I can't say I disagree.

Please arrest them all. Shut that church down. As someone who spent their adolescence in Edmonds, I can assure you that Mr. Jensen is not the only filth to come from that church.

It's too bad that women in conservative churches don't recognize that their patriarchal beliefs put them at risk. I don't use the word "patriarchal" lightly, but making the child "forgive" him in front of all those authority figures, not reporting him, blowing it off - that's a classic example of the "men can do no wrong" mentality.

They should be arrested. Clergy (and youth ministers, etc.) are mandatory reporters. They are not supposed to investigate first and then report. The investigation is up to the police.

For too long, we've allowed a culture in this country that views churches as above the obligations that ANY other type of organization would be subject to. Christian or Catholic, they're always saying "let this be handled inside the church", "don't let this damage the church's reputation", or "he's a good Christian man, he'd never do anything like that!" People need to fucking wise up, because children are suffering.

The strange thing is, I remember seeing this guy put on a magic show at a church event when I was a kid (it wasn't at Westgate Chapel). At least I wasn't left alone with him.

I also feel bad for the employees of his company. I can't imagine they'll be in business much longer.

Why didn't the mother go to the police? There are two sides to this story : one of the patriarchy convincing a member that there was nothing wrong verses the chance the initial abuse was unintentional.

But here the mother and a female associate pastor didn't actually believe it was intentional. This isn't a case aid a cover-up but naivity (and maybe a little head-in-the-sand diease). I guess those in authority should go to the police always.... But in this case I'd really like to know if the leadership took his side and convinced the
mother or if they really didn't think there was anything to report. Still, even the hint of something would be enough for me to get my kid out of there and likely let the police sort it out. So, I guess I'm with Dan on this one, just a little weary of determining where to draw the line between suspected abuse and a questionable act. Hindsight makes this case obvious....

Forcing the little girl to axceptthe apology is horrifying though.

After reading stories like this on a daily basis, I feel that I owe my parents even more appreciation for never sending me to church.

The "leadership" should all be arrested as accomplices for not reporting. Churches proven to be sheltering predators should lose their tax exemptions and have property seized, too. That might scare "leadership" into complying with laws and/or basic human decency.

More proof Christianity is voodoo bullshit and these people should be charged with aiding and abetting.

@7 Amen to that.

Congratulations, Terry Jensen, you have just won a Roman collar!

Actually, that seems like it would make pretty good shorthand for busting a priest for pedophilia... as in "Police Roman Collared a child abuser."

The faces may not reflect actual child molesters, however they are guilty of Aiding and Abetting a child molester- and even worse, they are "enablers"...

"A&B= a person who actively participates in the commission of a crime, even though they take no part in the actual criminal offense"

Big surprise that the team only has two women. And that all of the highest ranking leaders are men.

@ 9 - I'll second your 'amen', and raise you a 'hell yes'!

They all look kinda molest-y.

Top row center: what's that thing on top of his head?

What #2 said. Oh, yes.

in-frequent, the laws may differ from place to place (I"m in Alberta), but mandated reporters are supposed to report anything that raises red flags. They are not supposed to investigate, decide whether or not there is a problem and *then* report - they are under a legal obligation to report as soon as there are any grounds, beyond the very mildest, to believe that a child is being abused. I'm a daycare worker - if I had failed to report given what these people know, I'd be in legal trouble, no question. It's part of my training to know what being a mandated reporter means.

If being on a church's leadership team means that you are a mandated reporter, then not knowing what constitutes a reportable offense means you are unfit for your job. And, as we all know, ignorance of the law is no excuse - these people should be facing legal charges.

yes @6, why didn't the mother just go to the police in the first place?

Agony - yeah that's what i suspected, thanks for the input. Still, given the mother's involvement, I do wonder if this rose to the level of suspicion at the time. I guess if the mm went to the leadership that it did -- but either they talked her out of it (bad illegal etc) or she agreed that it didn't rise to the level of suspicion after an explanation was given (regretable in hindsight). I guess I'd wan to know more details before I cast stones, but I would hesitate to say arrest I would not hesitate to say investigate.

Hellooooo, smiley white people!

The real surprise is that they have as many as two women on their board.

I was thinking of many people's question of why Mom didn't just go to the police. It's probably for the same reason many sex crimes aren't reported--she didn't want to submit her daughter to the public indignity of a trial. This is white evangelical America, folks, where the hint of molestation is worse than letting a pervert go stark free.

But shame on that mother, and shame on those elders!

@6 Parents can fail big time. (I believe Dan may have a running feature that builds upon that concept.) Most abuse happens in the home, and a lot of abuse isn't the headline-grabbing stuff so much as neglect. (Kids whose baby teeth have NEVER been professionally looked at, kids too young to be unsupervised left alone for hours on end, etc.) The whole idea of mandated reporting is to be the safety net for the children whose homes have failed. The fact that the mother didn't report anything to the police is neglect, and the idea that her neglect justifies the church leaders' neglect is bizarre. It Doesn't Work That Way. In fact, it works in Entirely The Opposite Way.

TL;DR- where the church leaders are concerned, doesn't matter if the mother reported it, kept her mouth shut, or strapped herself to a rocket and went to the fucking moon. They were mandated reporters. Hell yes they should be arrested for shirking that responsibility and consequentially putting children in danger.

Whenever I explain to a person of faith why I know wish to have any (when I first lost it I yearned during a mourning period) I say something like this:

While I believe that there is nothing wrong with Christianity as Jesus taught it according to the Bible, people who believe often stuff there minds so full of religion, they lose sight of what's important. Like being a good person, being good to other human beings, and just plain exercising common sense.

This shit is tragic.

This is a hatchet job on westgate Chapel. Jensen passed two
polygraph tests and so was kept on.
facts

I used to go to Westgate during 2004 to 2008. What happended in 2006 I was not aware of it and it was sure kept undercover. I was shocked of hearing of this but I know that the church leadership team can fill a person's mind with so much religion that it's like being brain washed. I do not attend this church any longer and I have to say I am glad. It's churchs like this that give other churchs a bad name. They should hang them all and close it down permanently.

I used to go to this church.... He was my sunday school teacher, I fucking hate him now.