What about those Methodists?


John Wesley - Leader of the Methodist revival movement

My mother was raised in a Christian family, and as a child she attended a local United Methodist church quite regularly.  One of her older brothers became a Methodist minister.  Much of her family can be found buried in the cemetery of the Methodist church that she attended.

But honestly, what about those Methodists?
NoteIf time is of the essence, just read the bold text in each instance below - that will give you the name of the offender, the name of the church or institution, and the type of criminal offence.

~ ~ ~

Aug 1992 - Churches in Dallas and Los Angeles offered prayers for former United Methodist minister Walker Railey as proceedings got under way this week to extradite him to Dallas for the attempted murder of his wife.
Railey, who once filled the prestigious pulpit of the 5,000-member First United Methodist Church in Dallas, was arrested Tuesday on a charge of attempted murder in connection with an attack more than five years ago that has left his wife, Margaret, in a coma.
Authorities took the 45-year-old former minister into custody while he was at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles, where he has worked as church administrator for the past 15 months.
Margaret Railey, 43, has been in a coma ever since she was found strangled and unconscious in the couple's home after an apparent attack in April 1987. The Raileys' two young children were put in the care of family friends two years after the attack.
Although Railey has persistently denied attacking his wife, he has been a prime suspect in the case.
Shortly after the attack on his wife he attempted to commit suicide. And in October 1991 he admitted to having an affair at the time of the attack with the daughter of a former minister at First United Methodist.
~ ~ ~
Nov 1999 - Two pastors from the Tampa District were arrested within two weeks of each other last month on unrelated sex charges. Both have surrendered their ministry credentials to Tampa District Superintendent David Brazelton.
Lawrence W. Kilbourn, 43, former pastor of Forest Hills United Methodist Church, was arrested by federal authorities Oct. 21 on one count of receiving child pornography via his computer after voluntarily turning himself in to police. He surrendered his credentials as an ordained elder Oct. 15.
James D. Hug, 29, former pastor of Cork United Methodist Church, was arrested Oct. 26 on one count of sexual battery and 12 counts of lewd and lascivious behavior. He surrendered his credentials as an ordained deacon and probationary member Oct. 27.
~ ~ ~
Sept 2003 - An East Texas minister was sentenced to 55 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to murder in the beating death of his wife.
The Rev. Mike Tabb had originally accepted a plea bargain that would send him to prison for 50 years, but prosecutors increased the sentence after Tabb tried to commit suicide this spring on the day he was to plead guilty.
Marla Tabb, 35, was savagely beaten to death in August 2002 in the parsonage of the First United Methodist Church in the tiny town of Troup where her husband was pastor. She was left lying in the bedroom in a pool of blood, still wearing pajamas.
~ ~ ~
June 2005 - Timothy Rademacher, youth director at the Manteno United Methodist Church, has been arrested for predatory criminal assault of a child in Ashkum, just days after his arrest on child pornography charges in Manteno.
The latest incident stems from sexual activities Rademacher allegedly engaged in with a 12-year-old boy while serving as a youth minister at an Ashkum church.
Rademacher, 26, of rural Kankakee, was arrested at 7 a.m. Saturday in Chicago by the Cook County Child Exploitation Task Force, the same unit which assisted Manteno Police in Tuesday's arrest.


July 2005 - The Rev. Eric Young was suspended from his duties as pastor of Fort Caroline United Methodist Church in Jacksonville in response to allegations that he had used a computer at the church to access Web sites featuring child pornography.
Those allegations led to a two-week police investigation and Young's arrest July 8 on a state felony charge of child pornography via the Internet.
~ ~ ~
Aug 2011 - A Methodist pastor from Montgomery County, Pa. is under arrest, accused of exposing himself to two women inside his former church in Upper Dublin Township.
Pastor Richard Rogers is charged with two counts each of indecent exposure and related offenses.
Police say the 46-year-old man on two separate occasions earlier this year exposed himself to two different women who worked for an organization that rented space inside the Jarrettown United Methodist Church in Dresher.
"Each woman was walking in the hallways and past a doorway and the pastor was standing there with his pants down. (He) shocked them -- made them very uncomfortable."
Cauffman says the women reported the incidents to police late last month because they were not totally satisfied with the way the church was handling the situation.
Rogers stepped down as senior pastor earlier this week. He is now free on $10,000 unsecured bail, awaiting another court appearance next week.
~ ~ ~
Feb 2013 - A resident pastor from Troy's First United Methodist Church remains held at the Miami County Jail on a $100,000 bond related to sexual allegations involving a 15-year-old female parishioner. S
exual battery against a 15 year old female - a third-degree felony that carries a potential prison sentence of one to five years and sexual registration.
Michael "Mic" D. Mohler, 26, of Troy, was arraigned in Miami County Municipal Court on Wednesday morning.
Authorities with the sheriff's office said Mohler served as a youth pastor at the church and the church's website listed his position as "resident pastor," a post in which he no longer servces.
~ ~ ~
July 2013 - Disgraced Methodist minister
Reverend Kenneth Mankin, admits possession of indecent images of children.  He was suspended from the church following his arrest last November, appeared before magistrates today (Wednesday, July 3) to face seven charges of making indecent photographs of a child – some of them of the second highest level of severity.
The retired minister once served as a circuit superintendent in County Durham and was chairman of the North-East Wesley Historical Society.
Asked to plead to the charges at Peterlee Magistrates’ Court, the 73-year-old replied: “Guilty . . . and I am very sorry.”


Sept 2016 - A former regional church administrator from Portland made his first court appearance Monday in Denver in connection with a federal child pornography case.
The former Rev. James Coleman Parkhurst, 56, had been the executive director of the Oregon-Idaho Conference of the United Methodist Church's Camp and Retreat Ministry program at the time of his Aug. 2 arrest. He resigned and surrendered his ministerial credentials several days later, Greg Nelson, a spokesman for the conference, said in a brief interview Tuesday.
A grand jury in Colorado charged Parkhurst on Aug. 28 with the production of child pornography and transportation of child pornography. His case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
According to the federal affidavit, investigators with the inspection service, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies in several states began investigating after 163 photos of five nude boys were "widely distributed and traded by child pornography collectors on a national and international scale."
Postal Inspector Maureen O'Sullivan wrote in the affidavit that the pictures were taken by Parkhurst during trips with the boys between 2008 and 2011 in Nevada, California, Washington and Colorado. He was the only adult on those trips, O'Sullivan said.
~ ~ ~
Sept 2016 - A Methodist pastor was one of 22 men arrested earlier this month by Florida police in “Operation Undertow,” an Internet sting in which undercover agents lured suspected child predators via computer. Hoping to engage in sex with children, the men were arrested instead.
According to police, Pastor David Donald Hoppenjan, 52, But the 14-year-old was actually an adult undercover police officer Hoppenjan had met online.
Transcripts highlighted by Fox10 show the investigator telling the pastor: “So I know you know I’m young but I’m 14. Is that cool with you?” It was. Hoppenjan followed up with several obscene sexual chats, say police, and said “I’ll come and do whatever you want.”
After making arrangements to meet at a designated area, Hoppenjan showed up, only to be tackled by police officers and arrested.
Prior to his arrest, Hoppenjan had served as a Methodist senior pastor at First United Methodist Church of Pace, Florida since last year. He earlier served as a missionary in Guatemala. Hoppenjan spent nine years as executive pastor at Shalimar United Methodist Church in Florida and served as the youth pastor at Wetumpka First United Methodist Church in Alabama.
~ ~ ~
Jan 2017 - A methodist minister has been jailed for 15 years for rape and sex crimes dating back two decades.
Bryan Gates, 63, was one of 1,885 people looked into by the church after concerns were raised about their behaviour.
A court heard he raped a woman and abused a second victim during his time at Longton Central Hall, a Methodist church in Stoke-on-Trent.
~ ~ ~
Aug 2018 - A church youth director from Van Alstyne has been arrested on child sex crimes.
Timothy Urban was jailed Friday night and charged with sexual assault, bigamy, and sexual performance of a child. He's being held on a $750,000 bond at the Grayson County Jail.
Urban, 52, was the part-time youth director at First United Methodist Church of Van Alstyne.
Pastor Scott Holcomb-McLain said he immediately suspended Urban. He said he is shocked about the arrest, adding: "We take very seriously the safety of our kids. We are doing everything we can to keep them safe."
According to Urban's now-deleted biography on the church's website, he is married, has two children, and has coached youth soccer teams.


Feb 2020 - A youth director at Gulf Breeze Methodist Church has been arrested on sexual offenses involving a 13-year-old girl. The church says he has been terminated from his position and is no longer associated with the church.
Gulf Breeze Police says it received the complaint of a "lewd/lascivious" offense involving 27 year-old Ryan Scott Walsh last Thursday.
The arrest report states the complaint was brought forward by the church's senior pastor, as well as the executive pastor. They reported complaints of "inappropriate touching, messaging, and photographs being exchanged" between Walsh and the teen girl.
Walsh was arrested Monday and charged with: Transmit Obscene Material to a Minor
Sexual Offense - Lewd and Lascivious Involving a Minor over 12, under 18, Use of Computer to Solicit/Seduce Child

~ ~ ~
Feb 2021 - A former pastor who spent 26 years serving churches in Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach has pleaded guilty to 13 felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with minors and was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.
John Rodgers McFarland, 68, was first arrested in Escondido in December 2018 and charged in San Diego County with two felony counts of molesting a girl under 14, police and prosecutors reported at the time of his arrest.
In May 2019, McFarland was arrested by Fountain Valley police and charged with seven additional felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor, including five involving children under 14, and four felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor between the ages of 14 and 15, court records indicate. His victims ranged in age from 5 to 15, according to prosecutors.
The counts against him stemmed from sexual acts committed upon seven minors, identified in court records only by their initials, between 2002 and 2018, according to a May 2019 complaint filed by the Orange County district attorney’s office.
McFarland served as the pastor of Fountain Valley United Methodist Church from 1988 to 2014 and at Surf City Church in Huntington Beach from 2009 to 2014, according to police.
In 2014, McFarland became the head pastor at Orangethorpe United Methodist Church in Fullerton. An internet archive of the church’s homepage shows a “Rev. Dr. John R. McFarland” listed as pastor as recently as November 2017, though his name has been removed from subsequent archives.
McFarland initially pleaded not guilty to all charges in 2019. In response to his guilty plea last week, he received a sentence of 15 years to life in state prison with 12 other sentences to run concurrently. He was also ordered to pay restitution, be tested for HIV/AIDS and participate in an AIDS prevention program, according to court documents.
~ ~ ~
Mar 2021 - HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) — A former pastor of Toms Brook United Methodist Church in Toms Brook, Va., has reportedly been arrested and charged with Aggravated Sexual Battery, according to the Woodstock Police Department.
According to the church’s website, Stanley Thompson retired on March 18. According to arrest logs and case files, Thompson was arrested on March 25 and is currently being held in Rappahannock Shenandoah Warren Regional Jail without bond.
Police say the alleged offenses occurred from August 2020 until October 2020.
~ ~ ~
July 2021 - Law enforcement officers with an FBI task force arrested Thomas “Tag” Gatlin, age 23, on child pornography charges Thursday afternoon, July 15. The state attorney general’s cyber-crime division was also associated with the investigation that resulted in Gatlin’s arrest.
Gatlin was assistant youth director at First United Methodist Church, New Albany. He was booked into the Union County Jail charged with possession of child pornography, according to Sheriff Jimmy Edwards. He was released on bond later the same day.


Jan 2022 - A reported youth minister has been arrested in a sexual abuse case dating back to 1988.
According to a release from Oxford Police Deparment, Wade Holland, 59, of Corinth, was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with child molesting (touching a child for lustful purposes). Youth ministers are considered under the law a position of trust.
On January 7 of this year, OPD received a report that in the spring and summer of 1988, Holland had inappropriate contact with a minor. An arrest warrant was issued on Monday and Holland was taken into custody Wednesday. He was issued a $25,000 bond.
A Facebook post by Glenda LeAnne Kay says “Holland was a Methodist youth minister at First United Methodist Church in Corinth for a brief time in the 80’s and was director of the Wesley Foundation at Ole Miss in Oxford, MS, at the time of this alleged charge of touching minor for lustful purposes (while holding position of trust).”
Kay went on to say that Holland and his wife “are currently involved in building Crossroads Prayer Retreat in Michie, TN (just north of Corinth, MS).”
~ ~ ~

Mar 2022 - A Shelbyville minister has been charged with sexual battery following allegations by a local physical therapist.
Paul Mullikin, 64, pastor of First United Methodist Church, was arrested Tuesday afternoon by Shelbyville Police Department detectives.
“Investigators were contacted on Feb. 25 by an employee of a local physical therapist office who reported Mullikin groped her while he was receiving physical therapy,” the SPD said in a press release. “After investigating the alleged offense, detectives charged Mullikin with one count of sexual battery.”

~ ~ ~
Apr 2022 - The Marco Island Police Department conducted a lengthy investigation involving the transmittal of sexual material to a minor. It was learned that 26-year-old Christopher Jaime Reyes, a former youth pastor at the Wesley Methodist Church of Marco Island, was transmitting electronic messages for three years to an underage victim. Reyes would solicit nude photographs of the victim and send her nude photographs of himself. Reyes also attempted to meet the juvenile victim on multiple occasions.

~ ~ ~
July 2022 - A Fairfax man who once served as a youth leader at the Saint Matthews United Methodist Church in Annandale has been arrested for multiple alleged sexual assaults of a teenager.
Thomas Weaver, 61, was arrested and has been charged with five counts of indecent liberties of a minor by a custodian as well as 20 counts of possession of child pornography, the FCPD announced.
According to police, Weaver led youth activities at Saint Matthews periodically since joining the church at 8617 Little River Turnpike in 2001, but he hasn’t held that leadership position since 2020, when the assaults allegedly occurred.
“On multiple occasions since 2020, Weaver coerced the victim to meet him in a secluded area in Annandale,” the FCPD said. “Once there, Weaver sexually assaulted the victim.”


Aug 2022 - APPLETON – A 48-year-old pastor has been convicted of four counts of possession of child pornography and one count of meth possession.
Rick E. Haberland, former pastor of Oneida United Methodist Church, pleaded no contest to all five charges Friday morning during a plea hearing in Outagamie County Circuit Court. A no-contest plea accepts a guilty verdict without admitting or denying any guilt.
Haberland also formerly served as a pastor at United Methodist Church in De Pere, Suring and Hickory United Methodist Churches in Suring, Phillips United Methodist Church in Phillips and Tabor United Methodist Church in Eden.
~ ~ ~
Aug 2022 - A Missouri United Methodist pastor has been suspended with pay while he faces charges of statutory sodomy and sexual abuse.
John W. Hampton, 32, most recently led the Hermann United Methodist Church and Rosebud United Methodist Churches in east central Missouri.
Last week, Camden County prosecutors charged Hampton with statutory sodomy with a person less than 12 years old, second-degree statutory sodomy, and fourth-degree child molestation. All three charges are felonies. He was also charged with misdemeanor second-degree sexual abuse.
The alleged sexual abuse took place between 2018 and 2021, according to a probable cause statement filed in the case. It took place at a lake home in Camden County, according to the probable cause statement.
~ ~ ~
Had enough?
  
I hope by now that you, dear reader, may be able to detect a pattern - a heavy, dark, ominous pattern of criminal activity among the church leadership, largely criminal sexual activity, and largely criminal sexual activity against children.

WHAT  THE  HELL ?

Honestly, this is exhausting, googleing, scanning the numerous pages of sordid link after sordid link, clicking, reading, highlight, copy, paste, repeat, over and over again.
I have similar treatments for the:
I honestly don't think that it is necessary to do an exposé on the Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses, or the Latter Day Saints (Mormons).  There has been enough national and worldwide publicity on the criminal sexual antics of their church leaders for decades.  If their members haven't read those news stories they are surely not going to read my obscure blog pages concerning their religious leaders.

bob
r.u.reasonable@gmail.com

Comments