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.(AP)
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.
Read update HERE
