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Children Placed Knowingly at Risk of Convicted Sex Offender by Wisconsin Pastor?~Let Us Prey

Thomas L. Fuller, Jr, Whitewater, WI. Bob Jones University Vintage, Junior Classification, 1992.
Fuller was a BJU “preacher boy” for three years. Married a wife from Bob Jones University before transferring and apparently receiving his degree at some point from Marantha Baptist Bible College in Watertown, Wisconsin http://www.mbbc.edu/

What did Thomas Fuller, Pastor of Kettle Moraine Baptist Church of Whitewater, Wisconsin do when Pastor Fuller was notified a pastor from Michigan the middle-aged man named Dennis Rintala started showing up to services at the Kettle Moraine Baptist Church in 2005 was a convicted sex-offender who had proclivities for teenage boys?

Allowed, Dennis Rintala, a known sex offender work with children un-supervised.

According to Reports

Despite these warnings, Rintala was allowed to regularly work and spend time with children he met through the church—often driving children unsupervised to events or to evangelizing around Whitewater, according to police reports and interviews with former members.

Rintala, 53, went on to prey on two boys between Dec 2011 and Aug 2012. Rintala was convicted and sentenced by Judges in Walworth and Jefferson Wisconsin counties to 20 years in prison for sexually assaulting the minor boys. The boys who were both younger than 13 years old at the time the crimes were committed.

Fuller, who has been Kettle Moraine Baptist’s pastor since 2004, declined an talk via phone but has responded via email.

Fuller pined a Michigan pastor didn’t give an accurate comment of Rintala’s crime, and Fuller pined he didn’t find out about the sex-offender registry law until it was too late.

Fuller stated:
“We didn’t know behind in those days what we know now, No one did.” Really now, Pastor? No one knew…except you, of course.

The troubles under the leadership of Pastor Fuller go much further than Rinata.

In addition to Dennis Rintala, over a nine-month period Samuel Shelton, 18; and Matthew Vander Pluym, 19 plead guilty to allegations of sexually assaulting multiple children.

A month after Rinalta was arrested another male from Kettle Moraine Baptist Church was charged with fondling a minor girl and a few months before a third was arrested for assaulting children.

Matthew Vander Pluym, 19, plead guilty and was charged with one count of first-degree child sexual abuse. A plea deal gave him a suspended sentence and 5 years probation.

Between 2011 and 2012, another member, 18-year-old Samuel Shelton preyed upon 4 girls, all of them younger than 13.

Shelton told authorities he assaulted a fourth girl “about two times a week” during a Kettle Moraine Baptist Academy, a small elementary and high school operated by the church.

Shelton pleaded guilty in September to one count of sexual assault of a child and is scheduled for a sentencing in February.

Police say Shelton also assaulted girls during his home, located where Rintala worked: Camp Joy.

Camp Joy isn’t owned and operated by Kettle Moraine Baptist Church, though this site on a lists a church as one of a Thirty-Six “Association Churches” in Wisconsin and Illinois.

Questions arise over what the fate of the pastor should be, considering it is alleged he knew Rintala was a sexual deviant who preyed on boys. It seems as if Pastor Fullers Alma Mater, Maranatha Bible College hold Fuller up as example of someone “Leading by Example.”

“Kettle values engaging young people in ministry,” Clater said. “I greatly enjoy the opportunity to work with them and encourage them in their musical growth and their service for the Lord.”

“Encouraging students in spiritual growth and service for the Lord is a part of developing them to be “leaders for ministry in the local church and the world.” And as the numbers show, it’s a part that the Maranatha staff, faculty, and administrators all take seriously.”

With examples such as Fuller, one can only wonder how many other children will be preyed on while he hides the information from parents then when questioned feigns ignorance.

Chipper Snow Working With Columbus Ohio Children’s Theater?

Charles “Chipper” Snow, IV Booking Photo Greenville County SC Sheriff Department

We here at Chucklestravels received a tip concerning Charles “Chipper” Snow.

To refresh your memories,  Charles Henry Snow, IV (aka Charles “Chipper” Snow, IV) was arrested on September 14, 2010 for Criminal Sexual Contact with a minor.  According to arrest reports, the victim was fifteen at the time of Snow’s arrest.  The offenses took place from April until August while the victim was fourteen.

When he was committing these crimes, he was a Graduate (Teaching) Assistant at Bob Jones University.

On September 20, 2011 with Judge Edward W. Miller presiding, Charles Henry Snow, IV plead guilty to Second Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct with a minor under the age of 16.  A Class C Felony.  Snow was sentenced to 7 years suspended sentence and 3 years probation.

We researched the tip and found the following on Facebook page of The Academy of Performing Arts in Columbus, Ohio (TAPA)

Click To Enlarge

I would like to invite everyone to come out to see “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, at Wagnalls Memorial in Lithopolis. Opening this Friday at 7:30. We have turned it into a musical with some fantastic songs, written by our own Chipper Snow, and the show is fun for the entire family. We have the largest seating capacity for any community theatre in Central Ohio, with plenty of safe parking. “We are closer than you think”  (Emphasis Chucklestravels)

The parking at The Academy of Performing Arts in Columbus, Ohio (TAPA) may be safe, but we’re more concerned about why it is they chose Chipper Snow to help with its Children’s theater.

Was a background check done?  If not, why not?

If so, why did they choose to ignore this conviction?

Where the parents of all the participating children notified of Chipper’s Conviction?

Justice Served … and Upheld

In a report here from the Concord Monitor, The New Hampshire Supreme Court published a unanimous opinion upholding the conviction of Ernie Willis for raping Tina Anderson twice.  Even our old friend Chuck Phelps gets a mention for his testimony and his requirement that Tina confess originally.

We on the Editorial Board could not be more pleased with this.  It brings closure to a long and arduous thing that sought to defame a (at the time) young girl for being sucked in and lied to by a perpetrator.  In the wake of all this, we’ve reported on many other cases where institutions such as Trinity Baptist Church (most of them IFB or at least closely related) attempted to whitewash crimes and abuse.    With this verdict, the upheld conviction, and other actions (such asGRACE’s investigation at BJU), we feel confident that the truth will continue to prevail and that the True God of Christians will shine through the tarnished image presented far too often in “those circles”.Please see the Supreme Court of New Hampshire decision HERE.

C.P. Traveler (for the Board)

Timothy Johnson Fired as President of Louisiana College~ He’s The Victim

In March 2013 we here at Chucklestravels gave some disturbing details on the past of Timothy Johnson who was appointed president of Louisiana College.  Please read those posts HERE and HERE

Tim and Robbie Johnson

The reason for the outrage is because Louisiana College was going to appoint, Timothy Johnson who is the son-in-law Mack Ford and Thelma Ford of New Bethany.

Timothy Johnson has been fired from Louisiana College.  Interesting that he’s playing the victim.

Timmy boy is alleging he was fired due to whistle-blower at Louisiana College.

It is too bad Timothy Johnson didn’t have the guts to “call the law“ as he promised if New Bethany were to reopen.

His father-in-law, Mack Ford  is alleged to have physically abused and raped girls for four (4) decades.

No whistle-blowing then, Timmy, huh?

 

Mack Ford is far more prolific alleged child sex abuser than Jerry Sandusky.

• Bienville Parish Sheriff Department what’s the deal?
• Bienville Parish District Attorney WHY didn’t you prosecute?
• Federal Bureau of  Investigation why didn’t you follow-up when it was reported that Mack Ford raped girls across state lines?

One by One by One….

The Editorial Board has received information indicating the formal interviews for the GRACE investigation are proceeding as planned.  Some are completed; some are yet to come.  All of them are a vital part in shining truth and light on a once dark, musty, and rather dirty closet at Wade Hampton Boulevard.  

Yes, one by one, they filled out surveys.  One by one, they will sit down with the GRACE team of investigators, and all-around good guys of the Faith. 

For many, this will be the very first time anyone has truly believed their stories.  In fact, many had begun to doubt the veracity of their own experience based on the sticks and stones of those fundamentalist stalwarts who ran (and ruined) their lives.  Their “bitterness” was to blame and they were just “out to get” BJU because of their own “sin”.  But no more … one by one by one they have found solace in the welcoming arms of Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (G.R.A.C.E. ) What a picture that paints.

God’s grace is, ultimately, the only place we will find complete solace.  He still sends comfort and protection to the afflicted.  One of our friends received a note of encouragement by someone who was praying that “bouncer angels” would be present during the trip to meet the investigation team and the interview.  Oh, the stress and self-talk work overtime to be sure.  But we are happy to report that God did send that type of cover, be they angels, friends, or just a word of encouragement from a stranger or the strangest place.  

One by one, they will all face their fears and their past.  Many will imagine the smirking face of Jim “I Wannabe a Counselor” Berg with his phony degree and hollow, often cruel methods.  Many will see the shadowy faces of their attackers and then those who accused them of lying.  The guilt will come in floods – yet these people are willing to do what is right even when a school founded on “doing right” would not.

We’ll see the results at some point.  BJU continues to shrink into an irrelevant state anyway.  The true fundy believers still have Pensacola and its water park for a whole lot less money.  Those who wake up and want a real degree have a world full of options in Liberty, Wheaton, Cedarville, and so many more.  Yes, one by one I believe we’ll see them all walk away until only a “basement Bible school” remains – and perhaps Stephen can run that by himself.

The word of the day is HOPE friends.  These people who have been, are being, and will be interviewed let hope swell up in them again.  And they are rewarded by a team of loving, Christ-like investigators who believe them and want to see justice done.  One by one by one they will have their interview day … and the dim light of hope grew bright.   The hope that one day someone, somewhere would at long last take the time to sit down, listen and believe their accounts of abuse and mistreatment became a reality.

Looking Beyond

“Jesus Knows”

When the Editorial Board asked me to write this post, I warned them I would go “heavy on grace and redemption”. Chuckles and the rest said that was fine. In fact, they know me well enough to expect nothing else. The gist of the post is to follow up now that Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (G.R.A.C.E.) is done with the initial survey at BJU, plus try and bring everybody back to a “center point” given the years of neglect both on Wade Hampton Blvd and elsewhere. Frankly, given the venom we’ve seen by people attempting to intimidate victims and the “gee, shucks, thanks” attitude from none other than Stephen Jones himself – well, it just strengthens our resolve here at Chuckles Travels to be there for all of you who hurt so badly to this day. Oh, and a word of caution for those whose faith has either been pressed to the limit or who don’t believe there is a God anyway. If you’ve read me before, you know I don’t pull punches in that area. You also know I won’t clobber you over the head with my beliefs or my Bible. You’ve seen enough of that to last you a lifetime. OK, here we go …

I’ve been privileged to be part of a team teaching a class on the C.S. Lewis classic Mere Christianity. I’ve read excerpts many times before, but this is has provided a chance to really dig into the book and understand the perspective from which Lewis wrote it. Couple this study with so many other books, talks, and material I’ve come across during the past few years of my journey and I am more convinced than ever that God – and I’m talking the God of Christianity here – is good and trustworthy. His ultimate act of grace and redemption in Jesus is beyond adequate thoughts and words. All the stories we’ve read that talk about some angry, vindictive God who punishes people and causes the strife we see are just plain bunk. Oh, I know he offers correction at times, but it never comes in the punitive form we’ve been taught in so many, many times. He is always the loving Father we long for. It’s the people who have twisted this that cause all the harm. I don’t have to mention names – you all know what was represented to you by some of these monsters. And then the had the nerve to come back at you and say it was all for your own good (or because of your sin) and that you need to “get over it”. Yep – that “bitter card” just keeps coming out of their hands.    

Jesus Holding Girl

But I’d like to challenge you to look deep into your own soul. The very design of it is for a loving relationship. The core of your being longs to be rescued. It shouts out – sometimes into what only seems like darkness – for somebody to care. And I can point you to the answer, but it won’t’ necessarily look like you think it should. I know some of you are asking, “Where was God when I was beaten and abused?” That’s a fair question and I don’t take it lightly. I will offer the answer, “He was right there” but I won’t do so in some flippant way. Much like the author of The Shack came to know in that powerful allegory, the abuse and neglect do hurt God. He had such better designs for our world – but he also wasn’t going to force anybody to love him. He knew that would be a hollow thing in the end. So he gave the beings he created choice. And, as Lewis and so many others tell us, with the choice comes the ability to select both good and evil.

The men and women who abused and accused you would minimize this aspect of God and also the impact of the Evil One. Yes, I believe that Satan is a real being and I believe he is intent on doing as much damage as possible. He is the one who brought your tormentors to do what they do. It wasn’t because of your “bad” – it was because of their choice to see God as a punisher and be agents of evil. They may have even thought they were bringing “God’s correction” but they knew nothing about his love and they were never in a position to help. Their own egos and needs took over and they did not do God’s work, instead choosing to perpetrate evil. But even this dark side of the story has the chance for a happier ending.

You, my friend, hold the keys to your own destiny. You have that same power of free will. You can choose to enter into the Mystery of who God really is and what he has promised to do for us. This is the same God that used even the evil done on poor Joseph to save a nation – in fact, save the known world. This is the same God who stands like the Prodigal Father ready to welcome us, dress us, and feed us lavishly. We can choose to run toward him through our Divine Brother. It will not undo the past. In some cases, those who did the evil things may appear to “get away with it” as even our laws fail to bind them. But I can promise that God will redeem it all and will never tell us to “get over it”. Instead, he will wrap us in his arms and encourage us to look beyond and find Him.

He may ask us to tell our stories to others so that the cycles of neglect and abuse can be broken. He may ask us to seek legal justice so that people are punished for their crimes. But whatever he does, he has promised to be with us and love us. He is not the “vending machine” God of the fundamentalists. He will not be “tamed” like they want him to be. His love is, as Brennan Manning put it, a reckless and ravenous thing. And he welcomes all without regard to what has happened. He tells us we are not some flawed, reprobate beings. He calls us his own children and he laughs and delights to see us come. Looking beyond is possible because he has already provided for it … and he invites us to see things as he does. He invites us to take his hand, experience his grace, and know we aren’t alone anymore.

May you find his peace in a new way today …

C.P. Traveler

And Now We Wait …

The GRACE survey is closed.  Some of you were contacted for follow-up and even interviews.  Some of you were not contacted because the nature of your abuse doesn’t fall under the scope of the GRACE investigation or perhaps (we actually heard this) it happened someplace other than BJU (even if it was an affiliated-notwork joint).

Now we wait … patiently for the competent and qualified persons at GRACE to do their job.  We trust that the truth comes out no matter how many people Jim Berg or his minions (yes, he has them – “Concerned” is one) tried to intimidate people.  No matter how many former people who get the “money beg” letters (one actually arrived the day the survey closed) but have not seen any communication about the investigation.  We wait, we trust, and we believe that truth prevails.

C.P. Traveler

T Minus 4 Days and Counting

Despite urstwhile President Jones’ pretense that 1) they were “partnering” with GRACE and 2) they had reached everybody on their mailing lists … the disingenuous way BJU continues to conduct itself is despicable.  Intimidation (direct or indirect), ignoring facts, and even attempting to alter history in some cases … all shameful acts of desparate people.

You know the drill, friends, Keep Calm and Tell GRACE … (click the picture for more info)

 

Sick Puppy: Joshua Budgett

According to the Concord Monitor:    

A jury found Joshua Budgett of Pittsfield guilty of all 10 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault against him after one hour of deliberation in Merrimack County Superior Court yesterday. He was immediately taken to the Merrimack County jail and will be sentenced April 30.

Budgett, 39, was convicted of assaulting his stepdaughter in their Pittsfield home repeatedly from September 2009 to April 2012, using multiple forms of penetration. Four of the 10 counts were for pattern sexual assault. The girl said it happened nearly twice a week and in every room of the house over that period. At the time, she was living in the home with Budgett, her mother and three younger siblings. The girl first reported the assaults in April 2012 to her boyfriend, then to a school counselor later that day.

Budgett is also a registered sex offender for two convictions of aggravated felonious sexual assault in 1994 with a victim under the age of 13. Under state law, someone with two previous convictions for aggravated felonious sexual assault could be sentenced to a lifetime in prison without parole.

Strained relationship

When the verdict was read, the girl hugged her boyfriend and a family friend, as her mother, Shirley Budgett, sat with her head on the bench in front of her a few rows back. The two did not sit together during the trial, speak in the courtroom or leave the courthouse together. Shirley Budgett had testified the day before that she and the girl used to talk about everything, but their relationship changed after the allegations surfaced last year. She also said she did not want Joshua Budgett to go to jail for the rest of his life.

The girl’s credibility was the key issue in the trial, with the two attorneys painting different pictures of her motivations during closing statements. Defense attorney Andrew Winters tried to poke holes in her statements and show that the state hadn’t proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. But Deputy County Attorney Catherine Ruffle said the girl had no reason to lie and the evidence proved she was telling the truth.

Katie Swango, a criminalist with the state who specializes in forensics and serology, testified about DNA found on a rag that the police seized during a search of the family’s home in April 2012. The girl told authorities Budgett had cleaned himself with that rag and tossed it under a work bench after he had sex with her, shortly before she told people about the assault.

Swango tested two stains on the towel that contained seminal fluid and found the stains had a mixture of Budgett’s and the girl’s DNA. On Monday, Shirley Budgett had testified that she and Budgett had sex in the garage a few times and that he probably used a towel to clean up. But Swango said there was no evidence of Shirley Budgett’s DNA on the towel.

Swango said she couldn’t identify the source of the girl’s DNA and could not tell for how long the DNA had been on the towel. She did know, however, that the seminal fluid was Budgett’s, and that DNA from the two was mixed together.

“The DNA testimony is not nearly as incriminating as the prosecutor I think will suggest, because although the DNA was there, the DNA analyst can’t tell you anything about when the DNA was deposited,” Winters said during his closing arguments.

When Sgt. Richard Walter with the Pittsfield Police Department took the stand, Winters questioned why he had seized that particular rag in the garage and no others. Walter said it matched the description and location provided in the search warrant.

Kayla Page, the counselor whom the girl first told about the assaults, also testified. She said the girl was calm and clearheaded on the day she told her. The girl said she was worried about the safety of her mother and three younger siblings. Refreshing her memory with a copy of her initial report of the girl’s disclosure, provided by Winters, Page said the girl first told her the abuse began when she was 11. On Monday, the girl said it began when she was 13 or 14.

That discrepancy was one of several pieces of testimony Winters pointed at to say the state had not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt. The girl said the assaults happened nearly 300 times, but that no one ever saw because her mother was always sleeping or in another room. Shirley Budgett testified that it was easy to hear things around the house, and she never saw or heard the two engaging in inappropriate behavior or acting suspiciously.

There “was a total of six people living on that one floor,” Winters said. “It would be incredibly brazen to try to pull off such a sexual assault repeatedly.”

Furthermore, he said, Swango’s testimony was not definitive enough to prove the mixed DNA on the towel came from sexual intercourse. He also pointed to the girl’s admittedly bad relationship with Budgett, who was always disciplining her and setting strict rules. She told her boyfriend and the counselor about the assaults the day after her boyfriend heard Budgett yelling at her.

“If you look at the genesis of how this report came forward, that makes a lot more sense of how a story like this could be fabricated in a teenage girl’s mind,” he said.

No reason to lie

But Ruffle said the girl’s dislike of Budgett wasn’t a reason to lie. She had made her own plans to get out, getting good grades in school and working two jobs to save money for college. She never told because Budgett had groomed her to believe that what was happening wasn’t wrong.

“He was smart, he was sneaky, he was controlling and he was manipulative,” Ruffle said.

The girl couldn’t remember every detail of the assaults because it had happened so many times, she said. The defense called the accusations unbelievable. But if the girl was lying, Ruffle said, she would be more likely to create a story that was simple and neat.

“Why would she make up an unbelievable story?” she asked the jury. “The reason is, she didn’t make up this story – she told you what happened in her life.”

 

What makes this story even worse is that Chuck Phelps  married Joshua Budgett  to a single mother in Phelps’ congregation while Budgett was still in a half way house on a previous conviction for two counts of Felonious Sexual Assault (Victim under 13 years of age.) Joshua Budgett is listed on the Sex Offender registry related to this 1994 conviction.  Phelps actually officiated the ceremony at the half way house.  The bride had a small child already, and later the two had children of their own.

Chuck Phelps On the Stand at the Rape Trial for Tina Anderson Playing the Victim

Perhaps Chuck Phelps honestly thought he was doing the right thing. But this is a clear example of how unfit Phelps was to pastor or give any advice to anyone. At best, his actions show he was incapable of thinking that a man whom he considered a believer, to be a predator. At worst, Chuck Phelps couldn’t care less what happened to the vulnerable and innocent.
Other pastors/ religious leaders need to be shown Phelps is  an example of how not to operate and treat the most vulnerable. We here at Chucklestravels are saddened for the victim and her siblings.

This paragraph from the above article about Shirley Budget makes our blood run cold.

When the verdict was read, the girl hugged her boyfriend and a family friend, as her mother, Shirley Budgett, sat with her head on the bench in front of her a few rows back. The two did not sit together during the trial, speak in the courtroom or leave the courthouse together. Shirley Budgett had testified the day before that she and the girl used to talk about everything, but their relationship changed after the allegations surfaced last year. She also said she did not want Joshua Budgett to go to jail for the rest of his life.

Shirley!

This man raped your daughter.

Repeatedly.

As a mom you, Shirley still believe in the offender?