Black Collar Crime Round-Up: July 1, 2012, Part 1
Earl Wayne Gann • Chuck Hager • Paul Hawksley • Joseph Jiang
Guilty again: Lonny “Joe” Aleshire, Jr., 41, former associate pastor (and son of senior pastor), Licking Baptist Church, Hebron, Ohio, free since early 2012 after serving a seven-year-sentence for 10 counts of sexual abuse, including first-degree felony rape, committed against two teenage sisters, then 15 and 17. The sisters sued and were awarded $4.35 million by the jury in a civil trial that lasted just three days — $2 million to the younger sister and $1.25 million to the older sister, plus $623 “for out-of-pocket losses, such as counseling and gas money,” according to the Newark Advocate. The day the civil trial began, Aleshire also pleaded guilty to three counts of perjury and was sentenced the following day to five years’ probation. Story: Conservative Babylon, October 20, 2009; Conservative Babylon, December 9, 2010; Conservative Babylon, June 27, 2012; Newark Advocate, June 30, 2012
Charged: Richard Bellingham, a.k.a. Richard Lyons, a.k.a. Richard Goldstein, 57, senior member of the now-shuttered Church of Our Saviour, Concord Township (Concordville), Delaware, and husband of Grace Bellngham, who appears to have been an official in the church; with multiple charges of repeated sexual abuse and extreme physical abuse (including “up to 50 lashings with a leather belt or piece of rubber hose”) against four girls, aged four to 15, during the 1980s. One alleged victim states that the abuse was “basically a daily occurrence for six years.” Bellingham is currently in custody on $100,000 bail. Story: Delco Times, June 29, 2012; CBS Philly, June 29, 2012; Philadelphia Inquirer, June 30, 2012
The Bellingham case is only the latest in a long line of criminal allegations and civil lawsuits involving Church of Our Saviour, founded by the extremely controversial, South African-born Frederick Drummond (now of Destiny Ministries International, to which Grace Bellingham appears to have followed him); e.g.: “Former church members say Drummond is a brutal disciplinarian who preached that ‘the child who comes forth from his mother’s womb speaketh lies.’ He often bragged to his congregation that he had beaten his prematurely born, three-day-old son with a pencil. When the child became a year old, Drummond announced from the pulpit that he had begun beating him nightly with a broken arrow, according to former members of his Springfield, Mo., congregation. ‘He twists the Scriptures around and teaches child abuse,’ said Josephine Moody, a former member of the Springfield congregation who worked in the church’s nursery ‘Parents listen to him and believe it is God’s instruction that they beat their children…’” [News Journal, January 22, 1979]
See also Cosnews.org, particularly the articles collection; also: “Durham Loyal Ripoffs”; “Survivors of Frederick A. Drummonds’ Cult”; as well as these articles from the Philadelphia Inquirer: “10%: A Fair Assessment? As A Growing Concern, Minister Also Has Tv And Ad Costs To Meet,” April 8, 1986; “Music Fair Asks Court To Evict Pastor,” April 24, 1986; “Judge Denies Request By Pastor To Overrule Eviction From Theater,” April 25, 1986; “Judge: Music Fair Did Church No Disservice,” April 25, 1986; “Savior Or Satan? Preacher Drummond Surrounded By Controversy,” August 27, 1986; “Ex-member Sues Church, Founder, Contending He Was Misled On Loans,” September 11, 1986; “Accused Of ‘Mind Control,’ He Loses Penn Church,” March 26, 1992. Also: “Suit Slapped Against Church Officer,” Delaware County New Network, October 19, 2005
Arrested: Anthony Claret, Roman Catholic priest, Church of St. Therese of Child Jesus (Diocese of Kattar), Manchakonam, Tamil Nadu, India, following a raid on the church in which police rescued 18 children said to be victims of child trafficking. UCA News reports: “An executive identified as Jayakumar with the non-government organization Blessing Trust was also arrested yesterday in connection with the raid, [authorities] said. Kannyakumari district collector Sreenivasan Nagarajan said ‘our preliminary investigation revealed that the children, 12 of them under 10 years, were brought from Orissa illegally.’ The children were sent from the NGO and kept on the church premises. Jayakumar is a friend of the priest, who wanted to start a home for destitute children ‘without following the legal procedures,’ Nagarajan said.” Story: UCA News, June 25, 2012
Arrested: Earl Wayne Gann, 56, girls’ soccer head coach, Ontario Christian High School (“Growing Christian Leaders”), Ontario, California, and former AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization) coach, on suspicion of sexually assaulting one of his players, a 14-year-old girl, on the school grounds. Gann, currently in custody on $750,000 bail, has been fired. Story: Press-Enterprise, June 27, 2012; Los Angeles Times, June 27, 2012; NBC Los Angeles, June 27, 2012. See also: Statement, Ryan Groen, Superintendent, Ontario Christian Schools
Charged: Charles Christopher “Chuck” Hager, 47, New Beginnings Christian Fellowship, Stony Point, North Carolina, with 13 felony counts of insurance fraud. The Hickory Daily Record reports: “While serving as pastor, Hager worked at May’s Meats in Taylorsville. The AFLAC insurance company contacted the North Carolina Department of Insurance and reported that Hager had filed a fraudulent disability claim while continuing to work full time. The company said Hager committed the fraud from December through May.” Accused of stealing around $23,000, Hager says he is innocent. Story: WSOC (with video), June 19, 2012; Hickory Daily Record, June 20, 2012
Sentenced: Paul Hawksley, 43, former youth leader, Free Evangelical Fellowship, Easton, Massachusetts, to life in prison following his conviction on multiple counts of child rape committed against an 11-year-old boy in his care, whom he raped repeatedly, once in the church bathroom, between 2003 and 2004. The Taunton Daily Gazette notes: “In a separate case in 2006, Hawksley pleaded guilty to four counts of statutory rape, four counts of indecent assault on a child under 14 and four counts of indecent assault on a child older than 14. His prison term had expired on those convictions at the time of his sentencing Monday.” Story: Taunton Daily Gazette, June 26, 2012; Sun Chronicle, June 26, 2012; Easton Patch, June 27, 2012
Charged: Joseph Jiang, 29, Roman Catholic priest, St. Louis Cathedral Basilica, St. Louis, Missouri, with first-degree endangerment of the welfare of a child and “first-offense sexual conduct.”; Jiang is accused of fondling a 16-year-old girl “three times between May and June of this year,” reports KMOV, which adds: “Authorities said the family had Jiang over at their home and would occasionally let him spend the night because of the far drive home.” Jiang, who was ordained in 2010, bonded out on $25,000 bail. Story: KMOV, June 28, 2012
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