Black Collar Crime Round-Up: November 17, 2010
Alice M. Miller • Caleb Sanburn • Steven G. Welty
Unnamed Quran teacher
Because we could spend 24/7 tracking the sins 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.
Appeal filed: Matt Baker, 38, former pastor, Crossroads Baptist Church, Waco, Texas, and Baylor University alumnus, convicted in 2010 for the 2006 murder of his wife Kari (”administering drugs to her and suffocating her with a pillow”), currently serving 65 years. Baker was first arrested in 2005, but the charge was dropped because the D.A. “failed to indict him within six months. Baker was re-arrested in March 2009 on a warrant issued after his former girlfriend, Vanessa Bulls testified” how Baker, with whom she was having an affair, planned to kill his wife. During sentencing, several witnesses “shared aggressive sexual encounters they had with the convicted murderer” — including an acquaintance who testified that Baker made a pass at her while visiting the Bakers’ daughter Kassidy as she lay dying (of a brain tumor) in the hospital. The day of his conviction, Baker wore “a multi-colored tie emblazoned with the word ‘FAITH’ and a Icthus (fish)” to court. Story: CBS News: 48 Hours, May 10, 2008 / June 9, 2009; KWTX, September 3, 2009; KXXV, January 20, 2010; Associated Baptist Press, January 20, 2010; the big daddy weave, January 20, 2010
Sentenced: Abner Dourob, pastor, Walvis Bay, Namibia, to seven years for the rape of a 16-year-old girl, during which he prayed, “and when he was done, he said: ‘Amen’. … On the day of the incident, the victim … went to the pastor in need of prayer. She was allegedly struggling to study. Once in his prayer room, Dourob prayed for her, but asked her to leave the room because God had allegedly ’showed him something about her’. … [H]e called her back, and started massaging her private parts with oil. She thought that he was dealing with her ‘problem’. Before she knew it, they were having sex. … According to Dourob, the child consented to have sex, but she denied it.” Story: The Namibian, November 18, 2010
Convicted: Marvin James Lowe, 57, former pastor, Arbeka Indian Baptist Church, Weleetka, Oklahoma, on six misdemeanor counts of domestic abuse. Acquitted of nine counts of lewd molestation, Lowe had originally been charged with sexually assaulting five young girls in his church. “The church property acts as a campground, of sorts. Church members drive from as far away as Oklahoma City or Tulsa for services that last several days. The grounds have several living quarters where the congregation stays the night. … Investigators say [Lowe] has been molesting girls as young as eight years old on the property since at least the summer of 2007,” as well as in his home in Okmulgee. “Investigators say they’re also aware of a 32-year-old victim who says Lowe assaulted her when she was a teenager.” Lowe is scheduled for sentencing December 2, 2010. There had been speculation that Lowe may have been involved in the murders of Skyla Whitaker, 11, and Taylor Paschal-Placker, 13, whose bodies were found about a mile from the church in 2008, six months before Lowe’s arrest, but investigators have more or less ruled him out as a suspect. Story: News On 6, January 15, 2009; NewsOK, November 12, 2010; KXII, November 15, 2010
Sentenced: Alice M. Miller, 44, former treasurer, Zion Evangelical Congregation Church, Allentown, Pennsylvania, to 16 to 84 months in state prison, 200 hours’ community service and restitution, after pleading guilty to stealing $112,000 from the church over the course of seven years. “‘It wasn’t need, it was greed,’ [Lehigh County Judge Maria L. Dantos] told Miller. ‘You stole from the people you held hands with and prayed with. You are a thief. Shame on you. … Character is shown when no one is looking, and you showed yours. This is a betrayal of the highest order. I don’t believe this level of greed can even be measured.’” Story: lehighvalleylive.com, November 15, 2010; Morning Call, November 15, 2010
Charged: Caleb Wesley Sanburn, 21, youth volunteer, Grace Baptist Church, Owatonna, Minnesota, with engaging in electronic communication describing sexual conduct with child, a felony, and “fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct for engaging in masturbation or lewd exhibition in the presence of a minor under the age of 16, which is a gross misdemeanor,” after exchanging a series of nude photos via texting with a 14-year-old girl from his church. “As part of a bail release, Sanburn is ordered to stay away from the victim, minors, cell phones and the internet.” Story: CBS Minnesota, November 16, 2010
Sentenced: Steven G. Welty, 59, former pastor, Glory House Fellowship, Sequim, Washington, to 26-1/2 years to life after his October, 2010, conviction on six counts of child rape, six counts of child molestation and six counts of incest. “The crimes occurred at least once a year from the time the victim was 4 years old until she was 11, and two other family members testified they had been subjected to similar abuse at similar ages.” The victim’s mother made a statement; addressing Welty, she said: “You used our love for you and our belief in God to hurt us.” Speaking for the first time in his own defense, Welty quoted several Bible passages, adding that “sin is not something that is controllable.” Judge S. Brooke Taylor “said Welty’s statement that sin is uncontrollable was ‘baloney.’” Story: Sequim Gazette, November 16, 2010; Seattle 911, November 16, 2010
Arrested: Unnamed Quran teacher, 19, Filladhoo, Haa Alifu Atoll, Maldives, for sexual abuse of a 13-year-old girl, who, another islander claims, “‘was his girlfriend. They were inside a room in the girl’s grandmother’s house when the police arrested him.’ The islander claimed the girl’s parents were aware of their relationship and noted that such things were ‘quite common on the island.’” Sexual abuse of children was not illegal in Maldives until 2008. Noted Maldives Dissent in 2009: “Child sexual abuse, under Maldivian law, required, and still does, a confession by the alleged abuser, or testimony by four witnesses, for a successful conviction to take place. This meant that if a child reports sexual abuse, the perpetrator denies it, and there are no witnesses, the court can find the child guilty of consent. Victims of child sexual abuse are therefore often punished for reporting the crime while the abuser is almost always let free.” Story: Minivan News, November 10, 2010
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