We just reported this week that Victory Christian Center in Tulsa has been questioned by the local police into how they handled accusations of sexual assault at their church. It was reported they interviewed victims and suspects, fired subsequent suspects and notified parents and police two weeks later.
Well, it appears there was seemingly a cover up for a sex scandal that would have riddled the church. This is exactly what the church did, according to reports. Now, days later, staffers at Victory Christian Center may be charged with misdemeanors in the case.
Read report below from KRMG:
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.
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.
Chris Denman was named by one of the victims as a suspect for use of a computer to facilitate a sex crime.
Denman and Castillo were interns employed at VCC at the time the reported crimes occurred last August. Those charges are considered felonies.
Finally, there is a spokesman for
Victory Christian Center who released the following statement Monday evening:
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.
Let's keep in mind that
John and Charica Daugherty are related to the pastor, Sharon Daugherty of Victory Christian Center.
John married Charica Jacobs in May 2010. John is the son of Sharon and late husband Billy Joe Daugherty. They have been suspended (most likely 'on administrative leave with pay) from their church positions yet the other staffers were fired for their involvement in the case. Quite convenient, we'd say.
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