Exposing the Corruption of the "Family Values" Party
Alexander Roesly was the youth pastor at Praise Chapel of Church God in Union City, Indiana. He sent messages to thirteen and fifteen-year-old girls asking if they wanted to be “friends with benefits.” The fifteen-year-old attended his church. He was charged with solicitation of a minor for the thirteen-year-old, but not the fifteen-year-old as he was nineteen at the time.
Shawn Fitzgerald was the youth director at First United Methodist Church. He also was a high school teacher and soccer coach. A tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children led investigators to him. They got a search warrant and arrested him when they found many images of child sexual abuse, including sexual abuse of infants. He was charged with over 400 counts of possessing CSAM.
Nicholas Kelley was a youth pastor at New Bridges Church, in Lawrenceville, Georgia. He sexually abused a fourteen=year=old girl. His crime was revealed when she had a nervous breakdown and hospitalized. That is when her parents learned of the “relationship.” He confessed to the church elders the next day that he had “inappropriate physical interactions” with her.
Jeffrey Winston Forrest was a youth pastor at Pioneer Baptist Church in Abilene, Texas. In 1998, there were allegations against him for sexual abuse. Children’s Protective Services investigated but the police did not pursue as there were discrepancies between the child’s two interviews. He did not face justice for 23 more years.
Jon Courson was the pastor of Applegate Christian Fellowship. He abused his position to pursue a relationship with an employee and parishioner who subsequently left her job and her church. She told the pastor of the Medford Christian Fellowship, her new church, who arranged a meeting with her and an elder of Applegate. The other elders were informed but did nothing to discipline Courson.
Ben Courson is a megachurch pastor who resigned from his church when it was revealed that he abused his position as pastor to pursue sexual relationships with women. One woman accused him of aggressively seeking a sexual relationship, forcibly kissing and touching her but she fought him off and got away. Two other women had sexual relationships that they acquiesced to, in part because he assured them that since he did not preach about sex, it was okay. Additionally, it wasn’t technically adultery, he claimed, as he masturbated and ejaculated on the women.
Donald Courtney Biggs was youth pastor at Mountain Church in Medford, Oregon. He was arrested for burglary and invasion of a woman’s privacy. The police began investigating him as a result of inappropriate messages, texting to a 14-year-old girl he met through his church youth program. In the course of investigation, they discovered he had videotaped a woman undressing without her knowledge and consent. Then it was discovered he also secretly recorded minors.
Ronnie Lee Barron was the youth pastor at Loris Presbyterian Church, in Loris, South Carolina. He was also volunteer baseball coach at the high school. He was arrested in December 2021, accused of sexual exploitation of a minor and sexual battery. The minor was a student at Loris High School and 17 years old. Barron sexually abused the youth several times from March to June 2021. He also took nude photos and made a video of a sex act with the youth.
He came back to Tennessee in June, 2021, to bring a young girl from his old church to assist at his new one. It was a ploy and he sexually assaulted her. He was arrested on the road back to Tennessee. The police then found child sexual abuse material on his phone as well as conversations with two other Tennessee teens. When interviewed, they confirmed he had sexually abused them as well.
Robert Fenton was the youth pastor at Abide In the Vine church in Owego, New York, when he told a couple he was drawn to their daughter and wanted to marry her. Her family lived in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, just over the state line from Owego. She was fourteen. The parents approved, church leaders approved, and the courtship began. She was pulled out of school and homeschooled which gave Fenton private time with her. He began sexually abusing her.