Conservative Babylon

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Florida based Bay Area Baptist Church of Clearwater is launching a “Church with a heart” ministry.

2008-03-25 13:33:11 — Patterning itself after the great First Baptist Church of Hammond which boasts over 30,000 and spending over $2 million a year helping the needy, Bay Area Baptist Church of Clearwater is about to launch a ministry that will duplicate this great church.

Excitement is in the air in the Tampa Bay Area where Bay Area Baptist Church of Clearwater is conducting a poll of interested Christians and in particular of Independent Baptists who live in the area to participate in a poll of interest in the founding of another multi-ministry church that will spread love to the many hurting people in the area.

Pastor David Williams who met his wife in Clearwater in the 70’s and preached on Big Pier 60 while they were dating, has most recently been on the street again standing up for Terry Schiavo. He was seen on T.V for many weeks preaching, singing with his guitar and even playing his violin to the crowds that gathered around the Hospice in Pinellas Park.

What has prompted this plan to start a new church is the declining numbers in the Independent Baptist Movement because of pastors or churches that have moved or changed their emphasis away from what Independent Baptists are traditionally known for, soul-winning and bus ministry. Pastor Williams has visited neighborhoods where hundreds of children who used to ride a bus to church now are disenfranchised because nearly every church that used to be in that benevolent activity have canceled their endeavors to reach the poor in that way. …

Pastor Williams has a real vision and because of his sending church in Hammond, Indiana, First Baptist Church, and Hyles-Anderson College, he has access to trained staff to handle every one of these ministries.

With thousands of people suffering due to divorce, incest, murder, child molesters, gang related crime, teen suicide, homeless, displaced families, drug abuse, and other such evils of society, a church that has a department for ministering for every one of these needs. …

Punch line: Unfortunately, it’s Jack Hyles’ Independent Fundamental Baptist church responsible for “people suffering due to divorce, incest, murder, child molesters … and other such evils of society”!

Case dismissed against man who hit motorcyclists with truck

April 5, 2008

VALPARAISO [Indiana] — The Crown Point man whose February trial for reckless homicide ended in a hung jury will not go to court again.

Prosecutor Brian Gensel’s office has elected not to pursue another trial and dismissed the case against Paul G. Kruse, 53, Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Bennett said in court Friday.

Kruse was accused of turning the Creviston mail truck he was driving in front of four motorcyclists in Hebron on Sept. 26, 2006.

One of them, Peter Stassis, 32, of Valparaiso, died, and another was hospitalized. …

Kruse, a minister who works at Hyles-Anderson College in Crown Point, had taken the mail truck job so he and his wife could purchase land next to their home. He doesn’t plan to return to that job, he said.

Claims to fame: Cult-like IFB (Independent Fundamental Baptist) preacher; longtime pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond (Indiana); founder, Hyles-Anderson College (Schererville, Indiana); patriarch of cultish network of churches and schools with long track record of sexual abuse; very, very scary guy once called “the next David Koresh“

Moral apex #1: His alleged extramarital affair with his (equally-married) assistant.

In 1989, one of Hyles’ deacons, Victor Nischik, accused Hyles of bumping uglies with Nischik’s wife Jennie. Hyles, of course, denied the affair, and then turned around and publicly smeared Nischik, calling him “an immoral man” and stating that Nischik’s wife left him after catching him in flagrante (or, at least, in his pajamas) with another woman, and finally implying that he was “a homosexual” — which is usually the last resort for fundies trapped in a corner — although that’s a pretty lame accusation, in light of Hyles’ heterosexually-oriented adultery accusations against Nischik.

(Nice way for a preacher to act, eh? Apparently vengeance was Hyles’, not the Lord’s.)

As recounted by Robert Sumner in his Jack Hyles Exposé, the real story went like this:

One day Dr. Hyles came to Vic and said, “I need your wife in my office.” Even though their children were small, both husband and wife were delighted that she could be involved in such a worldwide ministry and Vic readily gave his consent.

A little time went by and the Nischiks began experiencing marital problems. She would not permit Vic to touch her. In 1971, Jennie told Vic she wanted a divorce; in fact, she gave him 24 hours to get out of town and never see his children again. He refused. When she called Hyles to the home, the latter offered Vic financial help to relocate elsewhere, suggesting Denver. Nischik totally rejected the offer, saying he wanted to keep his home together for the children’s sake and because he loved his wife. Nothing was settled that night and the next day the three met again. This time, as Vic testified under oath:

“At that meeting the substance of it was that I produced evidence of an improper relationship between my wife and Hyles, and produced evidence to that effect, which caused him to beg me to stay for the sake of the church and the ministry, and after a number of days discussion, I agreed to stay for the sake of the church and for the sake of my children.” He defined that improper relationship as personal involvement going farther than mere friendship, adding that when he produced his evidence, “… Hyles backed off about me leaving and, in fact, begging me to stay, and worked out the arrangement under which we have lived ever since.” So, when this evidence was produced, instead of “get out of town within 24 hours and never see your children again,” it became, in effect, “stay around and put on a front for the good of ‘the ministry’.”

The bizarre solution Hyles worked out for the Nischiks was as follows: continue to live in the same house, but not see, speak, eat together, ride in the same automobile, or even contact one another in any way except for an hour or so on Christmas, exchanging gifts with the children. A schedule was even worked out about when each parent could be with the children, one that was rigidly followed.

At first Vic merely had a rollaway cot in the unfinished basement, but eventually a room was fixed up in one corner, for which he paid Jennie rent, even though he was allowed no physical contact whatsoever with her. …

A few years later, when Vic again demanded that Hyles terminate the affair with his wife, Hyles ordered Jennie to file for divorce. She did, but when Hyles realized that Nischik planned to put him on the witness stand in open court, the former met with the attorneys on both sides and unilaterally negotiated the terms of the divorce settlement. …

Vic opposed the divorce to the very end…

Of course, Hyles denied all. Vehemently.

Moral apex #2: The existence of his son, Dave, who boinked a couple-dozen women he wasn’t supposed to be boinking (and was implicated in the mysterious death of the son of one of his lovers). Pastor Jack never did acknowledge, or apologize for, his boy’s failings.

And why should he? Well, we figure any big-time preacher who puts so much emphasis on the proper rearing of children (see “Memorable Hyles quotes regarding discipline”, below), and then raises a kid who gets kicked out of at least three different churches for “grave sexual misconduct” (with a total, by our count, of more than two dozen women) has some serious ’splainin’ to do.

Of course, Brother Hyles can’t ’splain nothin’ now, ’cause he’s dead (as of 2001).

Moral apex #3: The track record of sexual impropriety (and sex crimes) among Hyles staffers and students alike — and Hyles’ (deliberate?) failure to do anything about it.

In short, Hyles’ ministry spawned a vast network of sick freaks.

Here’s the short list (click each link for the ugly little details of each man’s story):

• A.V. Ballenger

• William A. “Andy” Beith

• William S. Beith

• Joe Combs

• Mark Foeller

• Russell Hirner

• Dave Hyles

• Jeffrey Jerrell

• Timothy Lee Leonard

• Kerry Martin

• Chester Mulligan

• Russell K. Overla

• Earl Reeves

• Calvin Stone

• Jim Vineyard

Allegations of severe child abuse in Hyles’ church and schools, and the many churches and schools tied to his, under the guise of “discipline,” are legion. If you want to hear some of the most shocking stories, Bassenco’s Blog on the Lillypad 2 has all five parts of WJBK’s “Preying from the Pulpit” 1993 news series available in MP3 audio. Listen only if you are certain you can stomach it; this audio is practically guaranteed to induce flashbacks in survivors of childhood abuse (sexual and otherwise). The audio files are here; scroll almost halfway down the page to find them. Parts 3 and 4 specifically document the abuse allegations.

Memorable Hyles quotes regarding discipline:

Let the child realize that you are simply representing God in the execution of the punishment. …

Sometimes spanking should leave stripes on the child. …

During the formative years, yea, the infant years, the child should be spanked. As soon as his is old enough to walk away from his parents he should be spanked if he does not walk where they say he should walk. … Parents should not have to remove vases and delicate glass ornaments from living room tables. A house need not become disorderly and full of riots because a baby has come. Start early in disciplining the child. …

The [spanking] ritual should be deliberate and last at least ten or fifteen minutes. … It should be a ritual dreaded by the child. He should not only dread the pain but the time consumed in the ordeal. …

The punishment should always be far in excess of the pleasure enjoyed by doing wrong. …

Never give a child that for which he cries. The baby who cries for attention and gets it will become a child who cries for a toy and gets it…

The spanking should be administered firmly. It should be painful and it should last until the child’s will is broken. It should last until the child is crying not tears of anger but tears of a broken will. As long as he is stiff, grits his teeth, holds on to his own will, the spanking should continue. …

After the spanking tell him why you did it. While he is still crying have him sit down. …

Happy is the child who feels the security of such punishment.

— Jack Hyles
How to Rear Children (1972)

About Hyles-Anderson College (or: Putting the “Mental” into “Fundamentalism”): The 2006-2007 Hyles-Anderson College catalogue pitches its brand of hysteric-fundyism to prospective students thusly:

We are committed to training preachers who will go from here to build Bible-believing, fundamental, separated, soul-winning churches. Thus, our goal is to train America’s future pastors, assistant pastors, evangelists, song leaders, youth workers, bus directors, and missionaries.

…

All programs are planned as terminal education. This means that we prepare students to go directly upon graduation into the ministry for which they have been trained.

…

Skirts above the knee are not allowed. Men must wear neckties to class and must have short haircuts. Young ladies may not wear shorts or slacks.

Young ladies are not allowed to go off campus unchaperoned. Young men and young ladies may not date alone in cars. Absolutely no hand holding or other intimacies are allowed between the genders. There are date nights with bus transportation and adequate chaperones provided by the college. Student insubordination is absolutely forbidden.

…

We are fundamentalists and use the terms proudly. We believe in a literal Hell which has fire and brimstone and a literal Heaven with streets of gold. We stand for the King James Bible as the only Bible and the local New Testament church as the only true church. We believe in redemption through the blood of Christ, salvation by grace through faith alone, and the premillennial second coming of Jesus Christ.

Absolutely no drinking, smoking, or dancing is allowed. No student is allowed to attend Hollywood movies, play cards, or participate in other questionable amusements. We do not fellowship with liberals but instead take a strict separatist stand from the world and apostasy.

…

Pastor Jack Schaap … He was led to Christ at the age of five by his sister Kristi as he sat on the edge of the bathtub.

…

…Brother Hyles felt God speak to his heart about founding an old-fashioned, sin-hating, Devil-fighting, Christ-honoring bible college where … the chapel pulpit was ablaze with red-hot preaching; … a college where young ladies were taught be to submissive wives and dedicated servants of God.

…

We are not impressed with what is being done at Devil State University and Satan U. …

We are opposed to the stuffy, bookish, all-lecture style of teaching. We think it is ridiculous for a Christian to spend hours and hours in a psychology class studying what the rats do when they run in a maze. In most psychology courses the professor is concerned about what makes an individual’s eyes the color they are. We are more concerned about looking an individual in the eye and communicating truth to him. We are a bit tired of the snobbish, intellectual sophistry of much of the education of our day. …

…

Each student is expected to live, act, talk, ad dress so that at no time will he bring reproach upon the name of Christ. Hyles-Anderson College stands separated by God from worldliness and its likenesses.

The nine-million-dollar campus includes one hundred acres of wooded hills…

…

All wives of Hyles-Anderson students are provided a special program to help meet their needs because they are also a part of the college family. … As a Hylander wife, you can learn to be a successful leader’s wife, you will be challenged as a Christian, and you will receive practical helps on how to be a better wife and mother.

Fun facts about Hyles-Anderson College:

• Hyles-Anderson College is not accredited — which means its “degrees” (and conferred “titles”) are utterly worthless in the real world; college credits can’t be transferred to any real university; students are ineligible for federal loan assistance or government grants.

• Hyles-Anderson boasts that “Men have the opportunity to participate in exciting football, indoor soccer, basketball, and softball leagues.” Emphasis on the word “men”; there are no women’s teams. (A photo in a college pamphlet shows what appear to be cheerleaders, sitting on the sidelines in full-length-sleeve, sky-blue sweaters, and white, ankle-length skirts.)

• It’s all a numbers game: “No church in history,” boasts a Hyles-Anderson pamphlet, “has seen as many people saved and baptized as the First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana — averaging over 10,000 baptisms each year for the last eleven years.”

• Hyles-Anderson courses include: Christian Manhood; Personal Evangelism; Evangelistic Songleading; The Fundamental Man; Cults; Countries Without Christ; Starting a New Testament Church; Church Transportation; Christian Ladies’ Attitude and Appareance (ladies only); Church Education (men only); Preparation for Marriage (ladies only).

• The Missionary program is for men only — although a “Missionary Wife’s Diploma” is offered for “ladies only,” designed to train wives of missionaries: “Ladies who go to the mission field will most likely serve as missionary wives, mothers, and teachers.” Courses for the “ladies” include “The Missionary Wife” and “Missionary Relationships.” (What, no “Missionary Position” class?)

• The Physical Education program is for men only. So is the “Master of Education in School Administration.”

• The Homemaking program is for women only.

• Hyles-Anderson offers an “Associate of Science Diploma in Marriage and Motherhood” (for the “ladies” only, of course), “designed to train ladies to be wives and mothers.” (It’s not ’til one’s senior year, however, that one takes the all-important “Sewing Drapes and Household Items.”)

• The Hyles-Anderson campus is designed so that a student would never have to go outdoors in order to travel from dorm to class, class to class, class to chapel, etc.

• The First Baptist Church’s combined grade school, junior high, and high school campus in Schererville, Indiana, is known as “Baptist City.”

Why Jack Hyles thought Jack Hyles was God:

Once I tied a little boy’s shoe. He looked up at his mother, who was a very poor lady, and with a tear in his eye and excitement in his voice he said, “Mother, did you see God tie my shoe?”

There was a little boy in my church who called [me] “Brother God.” When I would be preaching some Sunday morning on hell fire and damnation he would look up at his mother and say, “Mama, ain’t God mad today!”

One day when I was talking to my son, David, when he was a little fellow I asked him what he had learned in Sunday school. He said he had learned about God. “What else?” I asked.

“I learned that God loves me more than anybody loves me,” he replied.

“What else did you learn?”

“I learned that God spanks me when I do wrong.”

“What else?”

“I learned then that God loves me and tells me it hurt Him worse than it did … Hey, Dad, are you God?”

…

One of the precious little girls in our church recently wrote me a note Its was my birthday and she said, “Happy Birthday. I am so grateful for a great and wonderful preacher. You don’t know how grateful I am to you for doing do much for me … I used to be flop in school, but I am at a Christian school and it’s because you have done this for me. I don’t know how much I do love you, but I love you so much that I can’t even write it. I love you very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very much. Love in Christ, (signed).”

Some parents have been on the job, haven’t they?

— Jack Hyles
How to Rear Children (1972)

More memorable Hyles quotes:

The first part of the hippie program is to kill your parents. …

God pity you people who call yourselves Christians and wear your long hair, beard and sideburns like a bunch of heathens. God, clean you up! …

[T]hank God that there has been a J. Edgar Hoover in America, I hope he lives forever. …

You parents who won’t send your sons and daughters to our school, you say “I am afraid that the Hammond Baptist High School will not be properly accredited.” We are a little above this kind of accreditation. We are too scholarly for this kind of garbage. We are too cultural for this kind of talk. …

If you belong to a church that belongs to a denomination that belongs to the National Council of Churches, God pity your soul when you face your maker. It is a leftist, Communist-oriented, pacifist, lewd kind of immoral union to destroy everything that is decent about Christianity in America, unless we expose it and fight it. …

Send your kids to the Christian school. “Brother Hyles, I cannot afford it.” Eat beans for breakfast, mashed potatoes for lunch, and fried potato peelings for supper and potato soup the next day. We used to go down to the store and ask for a bone for the dog. After you have eaten the bone, then eat the dog. …

It is going to take a lot of money for us to do what we are going to do. I mean some of you ought to give some property. …

— Jack Hyles
Satan’s Bid for Your Child (1971)

[O]bedience is the most necessary ingredient to be required from the child. This is especially true in the life of a girl, for she must be obedient all of her life. The boy who is obedient to his mother and father will someday become the head of the home; not so for the girl. Whereas the boy is being trained to be a leader, the girl is being trained to be a follower. Hence, obedience is far more important to her, for she must someday transfer it from her parents to her husband.

This means that she should never be allowed to argue at all. She should become submissive and obedient. She must obey immediately, without question, and without argument. The parents who require this have done a big favor for their future son-in-law.

She should not be allowed to play alone with boys. … She should play only with toys that are uniquely for girls. … She should participate in sports enough to become coordinated but she should not excel in sports. If later she marries a man who is very athletic, she could become more proficient in some particular sport that he enjoys, but if she becomes an expert in a sport that is usually associated with men and boys, it could prove embarrassing to her future husband, and for that matter, it could entice her to become more masculine than she ought to be. …

Teach her to be an intelligent listener and an articulate conversationalist. She should read a variety of good books and magazines and have a wide variety of knowledge. It should be obvious to any male with whom she is conversing that she is an intelligent listener and that she can understand and respond to his conversation. She should never seem to know as much as he does (even though she may actually know more)…

The wise lady will never “take over” the conversation. She will add just enough to make a valuable contribution and to show her intelligence on the subject, but she will always make her man feel that he is the more knowledgeable. …

A young lady should not initiate a correspondence. … It certainly is not proper for a young lady to call a young man on the telephone for a social talk, If there is obvious business, it may be done with reluctance, but it should never be done when the call is strictly for social purposes.

Do not show off her talent to others. … Many children have been ruined because their parents were too proud of them and their performances. In such cases the child receives far too much attention and then wants it for the rest of her life. Hence, she becomes maladjusted. …

The girl should be taught that her lot in life is to be obedient and helpful to her husband. …

Teach her to pull for her dad. … In everything he does she should stand on the sidelines and root for her dad.

Teach her to plan for a profession but to hope that it will not be needed. … She should be taught that if possible, she should not follow this profession when married. …

Let her baby-sit. It should be remembered that someday she will no doubt be a mother. …

Allow her to do no loud shouting or hollering. … [T]he parent is to try in every way to make her quiet, meek, and feminine.

— Jack Hyles
How to Rear Children (1972)
Chapter 20: How To Make A Lady Out Of A Girl

The Kinsey report revealed that four per cent of our males over 16 years of age are homosexuals. In California, a sadly misguided preacher found to be a homosexual has founded a church for homosexuals. In the larger cities, clubs for homosexuals have been organized so they can meet regularly together. In our big cities there are homosexual men who live with other men and in a large city recently there was a wedding ceremony which united two men in matrimony. The “Gay” or homosexual community has its own beaches, restaurants, bars, and barber shops; its own tailor, gymnasiums, and apartment houses; its own books, magazines, and periodicals; its own male prostitutes and conventions. …

Let us answer the question, “How can I make a man of my boy?”

1. Dress him like a man. As soon as his hair gets a bit shaggy, have it cut! It is better that little Johnny start life being masculine than to retain those beautiful ringlets at the age of two. Cut off those ringlets and make him look like a man. From the very first time that he is old enough to wear clothes, dress him like a boy, cut his hair like a boy, and make sure he always looks like a man.

— ibid., Chapter 21: How To Make A Man Out Of A Boy

God made woman to sit on the sidelines and cheer when a man succeeds. …

He made woman to cheer on the sidelines while her fellow made a touchdown. God made a woman to sit in the audience while her husband preaches and say, “That’s the best preacher in the world!” God made woman to stand on the side of the street and watch her little boyfriend ride the bicycle using no hands or standing up on the seat and say to him, “That’s the most amazing thing I ever saw in my life!” God made woman to see her man run the 100-yard dash and say, “That’s the greatest accomplishment I ever saw!” God made a woman to sit on the sidelines and watch her fellow throw a 100-pound stone 50 feet and say, “Nobody else could do it like that!” God made a woman to sit on the sidelines and watch a fellow climb a tree faster than anybody in the world and say, “That’s my man! He’s the best tree climber in the whole world!” That’s why God made woman. He made her to be man’s help meet. …

Complete him in his play. Complete him when he catches a fish. When he hits a ball, say, “Let me feel your arm!” I’m saying, spoil him rotten! That’s why God made you. …

Do you know what these women’s libbers are? They are a group of confused women trying to find happiness and failing because they are searching for it outside of God’s Word and God’s plan.

You say, “I have my rights too!”

No, you don’t.

— Jack Hyles
Women The Completer (1981)

Memorable observations:

With your own insecurities and personal failures as your driving force, you have quite simply played havoc with an entire church, some of my dearest friends and worst of all, my family. The saddest realization is that it has all been under the guise of Christianity. How I emerged from such a pit of secret sin, manipulation, and hypocrisy with the slightest interest in my professed religion at all, I do not know. …

Incidentally, Paula [Mrs. Dave Hyles] and I have volumes of stories to swap, and it is interesting to see just how similar they are. What was it that you used to say, ‘Little leopards have spots because big leopards have spots’? How true it is.

Sadly, in your very heart of hearts you must be the most miserable, lonely person alive. You are a self-proclaimed giant, sensationalist, exhibitionist, and ‘big-time spender’ grasping for every expression of love, admiration and loyalty that you can get your filthy little hands on. Yet, you have failed with the most precious gifts God could have ever given you – your wife, your children, and now, your ministry.

— Judy Nischik Johnson,
daughter of Victor and Jennie Nischik
Letter to Jack Hyles, October 1, 1986

[This sexual abuse] problem, of course, takes place in the disobedient churches of Independent Baptist Fundamentalists, where there are no elders: just one pastor and several subservient deacons. The pastor is not held in check by a board of peers, and other fundamentalist pastors do not preach against the corruption that every day increases in fundamentalism.

— Blog on the Lillypad
February 13, 2004

Ego requires continual inflation. It is easily punctured. Self-inflating statements as these were common at FBCH under Jack Hyles: “Before you stands the source of all human knowledge”; “… God knew that probably 10,000 preachers across this nation would call me their pastor.” He boasted on several occasions that if he were brought down, Fundamentalism would fall with him — “Just think how much destruction would happen to America and the churches if I quit”; “America needs me”; “This is the greatest church in the history of Christianity. We must protect it at all costs. Without us, America is gone.”; “Leadership is always right”; and “We are the greatest.” According to one former Hyles-disciple, Hyles was jokingly referred to by some as the fourth member of the Godhead. (Hyles once also claimed that should he tell people on his staff to commit suicide, they would obey him. He has also said if he told his deacons to bow down and kiss his feet, they would do it.)

— Jack Hyles (1926-2001) General Teachings/Activities
Biblical Discernment Ministries, January, 2006

Random fact we didn’t know what else to do with: In his office, Hyles kept pictures of such fundy luminaries as John R. Rice (the founding father of modern “independent” Baptist theology) and Lester Roloff, patriarch of a network of “Bible discipline” homes infamous as long-reputed mini-Abu Ghraibs.

Even more Hyles dirt:

Church’s alleged acts questioned. Local lawyer charges
Northwest Indian Times, October 22, 1991

Suit claims rape at church.
Northwest Indian Times, October 4, 1997

Baptist Megachurch Faces Sex Suit
Christianity Today, December 8, 1997

Suggest Bible reading for Mr. Hyles:

Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

— Exodus 23:1-2

Claims to fame: Son of Jack Hyles; former Youth Minister, First Baptist Church of Hammond; ex-pastor, Miller Road Baptist Church (Garland, Texas); serial adulterer; divorcé; cohabitator; alleged child abuser; suspected child killer

Moral apex: After somebody at Hyles’ church discovered porn magazines containing ads for group sex which featured photos of Hyles having sex with church member Brenda Stevens (by some accounts, she was the daughter of a deacon), it came out that Hyles had had extramarital sex with some 19 female members of the church.

Every one of these women was apparently stupid enough to think she was Brother Dave’s “one-and-only,” according to a taped phone conversation with Dave’s wife Paula. And, as you can guess, more than a few marriages where destroyed when the truth came out.

What happened next: Miller Road Baptist threw him out, his wife divorced him and took off with their two kids, and he started living with Stevens (out of — gasp! — wedlock) in Illinois.

Where it gets really tragic: Stevens had a small son, Brent. Dave Hyles was suspected of abusing the boy — who had suffered some eight or nine broken bones in his short life, which had never been treated. Brent was taken out of Hyles and Steven’s Illinois home and given to his biological father in Texas. Within a few months, for reasons beyond comprehension, Brent was returned to Stevens.

And then, in late 1985, 15-month-old Brent was found dead in his crib. Hyles, who had been alone with the child, claimed he found him, not breathing, and called police. Word has it that Dave’s father Jack arrived before the cops did.

A coroner’s inquest into Brent’s death (at which Hyles took exercised his Fifth Amendment rights — and which the baby’s mother didn’t even attend) was thwarted because the little boy had been embalmed and buried the very next day, before a proper autopsy could be performed. (An empty bottle of Actifed — for which a prescription had been filled only the day before Brent’s death — was found at the scene.)

Without any physical evidence of wrongoing, Hyles was not indicted. The case remains open.

In the mid-1990s, Hyles went to work teaching Sunday school at a Pinellas Park Baptist Church in Florida — which reportedly expelled him on charges of adultery. It’s also been reported that he was thrown out of the next church he attended (Berean Baptist Church in Orange Park, Florida), for “sexual misconduct” with three different women.

(One of those women was church secretary Joyce Phaneuf, who was arrested for prostitution in 2003. Phaneuf’s mug shot and arrest report — which notes the tattoo on her right-upper thigh, reading “David’s Girl” — are available at everybody’s favorite finger-wagging site, The Smoking Gun.)

Just when you think it can’t get any more tragic: Hyles finally married Stevens, and they had their own child together, a boy named Jack David. In March, 1999, when the child was five years old, Stevens ran over him with her car, killing him. She claims he must have fallen out of the vehicle, and she didn’t know it.

Where Hyles is now: We’re not really sure, but, ironically, in 2003, Dave Hyles was spotted attending worship services at Trinity Baptist Church in Jacksonville — whose former pastor Bob Gray was, in early 2006, arrested on multiple counts of sexual battery against children (and whose current pastor appears to have tried to cover up the abuse).

Last we heard, Dave was a member of the First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, whose pastor is Jerry Vines, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the über-fundy who gained a few minutes’ fame outside the IFB (Independent Fundamental Baptist) world in 2002, for calling Muhammad a “demon-possessed pedophile.”

Memorable quote:

I began to dream of a day when maybe I would have a little baby of my own. Would there be a church where I would feel safe to leave my child? Here the nurseries were clean and the babysitters dedicated Christians.

Someday I would have my own child, and he would grow. As he grew I would want him to be taught to obey. I walked past the beginner and primary departments. So many little children came there to be told about Jesus and right and wrong. Would my child have the same?

— Dave Hyles, essay written when he was 16

Ironic, road-to-hell, good-intentions quote:

How can one train a child to exercise … self-control? This is done by developing something on the inside that becomes more attractive than that which is on the outside. Then more pleasure is gotten inwardly by resistance than outwardly by yielding. For example, my son, David, is an athlete. During basketball season he does not drink carbonated drinks nor eat pastry. This is not to say that chocolate pie is not attractive. Quite to the contrary, it is most attractive, but there is something on the inside that is more attractive — the satisfaction of making the team, of being in good condition, and of pleasing the coach! Hence, the inward pleasure has overcome the competitive attractiveness of external pleasure. He has developed self-control. His will decides whether or not he eats chocolate pie. Hence, in this matter he is in control of himself. He is not a beast; he is a man. He derives more pleasure inwardly by not eating the chocolate pie than he would derive outwardly by eating it.

…

I have spent thousands of hours trying to make a man out of my son.

…

What the American male needs is honor, just plain, old, downright honor.

— Dave’s father, Jack Hyles
How to Rear Children (1972)

Make sure to read: Our entry on Jack Hyles.

Suggested Bible reading for Mr. Hyles:

The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief. The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face. In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.

— Job 24:14-16

Note to our fellow infidels: We really, really, really want a picture of Dave Hyles for this page! And we really, really, really can’t find one. We can find pictures of Dave’s mom, she of the typically gigantic-fundy-hair, but nothing of Dave-O. If you have a photo of Dave you’d like to contribute, or can definitely identify a picture of him on the Web, please hit the Contact link below, and let us know! We want to see what this… person looks like, too!

Claims to fame: Hyles-Anderson graduate; founder, Liberty Baptist Church (Lake Station, Indiana); founder and principal, Liberty Baptist Academy; down-low ‘mo; really bad father

Moral apex: Gosh, it’s hard to choose just one.

There’s the time he was forced to resign (in 1998) from Liberty Baptist Academy after his arrest for public indecency (he solicited an undercover cop — a dude — for oral sex). But he got out of that on a plea bargain, agreeing to probation and counseling.

Then there’s the time (in 2007) he was busted and found “guilty of public indecency, fined $625.00, and banned from visiting Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore for a period of two years.”

And then there’s just the fact that he’s the father of William A. “Andy” Beith, whose story is… well, read the sordid details right here.

Suggested Bible reading for Mr. Beith:

Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.

— Jeremiah 14:14

Claims to fame: Former Hyles-Anderson student and 27-year-old principal of Liberty Baptist Academy (Lake Station, Indiana); kidnapper; child rapist

Moral apex: Had sex, on multiple occasions, with one of his students, an 11-year-old girl, then took off with her across the country, landing in Las Vegas, where Beith planned to “set up housekeeping,” marry, and have babies with the child.

Busted: In Las Vegas, where he pleaded guilty in 2001 to crossing state lines with the intent of having sex with a minor. Local and state charges were dropped so that federal prosecutors could take care of the case. (He did, after all, transport her across eleven statelines.)

Twinkie defense: Beith said (in a letter to his parents) that his “actions had been misunderstood.”

Sentenced: To 15 years.

But: In 2005, after Beith had served four years, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago (Seventh Circuit) ordered him resentenced “because there was no clear evidence of a previous molestation or that Beith abducted her by deceit or trickery,” according to AP.

In February, 2006, U.S. District Court Judge Rudy Lozano, who had imposed the original 15-year sentence, knocked five years off Beith’s time — “reluctantly,” saying he was “compelled” by the Seventh Circuit decision.

What with time already served, and eligibility for early release for good conduct, Beith could be on the streets again as early as 2009.

First offense? Nope. Andy-Boy was arrested in 1990, charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, after exposing himself to a 15-year-old girl. The charge was dismissed after he underwent court-ordered counseling. Which, apparently, didn’t work.

Obvious question: How did a kid become principal of a private Baptist school?

Not-very-surprising answer: He took over the job in 2000 from his father, William S. Beith, after Daddy’s own arrest (q.v.).

Who’s in charge of the school now: Darryl Crotz, who is married to Andy’s sister Cindy (so, Andy’s brother-in-law, and Beith Sr.’s eldest daughter).

We are disturbed by this because: Darryl and Cindy Crotz are Hyles-Anderson graduates.

Suggested Bible reading for Mr. Beith:

If a man is found kidnapping any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and mistreats him or sells him, then that kidnapper shall die; and you shall put away the evil from among you.

— Deuteronomy 24:7

Claims to fame: Former principal of Longview Baptist Academy (”perhaps the number one church/school in the Jack Hyles orbit”); pedophile

Moral apex: Molested at least seven young girls, all in his own Kilgore, Texas, home, while serving as principal of one of the two Christian schools operated by Longview Baptist Temple.

“Longview Baptist Temple,” Wikipedia explains, “often abbreviated LBT, is a controversial Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) megachurch located in Longview, Texas. Formed in 1960, it has been at its present location since 1971, and boasts a membership of over 20,000 with over 4000 on average in attendance. The church, currently headed by senior pastor Bob Gray”— not, mind you, the dead child molester Bob Gray of Trinity Baptist Church (Jacksonville, Florida), but a different Bob Gray —”refers to itself as a “fundamental, independent, soul winning, separated, Bible-preaching (KJV) church” and is notable for its family outreach programs and fundamentalist teachings. The Longview Baptist Temple expanded its ministries in 1982 by establishing Texas Baptist College, a four-year unaccredited Christian college. …

“Longview Baptist Temple has been highly criticized over the years by non-members and ex-members of the church, and has been accused of being a cult or ‘abusive church’ based on various definitions. Some accusations include that of seemingly absolute control over the congregation by the leadership, in addition to a projection of ‘infallibility’ in regards to the senior staff and members already in good standing. It appears that this is, in fact, taught by the pastors and leadership. The church has been accused, among other things, of locking the main doors to prevent members from leaving during services, taking children back to the church to be baptised without parental consent and using various shock tactics. For example, brandishing a firearm on one occasion to flush out ‘communists.’

“Arguably, LBT’s most vocal critic has been former member and Texas Baptist College graduate James Spurgeon, author of The Texas Baptist Crucible: Tales from the Temple, a book detailing various ‘run ins’ with members and leadership in the school and church. Since the publishing of his book, other members and ex-members have stepped forward and affirmed many of his claims, making them difficult to ignore.”

(Wikipedia also notes: “Other notable members of LBT include Dr. Kent Hovind, the world famous creationist known as ‘Dr. Dino.’ He is currently serving ten years in prison for 58 tax offenses, obstructing federal agents and related charges.”)

On Leap Day (February 29), 2004, Russell Hirner, then-principal of Longview Baptist Academy, was arrested after a former student accused him of sexually assaulting her. In short order, another half-dozen students came forward, and by May, the 42-year-old Hirner found himself indicted on 15 counts of aggravated sexual assault.

A year later, in April, 2005, Hirner — who admitted to molesting seven underage girls — was found guilty of sexual assault and indecency with a child. The jury took just two and a half hours to render a verdict, and another four hours to recommend a sentence of 15 years.

But the story wasn’t over; Hirner still faced one first-degree and two second-degree felony charges of indecency with a child in another county. In June, 2005, he pleaded guilty to the two lesser charges, and copped another 40 years in prison. Prosecutors managed to get his sentences “stacked” — meaning he must serve each sentence successively, not concurrently — so Russell Hirner will be off the streets indefinitely… and probably spend the rest of his miserable life in prison.

Twinkie defense: During yet another trial (for aggravated sexual assault of a yet another child, an eight-year-old girl), Hirner testified “that a combination of depression, a bad marriage and erectile dysfunction led him to molest seven girls at his home.”

Memorable observation:

You want to know why I rarely attend church? Because I’ve pretty much decided that if God really wanted me, he’d have never let half the stuff at LBT happen to me or my family. …

My sister was involved with the whole trial over Russell Hirner and his stray hands. Do you know how much it hurts when you find out someone you thought was your friend was only using you and your family so he could get to your sister??? What about the other girls who were assaulted? I grew up with most of them. I considered them my friends.

And to this day, I don’t care what anyone says. I’m convinced that Dr. Gray and Bob JR. knew that Russell Hirner was being inappropriate with girls. They had too many warnings from church members who could see fishy things going on.

— “JennyTmouh”
A Teenager’s Tales From The Temple
Fighting Fundamental Forums
May 31, 2007

Suggested Bible reading for Mr. Hirner:

Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

— Romans 1:32

Claims to fame: Deacon and “bus director” at Jack Hyles‘ First Baptist Church in Hammond, Indiana; child molester

Moral apex: Convicted in March, 1993, and sentenced to five years in prison for molesting a seven-year-old girl. Having exhausted all appeals, Ballenger started serving his sentence in 1996.

A million-dollar civil suit by the girl’s parents against Jack Hyles and the First Baptist Church was settled out of court. Hyles not only dismissed the parents charges by telling them they didn’t have a case (Ballenger “just liked little girls,” said Hyles), but continued to allow Ballenger, free on appeal, to work at the church, often in contact with children.

Twinkie defense: “Ballenger testified that he put his arm around the girl because she was cold in the air-conditioned room, but that he did not fondle her.” [One step closer to the end, Northwest Indian Times, March 31, 1996]

What is a “bus director,” you ask? (We definitely had to ask.) Explains Miss Poppy:

How do you “grow” a church? Well in the late 60s Christians came up with the idea of bus ministries. As Jim Vineyard and Jerry Falwell testify in “Winning Souls Through Buses” bus ministries “put the ‘go’ in the Great Commission.” While resistant to the use of buses to take children to SCHOOLS these white wonders will go to any length to introduce children to ignorance and superstition. In the early 70s 1500 Sunday School pupils rode Falwell’s buses to the doors of Thomas Road Baptist Church.

Was this outreach program successful? What tactics did they use to bring these seekers to their knees? Read on, and prepare yourself for the body count.

First, the door-to-door invitations. When approaching someone’s house,

Look for signs of children, for usually they will be your first riders. However, you expect about 20 percent of your riders to be adults if you will go after them, and more as you perfect your tactics.

… After you have them at the church, separate the children and take them to their own special classes. Mr. Vineyard likes to act out Bible stories for the children, playing all the parts himself. If he wants to be especially frightening he has been known to take out his partial plate. …

Now when you’re casting your net for sole you have to expect to get a few trash fish as well. How does brother Vineyard suggest handling misbehaving, recalcitrant children?

If a child continues to misbehave, we have a room at the rear of our platform which we call the “Diaper Room.” We escort them there and make them sit facing the wall. The embarrassment of having to go to a room with such a name usually settles most children down.

Not only are innumerable children scarred for life with his bloody, violent depictions, but Brother Vineyard makes sure the rest are delivered over to infantilist fetishes. When, oh when, will we stop the church from preying on our young?

Suggested Bible reading for Mr. Ballenger:

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

— Romans 1:22, 24-25

Claims to fame: He: ex-pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church (Bristol, Tennessee); ex-head, Hyles-Anderson College Bible Department; child rapist and batterer; She: child abuser

The story: Pastor Joe and his wife Evangeline were having trouble conceiving, so in 1977 they adopted a four-month-old girl — Esther Alice Evangeline Combs. And then the Combses abused (and literally enslaved) this little girl, all the way to adulthood, in ways bearing a sickeningly remarkable resemblance to the “Christ”-inspired torture tactics of Sybil’s psychotic mother.

Recounts The Biblical Evangelist:

The Combses made that precious soul their personal slave and subjected her to a life of horror and abuse – physical, mental, emotional and social – one that ended only when she went to authorities in Georgia and told her tale, bringing to termination nearly two decades of horror. (She had been sent to that State to live with Joe’s brother and his family because Tennessee police had filed a petition for guardianship on Esther – and for the first time in her life she discovered living.)

A life of horror for Esther? Let me count some of the ways.

• Her earliest memory was of being thrown down the stairs while strapped in her high chair.

. . .

• Accused by siblings of jumping on a bed, Mrs. Combs hurled her against the wall and knocked out two front teeth, which were hurriedly placed back in their sockets and grew oddly spaced and crooked.

• On one occasion, in a fit of temper, Mrs. Combs threw a shoe at her, hitting her in the head and opening a bloody cut. Evangeline promptly sewed it up with needle and thread, then referred to the scars as “her marks of the beast.”

• She was beaten with a hose for falling asleep in church.

. . .

• While the other children were home schooled, she rarely got to attend. When a baby sitter taught her to write her name, Esther was beaten and the greatest Bible teacher in Christendom told her that Jesus didn’t learn to read and write until He was 12 years old, and she shouldn’t either. By the way, this girl and another sitter testified that they suspected abuse, but were afraid of this highly revered Bible professor. The other girl did report her misgivings to the school president, but no action was taken. (The policy is, you may recall, If I didn’t see it, it didn’t happen; even if I did see it, I was probably mistaken; and even if I did see it and wasn’t mistaken, someone else had to have seen it in order to confirm that I saw it!)

. . .

• It was also as a teen-ager that the greatest Bible teacher in Christendom raped her repeatedly, usually on church property (where they were living).

. . .

• Finally, as a legal teen-age adult, desperate and unhappy, she decided to end her life by drinking antifreeze. She was found unconscious and rushed by ambulance to an area hospital and the seeds for ending the abuse were planted. Physicians found layers of scar tissue from wounds and fractures than had not healed properly. She had no birth certificate, no school records, no medical records, and no Social Security. Because the frightened girl denied being abused, she was returned to the horror house, but a few months later the police filed their petition for guardianship.

A medical examiner, noted the April 18, 2000, edition of the Kingsport Times-News, testified that Esther had 410 scars all over her body.

“Some in the congregation,” the paper also reported, “noticed Esther sometimes had black eyes, scars or her arm in a sling. But when told Esther was clumsy and fell a lot, they believed Combs. After all, he was a man of God, they said.”

That’s a running theme throughout all the criminal activity connected with Hyles-Anderson College: It didn’t happen, it couldn’t happen… and if it did, just shut up about it.

Ultimately, concludes The Biblical Evangelist:

Joseph Combs was found guilty on 11 counts … of especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated perjury, aggravated rape, and 7 other counts of rape. The jury imposed fines totally $240,000. Evangeline Combs was found guilty on 6 counts, namely, charges of especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, and 4 counts of aggravated child abuse. The jury levied $150,000 in fines against her.

In May, 2000, Judge Jerry Beck sentenced Joe Combs to a total of 114 years in prison, and Evangeline Combs to 65 years.

Footnote: The Combses managed to produce four biological offspring after adopting Esther (now known as Elsa), one of whom, not surprisingly, turned out to be quite a piece of work himself: David Combs, who, after the Combses were evicted for never paying any rent, was busted for vandalizing the house — and then failed to show up for the hearing.

(It wasn’t the first time the Combses failed to live like civilized human beings; at their residence — actually the Emmanuel Baptist Church gymnasium — “a probe into fire code violations revealed the family lived in squalid conditions.” Between the gym and the house from which they were evicted, they lived in another that “burned down after they started a fire in the woodstove.”)

But that’s nothing compared to David Combs’ refusal to admit witnessing his parents’ abuse of Esther at any time during some twenty years. “According to Esther Combs, some of [the Combses’ other children] not only witnessed these acts of brutality but actively took part in them.”

Then again, honesty isn’t exactly a Combs “family value.” In 2002, Joseph Combs’ brother, Tim, was convicted of two counts of aggravated perjury (actually, he pled guilty, but only after confronted with irrefutable evidence against him) committed during the Combses’ trial.

Memorable quote:

You really hurt me. You made me feel like I wasn’t anything. Like I didn’t even exist. You took my childhood away. You took my self-respect, my confidence, innocence, joy and trust away from me.

I tried so hard to be the daughter that you wanted, but nothing I could ever do was good enough. All I ever wanted was for you to love me and be proud of me. That was all that mattered to me. I just wish you could tell me what I did to make you hate me because I loved you so much, even though you put me through hell. Because I told myself you did it because you loved me.

— Esther Combs to Evangeline Combs
at the latter’s sentencing

Suggested Bible reading for Joe and Evangeline Combs:

None. These monsters are headed straight to hell.

Claims to fame: Pastor of Temecula Valley Baptist Church (California); child rapist; and — yes! — another Hyles Anderson graduate

Moral apex: Raped a 14-year-old girl in his office at the Temecula Valley (CA) Baptist Church, in July, 1997.

How his cover was blown: A cleaning crew walked in on him “kissing, groping and sexually assaulting” the girl — bringing to an end some 20 months of abusing the teenager.

Proof that sex offenders are incurable — and incurably stupid: Accoring to the Riverside Press-Enterprise, “While awaiting trial, the pastor was arrested for soliciting an undercover police officer for oral sex on University Avenue in Riverside.”

Where he is now: Off the streets and rotting away in prison, thank God. Convicted of “20 counts each of lewd and lascivious behavior and five counts each of rape and statutory rape,” the slimeball was sentenced to more than 205 years.

Saying “our children need protecting” from sexual predators … Riverside County Superior Court Judge Russell F. Schooling handed down the sentence two years to the day after the teen-ager first accused Martin of kissing, groping and sexually assaulting her…

Martin’s friends and family sought leniency, saying he had learned his lesson and would never commit similar actions. But the victim said Martin’s behavior devastated her and left her estranged from her family.

Schooling called the sentencing one of the most difficult he has faced in 25 years on the bench.

“I have agonized and prayed about this,” Schooling said. “I have no way of knowing when or if my children or grandchildren will be safe in a church setting if they encounter Kerry Martin on someone like him. We have to stand as a civilized society. We cannot stand by idly and watch this activity occur. Our children need protecting.

“We can’t send (children) the message that it’s not bad for people to molest you. I guarantee I will not do that. If he becomes a productive citizen, it will be within the confines of a prison setting.”

Prosecutor Deena Bennett said unless his sentence is reversed on an expected appeal, she expects Martin to die behind bars.

Ex-pastor is sent to prison
Press-Enterprise
July 17, 1999

What’s worse: That 14-year-old was (probably) not the only victim. According to the Press-Enterprise: “Three other women testified during Martin’s trial that … the charismatic minister used his charm and position as a youth pastor at other churches to befriend and later molest them.”

What’s worse? How about a Blame-the-Victim Twinkie Defense: “[Martin’s attorney, Dale Earven] did not deny that Martin was sexually involved with the girl but has said that the former minister never forced the girl into any physical encounter.” [Press-Enterprise]

Is there anything worse than that? How about a pastor more concerned about the image of his church than about the safety and well-being of any child?

In a letter, Pastor Paul Mershon, who took over from Martin at Temecula Valley Baptist Church, said Martin’s actions have “compromised and damaged” the church. The congregation’s young people are “cynical, skeptical and not trusting of church leadership” as a result.

“It may well take years to restore our testimony here in Temecula, if ever,” Mershon wrote. “Our church has been horribly stigmatized by the sins of one man.” [Press-Enterprise]

Is there anything worse than that? Depends on your point of view — but we say, yeah, much worse… like a wife utterly drowning in denial (which ain’t just a river in Egypt, ya know), who pleads for leniency so her child-molester husband can be near her own child:

Martin’s wife, Kristal Martin, also pleaded for a lesser sentence. The Martins have a 4-year-old son, and Kristal Martin is pregnant with another son due in October. Tears streamed down her face as she addressed the court as her husband sobbed quietly at the defendant table.

Kristal Martin said her husband has undergone counseling that “has changed him completely.

“We have a son who loves his dad very much,” Kristal Martin said. “Consider mercy so that our children might have the opportunity to be with their dad. I love him very much.” [Press-Enterprise]

We suggest you also read: The story of the victim, “Becky J.,” in her own words.

Suggested Bible reading for Mr. Martin:

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

— Genesis 2:17

Suggested Bible reading for Mrs. Kristal Martin:

His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

— Isaiah 56:10

Claims to fame: Former associate pastor of North Sharon Baptist Church (near Ann Arbor, MI); honored alumnus of (surprise!) Hyles Anderson College; accused child molester

Moral apex: Charged, in 1992, with 11 counts of first- and second-degree sexual assault on children.

The company he kept: Leonard was accused of child molestation right around the same time as North Sharon Baptist deacon (and — surprise! — fellow Hyles-Anderson grad) Mark Foeller was accused of the same thing.

So, what happened? Most of the charges against Leonard “were dropped after a judge ruled the alleged victims, ages 3 and 4, were too young to testify. Two other charges were dismissed … when a 9-year-old alleged victim told Assistant Washtenaw County Prosecutor Julie Owdziej she was unable to testify at a preliminary hearing.”

Waitasec. A nine-year-old told the prosecutor “she was unable to testify at a preliminary hearing”? Yeah, it sounds fishy to us, too (our first thought was that maybe the church strongarmed the kid’s parents into shutting up), but that’s what the papers reported.

Nevertheless: “Washtenaw County Circuit Judge Patrick Conlin … reinstated one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct… Thomas Shea ruled the 9-year-old, who could not pinpoint the exact time of the alleged assault, was not a credible witness. But Conlin overturned that decision, saying the date of the alleged assault was not as important as the claim that it had occurred.”

Ultimately… Nothing of consequence happened. Leonard was never convicted of anything. We don’t know where he is today.

Have They No Shame? moment: Just months after the original charges against Leonard and Foeller were made…

…Leonard and Foeller’s wife, Shelly, were honored by the Christian Law Association during Hammond First Baptist’s annual pastors’ school, which drew thousands of delegates, for Christian courage in defending “trumped-up” charges and “lies” against them, their families and their church.

FBI asked to join child sex abuse probe
Munster (IN) Times
May 15, 1993

Are you surprised that Leonard is yet another in a seemingly endless line of Hyles-Anderson graduates busted for kiddie molestation? If so, you shouldn’t be; at this point, we’re started to think Hyles-Anderson should start issuing Bachelor of Child Molestation diplomas along with the rest of its phony-baloney “degrees.”

Suggested Bible reading for Mr. Leonard:

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

— Isaiah 14:12