Boy, 13, "Beaten, Whipped and Forced to Dig His Own Grave As Punishment on Orders of the Family Pastor"

By Paul Thompson
Daily Mail
April 10, 2012

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2127758/Boy-13-beaten-whipped-forced-dig-grave-punishment-orders-family-pastor.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

A 13-year-old boy was forced to dig his own grave and partly buried alive after his mother went to a church pastor for guidance on how to discipline her son.

The terrified teen was driven into the desert by two men and handed a shovel and told to dig a grave.

He was also allegedly whipped with a belt and ordered to lie down in the grave where dirt was tossed on top of him.

Mastermind: California pastor Lonnie Remmer, seen left in court and right on Facebook, is accused of having a 13-year-old boy tortured as a form of punishment for an unspecified incident of 'sexual misconduct'

The boy was later driven back to the home of church Pastor Lonnie Remmer's where he was tortured with a pair of pliers and pepper spray.

The cruel punishment was carried out on the orders of 54-year-old Pastor Remmer, according to police in Corona, California.

The teen's mother had approached Pastor Remmer, who runs the Heart of Worship Church in the town, seeing guidance on how to control her son.

She said the teen had been involved in some 'sexual misconduct' and asked for help disciplining him.

Investigators said Remmer and two other men, Nick Craig and Daryll Jeter, meted out their own form of punishment.

Remmer allegedly had Nick Craig, right, and Daryll Jeter, center, take the boy out to the wilderness where they beat him with a shovel and forced him to dig his own grave, in which they partially buried him

The trio then returned to Remmer's house where the teen was allegedly pepper sprayed and tortured with pliers

Craig, 22, and Jeter, 28, drove the boy from the group home run by the church 100 miles to the Barstow area.

The teen was forced to dig a grave, threatened with death, beaten with a shovel and half buried, said police chief Captain Jerry Rodriguez

When the boy was brought back to Corona, the torture continued.

He was brought to the pastor’s home for Bible study, where, police said, he was tortured by the pastor with a pair of pliers.

The boy did not require hospitalization, police said.

It is not thought the boy's 30-year-old mother was aware of the discipline being used on her son.

All three men were arrested after police were tipped off about the punishment.

Craig and Jeter were being held on suspicion of kidnapping, torture, child abuse and conspiracy.

Remmer, seen here in another photo from Facebook, applied in 2011 to serve as a Corona Police Department chaplains but failed to pass the criminal and personal background check

Remmers is being held on suspicion of torture, child abuse and conspiracy.

The boy and his 7-year-old sister have since been taken into Child Protective Services custody.

Corona police Capt. Jerry Rodriguez said Remmers applied in 2011 to serve as one of several Corona Police Department chaplains but failed to pass the department’s criminal and personal background check.

A website for the church lists their mission statement which reads: 'Our mission at the Heart of Worship is to raise the church body to be true disciples of Christ, meaning that if Christ would not think it, say it, or do it, neither will we.'