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Thursday, June 12, 2008

Youth Pastor Watch

posted by on June 12 at 13:00 PM

Illinois:

anthonymuzzarelli.jpg The mother of a 13-year-old boy claims her son suffers from permanent emotional injuries after having been sexually abused by his youth pastor, according to a lawsuit filed June 4 in Madison County Circuit Court.

Jane Doe claims Anthony Muzzarelli was a youth pastor at Mt. Zion General Baptist Church in Granite City and worked directly with her son. The child had been invited him to Muzzarelli’s home as part of the ministry, the lawsuit claims. Doe claims her son was sleeping at Muzzarelli’s home on Feb. 25, 2006, and was awakened when Muzzarelli allegedly started to fondle him….

Doe claims Mt. Zion knew or should have known facts which would have caused suspicions of abuse, including various inappropriate encounters on church grounds and at Muzzarelli’s home. Doe claims some encounters were witnessed by various administrators of the church.

Florida:

brianlane.jpg The preschool teacher accused last week of fondling a 4-year-old student during nap time is back behind bars facing a more serious charge. Brian Michael Lane is now charged with capital sexual battery, accused of raping a 10-year-old boy several times between January and March….

In addition to being a preschool teacher, Lane has been a member of Bayonet Point Christian Church on State Road 52 for years and for the past two he has been a music pastor. Joey Durmire, church pastor, said Tuesday that Lane led the choir during every Sunday service. He worked with children, Durmire said, but the church has a policy that no child can be left alone with a single adult.

“Honestly, we’re shocked and our hearts are saddened,” he said. “We’re just as duped as anyone else.”

Texas:

Northeast Houston Baptist Church announced June 11 the immediate termination of the director of youth ministry for what the church is calling “inappropriate conduct with a minor.”

Pastor Nathan Lino made the announcement at the church’s Wednesday night service…. The youth minister has been employed with the church for 30 months and is one of five ministers at the church.

“This morning, while at an annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis at 7 a.m. Eastern time, I received a phone call from the parent of the minor,” Lino said. “I was sent over 50 hand-written pages of correspondence between Wesley Orton and the minor. The board of trustees reviewed the documentation prior to my decision to terminate.”

RSS icon Comments

1

Hey! Shouldn't you be lauding that Florida church for seemingly recognizing the exact propensity that you always post about and doing something about it?


Posted by leek | June 12, 2008 1:36 PM
2

Hey Dan, any chance of some uberlist of all the religious pedo's that you've posted about over the years?. Even more interesting would be info on what happened to these (I hate to use the term...) people both legally and in their religious appointments after getting busted. I keep hearing about discoveries and arrests, but I'm still waiting for a "sentanced to 50 years and daily rapes by bubba"

Posted by Wurm | June 12, 2008 1:59 PM
3

Wow, I thought being Catholic was risky. After months of these posts though, it seems being Baptist isn't a safe bet either....

Posted by Hartiepie | June 12, 2008 2:01 PM
4

Have these people been convicted?

If they have, swell.

If they haven't, I have to ask, what ever happened to innocent until proven guilty?

Posted by michael strangeways | June 12, 2008 4:30 PM
5

We're just watching, Michael, not convicting. Of course these men are innocent until proven guilty.

And, hey, I was indicted once, and no one waited for a conviction to run stories about my lil' indictment.

Posted by Dan Savage | June 12, 2008 4:58 PM
6

So does the policy in the Florida church ban one child and any one adult being alone together, or does that mean one child and any one non-married adult?

If the latter, don't some pedophiles get married? Or did they have to write in that dispensation so the pastor-in-chief could have his alone time, just nobody else?....

Posted by exiled in LA | June 12, 2008 4:59 PM
7

Don't let your child sleep over at the youth pastor's house. Christ.

Posted by Bub | June 12, 2008 9:43 PM
8

They all look so, so rapey.

Posted by mb | June 13, 2008 12:06 PM

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