Willow Creek Megachurch Paid $3.25M in Lawsuits Over Sex Abuse of Disabled Boys

Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois reportedly paid $3.5 million in lawsuits over the sex abuse of two developmentally disabled boys.

The evangelical megachurch, which recently saw its entire elders board resign over unrelated accusations that former lead pastor Bill Hybels sexually abused women, made the payments in the lawsuits over several years, court records obtained by The Chicago Tribune show.

One payment of $1.75 million was apparently made in February, while another one of $1.5 million was made last year.

Former Willow Creek volunteer Robert Sobczak Jr., now 24, pled guilty in 2014 of abusing an 8-year-old with special needs at the church, alongside an older boy not connected with the church. A year earlier, he admitted to sexually abusing another disabled boy at the church, believed to have been 9 years old.

Willow Creek said that the experience was “heartbreaking,” and insisted that it has made changes.

“We have worked with law enforcement and security experts to learn how this happened and how we can ensure it never happens again,” the church said, according to FOX 32.

Cook County prosecutors had described in the lawsuits that Sobczak separately took the two boys to an isolated area of the church, where he molested them.

What is more, the document shows that another church worker had raised concerns in January 2013 that Sobczak was “emotionally unhealthy.” The volunteer was allowed to remain with the program, however, and went on to abuse the second victim.

The second victim reportedly suffered “great mental and emotional harm” due to the abuse he suffered, and underwent therapy.

The settlement showed that despite agreeing to the financial payouts, the church “has denied and continues to deny all material allegations of negligence and damages in this case.”

When the child sex abuse charges first came to light back in 2013, the megachurch said in a statement:

“Willow Creek engages in a rigorous screening and training process for all volunteers and staff in our Special Friends Ministry that includes a detailed child protection application process, checking of references, a national background check, cross checking the sex offender registry, and offering training in child protection. Mr. Sobczak had completed and passed this screening process before he began serving with the Special Friends Ministry.”

Heather Larson, who would go on to become Willow Creek’s executive pastor, before resigning this August over the Hybels scandal, insisted back then that church leadership is “very concerned for the child as well as the family.”

“We take rigorous steps to protect our children,” she stated at the time.

Larson, along with Willow Creek’s entire elder board, resigned earlier in August, admitting that they should have believed the multiple women who accused Hybels of sexual misconduct and abuse this year.

The church initially sided with Hybels, who has continued to maintain his innocence in the face of all claims. It later admitted that its founder had “fallen into sin.”

“While Bill Hybels was our founder and pastor, he was human, broken, and self-admittedly sinful. We believe that his sins were beyond what he previously admitted on stage, and certainly we believe that his actions with these women were sinful. We believe he did not receive feedback as well as he gave it, and he resisted the accountability structures we all need,” said in a statement about the issue Missy Rasmussen, one of Willow Creek’s elders.

O. Jermaine Simmons Is Still Preaching???? WHAT????!!!!

Tallahassee preacher, O. Jermaine Simmons was caught last January in the act of having sex with a member’s wife. He ran out of the house BUTT NAKED. He gave his church a so-called apology and the church bought it hook line and sinker. How in the Hell is this man still qualified to preach? Christians say “there’s an attack on Christianity” No- Christianity is attacking itself! Christians make there own religion powerless, filthy and shameful!  

 

A married pastor in Florida who chastised the media for dishonesty was caught having sex with a married mom, according to a police report.

The Rev. O. Jermaine Simmons Sr., 36, ran naked from Claynisha Stephens’ Tallahassee apartment after her husband of seven years caught the two in bed together on Jan. 17, 2017, the police report said. The husband, Benjamin Stephens, chased after the pastor with a pistol, but police ― summoned by the wife ― found him first, hiding with no clothes behind a fence.

Simmons, pastor at Jacob Chapel Baptist Church in Tallahassee, wrote a blog post titled, “Journalism is Dead.” He argued modern news reporting lacks honesty and integrity.

“I can’t help but mourn the death of pure, untainted journalism,” Simmons wrote.

Simmons also authored a 2016 book, I Need A Man, touted in a press release as “a fresh perspective on the issues of godly manhood and mentoring.” 

Tallahassee police said they learned of Simmons’ extramarital relationship when Stephens’ wife called 911. She told officers her husband grabbed a small handgun after he caught them in bed and “went out the door in search of Simmons.”

“I’m going to shoot both of you,” Benjamin Stephens said, according to the police report.

Benjamin Stephens was nowhere to be found when officers arrived.

Police found Simmons hiding behind a nearby privacy fence.

Simmons told officers he visited Claynisha Stephens that day to discuss “church matters.” One thing led to another and the meeting “took an inappropriate turn,” the police report quoted him as saying.

Claynisha Stephens told officers she and her husband attend Simmons’ church. She acknowledged having sex with Simmons and said he bolted after her husband caught them in bed. She said her husband told her he’d considered shooting her, but decided not to “because of their son,” police said.

Officers eventually tracked down Benjamin Stephens and found him in possession of Simmons’ clothes, wallet and car keys. He told officers he caught his wife and the pastor having sex in his oldest daughter’s bedroom, according to the police report.

No charges were filed. David Northway, a spokesman for the Tallahassee Police Department, told HuffPost that Claynisha Stephens and Simmons both declined to pursue charges.

Simmons apologized to his congregation the Sunday after the incident and continues to manipulate his flock by use of religious lingo and “Christlike” performances,

“What I am asking of our members is your prayers and your forgiveness,” said Simmons, a former grade school teacher who is married with one child, according to a video of the Jan. 22 service.

 He indicated he’s not planning to resign- why would he when he knows that he has his blind congregation brainwashed and wrapped around his little finger, besides, he needs those tithes and offerings!  

“What I want from God I’ve already received it ― and that’s his forgiveness,” Simmons said in the video. He added: “If I stop preaching, if I stop doing what the lord called me to do over this, it presupposes that I was qualified to do it in the first place. … We will move forward.”

I don’t know which is sicker, O. Jermaine Simmons still misleading people or his blind congregation supporting him! This church should read I Timothy 3:1-10 and have someone other than O. Jermaine Simmons to explain it to them.

 

 

Married Florida Minister Arrested After Forcing Oral Sex On Teenager During Church Conference

A married Florida “dance minister” was “saving souls” while also engaging in some filthy activities.

38-year-old minister of dance named Curtis Cooper was arrested after police say he sexually assaulted an 18-year-old man.

The Tallahassee Police Department says that Curtis Cooper, who is also the founder and CEO of local Community-Based Dance Ministry, Inc., was reported by a family member of the victim.

The victim claimed that during the weekend of July 8-9, Curtis, in partnership with his Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church, hosted a dance conference and that Curtis invited him along, in addition to paying for everything—including a room at Hotel Duval.

The victim went on to claim that, on the 8th, Curtis drove him to the hotel at around 2 PM to shower and dress for church. The police report states that he took the teen’s clothes from the bathroom while he was showering, forcing him to come to the bedroom.

After showering, the victim said that the minister pushed him onto the bed and forcefully gave him oral sex, before leaving.

Officers say when they interviewed the man about the victim’s allegations almost two weeks later, he denied having any sexual contact with the victim.

Asked about what he remembered about being at the hotel, he insisted that he went to the room with the victim the evening of July 8, but fell asleep in the room and left when he woke up early the next morning.

Curtis explained that he organized the dance conference and that the victim was invited to take part in the conference as a drummer (according to him, the church covered the room expenses) and that the victim’s family was also invited but the victim was the only one who ended up attending.

When police specified the time frame given to them by the victim, he changed his story. Shocking.

He then admitted that he brought the victim to the hotel in the afternoon but said that we was “in and out” of the room, attempting to get the toilet fixed while the teen showered.

But he told officers that the story was a “lie”, as well as denying any sexual contact with the victim.He was asked to take a Voice Stress Analysis to determine if he was telling the truth, but he eventually declined.

This isn’t the first incident of this nature he has been involved in. He mentioned an investigation in Blountstown to police, in which he was accused of an inappropriate relationship with a male and female victim, both under the age of 18. 

According to the probable cause document, he had been arrested for sexual battery in connection to the incident back in 2004. He was also accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old in 2014. However, documents say authorities were never able to establish probable cause, leaving the case inactive.