for those two children."
Worldwide Church of God
The court was shocked yesterday by at the presentation of an audio tape, recorded in secrecy by the oldest son, in which the six year old daughter was allegedly beaten severely with a fiberglass tent pole with a knotted cord dangling from it for over two minutes, while a voice of a woman, identified as Robyn Kay Drown chatted in the background. According to the tape, at no time during the beating did anyone come to the defence of the little child who screamed and cried while her father called her "rebellious" and mentioned "the promised land". There also appeared on the tape to be at least one other child present during the beating.
Robyn Drown was indicted with her husband Graydon Drown on 25 counts of second-degree assault and criminal mistreatment of nine of their children. Alleged weapons of abuse include a metal pipe, a switch, 2-by-4 boards and other household objects such as a fiberglass tent pole with a knotted cord, and wooden spoons.
Arrested, escaped, arrested again
In prison
SUSPECT: KEVIN OWEN DEAN, 61
CARTERSVILLE DISPATCH
- Description: Caucasian man; 5-feet-11-inches tall and 175 pounds; brown hair and hazel eyes.
- Last Known: Kennesaw, but Dean owns Imperial Medical, a business in Cartersville.
Anyone with information on Dean's whereabouts should call BCSO's dispatch, non-emergency line at 770-382-5050, option 7. Cartersville-Bartow County Crime Stoppers accepts anonymous information on its tip line at 770-606-TIPS (8477). It gives cash rewards for tips the lead to an arrest in some cases.
- Accusations: Dean is wanted to stand trial on aggravated child molestation and 12 additional charges. Authorities say he avoided the first trial by "running from the courtroom," an offense for which the judge issued a bench warrant. Dean is out of jail on a $75,000 bond.
Click on the above link to the story on Silenced and how UCG covered it up.
Several years ago there was an entire UCG congregation in West Virginia which seceded from the mothership after a local elder molested a young lady in the congregation. The local elder had a history of doing this sort of thing. He had repeatedly been admonished by church leaders to stop, but as is so often the case, he didn't because he knew they would never discipline him. Keep in mind, this was back around 2004 - 2005 when all the leaders of COGWA were still running United. Doug Horchak, Jim Franks, Richard Pinelli, Clyde Kilough, etc., were all aware of what had taken place with this elder and how he had molested a young girl.
Nathan Albright, who is not shy about publicly addressing problems in the COGs, sent Richard Pinelli an email about the problems created by the Council's lack of action to resolve the situation:
Dear Mr. Holladay and Mr. Pinelli The attached message concerns a lively thread about the alleged fondling of a young lady in [...] by a local church elder. The situation has led to a lot of discussion, not all of it friendly, and the situation needs to be dealt with, as some people are threatening to call the police on the situation. Some of us know some (or all) of the parties involved in this particular situation, and I hope that the case is dealt with fairly and faithfully (and, at this point, quickly). Nathan Albright
Worldwide Church of God
and present-day leader of the House of Yahweh Cult
The House of Yahweh compound in Abilene, Texas has been in the news countless times for child abuse and bigamy accusations. Pedophilia has been reported to be rampant on the compound.
The House of Yahweh is referred to many times as the "Sex Cult." In fact, Yisrayl Hawkins himself was arrested for bigamy. Hawkins first wife Kay Hawkins has written a book about her life in the HOY and how Hawkins, a serial adulterer, took another wife before casting her aside. See The House of Yahweh: My Side of the Story.
The few public cases presented here are just the tip of the iceberg of what really has gone on over the decades. Child abuse was rampant in the church and yet was little known because church leaders covered so much of it up. It still goes on to this day in most of the larger Church of God splinter groups, including UCG, PCG, RCG, LCG, COGWA, CGI, and others.
All of this is from a church that claimed to be the "restored faith once delivered." We mocked and ridiculed "worldly" churches because of their scandals, yet we were just as sick, if not more so.
