Assaults and Sexual Crimes 02/03/2023

(January 31) Texas Seminary Student Arrested On Felony Sexual Assault Charge | TX

An undergraduate student at a prominent Southern Baptist seminary was reportedly arrested on a felony sexual assault charge and suspended by the school. 

Christian “Curly” Flores, 20, was arrested January 24 on campus at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) in Fort Worth, Texas, according to the seminary. He reportedly turned himself in to officers with the Burleson Police Department.

The seminary also stated it cooperated with the Fort Worth Police Department to locate and arrest Flores.

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(January 31) Stika Told Priests Accused Seminarian Was 'Victimized'

The Pillar has confirmed a recently-made allegation, that Bishop Rick Stika told priests a seminarian accused of sexually assaulting a parish organist had actually been victimized by the organist – essentially recasting the story so that the accused seminarian was the victim, rather than the alleged aggressor.

The allegation came in a lawsuit refiled last week, which charges that Stika impeded an investigation into the claim that former seminarian Wojciech Sobczuk sexually assaulted the lawsuit’s plaintiff, who worked as a musician at the Diocese of Knoxville’s cathedral.

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(January 30) Woman Accuses Georgia SBC Churches Of Protecting Predatory Pastors | GA

Four Georgia churches. Three pastors. Two reported cases of grooming or child sexual abuse. And one woman determined to help change how Southern Baptist churches respond to reports of sexual misconduct.

Meighan McCammon, a Georgia woman in her early 20s, alleges Philip Lehman, a Southern Baptist pastor and longtime family friend, tried to groom her over texts and Facebook messages in her late teens.

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(January 28) N.J. Church And School District Settle For $2M After Choir Director Is Accused Of Sexual Abuse | NJ

A South Jersey church and school district has settled a sexual abuse case for $2 million after a former choir director was accused of abusing a student.

Brian McSee, a former choir teacher at the Port Republic Elementary School and choir director at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Port Republic, was charged with sexual assault, official misconduct, criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child after he was arrested in December 2017, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said.

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(January 27) Former Priest Frank Pavone, Head Of Priests For Life, Faces Sexual Misconduct Allegations | TX

Embattled former priest and pro-life activist Frank Pavone is facing accusations of sexual misconduct that took place prior to his laicization in November 2022.

Pavone, national director of the nonprofit Priests for Life, was the subject of at least two reports sent to the Diocese of Amarillo, Texas, “during or before 2010,” according to a Jan. 24 article in The Pillar, an online outlet that covers the Catholic Church. The Pillar’s article cited allegations of inappropriate behavior by Pavone toward several Priests for Life employees.

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