Black Collar Crime Round-Up: August 28, 2012
Patrick Edouard • Kelvin Lambert • Missouri Baptist Convention • Pamela A. West
Sentenced: Ronald “Ron” Asplund, 57, former youth coordinator, Oak Harbor Lutheran Church, Oak Harbor, Washington; and former mentor, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Island County; to the maximum 11 years and four months in prison, after pleading guilty to two felony counts of second-degree child rape. The victims were two boys, ages 12 and 13, one of whom Asplund met through the church and molested during an overnight church “lock-in.” The Whidbey News Times (which previously noted that Asplund had been investigated “for similar allegations six years ago,” and “admitted to molesting three different boys and showing pornographic photos to other children at a youth camp in Arlington, Wash.”) adds that Asplund also taught at “a private, now-defunct Christian school in Langley from 2001 to 2003.”
Married since 1983 and the father of two girls, Asplund will likely die in prison; diagnosed with cancer in 2005, he has been given between one and three years to live; a page soliciting donations for “medical costs and related expenses” is still accessible. While his wife describes him as “a heck of a nice guy,” the Whidbey News Times reports: “In an interview with the Department of Correction, Asplund expressed remorse, but also blamed the boys for instigating the sexual assaults.” Story: Conservative Babylon, May 5, 2012; Whidbey News Times, August 17, 2012
Guilty plea: Beth Ann Boger, 46, former bookkeeper, St. Joseph Catholic Church, Garrett, Indiana, to ten felony counts, including wire fraud and income tax evasion, related to the embezzlement of more than $364,000 from the church over a period of about five years. Boger is said to have written checks from the church to her own business (“Accents by Beth”), after which she would transfer the funds from her business to to her personal account, and then “alter the payee from Accents by Beth to a vendor used by the church, according to court documents,” reports the Journal Gazette. While a sentencing date has not been announced, Boger agreed in her plea deal to pay $364,436 in restitution, plus $50,385 in unpaid taxes. Story: U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Indiana, May 19, 2011; U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Indiana, August 24, 2012; Journal Gazette, August 25, 2012
Sued: Clear Creek Community Church, League City, Texas, for defamation by former member Michael Edward Harsen, who claims the church “informed its members, non-members, volunteers and the community” that Harsen “was a criminal and was mentally ill,” according to the lawsuit. The Galveston Daily News reports that Harsen’s attorney, Michael L. Dahlenburg, “said the reason his client was banned from the church is related to his ongoing divorce and attempts to see his young daughter during services. Harsen has no criminal history, was a church member of three years and played guitar, base and drums at the church where his wife was in the choir, Dahlenburg said. ‘According to my client, if you’re in the midst of a divorce, you’re eliminated from any volunteer activity in the church,’ Dahlenburg said.” Story: Michael Edward Harsen v. Clear Creek Community Church, August 21, 2012 (via Courthouse News Service); Galveston Daily News, August 24, 2012
Convicted: Patrick Edouard, Haitian-born former pastor, Covenant Reformed Church, Pella, Iowa, (“until his multiple extramarital affairs came to light in December 2010”), “of four charges that he violated a law banning sex between people who provide ‘mental health services’ and those who come to seek guidance from them,” reports the Des Moines Register. “He was also found guilty of having a pattern or practice of exploitation. Edouard was acquitted, however, of three more serious rape charges — apparently because jurors agreed with defense arguments that the affairs were never anything except consensual relationships.” The dropped charges stemmed from allegations Edouard raped three women from his church over a three-year-period. Edouard is scheduled for sentencing in October. Story: Conservative Babylon, March 26, 2011; Conservative Babylon, February 3, 2012; Des Moines Register, August 24, 2012
Charged: Kelvin B. Lambert, 39, pastor, Second Baptist Church, Platte City, Missouri; former pastor, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atchison, Kansas; alumnus, Glad Tidings Bible College, St. Louis, and Sure Foundation Bible Institute (which appears to be an online school); with attempted invasion of privacy and trespassing. Lambert is accused of standing on a lawn chair and peeping into the bathroom window of a woman who was taking a shower. Police were led to Lambert through a license plate number reported by a witness. According to the church website, Lambert is married and the father of two children, ages 9 and 12. Story: KSHB, August 15, 2012; Kansas City Star, August 15, 2012
IRS investigation requested: Missouri Baptist Convention, by Americans United, in a letter citing MBC Director of Public Policy Don Hinkle‘s endorsement of “two candidates for public office in the August Republican primary — U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin and state attorney general candidate Ed Martin” in “a May 2012 edition of The Pathway, the official publication of the Missouri Baptist Convention.” The letter from AU Executive Director Barry W. Lynn states in part: “In a column headlined ‘Allegiance to God, not a political party,’ Hinkle wrote, ‘We want government leaders who are righteous and who will pass righteous laws that serve the common good and bring glory to Jehovah God who established government and is Sovereign. This is why I personally support candidates like U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, a Republican who wants to challenge Democrat Claire McCaskill for her U.S. Senate seat, and Republican Ed Martin, the St. Louis attorney who is running for state attorney general. I support them because they view many of the critical issues the same way I do and in a way that is consistent with God’s Word.’” Lynn notes that while Hinkle “characterized his endorsement as ‘personal’ … federal tax law does not permit the employees of tax exempt organizations to use official publications to intervene in elections.”
Lynn adds: “Hinkle’s column is not the only evidence of campaign intervention by the Missouri Baptist Convention,” citing a July, 2012, edition of The Pathway in which “an article headlined ‘More than 100 Missouri Baptist pastors, leaders endorse Akin (plus full list)’ reported that a large number of Missouri Baptist Convention leaders and pastors had endorsed Akin. Naming each of the endorsers, the article reports that church leaders support Akin for his ‘long-standing commitment to our God-given rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and his proven record of defending life, traditional marriage, religious liberty, the Second Amendment, free enterprise, limited government, fiscal responsibility and a strong national defense.’ The article noted that the Akin endorsement document included this appeal: ‘It is for such reasons as these that we the undersigned encourage our fellow Missourians to support Congressman Todd Akin as our next United States Senator.’” Story: Letter to Lois G. Lerner, Director, Exempt Organizations Division, Internal Revenue Service, August 23, 2012
Charged: Pamela A. “Pam” West, 49, former business manager, Wyatt Park Christian Church, St. Joseph, Missouri, with embezzling more than $30,000. StJoeChannel.com reports that West is accused of using “Wyatt Park’s checking account and credit cards to pay her bills and make purchases,” forging “another woman’s name on checks from the church’s account to pay her monthly rent,” and “writing payroll checks to herself worth nearly $20,000.” News-Press Now adds that West is also accused of forging “church-issued vouchers to her family to be used for gas.” West is being held on a $15,000 bond. Story: StJoeChannel.com, August 27, 2012; News-Press Now, August 27, 2012
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