Parents of Sex Abuse Victim Alert Churches
by Staff
February 8, 2008
OPP, Alabama, (christiansunite.com) -- A family whose mentally handicapped child was molested by a Methodist pastor's teenage son is contacting every Methodist church in the Southeastern district."I'm working on 'G' right now" said Paul Therrell, the victim's father. "This pastor's son had a history that no one in the community was aware of, and they will eventually try to move on with the same discretion. We want to make sure that can't happen. So we're gathering email addresses and sending an alert to each one." The attack occurred in the pastor's own home while the Therrells dined with him on their first evening in town.
The church's District Superintendent was made aware of the incident last February but did nothing about it. After almost a year of broken promises and evasive behavior on the part of church leadership, a police report was filed. The young man was charged and plead guilty to sexual abuse. As a result, the Therrells were terminated and evicted from their home.
"His father assured us he was in weekly counseling in Dothan, AL" said the victim's mother, Ronna Therrell. "He would never provide us with any record of that counseling or even the name of the therapist." According to the Covington county Juvenile Officer in Andalusia, AL, the young man was never in professional counseling because no mandatory report was ever made back to the juvenile department in the county where the incident occurred, as is prescribed by law.
"Some may not welcome our letter, but that's a small price to pay" said Mr.Therrell. "Prevention offers us healing." The Therrells hope to complete their contact list by the time the Methodist General Conference convenes in Ft. Worth in April. They are also working on getting an amendment into the Methodist Book of Discipline that will require tougher reporting and notification standards for pastors.
