Conservative Babylon

Sentenced: Kyley Jane Allworth, 29, former basketball coach, assistant librarian & lunchroom monitor, King’s Way Christian Schools, operated by the Vancouver First Church of God / VANFCOG (and which also appears to employ her husband and one or more other relatives), Vancouver, Washington, to 20 months in jail, registration as a sex offender, and responsibility for paying for counseling for her victim, after pleading guilty in April to two out of three counts of first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor, reportedly a 17-year-old girl at both the school and the church. KGW reports that Allworth had “asked for a 15-month sentence so she could get out of jail sooner to apologize to the victim, families and school.” Story: Conservative Babylon, March 14, 2012; Conservative Babylon, April 28, 2012; KGW, June 8, 2012

No contest plea: Reuben Bynum, 61, former CFO, Trinity Missionary Baptist Church, Pontiac, Michigan, to three counts of embezzling some $650,000 from his church through the unauthorized use of checks and debit cards. Sentencing is scheduled for September 12, 2012, at which Bynum could receive a total of 60 years in prison, plus restitution equal to three times the amount stolen. Story: Conservative Babylon, February 24, 2012; Advisor & Source, June 7, 2012

Accused again: John Merzbacher, 70, former teacher, Catholic Community School, Baltimore, Maryland, currently serving four life sentences (but in danger of being released on a technicality due to two recent Supreme Court decisions) for child rape; by a woman who says Merzbacher sexually abused her in the 1970s. According to the Baltimore Sun: “‘They’re investigating what I reported,’ said Donna Berger, 48. She met with a team of people Thursday morning — about a half-dozen prosecutors, detectives and victims’ services representatives — to outline abuse that she says happened to her nearly 40 years ago, when she was a preteen at South Baltimore’s Catholic Community middle school.” Story: Baltimore Sun, March 23, 2012; Baltimore Sun, June 7, 2012; WJZ, June 8, 2012

Charged: Louis Francis Piskula, 72, Roman Catholic priest, formerly of St. Mary of the Woods Catholic Church, Whitesville, Kentucky, with first-degree sexual abuse and first-degree sodomy committed against a victim under the age of 12, stemming from allegations of incidents that courred in the late 1970s. Piskula is currently being held on a $50,000 cash bond. Story: NECN, June 8, 2012; AP, June 8, 2012

Sentenced: Kevin Palmer Thomas, 51, former Mormon bishop, American Fork, Utah, to a year in jail and 36 months’ probation after pleading guilty to five felony counts of communications fraud, theft and unlawful activity and three misdemeanor counts of theft and vehicle burglary, in an “affinity fraud” case that centered on Thomas using his position in the LDS church to bilk an 80-year-old man out of his life savings. Story: Conservative Babylon, May 3, 2012; Daily Herald, June 7, 2012

Trial to begin: Nechemya Weberman, 53, ultra-Orthodox rabbi, Brooklyn, New York, May 15, 2012. Weberman was arrested in 2011 and charged with raping and sexually molesting a now-17-year-old girl during what were supposed to be “counseling sessions,” beginning when she was 12. A May fundraiser for the rabbi has split the local Hasidic community in two. Regarding posters for the event, in Yiddish and Hebrew, and depicting a missile aimed at the community, CBS New York reported: “‘The suggestion is that this victim, by going to the authorities and reporting the abuse, is attacking the entire community,’ said Ben Hirsch of the group, Survivors for Justice. … ‘The missile is, of course, the victim and the community is everyone alongside the accused.’ … Others also called the posters an attack on the victim and her family for coming forward. … Weberman and his case have become such a lightning rod, protestors said it’s just another example of an insular community turning a blind eye on sexual predators. ‘This is a community that unfortunately protects molesters,’ said Pearl Engelman, the mother of a sex abuse victim. ‘She’s being defamed in a community where she did nothing wrong,’ Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg added.” AP notes: “The girl has been called a slut and a troublemaker, her family threatened and spat at on the street.” Story: CBS New York, May 16, 2012; CBS New York, May 15, 2012; AP, June 10, 2012

Guilty plea: Milton Wells, 63, former pastor, Open Door Ministries Church of God In Christ and former local coordinator, Michigan Prisoner Re-entry Initiative, Kalamazoo, Michigan, to two felony counts, second-degree criminal sexual conduct and third-degree criminal sexual conduct (out of ten counts of felony sexual assault) against two girls under the age of 13. Sentencing is scheduled for June 29, 2012. Story: Conservative Babylon, February 4, 2012; MLive.com, May 14, 2012

Repost This Article

Related posts (automatically generated):

1. Black Collar Crime Round-Up: June 5, 2012
2. Black Collar Crime Round-Up: June 3, 2012
3. Black Collar Crime Round-Up: June 8, 2012
4. Black Collar Crime Round-Up: April 22, 2012
5. Black Collar Crime Round-Up: February 5, 2012

2 Responses to “Black Collar Crime Round-Up: June 10, 2012”