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	SK Pastor, Church Aroused Suspicions of Neighbors, County By Josh Farley Kitsap Sun October 31, 2007 http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2007/oct/31/sk-pastor-church-aroused-suspicions-of-neighbors/ As the sex abuse case against a former pastor of a cloistered congregation gathers momentum in Kitsap County courts, details about the church Robbin Leeroy Harper once led are slowly coming to light. But members of the church and those who live nearby were reluctant to give their names to inquiring reporters, and few neighboring churches returned phone calls asking for information about The Church in South Colby. Harper, 60, turned himself into the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office on Monday amid allegations by seven women and girls that he molested or raped them over the course of several years while he was the pastor of the church. A church member answering the church's general phone line Wednesday said Harper "has not been in any capacity or on the payroll" of the church for "at least three years." Kitsap County court documents indicate Harper is unemployed and receives Social Security and Veterans benefits. A neighbor said he served in the Vietnam War. The church member declined to give her name, but she said the church was a group of "good, honest people in this community who haven't done anything wrong." Of Harper, she would only say that "people aren't supposed to depend on a person, they're supposed to have a relationship with the Lord." Another member said it has been a stressful time for her family. Neighbors of the church at 3525 Arvick Road, which is not identified as a church from the road and has two metal gates blocking access to its driveways, described Harper's wife, Christine, as a kind, caring woman, and said that church members were often seen outside and were always polite and friendly. Robbin Harper was described by the two neighbors as "different" and "gruff" and one woman, who asked not to be identified, said neighbors regularly referred to the church as a "compound" and a "cult." One neighbor, who declined to give her name, said that when she first moved into the neighborhood, and when her husband fell ill, Christine Harper sought her out to give her encouragement. The two prayed together and exchanged flowers. "That's why I couldn't believe it," the woman said. She described Robbin Harper as "different." Another neighbor, who lived on the street for the better part of two decades, said neighbors couldn't help but notice the expensive cars the couple drove, a Hummer and a Jaguar, and the more modest, later models that church members drove. They joked that the church was a cult. When the accusations of sexual abuse became public, many neighbors were not surprised, she said. "Neighbors have been calling each other and saying, 'I told you,'" she said, asking that her name not be printed. "I was thinking it was more of a Jim Jones thing, not a pedophile thing," she said in reference to the 1970s cult leader. However, the woman said that often boys, no girls, could be seen working on the property and playing near the front gates, and they were always friendly and polite. She said that Robbin Harper was the opposite. "He tried to be friendly, but you could tell in his demeanor that he was kind of hard," she said. "He never waved. When we would go by, he'd turn his back on us." "I'm sad, but not surprised," she added. Harper's house and the church are located on a 1-acre parcel in a rural South Colby neighborhood where county zoning allows one home every five acres. According to a search of county tax records, Harpers home is 1,440 square feet. A detached garage of 458 square feet is listed, as is a general purpose building with a steel frame structure. There is no square footage listed for that building. The Church in South Colby also owns a rectangular piece of property directly across Arvick Road from Harper's house. That property is listed at 2.31 acres, according to the assessor's office. Like Harper's house, the property across the street is surrounded by a wood fence and gate that allow no view of the property. Aerial map views taken of the property show a large field with a gravel parking area directly behind the gate. Steve Mount, a Kitsap County code enforcement officer, said officials are investigating Harper's property for possible code violations. The Church in South Colby had to apply for a conditional use permit in 1997 because it was operating as a "place of worship" without land use approval, Mount said. The permit was approved by the county hearing examiner, but with conditions, such as a required expansion of the property's septic system. Mount said there's some question over whether all of the conditions were met. In the summer of 2001, the church purchased the property across the road, Mount said, for the development of a park and parking area. Neighbors called the fenced property the "landing zone," the woman said. A forest practice permit was secured for the property, and the county placed a moratorium on development there, to expire in 2006. The permit allowed the site to be logged but then be allowed to revert to forest. However, the parking area remains, Mount said, and that could also constitute a violation. Harper, who made his first appearance in Kitsap County Superior Court on Tuesday, will be formally charged Thursday by Kitsap County prosecutors. Kitsap County Sheriff's Office detectives have given prosecutors five possible charges stemming from six of the alleged victim's statements — two counts of second-degree rape of a child, two counts of first-degree child molestation and one count of first-degree rape of a child. Brynn Grimley and Andrew Binion contributed to this report. Call reporter Josh Farley at (360) 792-9227 or e-mail jfarley@kitsapsun.com.
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