BishopAccountability.org
	Church Deals with Sex Arrest By Carli Brosseau Tucson Citizen January 19, 2008 http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/74534.php Members of an East Side church whose youth minister was recently accused of child molestation are standing behind the church's leadership as it evaluates if it did all it could to protect the congregation. "We're really trying to be open and honest about this," said Pastor John Anderson of the East Tucson Baptist Church, 9100 E. Speedway Blvd., where the suspected abuse took place. "This is new territory for us. They don't teach this in seminary." The congregation of about 120 came under the spotlight after the Dec. 11 arrest of its youth minister, Christopher Decaire, 57, of the 9000 block of East Shiloh Street. Decaire was charged with two counts of molestation of a child, four counts of sexual conduct with a minor, two counts of sexual abuse and one count of continued sexual abuse of a child, Tucson police spokesman Sgt. Mark Robinson said. The allegations include the abuse of a 13-year-old girl over the course of a year, Robinson said. They include two families, Anderson said. Because of the investigation, neither Anderson nor Robinson would comment further. Anderson said he told most church members about the allegations in person. "Parents and church members are confident we did what we could," he said. Anderson said all church employees and volunteers are put through a background and credit check. Decaire did not show up on a search of local and national sex offender registry Web sites. Online court records show he had no criminal record in Pima County. Because police asked Anderson not to comment on the investigation, he would not say whether there were similar allegations or disciplinary actions earlier against Decaire. Decaire has been put on administrative leave, Anderson said. He posted a $75,000 bond Wednesday, a jail clerk said. Anderson said between 15 and 20 youths participated in programs Decaire oversaw, which included Bible study and spiritual growth workshops. Most were teenagers in the first two years of high school. Decaire had been ministering on a part-time basis for two years, Anderson said. He volunteered at the church for about six years before that. The probable cause statement in the search warrant issued for the church implies that the suspected abuse took place on church property. The search warrant return shows that two patches of carpet and padding were taken from the church. The warrant authorized police to search the church's youth or associate office as well as a white 2006 Ford F-150 pickup. It gave them permission to swab Decaire's mouth for DNA and to take pieces of furniture or of the building that were "found to contain biological material when viewed with a forensic light source." Anderson said the church's youth classes have not been canceled. The ministry is now led by his wife, whom he declined to name. Deb Wilson, who teaches the congregation's classes for 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds, said members of the church are withholding judgment until they have more facts. "What happened? We just don't know," she said. "I'm not sure we have all the pieces." Wilson has been a church member for three years. She was a youth minister in Montana for 16 years before that. She said she worries that the allegations could have a negative effect on how kids are taught. "I don't want my kids to ever feel that they can't come up and hug me," she said. "We're all just waiting to see what happens."
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