Newark, Del., Man Cops Plea to Molestation in the 1980s Linked to Delco Church

By Alex Rose
Daily Times
December 12, 2012

www.delcotimes.com/articles/2012/12/12/news/doc50c80803d87b1897723317.txt

MEDIA COURTHOUSE — A former senior member of a controversial church pleaded guilty Tuesday to four counts of indecent sexual assault without consent and two charges of corrupting the morals of a minor for molesting four young female church members between 1981 and 1988.

Richard Bellingham, 58, of Newark, Del., was arrested in June after former members of the congregation came forward to describe physical and sexual abuse when they were between 4 and 15 years old.

The first victim alerted Pennsylvania State Police and the Delaware County District Attorney’s office to the abuse in January, telling them that Bellingham began molesting her in 1981 when he lived with her family.

That woman, now 39, said her family belonged to the Church of Our Savior at the time, where her father served as a high-ranking member. Bellingham was a close friend of her father.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, the church encouraged church leaders to administer corporal punishment, such as lashings with a belt or length of hose. The victim claimed Bellingham would assign her impossible tasks, then “punish” her failures in his bedroom.

“Once in the bedroom, Bellingham would sit in a chair and force (the victim) to strip naked and stand between his legs in front of the chair,” according to the affidavit. “He would then place his hand on her hips … and stare at her body, while telling her why she was about to be punished.”

This originally involved bending her over and spanking her with his hand, but later advanced to using a belt. The woman also described sexual assaults in Bellingham’s car while he was driving her home from church.

Three other women, including the first victim’s sister, later came forward and described similar incidents taking place in locations throughout the county, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland.

One woman said she was molested so often it was “basically a daily occurrence” for six years of her young life, while another claimed to have been as young as 4 or 5 years old when Bellingham fondled her vagina as she sat on his lap.

“She was so young at the time that she didn’t know that what he was doing was wrong,” according to the affidavit written by PSP Trooper Jon Sunderlin.

The affidavit said Bellingham would also penetrate at least one of the victims with a partially amputated right index finger.

Sunderlin found Bellingham was long suspected of sexual abuse by other members of the church, which has since stopped operating. Bellingham, represented by Steven Deavor, allegedly admitted to his crimes during a subsequent interview with Sunderlin.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Galantino said he would recommend a sentence of 18 to 36 months in a state correctional facility, as well as lifetime sex offender registration under Megan’s Law and 10 years of probation.

Galantino said he also intends to provide additional victim statements at sentencing, which Judge Michael F.X. Coll has set for March 4 pending the results of a psychosexual evaluation and a state Sexual Offenders Assessment Board evaluation to determine if Bellingham is a sexually violent predator.



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