The Police Report
August 20, 2015 in Sovereign Grace Ministries
Someone obtained a copy of the police report relating to Gene Emerson’s arrest on solicitation charges.
Here is the first page (click to enlarge): [WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT/LANGUAGE]
Here is the second page (click to enlarge):
and the third page (click to enlarge):
Busted.
a few things…. his timidity in the conversation makes me think this could have been his first time actually going foward with this act, but more than likely not his first time looking into it. or maybe people are just timid when they know they are committing a crime? lol. but to not bring a condom?
second… was he sentenced to any sort of punishment? if so, what?
third… and i know everyone knows this, but i’m sure he’s claiming he’s innocent because he did not actually perform or receive any sex act. that however does not work for the crime of actually soliciting a prostitute. it may have been a lapse in judgement…. but also a serious crime. SGM weasels strike again.
#1 Kingsway members & attendees … you BETTER make sure that this man doesn’t see a RED CENT of any type of retirement or severance pay from your church!
#2 You better find out quick what Pastor Matt knew and when. If he hid even an iota of information on this as to when he knew about it, I’d fire his a** in a city second.
#3 Somebody at Kingsway, please take the time to help and stand by Emerson’s wife. She is an innocent on this and doesn’t deserve the pain caused by the man. Make sure she gets a test for AIDS/STDs!
There is little left to the imagination as to what would have occurred if the “prostitute” wasn’t a cop. This IS NOT the first time Emerson had ever done this. No way!
I kind of thought the opposite – that he was being very careful about what he actually said. He still gave them enough for the solicitation charge, but to me it felt like he was watching his words.
If you look at the arrest report posted Gene Emerson was claiming that he came there only for a massage (hard to believe but what Gene claimed). I imagine Gene tried to claim “entrapment” since the woman officer (posing as a prostitute) mentioned the condom and other and Gene agreed. When asked about this by the arresting officer, Gene claimed he was just going along with her.
One other thought here is that Gene didn’t try and hide his guilt maybe the exposure like posting his arrest report wouldn’t have needed to be displayed here.
Jen, You’re right. Not everything has gone public from CFC. And I agree with you that these are not my stories to tell either but they will eventually come out.
I’m reminded of the movie “A few good men” with Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson. If you have time to quickly watch this clip of the “You can’t handle the truth” scene then feel free to refresh your memory. I pasted the clip below. Is it just me or do u see MP sitting in the chair as Jack Nicholson? CJ is scheduled to be preaching at MPs home church this month. Does it seem to anyone else like there is an ‘eye for an eye’ situation here that could be holding these guys in captivity? Might it be fear that is the reason for all the lack of transparency, spin, and control? I just can’t get it out of my mind that it goes something like this: If CJ goes to jail, then does MP go to jail as well? If SGM goes down, do they all go to jail? Is it possible that CJ is holding things over MPs head? In other words, if MP doesn’t get CJs back then does CJ threaten to take him down too? And I wonder how many leaders in SGM know something about one another that could potentially incriminate the other? Hense the keep your mouth shut and plow past the issue mentality; or just lie?
Myra Whitener re: your post above. Welcome! My heart bleeds for you! I have been praying for you ever since I read your post. Many of us have been horribly mistreated by SGM leaders of which they will not admit to any wrong doing of anyone, ever. I agree with you how gossip can potentially divide a team/body. I do encourage anyone that posts here to be cognizant of gossip so as to not grieve our Lord. Having said this I also trust that our Lord would control a situation where a person crosses a gossip boundary. If they cross a boundary, it’s not for me to judge. Myra I think if you stick around you will find this site to be less about spreading rumors (gossip) but more about finding the truth and protecting those we love and the public. In the days to come there will be much much more that will come out about your organization. I think you may want to consider asking yourself if you and those you love are prepared to “handle the truth”.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_frM44bBMfA
Definitely hard to read and sad. But, I am glad you got the straight story from the police report, Kris. I hope the church now decides to come clean and tell who knew what and when and make things plain to the congregation. If not, I know at least one healthier church home I can recommend in Midlothian.
Y’know, in weighing whether or not to publish the report, it came down to the fact that the church leaders and Mr. Emerson himself very much appeared to try and conceal as much as possible about this, admitting to the episode only after Mr. Emerson was convicted. Their parsing and doublespeak, their obvious desire to keep a lid on details as much as they could, only produced speculation. Truth is not gossip. Neither are facts.
If there’s one thing the entire world ought to know by now, it’s that the cover-up is almost always worse than the crime. I’m pretty sure KingsWay apologists would try to argue that there wasn’t a cover-up, but if pastors did not encourage church members to read the report for themselves, and if they did not explain in much greater detail what happened and when they (the rest of the pastors) knew about it, then they were trying to minimize (i.e. cover up) the incident.
So Guy and I decided it’s better to put it all out there and let the facts speak for themselves. If Mr. Emerson wants to send me an email and offer up his side, and why he wasn’t actually guilty of anything “illicit,” I’d be happy to post what he has to say.
This police report, as disgusting as it is, needed to be made public.
Why?
Because of his claims that he was wrongly accused. This leaves no doubt. The members of KingsWay and other supporters of Gene need to know that they are being misled.
The next thing to be determined is whether Matthew Williams was…
1) kept in the dark until just right before this all came out.
2) knew about the arrest and conviction, but bought Gene’s lies about it and kept it from the church.
3) knew the true nature of what happened, but along with Gene, thought they could keep it from the church.
At best, Matthew shows his naïveté, at worst he is a liar like Gene. KingsWay needs to know.
For those of you away or busy this afternoon, you might want to look the last blog post that went up this afternoon and is now closed for comments. There are some good comments there. Read the post and you will see why Kris closed that post and opened this one.
On another note, I wonder what Myra Whitener’s reaction will be now. Will seeing the police report open to her eyes that Gene is actually guilty or will she still be in denial?
Persona – Please tell me of a healthier church here in Midlothian! I am fairly new to this area, but came out of an SGM church that fell apart several years ago. It has been YEARS since I was in a healthy church. I’m starving and need to get back to a “safe” church.
Two questions that need to be asked….
I can drive 15 minutes from my house in two directions to get a chinese massage. A bit farther are malls with more. I don’t know GE’s geography….is is reasonably suburban where one can get a legitimate massage close by?
Second, I don’t really know much about this subject and guys….but could this possibly be a first time? It seems like he knew what to do and implies it is not a first time.
Very tragic for the wife and children.
Steve240
My guess is she will still be in denial. We need to pray that God uses this as an opportunity to open the eyes of those who have been deceived. The brain washing and psychological manipulation reflected in typical cults has been at play in SGM and Kingsway in particular for a long time.
Hopefully, this new revelation will jar the members of Kingsway to wake up and remove themselves and their families from such a spiritually toxic environment.
Balaam’s Donkey
It is hard to admit that you have been duped etc. including what you believed about someone for so long wasn’t true. Thus easier to remain in denial vs. admitting you had been duped and having to face that. The longer you were involved and the more you have invested (both time and money) the harder it is to admit this.
There are several of the legitimate chain massage franchises around. In fact there is a Massage Envy just a mile from the La Quinta where he got snagged. Massage Envy offers a $40 1 hour session. He knew what he was after.
Thanks for the facts, truth.
I just feel so awful for his wife.
Having this police report is so helpful. Thank you for going to get it and for posting. Why is he introducing himself as “Sean” if he is only getting a massage? Also, is it possible to get the transcript from the July 9 court appearance?
So I will admit that especially when I was younger, people used to consider me VERY innocent and VERY naive. Sometimes I’m still kind of dumb when it comes to the darker side of life. But even I know – and would have known, even when I was a super-sheltered teenager – that seeking a “massage” from a stranger you contact through the escort section of a publication called Backpage and meeting this escort at a LaQuinta Inn would have to only mean you were there for one thing. And it wouldn’t be a massage.
And one more thought – if all Mr. Emerson wanted was a massage and all was legitimate and aboveboard, why did he use a fake name when texting the person he thought was an escort????
“unsettled” –
Your comment was stuck in the moderation queue as I was posting my last thought. :-)
And I don’t mean to keep posting comment after comment, but I just noticed that in the text exchange Mr. Emerson had with the supposed escort, she actually tells him that she doesn’t actually do massages:
I suppose a nitpicker could argue that Ms. Troxell misspelled or mistyped “massages” as “massads.” So maybe Mr. Emerson assumed she didn’t do some other type of rubdown or something. But that would really be stretching it.
There’s a reason Gene Emerson was convicted.
@Persona:
Yes, please give a recommendation for a healthy church in the Midlothian area.
We just moved here (among other things, to get away from the Mothership) and have checked out a couple, including one that had a few ex-KW folks. Honestly, still not feeling particularly safe – maybe it’s all in my head, but i can’t help but hear echoes of Mohler and Piper, Acts 29 and CBMW, in so many churches.
If you’d be up for it, I’d appreciate an email from you. I always found your perspectives on CLC helpful.
No doubt you could get my email from Kris. Thanks!
Over the past week and a half, I have interacted with Detective N. N. and his supervising officer over Vice and Narcotics, Lieutenant J. P., regarding Gene Emerson’s deceitful misrepresentation to Kingsway Community Church that he was purportedly entrapped by the vice squad for the solicitation of prostitution. Nothing could be further from the truth as is clear from this arrest report and other evidence including a video of his words and actions. Emerson was intent on having sex with a prostitute that was a undercover police woman. The operation was carried out with the highest legal integrity. The CCPD is not a hole in the wall operation. It employs over 600 men and women. It is a first rate force.
Emerson has now fabricated a story that he stumbled onto this operation in pursuit of a simple massage. He attempted to use this lie with Detective Necolettos and he is doing the same with the people of Kingsway Community Church.
Last Sunday, Matthew Williams, interim sr. pastor, told the church, “And in light of his claim of innocence, we support his [Gene’s] right to consider taking further legal action.” I can assure you, the Chesterfield Police Department does not fear a lawsuit from Mr. Emerson. Gene is not innocent and he will not be taking any further legal action. In my opinion, this is all part of his attempt to deceive and cover up. It is an empty boast.
On Monday, I posted here: “Gene Emerson’s claim that he is innocent is a lie. That should not surprise anyone.” It should not surprise anyone because there is a history of deceit and treachery by Gene clearly laid in my documents and other writings. Matthew Williams claims Gene is a man of integrity but he knows better. I have provided him all the evidence in the past.
The people of Kingsway Community Church have been mislead for many years. Sovereign Grace Ministries is verifiably corrupt now. I hope my old friends in the church will finally take action, demand all evidence from Gene and his lawyer, talk to the police, have the church attorney file a FOIA for the video and/or audio, publicly rebuke Gene (1 Tim 5:20) for his continuing and audacious deceit, deal with Gene’s sins against others in the past, find new pastors, and leave Sovereign Grace Ministries. In other words, put Jesus Christ first and return to him as you first love before he entirely shuts down the church in righteous judgement. This is a merciful appeal.
I asked MW specifically and pointedly if he or others in leadership knew anything of this on 7/12 when they had the big sabbatical send-off. He gave his word that they did not. Knowing him well and for many years I do not question his honesty for a second.
Gene- It doesn’t really matter what you have taught about marriage and morality over the years. Today, you taught hundreds of sheltered Christian husbands how easy it is to pay for a b7@w job.
That will be your legacy. I hope the fall-out does not take other marriages with it.
I’m guessing Sovereign Grace Churches® Inc. will dump Kingsway before the month is out.
Kris I almost wish you would have hung on to the police report and not published for awhile longer bc I would think MP and his legal team would have been formulating a deceptive public response in support of Gene’s innocence. Now you can bet that public statement would be changed to simply say something like “Neither I nor anyone else in SGM including Matthew had any knowledge of Gene’s actions.” Now, once again, MP and SGM are off the hook. But I guess this will all catch up with them pretty soon anyway.
What a tangled web we weave……
So, in light of the deception and failure to repent (he still claims he innocent) the next biblical step is public rebuke. Don’t hold your breath.
In case you wondered the Book of Church Order absolves SGM Inc. from any responsibility: http://s3.amazonaws.com/churchplantmedia-cms/sovereign_grace_churches/rules-of-procedure-for-parties-in-adjudications-2nd-edition.pdf
On a personal level, this is so disheartening. I would have said Gene and Liz were the kind of friends to my husband and I that you could pick up with after many years and still be right back where you had been, comfortable and smiling. I am sad for them both, and for all those near. The compounding of the pain by cover-up and hypocrisy is another blow to the chest.
In a larger sense, I am overwhelmingly enraged that the members of the congregation are being emotionally gagged by the “truth be told, many of us have done far worse” line. In other words, you may not complain, you may not question, and you may not engage beyond certain limits, because your life, too, will be scrutinized and questioned. And you, dear saint, are not one of the blessed ones, whose life comes with a get-out-of-jail-free-card which allows you to go on missions trips, continue in ministry, and be publicly described as having faithfully ministered for years despite being arrested, tried and convicted of sexually oriented crimes.
Your kid talks about condoms at a youth group and he may never be seen again, but …..
You get the idea.
stvmac
I would not trust MW any more than I could throw him.
Saint Elsewhere said “Your kid talks about condoms at a youth group and he may never be seen again, but …..” This is why it is a good thing the report was made public (thanks Kris, Guy, and … is it stvmac?). I am not interested in harassing anyone, or publicly shaming anyone for sport. I don’t like to see people beaten when they are down. I could have sympathy for Gene, and I understand the desire to cover it all up and hope it goes away. But there are too many bodies in SGM’s backyard, too many people who have been thrown away supposedly in the name of righteousness, while everyone else was told not to talk about it, not to ask questions, just trust these men. And Gene is one of those supposedly trustworthy men.
Blech…
Of course this had to be made public.
Janice and KMD, the church I was thinking of is Sycamore, in Midlothian. And, does anyone know what church Bob Dixon is affiliated with? He would also be a good resource for you.
I will pray that each of you finds a healthy place to worship. Don’t give-up. Visit a few places and pray hard. God will be faithful to guide you and give you peace. Also, wherever you visit, ask lots of questions. And thoroughly check out the safety of the childrens’ ministry. If you remain, continue to keep an eye on it for others, if not your own kids. We keep a watchful eye on our children’s ministry, even though it seems to be a really tight ship.
There are many good churches in the Midlothian area. Commonwealth Chapel South (where Bob Dixon attends) and Clover Hill Assembly of God are two good choices.
Jared was right again…. Reading the blogs is like looking at porn….. Especially when the blog covers SGM Pastors’ exploits.
I know this whole topic is tragic, nothing funny about it. But I seriously laughed out loud when I read this comment.
If anyone from Kingsway would like help processing this latest incident or any part of their experience at Kingsway with a view toward freedom you can contact Bob Dixon at bob@symboulosministries.org. I know from experience he is interested in helping people understand and unravel the disillusionment and confusion that results from one’s exposure to SGM and their churches.
Persona — I had to laugh at your post. Sycamore and Kingsway have traded members many times, from the first year of Kingsway/SCR’s existance. Lately, most of them seem to be going to Sycamore rather than the other way around. Good people there.
I suspect that many of us have never seen anything like this before. I had truly hoped there was a real misunderstanding and that he was somehow innocent, but, assuming there is a corroborating video and audio, we now know that this was no misunderstanding. It looks as if he planted a few ambiguous details – the massage angle – as a way out just in case he was caught. It is sobering & sickening. I was told by a police contact that Backpage is a internet website used often for prostitution. My heart is broken and aching for Liz and the children and their families, and their faith. No child should ever have to find out that their father has done such a thing.
Lord, help us.
How could he have possibly done this to his family and to those who came to hear him preach every week, paying his salary? How could he have possibly planned to interact with a person with so little regard for their morality? How could a person who portends to devote his life to bringing people to Christ have no regard for the soul of this person he intended to cheapen and use? How could he betray his hand-picked successor, the son of his very dear friends, and leave the other church leaders looking like fools for supporting him?
We were reviewing the sad, ongoing mess, and DH (dear hubby) said, “So the real question is: Is what you are seeing a church?” In light of the fact that people gather in Christ’s name, of course it is. But in regards to the church authority, how can the pastors who stood behind Gene continuing as a pastor, knowing that he was convicted, knowing the church was being led adrift, knowing his poor wife had to stand in front of the congregation humiliated, and “supporting” him and “taking time to” whatever they need time to do… Frankly I’d have had them both in serious couple’s therapy months ago and not in Bolivia. And not paraded as faithful ministers. And not expecting the wife to stand there while her husband tries to pawn off that kind of behavior as bad judgement. So if pastors are so hand in glove with supporting a man in his position in ministry that they will not protect the congregation, the reputation of Christ, or the well-being of the “lead” pastor or his wife, is this a church? To whom are they accountable? What is the standard? Or is it the “follow me I’m a pastor” club?
I’m not being very clear, I guess. Sorry. It is all just so terribly disappointing.
stvmac-
If he didn’t know it before Bolivia-then when did the pastors find out about Gene’s arrest?
I would caution anyone from going to a former Kingsway “leader” for counsel or help unraveling all this mess, no matter where their new church home is. There are many Kingsway / SGM people looking for a new church home – and all come with baggage and false “training.” Even the leaders have baggage that they themselves need help unpacking. And it would be easy for folks to fall into the same old patterns. Speaking from personal experience, it is very clear to me when an SGM or Kingsway “leader” has infiltrated or influenced a local unaffiliated church…Sycamore in Midlothian and Evergreen come to mind. Be cautious in your search, and who you pour your heart out to.
How long did it take to get the police report – was it a week, or maybe 2 weeks? And it only cost $1.50. In the mean time, Brent has been in touch with the arresting officer – maybe the officer didn’t reveal any details about Gene’s case, nevertheless it seems he was willing to discuss how the police go about their business.
Did anyone overseeing Gene – at Kingsway or at SGM – do any of their own investigating? It appears to be relatively simple to get information. Did they ask Gene himself for a copy of the report? Or did they just take his word? I tend to think they just took his word, otherwise the message about Gene’s resignation would not still be up supporting his right to challenge the court, and suggesting the courts could have gotten it wrong….
And if they just took Gene’s word, this is a problem. If the leaders at SGM (and SGM churches) consider their role as pastors to be analogous to shepherds watching over their flocks, what does this say about how well they do their job? Gene lied about there being a misunderstanding, and he appears to have gone unchallenged by his superiors. Furthermore, he was allowed to “chose” to resign.
How is this caring for the “flock” at Kingsway?
Either the leaders are primarily looking out for their own interests (hoping to protect their image), or they just aren’t very capable.
My experience with SGM people is when they leave, they carry baggage that can contain false teaching, unbalanced attitudes, legalism and many trappings from the SGM church subculture. The ability to become free from it is many times related to how long you were a Christian before SGM and how “normal” your earlier Christian environment was. If you jumped from a legalistic, environment into SGM, you have two messed up backgrounds to deal with. As you leave SGM, you must lay everything out before God and ask him to clean out your brainwashing. This includes everything from your attitude toward women to homeschooling to God’s grace to the Great Commission to Church Polity.
The flaw I saw in many people that have left Kingsway over the years is that they just wanted Kingsway minus Gene without understanding that the problems are systemic and they themselves have been poisoned.
So about that Kool-aid / self-delusion thing…
I have spent much of the last 3 years in intensive trauma therapy, recovering from a life time of abusive church and (church-enabled) family trauma. Do you mind if I share some things I have learned about trauma’s effect on the brain (PTSD)?
This is an over-simplified layman’s explanation. . .
Trauma memories are stored by the brain in a way designed to prevent you from remembering them. (Kind of like how you go into shock if you chop off your leg.)
Your brain chops the memories up and basically hides them from you. People have described the affect like taking lecture notes on tiny post-its and throwing them into a bag and then trying to reassemble them to study. You have very vivid memories of some things but linear thought is very difficult. Also, the brain separates feelings from memories and stores those in different parts of the brain, so you have memories without feelings and feelings without memories. So it’s very difficult to see cause and effect. You may remember terrible things but think, “I don’t know. I guess that’s bad, but for some reason it doesn’t really bother me.” or think “People who complain should get over themselves. Look at me. All this terrible stuff happened to me, and I’m fine.” At the same time you may be always on hyper-alert and have “dis-regulated” (uncontrollable) emotions that seem to have no cause. There is a range of emotions that are tolerable. And “normal people” do things to generally keep their emotions in that range, but trauma survivors’ emotions stay high and low –way outside of that tolerable range (rage, panic, depression . . .) . In order not to die from the stress, they numb their emotions to survive (addictions, dissociation, going into a depressive fog, emotionally shutting down and numbing themselves. . .) Sadly, you can’t experience good emotions either when you’re like this. It makes relationships very difficult. You pass the trauma on.
Also, trauma encodes on the brain without words. Non-verbally. Which makes thinking about it or talking about it almost impossible. Ideally, if a person has a painful or confusing or scary experience, someone is there to help them make sense of it – to give them words for it. “What that boy did is called bullying. It’s wrong.” Or “What your mother did is abusive. It’s not your fault.” Or “Let’s take this doctrine apart and examine it from lots of different angles. This is abusive and inconsistent with scripture and here’s why.” But if bad things happen and you can’t process them and make sense of them—logically, cognitively, verbally—this is trauma. This happens, for instance, if someone in authority coerces or abuses you and then says, “This is God’s wonderful plan for you. Hallelujah!” Or when they fire confusing doctrine at you so fast you can’t process it. Or when you are raised as a child with abuse and think it’s normal.
In order to process memories normally, you need words. Trauma memories encode on your subconscious brain, without words, and unless you can get words for them somehow (like from talk therapy or an astute friend or a web site . . . ) the thoughts can’t get into the conscious part of your brain. The result is that you can’t process them. You can’t even think about them. Your brain just takes a detour if you get close to thinking about them or figuring out what is wrong or why you feel so bad. Your brain takes a detour even when you try to articulate your feelings – so you really can’t tell yourself or anyone else what you’re feeling.
(And actually, one mind-control technique that cults use is creating this “cognitive dissonance” on purpose by firing confusing ideas and experiences at people so rapidly they can’t process them and their mind shuts down.)
Finally, if your memories are only stored non-verbally in your subconscious brain and you can’t think about them or talk about them, then the only way you can remember them – the only way your subconscious mind can communicate to you what’s in there – is for you to act the memories out. This compulsion to act out trauma again and again is called “traumatic re-enactment”. It’s the traumatized brain’s attempt to do it over and get it right and “learn”. To figure it out.
This is why people stay in abuse. This is why traumatized people are so easily re-traumatized. Their warning system was on hyper-alert, so they shut it off (like unplugging smoke alarms). And they can’t remember cause and effect. And they are compelled to re-enact their trauma.
With modern brain research of the last 20ish years, there are new and wonderful therapies that can heal that scrambled wiring. My experience of going through this kind of therapy is that suddenly things become obvious that only a week before I was completely confused about and couldn’t make sense of no matter how hard I tried.
There were aspects of child rearing at Southside Church when I was there that seemed like it was creating this “cognitive dissonance” in the children. I couldn’t explain well at the time why this upset me so much. But now I know. I know from experience how this produces an adult unable to think normally. It’s interesting that one of those children I watched being raised in this way is now running the church. Also, when I read about the way SGM leadership treats each other, it seems very abusive and traumatic. Extremely toxic. Abused people abuse and traumatized people re-traumatize each other.
If you are in this kind of church, I highly recommend EMDR trauma therapy. Get your brain back. A functional brain is a good thing.
From the arrest report, it is so obvious he knew what he wanted and he was trying to carefully craft his words and actions to avoid possible incrimination. And the leadership sends him off to Bolivia? What for, so he could continue to see hookers and it would be legal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_Bolivia) so he can abuse more women? And they asked the congregation to fund him? Gene needs to be under supervision and in serious counseling. He should be brought back immediately. I can’t imagine being his wife. I wouldn’t be surprised if the leadership partially blames her.
And people still trust the Kingsway pastors? That is nuts. Gene did this and they would even consider re-instating him after 6 months? The lay leaders should get together and stand up one Sunday morning and announce the church has serious leadership problems, rooted in SGM and SGM training) and needs to shut down immediately. Maybe suggest a list of healthy churches to try.
Wake up people!
For a real kick, get the video of Gene in action (caution, you may have to black out some parts of the screen, he may have been nekkid) and play it so people can see Gene’s true colors. After that you can remind the congregation that Matthew said “truth be told, many of us have done far worse”.
“…they just wanted Kingsway minus Gene …” I think you capture a truism there, Truth! When we left in 2007, before the first incident. Gene was the problem, and we were done with the Sunday morning thing forever. We loved the Lord Jesus so very much, but we knew something was rotten in the very fiber at Kingsway. Some wonderful, wonderful people but a whole lot of weirdness and hush hush prevailed. When we tried to breach the subject of Gene, we were shut down and dismissed. We sensed rot and left quietly. Then the big bang and the exodus!! One brother called me and said, “you were right; you knew something was wrong, and I totally missed it.” That brother was a “care group” leader. He and his wife actually met with us when we left for an informal exit interview, if you will. At that point we just wanted out, so we used sanitized language as we tried to justified our exit. We were afraid of the Emperor’s wrath. We actually felt that we were the only ones who knew that the Emperor had no clothes on, and we didn’t want anyone to think we were crazy.
Five months ago, I posted “Hush Fund Set Up by Top SGM Leaders to Meet the Demands of a SGM Pastor Whose Son Was Sexually Abused.”
http://abrentdetwiler.squarespace.com/brentdetwilercom/hush-fund-set-up-by-top-sgm-leaders-to-meet-the-demands-of-a.html
Here is the introduction.
“Two years ago a “hush fund” masquerading as a benevolence fund was deceptively set up by Mark Prater (Executive Director for SGM), Paul Buckley (Chairman of the SGM Board), and Tommy Hill (Director of Finance & Administration for SGM) in order to surreptitiously meet the demands of a SGM pastor whose son was sexually abused by the son of another SGM pastor in the same church.
“The fund came about because the father of the victim was thinking about joining the sex abuse lawsuit against SGM if SGM did not agree to reforms and if he did not receive restitution monies from SGM for harms done. Insurance lawyers told SGM leaders they would lose their liability coverage if payouts were made thereby arguably admitting fault. Instead, SGM lawyer Chip Grange suggested a plan whereby monies be raised for the victim’s family as “a collection and private gift to help him avoid eviction.” This plan was approved by C.J. Mahaney and the SGM Board of Directors and implemented by Mark Prater.
“As a result many SGM pastors who knew the pastor and father of the victim were contacted and asked to give benevolence to the family. Prater, Buckley, Hill and the Board deceived these pastors into giving personal and church monies to a benevolence fund that effectively functioned as a hush fund. The pastors had no idea what was really going on behind the scenes. They were intentionally deceived in the matter.
“People inside and outside of SGM must come to grips with the corruption that characterizes the leadership of SGM starting with C.J. Mahaney. He was the President of SGM when this hush fund was set up. No one should be supporting or following any of these men. As I’ve demonstrated countless times, you cannot believe anything they tell you.
“What follows is a presentation of hard evidence starting with the initial letter from the pastor who was the father of the victim (henceforth referred to as Pastor-Father of Victim) to Tommy Hill requesting reform and asking for $35,000 in restitution from SGM.”
Please read the entire post and send it to anyone you know in SGM or Kingsway Community Church. It is serves as yet another poignant example of the systemic corruption that exists among former and current top SGM leaders (i.e. C.J. Mahaney, Dave Harvey, Mickey Connolly, Mark Prater, Paul Buckley, Tommy Hill).
By the way, I’ve always sent my posts to former and current pastors in SGM since July 2011 when I sent them the original documents. That includes this one about the hush fund. Matthew Williams knows SGM is corrupt and yet he has chosen to remain and be a staunch defender. He cannot claim ignorance when it comes to all the abuse, hypocrisy, lying, and deceit that exists in the denomination. Like all remaining pastors, he has intentionally set aside thousands of pages of evidence. Kingsway should have left SGM long ago. Instead, they have promoted it.
And lets not forget the victims of sexual abuse. Keep in mind top leaders at Covenant Life Church and SGM conspired to cover up the abuse of children. The Nathaniel Morales trial in May 2014 provided definitive proof. It doesn’t get any worse. But further, these same leaders (e.g. Mark Mitchell and Mark Prater) told CLC and SGM respectively that all the victims and some family members were liars. That absolutely nothing they said about the conspiracy to cover up crimes was true and much that they said about being sexual abused was made up. I will cover this in the months to come.
This has become standard operating procedure. Slander those who call SGM to account (including law enforcement), cover up the evidence and refuse to allow for a truly independent investigation. It is like Gene Emerson blaming the Chesterfield County police for his sex crime.
The day Gene Emerson was arrested for solicitation, Mickey Connolly (Regional Leader over Kingsway and Board of Director for SGM) and Matthew Williams should have required he step down and take a leave of absence until they and others could thoroughly investigate. That means telling the church and setting up a meeting with the police as soon as possible especially since Gene claimed he was innocent and the police were guilty of wrong doing. That is so basic! You don’t accept as true the version of events put forward by someone who has just been arrested!
Furthermore, Mickey and Matthew should have required Gene to hand over all evidence and documentation that came into the possession of his lawyer at the time it came into possession. That is so basic! If he refused, they should have gone to the courthouse and obtained a copy of the arrest report. That is so basic. Then they should have filed a FOIA request via the church lawyer for the video/audio of his arrest. That is so basic.
Instead, Matthew put the police in a bad light and Gene in a good light before the entire church And keep in mind, Mickey Connolly was managing everything that was said and done from the time he became aware of Gene’s arrest. Matthew was not acting independently. He was following Mickey’s lead and direction. As a result, Matthew (and Mickey) put Gene forward as a man of humility and integrity who was now suffering affliction like Christ and needed to be comforted and accepted, not judged.
Last Sunday, Matthew also highly commended Gene for not leaving the church. I thought to myself, when the truth comes out Matthew will be forced to confront Gene in no uncertain terms. That means holding Gene accountable to come before the entire church and confess not only his intent to solicit but also all the associated lies he has been telling the past three months. I doubt that will happen but maybe he will be the first. I hope so.
Since the landmark confrontation of C.J. Mahaney in August 2004 (see Response Regarding Friendship & Doctrine), no one has been holding SGM leaders accountable. The last 11 years they have been free to sin with impunity. No one has obeyed 1 Timothy 5:19-21. No one has been held to the qualifications of 1 Tim 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9 Not C.J. Mahaney, Dave Harvey, Mark Prater, Paul Buckley, Mickey Connolly or Gene Emerson to mention a few. All of these men would have been removed from ministry if they were submitted to the authority of Scripture. In SGM, you are free to lie, be a hypocrite, abuse others, cover-up your sin and remain in ministry. The apostasy from Christ and his Word is ever so great!
Of course, the Lord is not indifferent to this kind of corruption and pride. He opposition continues. The exposing of Gene Emerson is just one more example of his sovereign power.