Black Collar Crime Round-Up: December 17, 2010
Rob T. Fortener • Jonathan Hinton
Graeme Lawrence • Dominic Stone
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.
Guilty: Loren Ankarlo, former pastor, City on the Hill Church, Boulder, Colorado, to multiple charges of affinity fraud, specifically, to securities fraud “by making untrue statements or omitting information. In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors dismissed charges of violating the Colorado Organized Crime and Control Act, three counts of felony securities fraud, three counts of felony theft and a count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud.” Story: ExChristian.net, March 6, 2010; KMGH, March 12, 2010; Longmont Times-Call, December 14, 2010
Sentenced: Dwight Bullock, 51, former youth pastor, Moore Chapel CME (Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, a historically black, and traditionally virulently homophobic denomination, established in 1870), Jasper, Texas, and employee, Texas Department of Human Services, to two 10-year sentences to run concurrently, after pleading guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child. Bullock was arrested March 19, 2010, and charged with one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child and possession of marijuana. Story: Beaumont Enterprise, March 22, 2010; KFDM, December 14, 2010
Removed: Ross Davies, former bishop of the Murray, South Australia, diocese of the Anglican Church of Australia, after a September church tribunal found him guilty of “eight of nine church charges brought against him, including protecting another archdeacon who was accused of sexual misconduct.” “Mr Davies was also found to have improperly influenced the composition of diocesan council in an attempt to gain financial advantage ‘at the expense of the interests of the Diocese’.” Rumor has it Davies has since joined the Catholic church. Story: ABC News, December 13, 2010; Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, December 14, 2010
Awaiting extradition: Jonathan Hinton, 37, “Life Journey Worship Arts Director,” Grace United Methodist Church, Venice, Florida (where he was arrested December 13th), charged with four counts of of child molestation said to have occurred in Indiana. Although the church says it “had received no complaints about Hinton during his employment” of one year, Hinton’s name and image have already been scrubbed from the church’s Web site. Story: Herald-Tribune, December 16, 2010
Sentenced: Rob T. Fortener, 48, Holy Angels Catholic elementary school, Dayton, Ohio, to one year of supervised probation after pleading guilty to drunk driving. “According to the Ohio Bureau of Motors Vehicles, this is Fortener’s third DUI conviction.” Story: WHIO-TV, November 24, 2010; WHIO.com, November 24, 2010
Guilty in church hearing: Graeme Lawrence, former dean, Anglican Diocese of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, of involvement “in sex acts with a 19-year-old man,” following an internal church investigation of “an alleged group sex incident … [at] a church seminar at Narrandera in 1984.” Lawrence “is among three members of the clergy [who] stood down” (quit) just six weeks before news of their alleged illicit activities first broke. It should be noted that police are not “proceeding with a criminal investigation into Reverend [Graeme] Sturt, and the others, including the Very Reverend Graeme Lawrence,” although the board found that “Graeme Leslie Sturt watched on, before making advances to a 17-year-old boy. But the 17-year-old told the Board he has no memory of the incident because he was drunk.” Meanwhile, Anglican bishop Brian Farran has troubles of his own: “The Anglican diocese of Newcastle is in crisis over the handling of disciplinary proceedings against four clergy and a church worker including former dean of Newcastle Reverend Graeme Lawrence.” Farran “issued a statement to all clergy … distancing himself from the professional standards board hearings that have been labelled a ‘kangaroo court’, ‘toothless tiger’ and ’star chamber’ … and are the subject of a NSW Supreme Court challenge. … The Newcastle Herald has confirmed that parishioners outraged at the hearings process repeatedly raised concerns with Bishop Farran in recent weeks, and are preparing a formal complaint to the church’s national body. At a meeting last week parishioners considered seeking an injunction for a formal Supreme Court review of the issues, and many clergy and parishioners contacted by the Herald say the issue is the most serious challenge the bishop has faced.” At a farewell tribute banquet, Farran said: “Graeme Lawrence is a profound person. His personality attracts people, reaches out to them and embraces them.” And: “Australians are quick to recognize the religiously shonky.” (shonky = shady, dubious) Story: Newcastle Herald, November 21, 2008; ABC News, December 4, 2009; ABC News, December 14, 2010; ABC News, December 16, 2010; Newcastle Herald, December 17, 2010
Sentenced: Dominic Stone, 47, Church of England vicar, and husband and father of two, Marchington, Staffordshire, U.K., convicted of 16 counts of child pornography (caught with some 600 images of child porn on his computer), to no time: Stone, “who downloaded hundreds of pornographic images of children while working at his vicarage walked free from court today after being ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years.” Stone, “who committed the offences while serving four rural parishes, was given a nine-month suspended jail term by a judge at Stafford Crown Court and was also ordered to complete a sex offender treatment programme.” Stone is still awaiting a church tribunal, “which is expected to result in a life ban from acting as a minister.” Story: Conservative Babylon, November 11, 2010; The Independent, December 16, 2010
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