Church Leadership, Public Gather to Discuss Sexual Abuse Prevention

By Sara Higgins
Midland Reporter-Telegram
March 24, 2012

http://www.mywesttexas.com/life/article_5107ad90-6b64-581a-b898-fa40865d18bd.html

Joe Barron, Don Simpson and Ryan Wonderly all were church leaders trusted by their communities, and all have faced allegations related to child sexual abuse.

Fort Worth-based trial lawyer Greg Love held sessions for both church leaders and the public Tuesday at the Midland Center to discuss sexual abuse prevention and awareness. Love, who has represented victims of sexual abuse since 1994, worked to debunk myths in attendees' minds about who can be a predator, and what warning signs to look for in their own congregations.

"There's a real good chance that poor information and misunderstanding is going to lead to a poor result in what we do to protect our children," he said.

Love, who is a youth leader at his home church, co-founded safety system and training organization MinistrySafe with his wife, Kimberlee Norris. The two help congregations around the nation in the design and implementation of safety systems to reduce the risk of child sexual abuse.

"I think that you'd be challenged to find anybody who didn't care about the sexual abuse of children," he said. "The goal is to say to the community, 'Here's the information you need to go about the business of protecting your child.'"

A session early in the afternoon was intended to equip church leaders in understanding the risk of abuse to help them design systems to protect children in their care. Tuesday night, Love addressed members of the public on how they can help implement and support safety systems that are already in place. The sessions were sponsored by First Baptist Church of Midland, Providence Presbyterian Church of Odessa and the Basin Baptist Network.

First Baptist Church has been able to add new safety measures in the midst of its current construction, according to associate minister of missions Hank Henry. In addition to background checks for volunteers and employees, as well as implementing awareness training on-site and online, the church is working on adding controlled access and an emergency communication system to key areas of the church.

Most churches already have employed background checks and child check-in systems as part of their security, Love said, but as the secular world continues to raise its barriers, churches are being left behind. A skillful screening process includes an application, interview, checked references and a criminal background check, Love said. He provides these resources at a cost on his own website, www.ministrysafe.com.

"Here's the sad truth in my opinion: Sexual abusers are going to go where the barriers of protection are the lowest," Love said. "Sadly, today that place is the church."

Love made mention of recent news surrounding St. Stephen's Catholic Church in Midland, where authorities at the parish contacted police upon hearing a young boy allegedly had been sexually assaulted by 26-year-old William Velasquez in May 2011. Velasquez, who occasionally attended Mass at the church but wasn't a member, is being held on a $100,000 bond, and Bishop Michael Pfeifer of the Diocese of San Angelo said in a statement last week the child and child's parents have been offered pastoral care and counseling.

"I assure you, (child sexual abuse) is on the front of people's radar there, but my goal is that it's one of those things where we can learn from others' bad examples before we become the bad example," Love said.

One of the biggest misconceptions about sexual abusers of children is they are the "snatch and grab" psychotic predators, Love said. Instead, the most frequent abusers are preferential predators, who have a deviant sexual desire that takes over their lives. There's no way to visually pick out who these people may be, but church leadership can look for high-risk indicators in volunteer or employment applications, such as a strong desire to work with a certain gender and age group without being able to explain why.

Love encouraged church leaders to be strict in the screening process for volunteers hoping to work with children, instead of allowing anyone who is interested to have access to youth.

"Working with our children is a privilege, not a right," Love said.

Kelview Heights Baptist Church children's minister Daryl Berry said though his church aims to share the Gospel message with all people, the protection of the congregation comes first.

"You never want anything to happen, but it's better to be prepared," he said. "It only takes once, or even one accusation."

The Rev. Danny Anderson has been the pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church for almost one year, and is using his 12 years of experience in student ministry to update the church's safety precautions.

"We always want to protect our children, but it's kind of like an assumption that that's not going to happen to us," he said. "It's really about protecting everybody, including our parents and guests, to say, 'We are able to take care of you and your children.'"

Sara Higgins can be reached at shiggins@mrt.com.

When a child reports abuse:

- Listen and respond calmly

- Be sensitive to vague or partial disclosures

- Do not ask shaming questions

- Report to supervisor immediately

- Report to authorities

- Don't promise to keep secrets if a child has been hurt

Who needs to report?

In the state of Texas, any person who suspects a child has been mistreated or sexually abused is required by law to contact authorities. Failure to do so can result in a Class B misdemeanor, even for clergy, doctors and attorneys.

What is sexual abuse?

Sexual abuse is legally defined as any tricked, forced, manipulated or coerced sexual activity for the pleasure of the abuser, Love said. The abuse can be physical, verbal or visual and include instant messaging, texting or showing a child pornography.