Robert Dando • Jermel Manns • Jerry Nickelsen
Felix Owino • William Lee Porter
Jeffrey Alan Wasley, a.k.a. “Magic Jeff”
Joshua Wisdom
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.
Probation hearing scheduled: Perez Blackmon, 42, newly elected pastor of Rosinvick Missionary Baptist Church, Blakely, Georgia, to determine if Blackmon’s new role as church leader violates the terms of his probation after his conviction of of statutory rape in 2005. Notes one vocal opponent, a court order specifying the conditions of Blackmon’s probation mandates that Blackmon “shall have no contact whether directly in person or indirectly through any means of communication or employment, volunteer activity or otherwise with any child under the age of 18,” and that pastoring a church violates this condition. Story: Albany Herald, September 1, 2010; sex offender registry page (more…)
Guilty: James Blaine, 61, former pastor, Good Shepherd Church, Greenfield, Ohio, after pleading guilty to one count of forgery and one count of aggravated theft, stemming from charges he embezzled more than $100,000 from his church. Blaine is scheduled for sentencing October 1st, at which time it is expected he will also be ordered to pay upwards of $200,000 in restitution. Story: 
Sentenced: Michael Louis Anthony, 43, former youth minister, Calvary Chapel, Longview, Washington, to five years for a year-and-a-half sexual affair with a teenage girl, which began when she was 15. The girl told police she had had sex with Anthony “at least 200 times,” including in the lobby of the chapel. Anthony was caught by police with his half-clothed victim in a parked car. Anthony also said the girl’s parents “were aware of the relationship.” Anthony pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree rape of a child, third-degree child molestation and first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor under his supervision. He has “waived extradition to Oregon, where he faces another sex charge with the same victim.” Story: 
Possible mediation: Allison Brant, 31, former Catholic school principal, St. Mary of the Woods Elementary, Whitesville, Kentucky, facing several charges of rape and sodomy stemming from a two-month-long sexual affair with 15-year-old boy, and for providing alcohol to minors. The state attorney is apparently open to mediation and settlement in lieu of a trial. Story: Conservative Babylon, 
Captured: Robert Lee Adams, 46, pastor, Mount Calvary Tabernacle, Gastonia, North Carolina, thanks to an anonymous tip, and charged with three counts of first-degree statutory sex offense against a child (a five-year-old girl), as well as charges of statutory rape, first-degree sex offense with a child, taking indecent liberties with a child, and other sex offenses. Reportedly, neither Adams is cooperating with the investigation, giving police “the silent treatment.” Story: 
Charged: Ralph Lee Aaron, 54, pastor, Grace Christian Fellowship, Andalusia, Alabama — originally charged with three counts of first-degree sexual abuse, including first-degree sodomy, of a boy under 12 — and, ultimately, a total of 152 counts termed “‘atrocious acts’ stemming from allegations he sexually abused and tortured young boys while on camping trips.” Bond set at $24.2 million. Story: 
Sentenced: Craig Coon, 46, former youth pastor, Cornerstone Church, Clyde Township, Michigan, to six months, the maximum sentence allowed, after pleading guilty to “accosting a child for immoral purposes,” involving an incident with a 13-year-girl November 11, 2008. Story: 
Sentenced: Randy Brock, 41, pastor, Liberty Baptist Church, Fircrest, Washington, to one year in jail, suspended, and a $300 fine, after pleading guilty to making repeated obscene phone calls to young female baristas at a coffee shop near his church. Brock, who would ask the women “sexually explicit questions” about their bras and panties, blamed his victims for wearing “revealing clothing” as the reason he made the calls. Brock refused to talk to a local news station, saying only that “he thought the case and guilty plea would never be made public.” Brock is married and the father of four young girls. The church’s 
Arrested: Michael Lowell Barnes, 64, former Roman Catholic priest, while awaiting extradition to Maryland on charges of child sexual abuse, with multiple counts of similar crimes. Story: 
Hearing postponed: Dale Giffin, 60, former pastor, Zion Lutheran Church, Youngstown, Ohio, indicted in February, 2009, on six counts of rape (i.e., repeatedly raping a female parishioner between 1993 and 1996). A hearing on admissibility of evidence was postponed indefinitely after his defense attorney argued that the charges should be dismissed because the sex was consensual, not forced. Nevertheless, “Bishop Elizabeth Eaton of the Northeastern Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, said, based on her investigation, that she finds the accusations against Giffin ‘very credible,’ and that she does not believe the relationship was consensual.” Giffin pled not guilty to all charges. Story: WKBN, 
Sentenced: Jessica Banks, 65, pastor, Word of Life Apostolic Church, a Moreno Valley, California, strip-mall church, to nearly 37 years plus two additional stretches of 15-to-life, for the ongoing, horrendous physical abuse of her five young adopted daughters. Story: 
Arrested: Bradley Boda, 39, church youth director & volunteer, Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church, Longmont, Colorado, and Fort Collins high school counselor “on suspicion” of multiple counts of child sex abuse against multiple victims, including “boys as young as 11.” Story: 
Arrested: Hence Hamblin, Jr., 66, who in August resigned as pastor of the West Middletown Church of God, Madison Township, Ohio, for “for allegedly inappropriately touching an underage female,” and charged with one count of gross sexual imposition, a fourth-degree felony. Free on bail; scheduled for preliminary hearing September 17, 2009. Story: 
Backstory: 
Sentenced: Gregory John Briehl, 55, pastor, 400-member Peace Lutheran Church (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), Charlottesville, Virginia, to five years — suspended — plus one year of supervised probation and forfeiture of his home computers, for possession of child pornography. Briehl had entered an “
