Church News and Exposing the misdeeds of Leaders in the Church
Two Victory Christian Center youth ministers asked a judge Friday to dismiss the charges of failure to report child abuse against them based on the letter of state law, which they say fails to include the rape of a child as a type of child abuse.
The youth ministers, John Daugherty and Charica Daugherty, were charged in September, along with three other Victory Christian Center employees after they reportedly waited two weeks to report child abuse after a 13-year-old girl reported having been raped at the church. The Daugherty's were charged along with Paul Willemstein, 32, Anna George, 24, and Harold Frank Sullivan, 73.
John Daugherty is a son of Senior Pastor Sharon Daugherty, and Charica Daugherty is his wife. Sharon Daugherty has not been charged with any crimes.
A former church employee, Chris Denman, 20, has been jailed since Sept. 5 and is charged with six counts of sex crimes against children, including the rape of the 13-year-old girl. The charges also involve two other girls, ages 15 and 12.Also, another former church employee, Israel Shalom Castillo, 23, is charged with making a lewd or indecent proposal to a child and using a computer to facilitate a sex crime. Those charges involve a fourth alleged victim at the church - a 15-year-old girl.
Friday's motion to dismiss the charges against the Daughertys, filed in Tulsa County District Court, argues that because neither Castillo nor Denman was charged with child abuse, the Daughertys cannot face the charge of "failure to report child abuse."
Employee records show that Denman was released from his position as a Victory Christian intern Aug. 10 and was to return to work as a janitor Aug. 16, according to the motion.
The motion argues that because Denman and Castillo have not been charged with child abuse and cannot be charged with child abuse, the law regarding failure to report child abuse cannot be applied to the Daughertys.Source
Five staffers at Victory Christian Center face charges of failure to report child abuse, a misdemeanor, after they apparently knew about the reported rape of a 13-year-old girl as well as other sexual improprieties by VCC employees but failed to tell police for more than two weeks.Chris Denman was named by one of the victims as a suspect for use of a computer to facilitate a sex crime.
Court documents obtained by KRMG indicate Paul Wilemstein, Anna George, Harold (Frank) Sullivan, Charica Daugherty and John Daugherty each face one count of failure to report child abuse.
Also Monday, Tulsa County D.A. Tim Harris' office charged Israel Castillo, a former VCC employee, with one count each of lewd or indecent proposal to a child and use of a computer to facilitate a sex crime.
District Attorney Tim Harris filed charges today against five employees of Victory Christian Center for Failure to Report Abuse or Neglect of Child Under 18.
The employees involved were a high school outreach program director, an associate youth pastor, the director of the Human Resources department, and John and Charica Daugherty, who work at the church as sr. high youth pastor and assistant sr. high youth pastor.
Last Friday, in response to the delay in reporting the alleged rape, Victory Christian Center suspended three of these employees who were aware of the allegation and did not report it in a timely manner in accordance with an internal policy on reporting suspected cases of abuse or neglect. The police investigation additionally determined that John and Charica both had some awareness of this incident. Because of this finding, the ministry has also suspended John and Charica in accordance with our disciplinary policies while we continue an internal investigation.
Again, we ask that your thoughts and prayers be with the victims and their families.
The two Victory Christian adult employees met the two girls at summer camp and stayed in touch with them through Facebook and cell phones, exchanging sexually explicit messages and engaging in sexual relationships, however neither girl is old enough to legally consent, according to a report from NEWS6 in Tulsa.One of the girls told police one of the men who forced her was named Chris Denman. She stated he hit her until she resisted.
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| Pastor Sharon Daugherty, Victory Christian Center |
"I do think it did have some harm, because we had forensic evidence that was gone by the time we were notified," said Corporal Greg Smith. "There were persons we needed to talk to, who were no longer there and it took time to track them down. There have been some problems with the delay."Smith said he wants everyone to know they have a legal obligation to report suspected child abuse in a timely manner. Specially trained professionals should have handled the interviewing of victims and suspects.
"We can prove our case, but it would've been easier and much more solid a case, had we been involved from the beginning when we could gather all the evidence available then—not what's left over two to three weeks later," Smith said.
One prosecutor told me it's hard to believe an organization the size of Victory Christian wouldn't be aware of the reporting requirements, especially after all the publicity at Penn State recently.
Failing to report suspected child abuse, in Oklahoma law, is a misdemeanor.
