MILWAUKEE (WI)
Journal Sentinel [Milwaukee WI]
June 2, 2022
By Sophie Carson
A list of sexual abusers released late last week by the Southern Baptist Convention includes the names of three men with Wisconsin ties.
The three men, all former pastors, were charged with, or convicted of, crimes related to child sexual abuse.
The list, which includes over 700 names of abusers, includes about 400 believed to be affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.
All three Wisconsin men were affiliated with the Baptist tradition, but none of their churches were specifically Southern Baptist in denomination.
Southern Baptist leaders released the previously secret list in response to a bombshell report from independent investigator Guidepost Solutions, which detailed how the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee mishandled allegations of sex abuse, stonewalled numerous survivors and prioritized protecting the denomination from liability.
The report revealed the existence of the 205-page list of abusers. Top leaders knew of the list but made no effort to ensure accused pastors were no longer in positions of power, the investigation found.
Most of the people on the list were charged or convicted of sex abuse. The document includes links to news articles for many of the cases. Southern Baptist Convention lawyers redacted a number of entries that included sensitive or unconfirmed details.
“This list is being made public for the first time as an initial, but important, step towards addressing the scourge of sexual abuse and implementing reform in the Convention,” denomination leaders said in a statement.
Here’s what we know about the three Wisconsin men on the list.
Thomas Chantry
Thomas Chantry, 51, was a pastor at Christ Reformed Baptist Church in Hales Corners from 2005 until 2016, when he was indicted in Yavapai County, Arizona.
From 1995 to 2001, Chantry led an Arizona church where prosecutors say he routinely spanked and groped several children during tutoring sessions.
He continued to seek out victims “even after being caught and narrowly escaping punishment or arrest on several occasions,” prosecutors said in court documents.
Chantry’s church was affiliated with the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America, which reports 13 member churches nationally. It is not part of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Chantry’s father was a founding member of the association and was involved in covering up a report on his son’s actions produced in 2000 by church elders, prosecutors said. The report, which said Chantry was disqualified from holding any pastoral positions, angered his father. A second, more neutral report was created, prosecutors said. No one contacted police.
Although the victims’ parents were told Chantry wouldn’t be a pastor again, he began preaching less than a year later in Washington. Two years later, he’d taken a position in Illinois. By 2005, he began preaching at the Hales Corners church — which closed after he was criminally charged.
In 2018, Chantry was convicted of aggravated assault of two children, who were 8 and 10 years old at the time the assaults began in Arizona.
The jury found him not guilty of one count of child molestation and could not reach a verdict on four other counts of molestation. In a retrial, Chantry was convicted of the four counts.
But an Arizona appeals court overturned the four molestation convictions, citing issues with evidence. Chantry was set to stand for a third trial in early May, but prosecutors asked for the case to be dismissed because a victim was unwilling to participate.
“I stand by all of my previous statements and testimony and reaffirm that he is guilty of everything of which I have accused him,” the victim said in part, according to court documents compiled by a blogger who has followed the case. “However … I do not wish to revisit this time in my life or relive these experiences again.”
Chantry’s two aggravated assault convictions stand. Chantry served the three years of probation in his sentence.
Timothy Ganzel
Timothy J. Ganzel, 58, was a youth minister at Grace Church in Racine.
The church is affiliated with the North American Baptist Conference, a separate denomination from the Southern Baptists.
In a 1987 case, Ganzel was charged with eight counts of sexual assault after a 13-year-old boy reported Ganzel had assaulted him on several occasions in 1986.
The boy attended a youth group at the church led by Ganzel. According to a Racine Journal Times article from the time, the assaults did not occur at the church.
In a plea deal, Ganzel pleaded no contest to one count of second-degree sexual assault. A judge sentenced him to a year in jail and five years of probation. A five-year prison sentence was stayed.
A reader letter, published in the Journal Times in 1987, decried Ganzel’s light sentence. At his sentencing hearing, the courtroom was filled with fellow church members who said he was contrite.
“This man deserved a strong sentence, and what he got was a minor slap on the wrist.” the reader wrote.
In 1994, Ganzel was convicted of sexually assaulting another 13-year-old boy. Prosecutors said he also showed the child explicit material. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Ganzel, a registered sex offender, lives in Racine, according to online records.
Scott Hoppe
Scott A. Hoppe, 48, was an assistant pastor at Grace Church in Burlington, which is separate from Grace Church in Racine.
The Burlington church was previously called Bethel Baptist Church, although it was not officially affiliated with any Baptist denomination.
It dropped the Baptist label in 2001, according to a Journal Times article, because leaders didn’t feel the church “fit the mold” of other Baptist denominations, particularly the Southern Baptists. The church now considers itself nondenominational.
Hoppe in 2006 was convicted of child enticement in Racine and Walworth counties. The victim was a teen girl who was a member of the church youth group he led. The teen also babysat for Hoppe’s children.
The assaults took place at Hoppe’s home, the girl’s home and at Grace Church from 2003 to 2005, according to news reports when Hoppe was charged.
Hoppe was fired and defrocked in 2005 after the senior pastor learned of the charges, news reports said.
Hoppe was released from prison in 2011 and shortly thereafter was charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child. While in a sex offender treatment program, he had admitted to molesting two infants between 2000 and 2002.
He pleaded guilty to one count of assault, while the other count was dismissed but read into the record. He was sentenced to seven years in prison and eight years of extended supervision.
“He’s left a trail of devastated victims throughout his life,” a Racine County prosecutor said at his sentencing in 2012, according to the Journal Times. “He’s victimized everyone who’s come within arm’s reach of him.”
Hoppe completed his prison sentence in 2019 and remains on extended supervision. He lives in McHenry, Illinois, and is a registered sex offender.
Hotline
A hotline is now open for survivors, or someone on their behalf, to report abuse allegations: 202-864-5578 or SBChotline@guidepostsolutions.com. Callers will be provided with care options and connected with an advocate, the statement said.
Guidepost will maintain the hotline and keep the information confidential but will not be looking into the allegations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact reporterSophie Carson at (414) 223-5512 or scarson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SCarson_News.