Rationality Over Superstition
Archive for December, 2018
2018 – The Catholic Church’s year from hell
12 months
December 29, 2018
A prominent cardinal resigned in disgrace. Grand jurors accused hundreds of Catholic clerics of secretly abusing children. A former Vatican ambassador urged the Pope himself to step down.
It was enough for New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan to call it the Catholic Church’s “summer of hell.”
The cardinal may have been overly optimistic.
In fact, the church’s hellish year began in January, when Pope Francis forcefully defended a Chilean bishop he had promoted. He later had to apologize and accept the bishop’s resignation.
But the clergy sex abuse scandal shows no signs of abating, with a federal investigation and probes in 12 states and the District of Columbia in the works.
The Pope has convened a meeting of bishops from around the world in Rome next February 21-24, saying he wants the church to tackle the scandal together. But lay Catholics and law enforcement officials appear to be losing patience with the church’s hierarchy.
“The Catholic Church cannot police itself,” said Lisa Madigan, Illinois’ attorney general, in announcing that Catholic leaders had withheld the names of 500 clergy members accused of abuse.
The church’s institutional crisis was mirrored by individual soul-searching, as American Catholics questioned whether to stay in the church. 2018 saw parents challenging priests at Mass, prominent Catholics urging the faithful to withhold donations and parents worrying whether their children are safe in the sacristy.
One Catholic historian called it the church’s greatest crisis since the Reformation in 1517.
Here’s a guide to how the Catholic Church got to this point in 2018:
January
The Pope began the year with an apology to sexual abuse survivors in Chile, where he aroused anger by saying he had seen no “proof” against Bishop Juan Barros, who has been accused of covering up for an abusive priest.
Francis’ top adviser on the issue, Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, called the Pope’s comments “a source of great pain” for survivors of sexual abuse by clergy.
Barros denied the accusations and the Pope continued to defend him, even as he sent the Vatican’s top sex abuse adviser to Chile to investigate the allegations.
February
The Pope had received a letter from a Chilean abuse survivor in 2015, saying that Barros had witnessed a priest molesting teenagers, according to the author of the letter and another source. The news raised questions about whether the Pope had read the letter and what, if anything, he did about it.
April
In a dramatic reversal, the Pope admits he made “grave errors” in handling the accusations against Barros. After reviewing his investigator’s report on Chile, Francis said his previous comments were based on a “lack of truthful and balanced information.”
The Pope later meets with three Chilean survivors of sexual abuse, including Juan Carlos Cruz, who says Francis told him, “I was part of the problem. I caused this and I apologize to you.”
May
Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell stands trial on multiple counts of historical sexual abuse in his native Australia. Pell is the most senior figure in the Catholic Church to face criminal charges for alleged assault.
Also in Australia, Archbishop Philip Wilson is convicted of covering up sexual abuse, though his conviction was later overturned.
All of Chile’s 34 bishops offer to resign, after a three-day emergency summit at the Vatican. The simultaneous resignation of all the bishops in a single country is thought to be unprecedented in the modern history of the Catholic church. The Pope would later accept the resignation of seven bishops, including Barros.
June
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the former Archbishop of Washington and an influential voice in the church and international politics, is removed from public ministry by Pope Francis after a church investigation finds an allegation that McCarrick sexually abused a minor in the 1970s “credible and substantiated.” McCarrick said he had “no recollection” of the alleged abuse.
McCarrick is also accused of sexual misconduct with adults “decades ago” while he served as a bishop in Metuchen and Newark, New Jersey, the bishops of those cities said. Two of those allegations resulted in settlements, the bishops said, raising questions about how McCarrick rose through the church’s ranks despite rumors about his conduct.
McCarrick has not commented on those allegations.
July
After more media reports accuse McCarrick of abusive conduct with seminarians and a young boy, Pope Francis demotes him from the College of Cardinals, a rare step. McCarrick is ordered to lead “a life of prayer and penance until the accusations made against him are examined in a regular canonical trial.”
Pope Francis accepts the resignation of Australian Archbishop Philip Wilson, the highest-ranking Catholic official ever to be convicted of covering up sex abuse.
August
A sweeping report by a grand jury in Pennsylvania accuses more than 300 “predator priests” of sexually abusing more than 1,000 children in six dioceses since 1947. Though most of the accusations date back decades, before the church instituted new protocols, the report plunges the church into crisis, as Catholics across the country express outrage.
Two days later, a Vatican spokesman calls the alleged abuses detailed in the Pennsylvania report“criminal and morally reprehensible.”
Pope Francis pens a letter “To the People of God,” in which he apologizes for the Catholic Church’s failure to protect children from abusive clergy. “We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them.”
The Pennsylvania grand jury report prompts law enforcement officials in other states to begin investigating the Catholic Church. Eventually, 12 states and Washington, DC, would announce probes of varying scope.
During a visit to Ireland, where government reports have found widespread abuses by Catholic clergy, the Pope says the failure of church officials to address “these appalling crimes has rightly given rise to outrage and remains a source of pain and shame for the Catholic community.”
In an 11-page “testimony” released to conservative Catholic media, a former Vatican ambassador to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, accuses Francis of ignoring his warnings about McCarrick’s conduct and calls on the Pope to resign.
The Pope declines to answer Vigano’s accusations, telling journalists to dig for the truth.
New York’s attorney general issues civil subpoenas for all eight Catholic dioceses in the state to investigate how they handled accusations of clergy sexually abusing children.
New Jersey’s attorney general forms a task force to investigate allegations of sexual abuse by clergy and any attempted cover-ups.
September
Vigano unveils a new charge against Francis and other high-ranking Vatican officials: that they have told untruths about the Pope’s controversial meeting in 2015 with Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who refused to sign same-sex marriage certificates.
The Vatican announces that Pope Francis has summoned leaders of national bishops’ conferences from around the world to Rome to discuss the clergy sex abuse crisis, an unprecedented step in the history of the church.
Pope Francis accepts the resignation of West Virginia Bishop Michael Bransfield and orders an investigation into allegations that Bransfield sexually harassed adults.
A week after meeting with Pope Francis in Rome, leaders of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops say they intend to adopt new policies to hold bishops accused of abuse or cover-ups accountable
More than 46,000 Catholic women sign an open letter asking Pope Francis to answer Vigano’s charges. Francis and his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, remain silent on the matter.
A report from Germany’s Catholic bishops admits to “at least” 3,677 cases of child sex abuse by the clergy between 1946 and 2014.
October
The sex abuse scandal sends the Pope’s approval ratings among Americans to a new low, according to Pew Research Center survey.
Michigan authorities seize records from every Catholic diocese in the state as part of an investigation into possible sexual abuse by clergy
Under pressure to respond to Vigano’s allegations, the Vatican says Pope Francis ordered an investigation last year into the accusations against Archbishop McCarrick, adding that the results will be released “in due course.”
Pope Francis accepts the resignation of Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the embattled archbishop of Washington, after the Pennsylvania grand jury report accuses the former Pittsburgh bishop of mishandling clergy sex abuse cases.
Federal prosecutors in Philadelphia subpoena records from every diocese in Pennsylvania, the first federal investigation of that size into the abuse of children by priests and the cover-up of those crimes by Catholic leaders. The same federal prosecutor tells every Catholic diocese in the country not to destroy records pertaining to child sexual abuse.
Attorneys general in Washington, DC, and Virginia launch investigations into the Catholic Church’s handling of clergy sexual abuse.
A bishop in New York is removed pending an investigation into allegations that he sexually abused a minor. The bishop denied the allegations.
November
The Vatican dramatically intervenes in the US Catholic bishops annual meeting, instructing them not to adopt new policies to hold bishops accountable for misconduct and failing to protect children from sexual abuse.
Law enforcement officials in Texas raid the offices of Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Houston, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, looking for files related to a priest accused of abusing a minor. DiNardo’s diocese said it is cooperating with the investigation.
December
An Australian court overturns the conviction of Archbishop Philip Wilson, saying there was reasonable doubt that he covered up the abuse of children.
Pope Francis removes three cardinals from his small council of advisers. Two have been the subject of allegations relating to sexual abuse or covering it up.
Four Jesuit regional provinces in the United States reveal that at least 230 Jesuits had been credibly accused of abusing minors since the 1950s. A fifth province will release its list of abusive clergy in January.
Illinois’ attorney general says the state’s six dioceses have failed to disclose accusations of sexual abuse against at least 500 priests and clergy members.
Americans Trust Clergy Less Than Ever, Gallup Poll Finds
12 months
December 27, 2018
Americans’ confidence in religious leaders’ honesty and ethical standards has been tanking in recent years.
The level of trust Americans have in clergy members has dropped to a record low, a recent Gallup survey suggests.
The polling organization found that only 37 percent of 1,025 respondents had a “very high” or “high” opinion of the honesty and ethical standards of clergy, according to a report published on Thursday. Forty-three percent rated clergy’s honesty and ethics as “average,” while 15 percent had low or very low opinions.
The 37 percent positive rating is the lowest Gallup has recorded for clergy since it began examining views about religious leaders’ ethical standards in 1977.
Currently, only 31 percent of Catholics and 48 percent of Protestants rate the clergy positively, according to Gallup.
Pope Francis assailes the “insatiable greed” of today’s consumerism
12 months
December 25, 2018
This coming from the head of perhaps the richest and most rapacious organization in the world; One swimming in gold, cash and art.
The pope gets our ‘hypocrite of the year’ award. Again.
Pope Francis assailed the “insatiable greed” of today’s consumerism at the Vatican and pilgrims crowded into the church at the traditional site of Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem on Tuesday as Christmas celebrations began worldwide.
Thousands attended mass on Monday night at the Vatican’s Saint Peter’s Basilica, where Pope Francis, the head of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics, offered his Christmas homily.
“An insatiable greed marks all human history, even today, when, paradoxically, a few dine luxuriantly while all too many go without the daily bread needed to survive,” the 82-year-old pope said as he drank 120 year old scotch from his solid gold chalice.
Toronto pastor arrested, charged with sexual assault of teen girl
12 months
December 22, 2018
Daniel George, charged with sexual assault of minor
Toronto police have arrested and charged a pastor with sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl in three separate alleged incidents.
Daniel George, 51, from Shelburne, Ont., was arrested on Dec. 9 for sexual assault, sexual exploitation and failure to comply with recognizance.
Investigators said the incidents occurred between Oct. 5 and Nov. 22, 2018. He’s set to appear in court next week.
Police said he is a pastor at the School of Wisdom Outreach Temple, which is located at Jane Street and Haney Avenue, just west of the Stockyards.
Officers said George is known to frequent the areas of Brampton, Toronto, Shelburne, and Montreal.
Toronto police spokesperson Const. Allyson Douglas-Cook said they’re making the public known of the incident because they believe there may be more victims.
New York rabbi faces new child sex charges
12 months
December 22, 2018
Aryeh Goodman, serial pedophile, sex trafficker and a danger to children seen here with his next two victims
A March 20 court date has been set in Middlesex County Superior Court for an East Brunswick rabbi charged in connection with human trafficking and forced prostitution of a 17-year-old girl.
Rabbi Aryeh Goodman, former executive director of the Chabad of East Brunswick, is charged with one count of engaging in prostitution with a child and one count of endangering the welfare of a child for allegedly having sex in an unnamed East Brunswick hotel with the girl, who is from Lancaster, Pa.
Accompanied by his attorney, Goodman, 35, turned himself in to the East Brunswick Police on Feb. 6. He was later released pending his court appearance before Judge Michael A. Toto, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson Andrea Boulton.
Gabriella Colon, 18, and Richard Ortiz, 23, both of the Bronx, were also arrested in the case and remain in the Middlesex County Jail on 11 criminal charges, including human trafficking, promoting prostitution of a child, criminal restraint, and a number of child pornography offenses, including manufacturing, distribution, and possession of pornography.
Goodman was one of 30 men who allegedly paid to have sex with the 17-year-old girl, according to the prosecutor’s office.
In a previous case, in January 2013, Goodman was extradited to Pennsylvania where he pled guilty to two counts of indecent assault of a person less than 13 years of age. Those offenses involved complaints about several incidents of a sexual nature with a 12-year-old boy, who accused Goodman of the acts while the rabbi was a counselor in the summer of 2001 at Camp Menachem, a Chabad facility in Lackawaxen Township, Pa.
The original indictment charged him with 12 counts; he pled guilty to two and the rest were dismissed. In October 2015, Goodman was sentenced in Pike County, Pa., to 11 to 23 months in prison, and the terms of the sentencing included completing a sex offender counseling course and refraining from having contact with the victim or his family. NJJN was unable to determine how much time Goodman served in prison.
Goodman’s name did not appear on the New Jersey State Police sex offender list available to the public; however, a law enforcement official who asked to remain anonymous told NJJN that offenders are divided into three tiers, with level three being the most serious; only the names of offenders in the top two tiers are available to the public, and Goodman is a tier one offender, according to the official.
In 2006 Goodman and his wife, Ora Malka, launched Chabad of East Brunswick on Lexington Avenue, which focused on education, operating the Chai Early Childhood Center, as well as the Chai Central Hebrew School. The Hebrew school, for children ages 6-14, closed in 2013 after charges against Aryeh Goodman were filed, but the early childhood center remains open.
Catholic priest, 73, who had 2,000 images and videos of child porn, discussed raping and murdering young boys in chat rooms, and once admitted to peeing in the wine for Mass is sentenced to 25 years in prison
12 months
December 20, 2018
Thomas Faucher, by his own description ‘one sick puppy’
- Thomas Faucher pleaded guilty to distributing, possessing child pornography
- He called himself ‘one sick puppy’ as he apologized to the courtroom Thursday
- Possessed ‘violent, disturbing, and torturous’ images that involved children
- Faucher told someone online he wanted to sexually abuse boys, was attracted to six-year-old boys, and that the thought of killing someone excited him
- Faucher also revealed in chats he wanted to sexually abuse altar boys and babies
- Police also found photographs of him peeing on a cross and a canon law book
A Catholic priest who had more than 2,000 photos and videos of child pornography on his computer and phone has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Thomas Faucher, a well-known priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise, will not be eligible for parole and must register as a sex offender.
Faucher, 73, pleaded guilty to five felony crimes after investigators discovered thousands of disturbing images and chats about raping and murdering young boys.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of distribution of sexually exploitative material, two counts of possession of sexually exploitative materials, and one count of drug possession.
Faucher called himself ‘one sick puppy’ as he apologized to the courtroom before his sentencing on Thursday, according to the Idaho Statesman.
‘I am deeply sorry that I was and have been connected to that in any way,’ he told 4th District Court Judge Jason Scott.
‘I was one really sick puppy. I screwed up big time. I feel so much remorse and anger.’
Faucher tried to convince the judge that he should not receive jail time so that he could help others and ‘give lectures on the evils of child pornography’, saying there were ‘many people’ who would ‘benefit’ if he wasn’t behind bars.
‘There are no people who will benefit if I am in jail or prison,’ he added.
The entire world benefits from you being in prison, you horrible fuck.
But Scott was not convinced, calling the priest a ‘legitimate risk to the community’.
‘This is a crime that has potential for both immediate and long-lasting consequences,’ the judge added.
Detective John Brumbaugh of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force took to the stand on Thursday to describe the extent of disturbing content he found on Faucher’s devices.
Brumbaugh said he first received a tip regarding two images that had been sent from the email address [email protected]
He then began investigating Faruch, discovering thousands of ‘violent, disturbing, and torturous’ images that involved ‘young-looking subjects’.
Faucher spoke extensively to a person called ‘Bruno’, telling them that he wanted to have sex with boys – including some in his own family – and was attracted to six-year-old boys.
The end of the world. Again. (Yawn)
12 months
December 21, 2018
Nir Ben Artzi, using his magic forehead box to tell the future
Rabbi Nir Ben Artzi, an Israeli mystic with a substantial following, has been warning of an increase in volcanic eruptions as part of the end-of-days process preceding the Messiah, who the rabbi maintains is present but waiting to reveal himself. Hiding out at Burger King, no doubt.
“The Creator is purifying the world from the filth of the snake in order to prepare the way for the Messiah to be revealed in the world,” Rabbi Ben Artzi said in his weekly sermon that was published yesterday. Because most sinners live around the Pacific basin, right?
A volcanic eruption in Indonesia followed by a large earthquake is the most recent event that has caused concern among geologists that we are entering a global period of increased seismic activity. Several rabbis weighed in, recognizing the volcanoes as a necessary part of the end-of-days that immediately precedes Redemption.
Mount Soputan, a 6,000-foot peak in Minahasa on the northern part of Sulawesi island in central Indonesia, erupted twice on Sunday morning, spewing ash more than 24,000 feet into the air. A two-and-a-half mile exclusion zone was enforced around the mountain. Residents were also urged to wear masks in case of ash rain, as authorities kept the volcano’s alert level at the second-highest level.
One hour after Mount Soputan settled down, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake shook the region with the epicenter about 100 miles southwest of Jayapura, Indonesia. …
LA bishop resigns 13 years after church learned of sex claim
12 months
December 20, 2018
Alexander Salazar, a history of child sex abuse
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a Los Angeles auxiliary bishop, Monsignor Alexander Salazar, following an allegation of sexual misconduct with a child in the 1990s, officials said Wednesday.
The Vatican announced the resignation in a one-line statement. It was the latest in a string of misconduct allegations against bishops to come to light this year, following the scandal of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington that exposed how bishops have largely avoided sanction for improper behavior.
Pasadena police recommended in 2002 that Salazar be charged with committing a lewd act on a child, but prosecutors in Los Angeles County declined to bring charges. A district attorney’s spokesman, Ricardo Santiago, could not provide more information on the allegation or why charges were not filed.
The current archbishop of Los Angeles, the Most Rev. Jose Gomez, said the archdiocese learned of the claim in 2005. Gomez said the archdiocese forwarded the complaint to the Vatican office handling sex abuse cases.
Gomez said that office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, imposed precautionary measures against Salazar and that a further investigation by the archdiocese’s independent review board found the allegation to be credible.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan – “Catholic Church Withheld Over 500 Names Of Priests Accused Of Child Abuse”
12 months
December 20, 2018
Blase J. Cupich, part of the problem
A searing report published Wednesday by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan claims the Roman Catholic Church withheld more than 500 names of clergy accused of sexually abusing minors.
The report contains what Madigan called the “preliminary” findings of an investigation her office launched in August, prompted by a Pennsylvania grand jury’s revelations that six Roman Catholic dioceses in the state had covered up sexual abuse by 301 “predator priests” over 70 years.
Madigan’s investigation also looked at six Illinois dioceses ― the Archdiocese of Chicago, and the dioceses of Belleville, Joliet, Peoria, Rockford and Springfield.
She found that, though the dioceses had publicly identified 185 clergy members who had been “credibly” accused of child sexual abuse, there are more than 500 others whose names were withheld and who were not investigated.
The six dioceses have, in total, received allegations of sexual abuse against about 690 clergy, Madigan’s report found.
“By choosing not to thoroughly investigate allegations, the Catholic Church has failed in its moral obligation to provide survivors, parishioners and the public a complete and accurate accounting of all sexually inappropriate behavior involving priests in Illinois,” Madigan said in a statement. “The failure to investigate also means that the Catholic Church has never made an effort to determine whether the conduct of the accused priests was ignored or covered up by superiors.”
Madigan’s office also said church leaders often failed to notify law enforcement authorities or Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) about the allegations, sometimes citing that the clergy member had died or resigned by the time the allegation was made.
Though Madigan said the investigation is ongoing, one of her key takeaways thus far was that “the Catholic Church cannot police itself.”
“Allegations of sexual abuse of minors, even if they stem from conduct that occurred many years ago, cannot be treated as internal personnel matters,” Madigan said.
The Archdiocese of Chicago released a lengthy statement responding to Madigan’s report, detailing its efforts to respond to allegations against clergy members and support victims of abuse.
In the understatement of the decade Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, acknowledged in a statement the Catholic Church’s “failures to address the scourge of clerical sexual abuse.”
Nun arrested for helping five priests sexually abuse dozens of deaf children at Argentinian Catholic school
12 months
December 16, 2018
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Kosaka Kumiko aided in the rape of dozens of children
A Roman Catholic nun from Japan has been arrested and charged on suspicion of helping priests sexually abuse children at a school for youths with hearing disabilities in Argentina.
Kosaka Kumiko, 42, was charged with helping the priests with anal and vaginal rapes, fondling and oral sex, which were allegedly committed in the bathrooms, dormitories, garden and a basement at the school in Lujan de Cuyo, a city about 1000km northwest of Buenos Aires.
The case against Kumiko began after a former student accused her of making her wear a diaper to cover up a hemorrhage after she was allegedly raped by priest Horacio Corbacho.
“I am innocent,” she told judicial officials, who ordered her to be taken into custody at a local women’s prison while detectives investigate the alleged crimes.
The nun, who has Argentine citizenship, has also been charged with physically abusing the students – whose torments could only be heard by those abusing them since the other children were deaf – at the Antonio Provolo Institute for children with hearing impairment in northwestern Mendoza province.
But she denied any wrongdoing during an eight-hour court hearing late Thursday.
At least 24 students from the Provolo Institute have come forward to accuse Corbacho, fellow priest Nicola Corradi and three other men.
The children said the two Roman Catholic priests continuously raped them, beside the image of the Virgin Mary.
Police arrested the five accused men last November, finding a slew of pornographic magazines and about $34,000 in Corradi’s room.
“They always said it was a game: ‘Let’s go play, let’s go play’ and they would take us to the girls’ bathroom,” one of the women who was abused at the Argentine school alleged.
Corradi and Corbacho were arrested last year after they were charged with sexually abusing at least two dozen students at the Provolo Institute.
They are being held at a jail in Mendoza and have not spoken publicly since their arrest.
If found guilty, the accused face up to 50 years in prison. Corradi had earlier been accused in Italy of abusing students at the Provolo Institute in Verona, a notorious school for the deaf where hundreds of children are believed to have been sexually assaulted over the years by two dozen priests and religious brothers.
Advocates for clerical sex abuse have expressed anger that Corradi wasn’t sanctioned by the Vatican and allegedly went on to abuse children in Pope Francis’ native Argentina.
Three school employees, Jorge Bordon, Jose Luis Ojeda and Armando Gomez, were also arrested and remain in custody.
Investigators are looking into more than 30 testimonies against the priests and teaching staff.
Mormon bishop from Utah charged with sex abuse, removed from position in church
12 months
December 16, 2018
Jeffrey Byron Head, another Mormon child molester
DRAPER, Utah — A bishop for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been charged with felonies and removed from his position in the church amid allegations he sexually abused juveniles in his congregation.
According to documents filed in Third District Court Wednesday, Jeffrey Byron Head, 54 of Draper, is charged with two counts of forcible sex abuse and two counts of lewdness.
The charges indicate the victims are under the age of 14 and the alleged offenses occurred between May 2016 and August of 2017.
Charging documents indicate several alleged victims reported inappropriate behavior and touching from Head, and at least one victim said he felt pressured to remain in the situation because Head was a friend and “a leader for him to look up to…”
Head allegedly touched one victim’s genitals under the guise of curiosity about a recent surgery. Two other individuals corroborated that account.
That same individual told police Head took him out for milkshakes, during which time he would ask him about masturbation and massage his shoulders.
Another alleged victim told police Head “would discuss sex and masturbation all the time.” The juvenile told police Head would ask him inappropriate questions about his intimate encounters with girls.
At one point he said Head locked him in a car with him and told him “we have to figure this masturbation thing out. You’re not leaving until we figure this out.”
The charging documents state Head went on to discuss the victim’s and his own masturbation habits.
The victim said he could have left but did not because “Defendant was supposed to be a family friend, a leader for him to look up to, and that Defendant would be angry if [Victim] ran away from defendant.”
That same boy told police that one week later Head entered his home without permission, sat on a bed near the victim and and discussed masturbation with the victim as he was shirtless. The juvenile said he had to ask Head to leave three times before the man exited the home. The juvenile’s younger sibling corroborated the account.
A warrant has been issued for Head’s arrest and bail is set at $150,000. As of Thursday afternoon, Head has not yet been arrested.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints responded to the charges Thursday.
In addition to the statement reproduced in its entirety below, a spokesman confirmed Head was a bishop but did not provide any further details about the timeline for when the LDS Church became aware of the allegations.
Illinois pastor arrested on child sex abuse charges
12 months
December 16, 2018
Jeffrey S. Krupinski, child molester
PITTSFIELD, Ill. — The pastor of a Detroit, Ill., church has been arrested on sex abuse charges.
Charging documents show that Jeffrey S. Krupinski, 51, was charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault in Pike County Circuit Court. The charges allege that Krupinski touched a 14-year-old girl for sexual gratification. The incident reportedly took place July 4.
The Detroit Christian Church’s Facebook page said Krupinski’s first day at the church was July 1.
Court records show Krupinski was arrested Oct. 26.
If convicted of the Class 2 felonies, he faces three to seven years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
He posted $4,500 on Friday to be released from the Pike County Jail. He was ordered to not have contact with any person under age 18 nor the accuser in the case.
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