By Sarah Muench
Arizona Republic
January 2, 2008
http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/0102cr-molestfolo0103.html
Members of Chandler's oldest church are leaning on each other for support after a Sunday-school teacher was arrested on suspicion of molesting a 5-year-old girl at the church.
Police say Terry Greenwood, 62, a Chandler United Methodist Church Sunday-school teacher, molested the same girl on two Sundays at the church.
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| Police say Terry Greenwood, 62, a Chandler United Methodist Church Sunday school teacher, told them that he molested the girl and made her perform oral sex, police reports show. |
He was indicted Monday, Dec. 31by a grand jury on counts of child molestation, sexual conduct with a minor and indecent exposure.
"It's something that none of us wants to have occur in our lives, and it has, and does out there in the community and society more than we like to hear of," Pastor Mike Downing said in a phone interview Wednesday. "Our priority is the pastoral care of our families and our members and our responsibility to our community, in this case in immediate sense of law enforcement. That's what we've been engaged in 24/7."
Chandler United Methodist Church has been a fixture in the downtown community for nearly a century.
About 200 families attend and the congregation roster includes several prominent names that are as familiar as Southeast Valley street names: Appleby, Ryan, Knox and Sossaman.
The church, near Chandler Boulevard and Arizona Avenue, will move this month to make way for redevelopment after the city offered $1.4 million for the property.
At the time of Greenwood's arrest, church administrators sent out an e-mail to members saying they were "aware that a member has been arrested on allegations of inappropriate behavior," Downing and members said.
In a police report released this week, police said Greenwood told them he molested the girl and made her perform a sex act. Greenwood was being held without bond in Maricopa County Jail.
The girl's mother heard her daughter talking about the sex acts, she said in a police report, and police interviewed the girl.
In a police-recorded phone interview with the victim's mother, Greenwood admitted exposing himself to her daughter twice, and said he made a mistake and he was ashamed of it, according to police reports.
Greenwood told her he blamed his actions on medication he was taking for high blood pressure, that he has erectile dysfunction and mental problems, the police report shows.
Police arrested Greenwood on Dec. 21 on suspicion of child molestation, sexual conduct with a minor and indecent exposure.
Police said Greenwood admitted touching the girl inappropriately Dec. 9 in an empty classroom at the church, and then, the following Sunday, exposing himself and asking her to perform oral sex in an art room.
Greenwood told police "he knew he could take advantage of her because of her age, she trusted him and she would not tell because she was always so quiet," Chandler Detective John Beekman wrote in the report. "Terry admitted that since he felt he got away with it that first Sunday, it emboldened him to do it again the following Sunday."
Before the alleged molestation, he told police he also tried to touch other girls in December in the class. Greenwood tried to put his hand under their dresses and they pushed his hand away, he told police.
According to a police interview, Greenwood said that months earlier he also tried to inappropriately touch friends of his 11-year-old daughter.
Police said in their report that Greenwood told them he was ashamed of what he has done, and had became curious after viewing child pornography and then felt "titillated and sexually aroused" when touching or trying to touch the young girls.
"It just baffled me," said Gwen Rusk, a member of the church. "You assume a church is a safe place. Everyone out there wants to believe everyone is good. You want to think it's a bad dream. It's sad."
Downing said he has come to know the Greenwoods and that Greenwood was moderately active in the church as an adult volunteer, but "there were no indicators" of his actions, Downing said.
"One of the things I could reflect on was that he was normative," Downing said.
Downing said the church has a policy and guidelines to do background checks. But in this case, Greenwood does not have a known history of sex offenses.
"It's a real critical time for all of us, it's just a gut check kind of event," Downing said. "This congregation really has responded in a very Christ-centered and responsible way."
At least one other possible victim has come forward, according to the report and police are investigating, said Sgt. Rick Griner, a Chandler police spokesman.
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