KANSAS CITY (MO)
Kansas City Star
March 7, 2019
By Glenn E. Rice and Judy L. Thomas
A victims’ advocate group is demanding that a Kansas City Police Department chaplain who once faced sexual abuse allegations be removed.
The Rev. Stan Archie, who is a licensed counselor, has served as a police chaplain for about a decade. In 2014, a Jackson County jury ordered Archie’s church, Christian Fellowship Baptist Church, to pay $350,000 to a former staffer who said Archie took sexual advantage of her.
“We think a twice-accused predator should not be given titles and roles that enable him to win people’s trust,” said David Clohessy, former national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
“This is just reckless,” Clohessy said Thursday.
“We would ask the Chief what will it do for confidence in the department if another victim steps forward. Imagine what it would do for public confidence in the department if they are forced to admit down the road after another allegation.”
The Police Department said in a written statement that it was investigating and reviewing the matter internally.
“The Kansas City Missouri Police Department takes accusations of this nature very seriously,” the statement said. “Although chaplains are unpaid volunteers, we acknowledge this chaplain is affiliated with our department. Therefore, any accusations of misconduct are very concerning to us.”
Archie is the senior pastor at the Christian Fellowship Baptist Church at 4509 Troost Avenue.
Reached by phone Thursday, he said the 2014 lawsuit settlement exonerated him of the accusations.
“It is up to the Police Department to do their internal investigation,” he said. “I think responding to false accusations in a submissive way does not support the element of truth.”
Archie said he has been investigated on three separate occasions and has not been criminally charged. “They have all turned up the same,” he said. “At the end of the day, do I want to continue to serve and support people, well that’s what I do.”
Police Department chaplains are not involved in criminal investigations but periodically deliver invocations at department events, police said. Chaplains from different faiths make themselves available to staff members who want spiritual advice and support.
The Police Department has 12 chaplains but plans to expand that number to 18.
Archie resigned as president of the Missouri State Board of Education in January 2013 after two women filed lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct.
A former staffer said Archie had taken sexual advantage of her by abusing his position as a pastoral counselor at the church. Three other women testified at a trial in 2014 that Archie had inappropriate sexual discussions with them.
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