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	Seminar Helps Clergy Ward off Sexual Predators Aim Is to Give Church Leaders the Tools to Deal with Predatory Sex Offenders in and around Their Congregations By Sanne Specht Mail Tribune September 17, 2008 http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080917/NEWS/809170327 Ministers, priests, rabbis and church elders can learn how to protect their faithful against predatory sex offenders during a clergy-based informational seminar planned Tuesday at Table Rock Fellowship. The church community is designed to offer trust, acceptance and forgiveness — a perfect trinity of psychological factors that can be twisted by sex abusers for use against victims, said Michael Fansler, seminar trainer and retired Jackson County parole officer. "Sex offenders are highly manipulative and would naturally gravitate to this type of environment. But if we flat told offenders they could not worship, we would be sued," said Fansler, who spent 16 years dealing with the sex offender population before his retirement in 2005. Tuesday's training is a community collaboration among the Children's Advocacy Center, Table Rock Fellowship, Jackson County Adult Community Corrections and Choices Sexual Offender Treatment Program, said Cari Dickson, a forensic interviewer at the CAC. "The reason we are doing this training is so that we can provide information to the religious community so that they can provide better safety to children and families in their congregations," Dickson said. "Also, so that they have a better understanding of victim issues and how to help victims with their healing process." The training will include a session allowing participants to work on a security/safety plan for their churches, Dickson said. Table Rock Fellowship Pastor Greg Rich said he needed to get educated on the issues after he was contacted by a convicted sex offender who asked to worship at his church. "We needed to define protocols and policy that will protect the people on the church campus — and protect (the offender) too," said Rich. Rich requires convicted sex offenders to meet with him personally and release their background information and names of treatment providers and parole officers, he said. "We outline the parameters of where they can and can't be on campus," Rich said. Rich and his staff at Table Rock Fellowship work hard to keep everyone safe, he said. The church's officials, including youth pastors, are educated about how to protect children, how to report abuse and how to avoid becoming a target themselves, Rich said. "We talk about who takes who to the bathroom and things like that. We've set up these protocols to keep children safe. But also to protect adults against innocent accusations," he said. Rich's biggest worry is for unknown predators who have not yet been caught, but are no doubt attending his and other churches in the Rogue Valley, he said. "That's the sad reality of it. There's just no way to know who is a sexual predator and who is not. Tragically, sometimes offenders will target a church," Rich said. Church members who commit sexual abuse are sometimes protected and defended by their fellow congregation members, Fansler said. He declined to identify the church or the incident, but said he helped set up these training seminars almost 20 years ago after witnessing church members embrace an abuser. Denial or naivete can keep people from seeing the truth, Fansler said. "He really pulled the wool over everyone's eyes," Fansler said. "As a part of the treatment process, we made him go disclose to the church people what he had done." Churches need to set up policies that show support and compassion for the victim, said Fansler. "Our culture has a tendency towards avoidance. We also sexualize everything. How we sexualize children is unconscionable," he said. Rich hopes the seminar will help educate many fellow clergy members "so that they realize there could be a danger within their congregation," he said. "We, as due diligence, have to do what we can to prevent this abuse. Most churches take this real seriously," Rich said. Reach reporter Sanne Specht at 776-4497 or e-mail sspecht@mailtribune.com.
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