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	Panel: Ex-pastor Guilty in 1980s Sex Abuse Claims Chicago Breaking News November 13, 2008 http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/11/ronald-campbell-sex-abuse-presbyterian-snap.html Two years after sexual abuse allegations surfaced about Rev. Ronald Campbell, the Presbyterian ministry in Chicago has found the married father of two guilty of sexually abusing an underage girl for four years during the late 1980s. The six-member church panel determined unanimously that Campbell, 52, had on several occasions sexually abused Julie Lemley Hokanson, who was a 14 -year-old member of First Presbyterian Church of River Forest when the abuse began. They also found him guilty of misuse of office and lying to church officials. During the three-day trial in late October, it came out that Campbell, who initially denied wrongdoing, had a tattoo of the victim's initials enclosed in a heart on his upper buttocks. Campbell has since been suspended from ordained office for a minimum of four years. He can reapply for his ministry, but only after he has taken steps toward rehabilitation, healing and reconciliation. In it's investigation, the church found that from 1985 through 1989, Campbell engaged in sexual acts with Hokanson, and lied to church officials about it in 2006 and 2007. The trial comes at the end of a long journey for Hokanson, now 37. For two years she fought for the Presbytery to censure Campbell and remove him from his post at the Elmwood Park Presbyterian Church. In July of 2007, the church paid her $150,000 to prevent any civil suits against the Church or Campbell. Because the statute of limitations had run out on the abuse, Campbell cannot be tried on criminal charges and will not serve time in prison. Instead, the church tried him in its own court system. Hokanson said she set aside expectations for the trial and was pleased with the panel's conclusion. "This is definitely the closure of a chapter," said Hokanson, who lives in Minnesota. "When I went into the trial, I was trying to let go of the outcome. The vindication was such a relief." Hokanson and her family had been pressuring the church as late as this March to move forward with the trial proceedings. The church said it was following protocol at the time, and would make a decision after formal charges had been levied and a trial was concluded. "The actions of Rev. Campbell betrayed a sacred position of trust and responsibility - that of pastor to youth parishioner," according to a statement released Thursday by Robert Reynolds, the head of the Presbytery of Chicago. "These acts were reprehensible, and we hope and pray that the conclusion of this trial moves the victim further along the path of healing." Last week, Campbell resigned as Director of Admissions for Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Trinity Graduate School in suburban Deerfield, where he had been since 2005. He also resigned from his post as Director of Financial Aid for Trinity International University. On Thursday, Campbell's father defended his son against the church's findings, calling his son an "outstanding man." "I thoroughly believe he is completely innocent," said Wallace Campbell, 79, from his home in Scotia, NY.
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