Former Church Volunteer Jailed for Child Sexual Abuse

By Daryl Slade
Calgary Herald
April 20, 2013

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Former+church+volunteer+jailed+child+sexual+abuse/8267851/story.html

A former Baptist church volunteer in Calgary has been sentenced to 38 months in prison for sexual abuse of four boys, dating back more than 30 years, as well as possession of child pornography,

Provincial court Judge Anne Brown said the man has been categorized as a pedophile and has a sexual deviancy toward young boys. She gave him 32 months for the abuse charges and six months consecutive for the nearly 700 images of child pornography.

Russell Louis Rodman, 59, will be registered as a sex offender for life. He must provide a DNA sample and not attend any park, playground or other public place where children would normally attend for the next 10 years.

Crown prosecutor Darren Maloney, who noted Rodman was in a position of authority over the victims, had sought a sentence of 42 months. Defence lawyer Joan Blumer argued for two years.

Rodman, who now lives in High River, was not charged until he came forward in January 2012, although the charges stem from incidents between 1981 and 1995 at a Calgary residence.

He pleaded guilty last November to two counts of sexual contact with a person under 14 and one count each of gross indecency, sexual assault and possession of child pornography.

A publication ban protects the names of the victims.

There were no charges stemming from when he was deacon and treasurer at Bridgeland Baptist Fellowship Church, which he joined in the mid-1990s and resigned in 2011.

Rodman sought counselling and went to police, church staff said after he was charged,

Calgary police started investigating in October 2011, after Rodman reported to RCMP.

Investigators said the charges relate to boys ranging in age from 11 to 14.

Rodman was a church volunteer in a leadership role at the time of the incidents, police said.

Contact: dslade@calgaryherald.com