Conservative Babylon

Because we could spend 24/7 tracking the sex crimes of right-wing religionists (especially “youth pastors”) and never get caught up. Of the following, the more interesting cases will probably end up with their very own Conservative Babylon entries.

Charged: Ralph Lee Aaron, 54, pastor, Grace Christian Fellowship, Andalusia, Alabama — originally charged with three counts of first-degree sexual abuse, including first-degree sodomy, of a boy under 12 — which police warned were just “the first of what is expected to be many other sex abuse charges,” with a total of 152 counts termed “‘atrocious acts’ stemming from allegations he sexually abused and tortured young boys while on camping trips,” specifically: “38 counts of production of obscene matter containing visual depiction of a person under 17 involved in obscene acts; three counts of dissemination of obscene matter containing visual depiction of persons under 17 involved in obscene acts; 97 counts of obscene matter containing visual depiction of persons under 17 involved in obscene acts; three counts of sexual torture; three counts of first-degree sodomy; eight counts of sexual abuse of a child less than 12.” Aaron “is currently being held in the Covington County Jail, where he is separated from the general population ‘for his own safety’ … His bond is set at $24.2 million. Aaron could face additional charges as the case continues.” Story: Conservative Babylon, October 26, 2009; Andalusia Star-News, October 28, 2009

Shot and killed: Luqman Ameen Abdullah, a.k.a.Christopher Thomas, imam, Muslim-fundamentalist Masjid Al-Haqq mosque, Detroit, Michigan, “during a series of FBI raids that resulted in charges against 11 and the death of an FBI dog. … According to the FBI, the 11 defendants are members of are members of a group that is alleged to have engaged in violent activity over a period of many years, and known to be armed. … During the arrests Wednesday [October 28, 2009], the suspects were ordered to surrender. At the Dearborn location, four suspects surrendered and were arrested without incident.” Abdullah “did not surrender and fired his weapon. An exchange of gun fire followed and Abdullah was killed. An FBI canine, Freddy, was also killed during the exchange.” Authorities say Abdullah was “the leader of part of the Ummah (’the brotherhood’), a group of mostly African-American converts to Islam, which seeks to establish a separate Sharia-law governed state within the United States. The Ummah is ruled by Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rapp Brown, who is currently serving a life sentence in prison for the murder of two police officers in Georgia. Abdullah Al-Amin has espoused the use of violence against law enforcement officials and has trained members of the Ummah to use firearms and martial arts in anticipation of government violence, according to the FBI. … [I]n an affidavit filed with a criminal complaint against 11 of the group’s members, [Abdullah] allegedly told a confidential FBI source that if the government messed with him, ‘it will be straight up war.’” Story: Press & Guide, October 30, 2009

Arrested and charged: Kent Thomas Johnson, 53, Theater and Dance Department Chair, Episcopal High School, Bellaire, Texas, a pricey (nearly $20,000-a-year tuition) “institution of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas … [o]perating as a Christian community within the beliefs and traditions of the Episcopal Church,” with two counts of possession of child pornography. “The Harris County Sheriff’s Office says the warrant was originally for solicitation of a child over the Internet, but child pornography was found later on his computer. Johnson is accused of sending inappropriate videos to a someone he thought was a 13-year-old boy, who was actually an undercover sheriff’s deputy. That deputy, who worked for Adams County in Colorado, contacted the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.” Typically, the school administration is “shocked and saddened by this disturbing news.” Story: Press & Guide, October 30, 2009; KTRK, November 2, 2009

Arrested and charged: Michael Robert Joy, 40, church youth volunteer, Stony Point Baptist Church, Kansas City, Kansas, with one count of aggravated indecent solicitation of a child. Police took Joy into custody “after the family involved came forward and told authorities about inappropriate communications they discovered he’d been having with their child.” Stony Point pastor Tom Hamilton said “he received a call from the victim’s family,” after which the “family and pastor gave the information to police the next day and Joy was arrested at the church where he had been volunteering weekly as a youth leader for about 20 kids.” Joy had been “convicted and served time back in 1991 for molesting children, but [Hamilton] says that Joy told the church he went to prison for something else that had nothing to do with sexual crimes against children.” Hamilton said a background check was performed on Joy, but “his name did not appear on the sexual offender list. Church officials have since learned that Joy’s earlier offense would not appear on the list because it happened in 1991 and the list did not begin until 1994.” Apparently, the church didn’t do its homework well at all, since we were able to find Joy within seconds on the Kansas Department of Corrections Web site, which details his felony conviction for indecent liberties with a child. Story: KCTV; video, October 27, 2009

Arrested: Derwin Pasley, 32, Black Hills Junior Football League (Olympia, Washington) coach and former youth pastor, “on suspicion of molesting and attempting to rape a 14-year-old player on his team when he drove the boy and his younger brother home from a game,” and charged with “one count of child molestation, attempted rape and unlawful Imprisonment.” Two days after Pasley’s arrest, a second boy, age 13, ” said Paysley “touched him in the same way” in the fall of 2008. Despite the “shock” at the allegations of league president Charles Farrar (who proclaims: “There’s a grown man and a young kid, and one of them’s lying”), records show “Pasley was arrested for a felony sex offense against a child in 1994 in Miami-Dade County in Florida. Pasley subsequently was acquitted of the two counts of sexual battery of a minor, Olympia Police Cmdr. Tor Bjornstad said. In 2002, there was a criminal investigation by the Olympia Police Department into whether Pasley committed a sex offense against a child, but the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office made a decision not to file charges based on a lack of evidence.” Bjornstad also said “the 2002 complaint against Pasley involved behavior that occurred when Pasley was acting in some capacity as a youth pastor.” … “According to prosecutors, ’several’ other boys have come forward with similar claims, but Pasley only faces charges for the two boys.” Story: The Olympian, October 27, 2009; KIRO, October 27, 2009; KING5, October 29, 2009

Filed under: Black Collar Round-Ups