Exposing the Corruption of the "Family Values" Party
Steve Wukmer was on the staff at Agape Christian Boarding School, infamous for allegations of abuse, neglect, and trafficking. He was also a children’s minister in Ohio.
He was arrested in November 2022 on 215 charges related to child sex abuse material. Bail was set at $12.9 million.
Kenneth Daniel was the pastor of First Baptist Church in Chalkville, Alabama. After the Southern Baptist Convention released the SBC Sexual Abuse Task Force report in May 2022, he wrote, “I have served on staff in churches within the SBC over 38 years. I agree … this is tragic to victims and heartbreaking. Cases needed to be investigated. My question is about … releasing more information than necessary. … There is sexual misconduct in every profession, even churches. How do churches benefit from over exposure of poor leadership? Churches are struggling to keep doors open. How are we to evangelize and bring people to Christ?”
Charles Kyle Adcock was a youth pastor at Woodward Avenue Baptist Church in Muscle Shoals from 2010 to 2012. While youth pastor, he began molesting a child, a 14-year-old girl. Police recovered over 200,000 texts between Adcock and the girl over three years. When she was nineteen she went to police. He was charged with twenty counts of rape and nine counts of sodomy.
Daniel Montague Acker, Jr. was a youth pastor and an elementary school teacher. In 1993, he was accused of molesting one of his fourth-grade students but the grand jury did not indict him. While the school was considering termination, he was named Creek View Elementary’s Teacher of the Year. First Baptist Church in Pelham even hosted a fundraiser for him. Meanwhile, the fourth-grader was ostracized while the community rallied for Acker. Acker was so unrepentant as to put the question, “What color are Kristin’s panties?” on a test.
Perry Hooper was an Alabama state representative. He was also the 2016 Donald Trump Alabama campaign co-chair. He was arrested for felony sex abuse. Charges were dropped because the victim refused to testify.
John Hammock served as Tallassee, Alabama’s mayor for six years. He resigned in June after losing a Republican primary race for a position on the Public Service Commission. This was after he was arrested in January 2022 for domestic violence, attempting to strangle his wife who was granted a protection order. He was alleged to have assaulted her with his hands and feet (wearing boots) and attempting to strangle her while threatening to kill her.
Chase Tristian Espy was deputy general counsel to Alabama Governor Kay Ivey until he was arrested for online solicitation of a child. His problems grew when he was arrested because they found child sexual abuse photos and video on his phone.
Mack Charles Andrews was the pastor of the United Pentecostal Church in Thomasville, Alabama. I confess what this man did has haunted me. He is extraordinarily evil. He raped several children. And now a content warning, do not go further if details of abuse sicken or trigger you. This is one of the most evil of all the predators I have written about.
Paul Edward Acton Bowen was a prominent Alabama Evangelical religious leader. He founded Acton Bowen Outreach which still has an active internet presence promoting rightwing and religious leaders and publishing three to four articles a month. He is also a convicted child molester serving time in prison. He was sentenced to consecutive maximum sentences, more than 1,000 years in prison.
Meghan Wiggins and her husband Gary operated Joshua Home, an anti-gay conversion camp, in Alabama, Missouri, and Texas, moving on when closed by authorities for abusing and trafficking the children.