Pastor of Victory Christian Center Finally Speaks Out on Church Rape Scandal Cover Up

Sharon Daugherty, Senior Pastor of Victory Christian Center

Pastor of Victory Christian Center Finally Speaks Out on Church Rape Scandal Cover Up

Pastor Sharon Daugherty of Tulsa's Victory Christian Center is finally speaking out about the alleged rape of a 13 year old girl by two of her former church employees accused of the crimes. According to reports, the pastor's staff, which included five in particular, where charged and released last week on failure to report the incident in a timely fashion. The church actually met with the victim and accusers; fired the accusers and waited 2 weeks before reporting it to the police and the parents!

Read UPDATE below or HERE!

The Associated Press reports this statement from senior pastor Sharon Daugherty:

“I want to personally say, that if anybody here is aware of any child being neglected or abused, physically or sexually, that you should please inform the authorities immediately,” Victory Christian Center pastor Sharon Daugherty said Saturday during services, according to the Tulsa World (http://bit.ly/SN2sD4). “Our children are precious, and we owe them our full protection.”

Police have said Daugherty knew about the abuse allegations, but trusted ministry employees to follow in-house policies on reporting such incidents. She has not been charged.

"I was briefly told of an incident involving two ... employees and members of 24/7 (a youth group) ... and was told it was being reported but did not receive any details on the specific allegations," Daugherty said. "I was extremely disappointed to later hear of the delay in the time it was first reported."

Apparently, the Tulsa police say the 13-year-old girl is among at least three victims of alleged sex crimes by two former employees. Her mother filed a lawsuit Friday, alleging that Victory Christian Center officials tried to conceal the reported incident in an effort at “damage control.” The lawsuit, first reported by the Tulsa World, seeks more than $75,000.

We were one of the first to actually state  the obvious cover up when the news first broke. We know many have an issue with going against the church but we are happy the truth is coming out.

Former church employee Chris Denman, 20, was arrested earlier this month for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl in a stairwell on Aug. 13. He also is charged with molesting a 15-year-old girl sometime between Aug. 13 and Aug. 17. He has pleaded not guilty and faces an Oct. 11 preliminary hearing. He was appointed a public defender, according to court records, but that office couldn’t be reached Sunday.
Another ex-employee, Israel Shalom Castillo, was arrested Thursday after turning himself in at the Tulsa jail. He is charged with making a lewd proposal to a child and using a computer to commit a sex crime. It wasn’t clear whether Castillo has an attorney.
Five church employees — John Daugherty, Charica Daugherty, Paul Willemstein, Anna George and Harold “Frank” Sullivan — also each face one misdemeanor count of failing to report child abuse and are due to be arraigned Wednesday in Tulsa County District Court.

(AP)

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Megachurch Victory Christian Center May Have More Victims But Parents Won't Speak Out

(Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, Pastor Sharon Daughtery)

Megachurch Victory Christian Center May Have More Victims But Parents Won't Speak Out

The investigation into alleged sexual abuse at Victory Christian Center has revealed more possible victims. There is one problem: Those possible victims are not cooperating with the police in the investigation.

On Tuesday, the Tulsa police stated they could have additional charges against suspects if the victims would come forward.

Sgt. Brandon Wykoff, a detective in the Tulsa Police Department's Child Crisis Unit, said: "We're trying to get these girls in for interviews," Wykoff said. "We're not exactly having cooperation with some of the parents."

Read more at AT2W !

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VCC Says Employees Were Properly Screened, Staffers Charged in Sex Scandal

VCC Says Employees Were Properly Screened, Staffers Charged in Sex Scandal

It appears the people over at Victory Christian Center in Tulsa are doing some damage control. They want the public to know that they went by proper procedures when hiring the two men charged with sex abuse on three underage girls, so they say.

Victory Christian Center issued a statement on Tuesday addressing the charges against two former employees accused of child sex abuse, Israel Castillo, 23, and Chris Denman, 20.

According to VCC, both young men went through the screening process included a nationwide background check and personal references.

Both Castillo and Benman passed the screening tests and the church found no history of any criminal activity.

The two men have been charged. Denman has pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and child molestation ans has been arrested.

Castillo was charged Monday with lewd or indecent proposal to a child and use of a computer to facilitate a sex crime. He has yet to turn himself in.

(Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, five staffers charged and released)
Earlier this week, we reported that five staff members interviewed and fired both men and also spoke with the girls about the incident. Unprofessionally, the church decided to wait two weeks to notify their parents or police.

Reports now have confirmed that all five staff members were charged Monday with not reporting suspected abuse in a timely matter.

According to the report, all five staffers were booked into jail Tuesday night and then were released a short time later.

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Pastor Sharon Daugherty's VCC Church Staffers Face Charges For Failure to Report Sexual Abuse

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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