Pray Away the Rape: On Faith and Justice

[Tiassa]

Pray Away the Rape: On Faith and Justice

A note on faith and justice, via AP:

A 17,000-member megachurch deep in Oklahoma's Bible Belt has been rattled by allegations that five employees waited two weeks to report the rape of a 13-year-old girl in a campus stairwell, allegedly by a church worker.

Tulsa police say the girl is among at least three victims of alleged sex crimes by two former employees of Victory Christian Center who face criminal charges. A child crimes investigator says more victims could surface as police continue to investigate.

Authorities, however, fear some parishioners in the large, tight-knit south Tulsa congregation may choose to pray about the allegations rather than provide concrete evidence.

Police said this week that the worldwide ministry's pastor and co-founder, Sharon Daugherty, whose daily broadcasts are beamed via satellite to more than 200 countries, knew about the abuse allegations, but trusted ministry employees to follow in-house policies on reporting such incidents.

Former church employee Chris Denman, 20, was arrested Sept. 5 for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl in a stairwell before a church service on Aug. 13. He also is charged with molesting a 15-year-old girl sometime between Aug. 13 and Aug. 17. He has pleaded not guilty and faces an Oct. 11 preliminary hearing, court records show.

Another ex-employee, 23-year-old Israel Shalom Castillo was arrested Thursday morning after turning himself in at the Tulsa jail. He is charged with making a lewd proposal to a child and using a computer to commit a sex crime.

Prosecutors this week also charged five church employees — including Daugherty's son and daughter-in-law, who are both youth pastors — for failing to report the alleged assault between Aug. 15 and Aug. 30. John Daugherty, Charica Daugherty, Paul Willemstein, Anna George and Harold "Frank" Sullivan each face one misdemeanor count of failing to report child abuse and are due to be arraigned Wednesday in Tulsa County District Court.​

It should be noted that the church accepted responsibility for the reporting lapse, and in a statement to the AP on Wednesday explained that church employees failed to follow written policy.

The church explained that staff in the ministry's youth department learned of the allegations and spent about a week checking it out before reporting it to supervisors and human resources. Once the complaint reached HR, "that department did not follow its own reporting policy," the ministry admitted in the statement.

It was unclear from the ministry statement which of the allegations the youth department checked into on its own.

Sullivan, the HR director, fired the two men Aug. 24, and then left a message with a member of the church who works with an anti-child trafficking organization to seek advice on whom to contact. Sullivan was advised to call police on Aug. 27. The ministry said Sullivan exchanged voicemails with an officer until Aug. 30, when they finally connected and the officer told Sullivan to dial 911, which he did that day.

"We deeply regret that our employees did not report these incidents to authorities within the proper amount of time. This failure within our organization weighs heavily on us, because our purpose is to help people and minister to their needs," the church said in the statement to AP. "Our internal response was unacceptable, and we are taking the proper steps to correct it."​

Greg Smith, a detective with the Tulsa police, said the ministry was cooperating, but expressed other concerns. "There was a couple of weeks in which they were either unsure of what to do or didn't do it, or who knows what," he explained, adding that the lapse "probably lost some evidence". Additionally, as the investigation continues, police are trying to locate another accuser, and in yet another case, the victim's parents are refusing to cooperate with police: "They made a comment that the church is handling the situation and they're going to continue to pray about it."

It is a worrisome proposition; many Christians of various stripes can be heard not saying that they will "think" about an issue, but, rather, that they will "pray" about it. This is a puzzling notion for outsiders: What is God going to say?

To speculate, one might suggest that prayer will reveal the need for forgiveness, though that might also put others in danger.

The situation in Tulsa sounds horrifying; perhaps, as details emerge, questions of faith in justice will resolve clearly. What is clear, however, is that morality failed under the burden of human frailty; while there are plenty of logical suggestions for why a church would delay reporting crimes against children, none have a whiff of morality or justice about them.
_____________________

Notes:

Associated Press. "Sex Abuse Claims Stem From Tulsa Megachurch". September 20, 2012. NPR.org. September 22, 2012. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=161504020

 

[Balerion]

In this context, prayer is an excuse to absolve themselves and others of wrongdoing, as well as leave the door wide open for similar failings in the future. They will get this permission granted from on high, and because as a society we find the criticism of religion to be taboo, this will pass for a response.

This is where religion is dangerous. It isn't responsible for the crimes, and maybe not even the cover-up (though I find conservative Christians too often of the opinion that rape victims somehow brought it on themselves), but certainly empowers them to change nothing and perhaps even guarantee that this or something like it will happen again.

 

[Gustav]

In this context, prayer is an excuse.......

the rhetoric gives an impression of bigoted vindictiveness that is the result of the most superficial and stunted of readings

there are differing forms of prayer in the christian tradition and the one most suited to this context is meditative prayer

The Christian tradition comprises three major expressions of the life of prayer: vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplative prayer. They have in common the recollection of the heart.

*Vocal prayer, founded on the union of body and soul in human nature, associates the body with the interior prayer of the heart, following Christ's example of praying to his Father and teaching the Our Father to his disciples.

*Meditation is a prayerful quest engaging thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. Its goal is to make our own in faith the subject considered, by confronting it with the reality of our own life.

*Contemplative prayer is the simple expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a gaze of faith fixed on Jesus, an attentiveness to the Word of God, a silent love. It achieves real union with the prayer of Christ to the extent that it makes us share in his mystery.

"suited" as in absent petty prejudices
the "pray about it" is probably a discursive reflection on various considerations. in this context, an expected dialogue b/w the parents of the victim and the church

i hardly think that is stretching the imagination.
at all

 

[Tiassa]

Update: More Bad News

Update: More Bad News

The Associated Press reported earlier this week that a fourth victim in the Victory Christian rape saga has come forward, and police are still trying to build a case involving a fifth.

Prosecutors added two additional charges Monday against 20-year-old Chris Denman, a former church employee. He was arrested Sept. 5 on a complaint alleging that he raped a 13-year-old girl in a stairwell on the ministry's campus in August and molested a 15-year-old girl. He faces new charges of making a lewd proposal to a child and using a computer to commit a sex crime involving a 12-year-old girl.

Another ex-church employee, 23-year-old Israel Castillo, was arrested last week and is charged with making a lewd proposal to a 15-year-old girl and using a computer to commit a sex crime.

Tulsa Police Det. Cpl. Greg Smith told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday that a third suspect could face charges related to alleged sexual abuse of a fifth victim. Two things are complicating that case, Smith said, because the victim's parents are uncooperative and the suspect is no longer in Tulsa.

"We're at a stalemate," Smith said. "The third suspect we haven't talked about because all we have to go on now is secondhand information."

On Wednesday, five employees of the south Tulsa church — including the son and daughter-in-law of head pastor Sharon Daugherty — are scheduled to be arraigned in district court for allegedly waiting two weeks before reporting the rape of the 13-year-old by Denman to authorities. John Daugherty, Charica Daugherty, Paul Willemstein, Anna George and Harold "Frank" Sullivan each face one misdemeanor count of failing to report child abuse.​

Friday also saw the filing of a lawsuit by the mother of an alleged thirteen year-old victim.

But even as faith is shaken, some congregants look to the future:

Some members of the large, tight-knit church are beginning to open up about the alleged crimes, especially since Sharon Daugherty told congregants during a weekend sermon to speak out about child abuse.

Tim Peterson, a 28-year Victory member, said other churches across the country should learn from what's happened here.

"It's a bad situation for the church to be on the front page of the paper every day, but there isn't a church within a 500-mile radius that doesn't know about this now.

"Every youth pastor knows now 'If I suspect abuse, I need to report it,' because if you don't report this, you could end up being charged," Peterson said.

Pam Tiernan, a member of the church for more than 30 years, praised Victory Christian Center for being as transparent as possible regarding the allegations against the former employees.

"That's how you heal," she said. "You don't sweep anything under the rug."​

Okay, two things here.

First is Mr. Peterson's comment about youth pastors. While perhaps it is understandable that this individual has heard nothing of the rash of sexual abuse charges against youth pastors all over the country, there is a fundamental problem with the logic. "If you don't report this, you could end up being charged." Hey, how about reporting the rape of a child because it's the right thing to do?

Secondly, Ms. Tiernan's praise of the church rings a bit hollow, as if she is saying, "Well, hey, they screwed up by trying to sweep this under the rug, but once they were cornered and couldn't do that, well, they did the right thing."

It's not intentionally cruel. At least, I don't think that's what she meant. But the ego defense is striking.

But even more is an idea that must be driving Tulsa cops nuts right now; not only have they lost track of a suspect in no small part because of the incident reporting delay, but apparently the victim's parents don't want their child's alleged rape investigated.

I have no idea what to say about that detail. It boggles the mind; there must be something I'm missing, here.
____________________

Notes:

Associated Press. "Ex-megachurch employee faces new charges as Tulsa police identify 4th victim of alleged abuse". The Washington Post. September 25, 2012. WashingtonPost.com. September 29, 2012. http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...75add0-074e-11e2-9eea-333857f6a7bd_story.html

 

[Asguard]

This is why child protection acts in Australia were changed so that anyone who is a minster of religion AND anyone who is a paid or vollenteer worker at a religious institution is automatically a mandatory reporter, no ifs nuts or maybes and you can't palm that responsibility off on someone else, EVERY monitory reporter who has a suspicion of child abuse through observation, being reported by the child, a child telling you they know of someone being abused or being told third hand by a reliable adult is legally required to call and if they don't they will go to jail

 

[seagypsy]

Update: More Bad News

The Associated Press reported earlier this week that a fourth victim in the Victory Christian rape saga has come forward, and police are still trying to build a case involving a fifth.

Prosecutors added two additional charges Monday against 20-year-old Chris Denman, a former church employee. He was arrested Sept. 5 on a complaint alleging that he raped a 13-year-old girl in a stairwell on the ministry's campus in August and molested a 15-year-old girl. He faces new charges of making a lewd proposal to a child and using a computer to commit a sex crime involving a 12-year-old girl.

Another ex-church employee, 23-year-old Israel Castillo, was arrested last week and is charged with making a lewd proposal to a 15-year-old girl and using a computer to commit a sex crime.

Tulsa Police Det. Cpl. Greg Smith told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday that a third suspect could face charges related to alleged sexual abuse of a fifth victim. Two things are complicating that case, Smith said, because the victim's parents are uncooperative and the suspect is no longer in Tulsa.

"We're at a stalemate," Smith said. "The third suspect we haven't talked about because all we have to go on now is secondhand information."

On Wednesday, five employees of the south Tulsa church — including the son and daughter-in-law of head pastor Sharon Daugherty — are scheduled to be arraigned in district court for allegedly waiting two weeks before reporting the rape of the 13-year-old by Denman to authorities. John Daugherty, Charica Daugherty, Paul Willemstein, Anna George and Harold "Frank" Sullivan each face one misdemeanor count of failing to report child abuse.​

Friday also saw the filing of a lawsuit by the mother of an alleged thirteen year-old victim.

But even as faith is shaken, some congregants look to the future:

Some members of the large, tight-knit church are beginning to open up about the alleged crimes, especially since Sharon Daugherty told congregants during a weekend sermon to speak out about child abuse.

Tim Peterson, a 28-year Victory member, said other churches across the country should learn from what's happened here.

"It's a bad situation for the church to be on the front page of the paper every day, but there isn't a church within a 500-mile radius that doesn't know about this now.

"Every youth pastor knows now 'If I suspect abuse, I need to report it,' because if you don't report this, you could end up being charged," Peterson said.

Pam Tiernan, a member of the church for more than 30 years, praised Victory Christian Center for being as transparent as possible regarding the allegations against the former employees.

"That's how you heal," she said. "You don't sweep anything under the rug."​

Okay, two things here.

First is Mr. Peterson's comment about youth pastors. While perhaps it is understandable that this individual has heard nothing of the rash of sexual abuse charges against youth pastors all over the country, there is a fundamental problem with the logic. "If you don't report this, you could end up being charged." Hey, how about reporting the rape of a child because it's the right thing to do?

Secondly, Ms. Tiernan's praise of the church rings a bit hollow, as if she is saying, "Well, hey, they screwed up by trying to sweep this under the rug, but once they were cornered and couldn't do that, well, they did the right thing."

It's not intentionally cruel. At least, I don't think that's what she meant. But the ego defense is striking.

But even more is an idea that must be driving Tulsa cops nuts right now; not only have they lost track of a suspect in no small part because of the incident reporting delay, but apparently the victim's parents don't want their child's alleged rape investigated.

I have no idea what to say about that detail. It boggles the mind; there must be something I'm missing, here.
____________________

Notes:

Associated Press. "Ex-megachurch employee faces new charges as Tulsa police identify 4th victim of alleged abuse". The Washington Post. September 25, 2012. WashingtonPost.com. September 29, 2012. http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...75add0-074e-11e2-9eea-333857f6a7bd_story.html

I have always seen a situation where people saying they will pray about it or will pray for you or whatever as their way of pretending to do something about it without actually having to do anything. it is a disgusting form of laziness in my opinion. In this case, laziness and denial. They don't want to face the reality that they have criminals in their midst or that they allowed it to happen by turning a blind eye to it. By refusing to address the situation, I hold them all accountable for what has taken place. They created an environment of permissiveness. Permissive to perverts. Next they may say the guys didn't do it, that they were possessed and therefore not guilty of their crimes. Hopefully they wont go that far but I have seen it happen before in small bible belt towns.

 

[Neverfly]

Secondly, Ms. Tiernan's praise of the church rings a bit hollow, as if she is saying, "Well, hey, they screwed up by trying to sweep this under the rug, but once they were cornered and couldn't do that, well, they did the right thing."

It's not intentionally cruel. At least, I don't think that's what she meant. But the ego defense is striking.

Tiassa, I don't disagree with anything you said except I call this bit into question.
Are you saying that they attempted to cover the incidents up or hide them?
From what I read, after firing the suspects immediately, it appears as though someone was afraid of bad publicity and in that uncertainty, he asked others whom to report to- he delayed (wrongly) but it says he reported to an officer and then when instructed by that officer to dial 911 to report, did so that same day. I do not know how immediate it was in that same day.
This strikes me more as someone fearful of what to do than someone who is trying to cover it up.
Is there something here that is more suggestive of an attempt to cover the incident up?

But even more is an idea that must be driving Tulsa cops nuts right now; not only have they lost track of a suspect in no small part because of the incident reporting delay, but apparently the victim's parents don't want their child's alleged rape investigated.

I have no idea what to say about that detail. It boggles the mind; there must be something I'm missing, here.

That the parents won't help... mind boggling, indeed. If you're missing something here- be proud of it.

 

[Tiassa]

But therein lies the problem

From what I read, after firing the suspects immediately, it appears as though someone was afraid of bad publicity and in that uncertainty, he asked others whom to report to- he delayed (wrongly) but it says he reported to an officer and then when instructed by that officer to dial 911 to report, did so that same day. I do not know how immediate it was in that same day.
This strikes me more as someone fearful of what to do than someone who is trying to cover it up.
Is there something here that is more suggestive of an attempt to cover the incident up?

The initial report I picked up (see topic post) suggests that church staff spent a week checking the claim before reporting it to HR. The HR director fired the employees and then called a member of the church to ask advice. Three days later, he got that advice, which was to call the police. The HR director then played phone tag with an officer for three days until they finally got hold of one another and the officer told him to file a proper report.

From the moment the church organization learned of the allegation, it should have handed that off to the police. Why spend a week looking into the allegation? To make sure it's a "legitimate" rape? To ... um ... er ... okay, I wanted another sarcastic option here, but I'm having a hard time coming up with one. As I noted previously, there are plenty of logical suggestions for why the church would delay reporting crimes against children, but none of them speak well of the ministry and its priorities.

When I was in high school, the Jesuits sent out the senior class to do community service. No, really, I got a grade for helping third-graders boost their reading skills. Nifty, eh? But of all the advice (and scant training) we were given, the one thing drilled into us was in any occasion that we suspect or obtain evidence of child abuse, call police first. You can answer to the child's school, or your own school, if the investigation goes nowhere. But you can never answer to yourself if you leave a child to suffer such spectres and harm.

When I went back into the schools this year, it turns out there are plenty of rules I'm willing to break, most of which have to do with insurance. But the sacrosanct rule of anyone who works with children is that the first thing you do for child abuse is call the police.

Now, true, this is western Washington, and the church is in Tulsa; perhaps they do things differently there. I am, however, getting the feeling that the Tulsa police have a similar expectation to my own, though.

I'm not sure what made church officials think they should spend a week checking out the claims. And then to call a parishioner for advice, and then spend days playing phone tag? That just doesn't sound good. Child abuse, in general, is one thing you don't want to keep sitting on your desk.

As a result of that, to borrow a phrase, being fearful of what to do, HR director Sullivan now faces a criminal charge. Even if he was completely in the dark until August 24, he should not have called a parishioner for advice, he should not have played phone tag; he should have called 911, brought an officer to the site, and reported the crime. At least then he could have said he was in the dark until that day and as soon as it landed on his desk he cleared it.

But he didn't. And now he finds himself answering to the law. With a child rape allegation on his hands, the last thing he wanted to do was screw the pooch, and, yet, he managed to do just that.

 

[Neverfly]

The initial report I picked up (see topic post) suggests that church staff spent a week checking the claim before reporting it to HR. The HR director fired the employees and then called a member of the church to ask advice. Three days later, he got that advice, which was to call the police. The HR director then played phone tag with an officer for three days until they finally got hold of one another and the officer told him to file a proper report.

From the moment the church organization learned of the allegation, it should have handed that off to the police. Why spend a week looking into the allegation? To make sure it's a "legitimate" rape? To ... um ... er ... okay, I wanted another sarcastic option here, but I'm having a hard time coming up with one. As I noted previously, there are plenty of logical suggestions for why the church would delay reporting crimes against children, but none of them speak well of the ministry and its priorities.

I'm not sure what made church officials think they should spend a week checking out the claims. And then to call a parishioner for advice, and then spend days playing phone tag? That just doesn't sound good. Child abuse, in general, is one thing you don't want to keep sitting on your desk.

As a result of that, to borrow a phrase, being fearful of what to do, HR director Sullivan now faces a criminal charge. Even if he was completely in the dark until August 24, he should not have called a parishioner for advice, he should not have played phone tag; he should have called 911, brought an officer to the site, and reported the crime. At least then he could have said he was in the dark until that day and as soon as it landed on his desk he cleared it.

Everything you said here makes sense. But it doesn't support the conclusion that a cover up or sweeping under the rug was done. I don't know anymore than you do if he was trying to cover it up/sweep it under the rug- He certainly did not respond to the case well.

Well, I wonder if the mighty MegaChurch can encourage the silent parents of the victim to break their silence and act. Call it atonement.

 

[Tiassa]

(Insert Title Here)

But it doesn't support the conclusion that a cover up or sweeping under the rug was done. I don't know anymore than you do if he was trying to cover it up/sweep it under the rug- He certainly did not respond to the case well.

A proper conclusion is the province of the courts, now. The presumption, suspicion, or inference of a coverup arises from certain aspects of what we do know at present.

Associated Press, Sept. 20

• "... allegations that five employees waited two weeks to report the rape of a 13-year-old girl in a campus stairwell, allegedly by a church worker."

• "Police said this week that the worldwide ministry's pastor and co-founder, Sharon Daugherty ... knew about the abuse allegations, but trusted ministry employees to follow in-house policies on reporting such incidents."

• "The church explained that staff in the ministry's youth department learned of the allegations and spent about a week checking it out before reporting it to supervisors and human resources."​

The church organization apparently knew of the allegations. But what, exactly, is there to check out? When you have youth outreach, the general expectation—often spelled out clearly in law—is that you immediately report allegations of child abuse. As I noted, maybe they do things differently in Oklahoma, but it seems for the moment that police and prosecutors in Tulsa have an expectation similar to my understanding.

The question remains: What is there to check out?

The head of the ministry knew about the allegations, but apparently did not take a leadership role in reporting the crimes. Instead of trusting employees to follow in-house policies that, clearly, were not followed by multiple people, Pastor Daugherty should have fulfilled her own obligation to inform authorities of the allegations.

Indeed, the suggestion of bad publicity you noted is perhaps the most apparent explanation for the delay.

But the idea of making the situation simply go away—sweeping it under the rug or covering up the allegations—arises from the sequence of events. It seems as if the last thing the church wanted was for the police to get involved. It's that question—What were they checking out?—that is the real stinger here. Was the church trying to be an arbiter of what constitutes rape? Were they hoping to find a bunch of stupid kids playing an idiotic prank?

Even after "checking it out", the church waited. The HR director hemmed and hawed; the head of the ministry sat back and did nothing to spur action. In the end, this delay could be more damaging to the church's future than the alleged rapes themselves. Two primary explanations arise:

• The church was hoping to avoid the incidents becoming public—i.e., sweep the issue under the rug and cover it up.

• Despite being a worldwide ministry with youth outreach, nobody in the church organization had any clue what to do in the face of child abuse allegations.​

A coverup would be downright evil. But after thirty years, the idea that such an enterprise would be so unprepared to do its job? That's not going to help them much, either.

Feel free to add to the list of possibilities, but even your own suggestion—

"From what I read, after firing the suspects immediately, it appears as though someone was afraid of bad publicity and in that uncertainty, he asked others whom to report to ...."​

—suggests coverup. Now, perhaps part of the issue is that we're applying different definitions to the idea of a coverup, but the result of that apparent concern about bad publicity is that evidence was lost and a child rape suspect is now in the wind.

You can cut the ministry all the breaks, or grant them all the benefit of the doubt, you want, but the question of what they were checking out remains, and the result—weakened prosecution and a child rape suspect on the loose—is both undeniable and severe.

I won't say you're wrong for trying to step delicately around drawing conclusions, but the primary alternative here is ineffable incompetence.

This part of responding to a child rape allegation—drop everything, call police—should not be particularly difficult, especially for a worldwide organization with youth outreach. And part of the reason people see an apparent coverup is that the church somehow failed to figure out the no-brainer. What were they checking out? Why would they want that burden on themselves?

Or were they so incompetent that not only could the HR department not figure out their own policies, but apparently nobody in the church organization had a clue under God's Heaven how to deal with an allegation of child rape.

In truth, that latter is the harder explanation to swallow.

 

[Neverfly]

A proper conclusion is the province of the courts, now. The presumption, suspicion, or inference of a coverup arises (snip)

As I noted, maybe they do things differently in Oklahoma,

I doubt it.

Indeed, the suggestion of bad publicity you noted is perhaps the most apparent explanation for the delay.

But the idea of making the situation simply go away—sweeping it under the rug or covering up the allegations—arises from the sequence of events. It seems as if the last thing the church wanted was for the police to get involved.

The church was hoping to avoid the incidents becoming public—i.e., sweep the issue under the rug and cover it up.

Yes, maybe I was a little too willing to give benefit of the doubt. Avoid direct conclusion when someone had been making inquiries and phone calls on the matter...
You said, "Sweep under the rug" and I said, "Hang on, he did seek out advice and did call police and did dial 911 after the officer told him to."

In the end, it speaks not of an actual cover up or sweeping up under the rug as much as whether someone was trying to see if they could sweep it under the rug- trying to figure out a way of doing so and wringing his hands and dancing around the issue until he could figure out a way. It suggests stall tactic. He couldn't find a way so he called the police.

I won't say you're wrong for trying to step delicately around drawing conclusions, but the primary alternative here is ineffable incompetence.

This part of responding to a child rape allegation—drop everything, call police—should not be particularly difficult, especially for a worldwide organization with youth outreach. And part of the reason people see an apparent coverup is that the church somehow failed to figure out the no-brainer. What were they checking out? Why would they want that burden on themselves?

Or were they so incompetent that not only could the HR department not figure out their own policies, but apparently nobody in the church organization had a clue under God's Heaven how to deal with an allegation of child rape.

In truth, that latter is the harder explanation to swallow.

Maybe I'd just like to believe that the guy was incompetent simply because I cannot think of any rational reason not to report it immediately. He panicked but meant no harm or some such... But it is more than a little hard to swallow.
Even if he was confused or had doubts that the event even occurred, it only makes sense to call it in. The only motive must be to hide the event.

Yep, You're right Tiassa- sorry to have questioned you on this one.

 

[deant]

The way things are done in Oklahoma

Although the person who wrote this paints with a broad brush the timeline and actions of the leadership of another church in the area are interesting.

http://thislandpress.com/05/23/2012/grace-in-broken-arrow/

 

[Bells]

Although the person who wrote this paints with a broad brush the timeline and actions of the leadership of another church in the area are interesting.

http://thislandpress.com/05/23/2012/grace-in-broken-arrow/

That was an amazing and horrifying read..

And the father's email to him about Aaron.. really..

Disgusting..

 

[Neverfly]

http://thislandpress.com/05/23/2012/grace-in-broken-arrow/

The depth of the article is like a suspense movie. You can't stop reading because you're waiting for the part where the s.o.b gets caught.
When you finally reach it, you can't stop reading because it doesn't end there.

Nor when he gets caught again.
Or again.
Finally arrested but even then- it still doesn't end.
The scroll bar isn't even at the half way point yet.

I think something like this should be required reading for any parent.