Sexual abuse among Protestant and Catholic leaders.

Many Protestants are naïve and dishonest when they imply that the pedophilia and sexual abuse problem is unique to the Catholic Church. Protestants can be very arrogant when pointing to Catholics.  The fact that most Protestant ministers are married does not mean they do not commit sexual sins.  There is really no data which demonstrates whether religion plays a role in this phenomenon. We do not know if sexual abuse is higher or lower in fundamentalist, evangelical and other Protestant denominations than the Roman Catholic Church.

There is no denying we Catholics had or probably still have a problem with sexual abuse in our church. I believe what was worse than the abuse itself, if anything could be worse, is the payoffs and cover-ups by the church. I think there was more internal outrage among Catholic to the church hierarchy simply transferring the abuser to another parish. It is hard to accept that the church hierarchy cared more for our priest than our people. Their actions seem to say they cared more for the abuser than the abused.

There is evidence of sexual abuse within fundamentalist, evangelical and other Protestant denominations. Sexual abuse is found throughout society. It is believed one in four girls is sexually abused as a child. The most shocking to me is approximately 1% of girls are abused by their own fathers before puberty.
 
Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family discussed a crisis among Pastors of non-Catholic churches. He reported that 21% of evangelical/Protestant pastors had had inappropriate sexual contact with members of their congregations. Sixty percent of evangelical pastors, most of whom are married, have a problem with pornography. In a 1984 study, 76% of pastors knew of another evangelical pastor who had sexual intercourse with a member of their congregation. The majority of these cases of improper sexual behavior involved an adult member who consented to the activity, but some were assaults on children and youth. Sin is sin!

Joe Barron, one of the 40 ministers at Prestonwood Baptist Church, one of the largest churches in the United States with 26,000 members, was arrested for solicitation of a minor after driving from the Dallas area to Bryan, Texas, in order to allegedly engage in sexual relations with what he thought to be a 13 year-old girl he had met online. The "girl" turned out to be an undercover law enforcement official.

FBI agents raided Tony Alamo Christian Ministries headquarters as part of a child pornography investigation. This investigation involved allegations of physical abuse, sexual abuse and allegations of polygamy and underage marriage. Reverend Tony Alamo was convicted on ten counts of transporting minors across state lines for sexual purposes, sexual assault and other crimes. He was sentenced to the maximum punishment of 175 years in prison.

Wayne Bent the founder of Lord Our Righteousness Church was convicted of one count of criminal sexual contact of a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He was sentenced to 18 years with eight years suspended.

James Truxton was an elder of the First Evangelical Free Church in Fullerton CA. women came forward to accuse Truxton of molesting them when they were children. The church removed Truxton as an elder and revoked his membership. Unfortunately, the accusations came more than 6 years after the abuse events and he could not be prosecuted under the state's statute of limitations. Later another woman came forward and the statute of limitations did not affect the case and he was convicted.

Daniel Vasquez is the pastor of an evangelical church and is being investigated following allegation that he sexually abused 30 boys. Vasquez denies the allegations, and says that the accusations are fabricated by members of his congregation who have been involved in a dispute with him.

Eddie Long is pastor of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, near Atlanta, GA. It is the largest Baptist megachurch in the U.S. Three male adult members of the church have filed a lawsuit accusing him of coercing them into sexual relationships when they were youths aged 17 or 18 in his congregation. Long is one of the most homophobic black leaders in the religiously based anti-gay movement. A fourth young member of one of Long's churches has accused Long of coercing him into a sexual relationship during a journey that they took to Kenya in 2005. His lawsuit claims that Long convinced him that "... engaging in a sexual relationship with his pastor was a healthy component of his spiritual life."  In other words Reverend Long’s philosophy is ‘do not do as I do, but do as I say’. This isn't the first allegation against a religious leader who has crusaded against gay marriage and homosexuality.

Ted Haggard left New Life Church of Colorado Springs, Colo., in 2006 after a male prostitute said Haggard paid him for sex. Haggard denied the allegations, but later admitted to "sexual immorality" and started a new church in June 2010 after he saw mental counseling and was healed of desiring sex with men. He has made a fortune off his book covering his sexual problems.  

Reformation.com lists allegations involving 838 Protestant ministers who have been accused of sexually abusing children: 147 Baptist Minsters, 251 fundamentalist/evangelical ministers, 140 Anglican/Episcopalian Ministers, 38 Lutheran Ministers, 46 Methodist Ministers, 19 Presbyterian Ministers and 197 misc. Church Ministers. I think I have provided enough facts that sexual abuse is NOT unique to the Catholic Church.

I do not think the percentage of abusers is higher among Catholic priests than among Protestant ministers. But, individual priests probably have more victims because they operate longer before they are caught. Some people view celibacy as an unnatural lifestyle (I do for those that do not want to be celebrate). They speculate that a higher percentage of priests are abusers than are Protestant ministers, because of the Catholic Church’s celibacy requirement. The implication is that if celibacy were made optional, then priests could marry and wouldn't abuse children. Most Protestant clergy are free to marry, and most heterosexual ministers and pastors do marry and evidence show that it has not slowed or prevented their sexual abuse problems.

What many do not realize is that there are married Roman Catholic priests. The existence of married priests within the Roman Catholic Church came about when the Episcopal Church decided to ordain females, about 95 Episcopal ministers in the U.S. were so distressed by the idea of sharing the priesthood with women that some converted to Roman Catholicism in order to remain in a purely male priesthood. The church allowed them to remain married. The number has grown over the years. 

The Christian mission field is a “magnet” for sexual abusers, said Boz Tchividjian (the grandson of Rev. Billy Graham), a Liberty University law professor, prosecutor and pastor who investigates sexual abuse. When comparing evangelicals to Catholics on abuse response he said, “I think we are worse than Catholics, too many evangelicals have sacrificed the souls of young victims.”

Protestant organizations also suffer from covering up sexual abuse. Protestant Mission agencies especially (where abuse is most prevalent) often don’t report abuse because they fear being barred from working in foreign countries. Abusers will get sent home and might join another agency. What data they have released shows 25 percent that are put out of the mission program for good are repeat cases.

Many religious leaders of all denominations and non-denomination discourage whistle-blowing by condemning it as gossip in order to try to keep people from reporting abuse. People of the church are told to protect the reputation of Jesus. I do not think Jesus wants his reputation protected by committing a crime and encouraging people to lie.

Frankly, I do not understand why the Catholic Church has taken a well-deserved beating in the courts and in the court of public opinion as former altar boys, orphans and ordinary parishioners come forward with appalling stories of sex abuse. Yet, equally horrendous violations by Protestant clergy fail to generate the same level of outrage.

Maybe it is because the Catholic Church is thought of as one monolithic entity. Maybe it is because the Catholic Church is a centralized hierarchy which makes Catholic offenders easier to sue and guarantees deep pockets. The lawsuits in turn generate their own news cycle and bring victims out of the closet. Maybe it is because most Americans are Protestants; the Catholic sex abuse scandal is a story about "them" and Protestant sex abuse is a story about "us," which makes it less gratifying and more uncomfortable. Maybe it is because most Americans find the idea of celibacy peculiar. It makes for a more interesting narrative than a generic story about abuse of authority. I am sure there could be many other reasons such as jealousy, prejudices, ignorance and just plan evil.

Sexual abuse is a crime regardless of who the violator is and should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Sadly, we have a long way to go to solve the problem if a solution is even possible. But, I beg the leaders of all churches, denominations and religious organizations to not cover it up – let justice for those violated occur!