Credit to the Google + page Godless for pointing this out.
According to the Florida newspaper, the Sun-Sentinel, a congregation called the Christ Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida has actually banned people under 18 from attending their Sunday morning services because if they did allow it, their minister, a convicted sex offender, would not be allowed to preach, since he would then be a sex offender in regular proximity to minors.
His last conviction was only 3 years ago at another church he pastored, yet this congregation hired him anyway, and is willing to go to such extremes to keep him as pastor.His conviction was for fondling 3 young girls, but he only received 3 years probation for that conviction.
This pastor, Darrell Gilyard, has a long history of sexual misconduct going all the back to 1987 according to the site Stop Baptist Predators, read that article, his history is quite shocking, and hundreds of pages inappropriate text messages between him and underage people were documented, and recorded. If all the allegations against him are true, he could have up to 44 victims in several different states.
It gets even worse, he has admitted to some of his crimes, according the Jacksonville Times Union, he admitted to having a child by a woman he raped in a 2004 counseling session.
I thought I had heard everything when it came to churches coddling sex offenders, and those who turn a blind eye to them, in my research into the Independent Fundamental Baptist movement, but this shocked even me.
How disgusting that a church would do this. Why is it that religious groups and religiously based organizations like the Catholic church, the IFB movement, the Boy Scouts, and many more, have not only such a terrible record when it comes to pedophilia within their ranks, but also have a habit of turning a blind eye to it?
Are children not important to them or not considered worth protecting?
Maybe the Catholic Church should do the same thing and ban entrance for all people under 18. But maybe they know that if they did such a thing it's highly likely their numbers would plummet even more when 18 yr olds with no childhood indoctrination study their religion for the first time and see how crazy it is.
ReplyDeleteTragic though... these are real lives being destroyed.
I had comments to that effect on Google +, that banning children from churches may actually be a good idea.
DeleteYes, there are lives being destroyed by this man, and he isn't being stopped, either by churches or Florida's legal system.
Why would you ban children from church? Children need church just like adults do. Maybe you shouldn't have a child molester pastor. I personally, as an adult, wouldn't go to this church because I'm not going to listen to guidance from a man who rapes and molests children repeatedly. It's one thing to make a mistake and now have a record. I believe in forgiveness. But when you keep doing what you know is wrong, forgiveness runs out. And then the nerve of him to stand in front of a congregation and preach when he's living foul. It's sad
ReplyDeleteNobody needs church.
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