[Vision2020] A Powerful Statement on Doug Wilson and Steve Sitler

[Rosemary Huskey]

http://vintage73.com/2015/09/doug-wilsons-failure-to-safeguard-children/

 

 

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Doug Wilson's Failure to Safeguard Children


11 Sep
<http://vintage73.com/2015/09/doug-wilsons-failure-to-safeguard-children/>
'15Bobby Griffith <http://vintage73.com/author/bobby-griffith/>  0 Comments
<http://vintage73.com/2015/09/doug-wilsons-failure-to-safeguard-children/#di
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by Mike Sloan and Beth Hart
<http://vintage73.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/the-good-shepherd.jpg>
the-good-shepherd

Doug Wilson's leadership decisions directly led to the endangerment and
alleged sexual abuse
<http://sitler.moscowid.net/2015/08/24/department-of-correction-special-prog
ress-report/>  of a baby. In August, 2015, the baby's father, a convicted
sex offender and clinically diagnosed pedophile, Steven Sitler, failed a
polygraph that revealed "heinous" violations of his probation with regard to
his own infant child such that the Idaho Department of Correction ordered
him to have no contact with the baby.

Wilson has come under criticism as he provided pastoral care for Sitler who
is a member of Wilson's church. Why should Wilson suffer criticism when
Sitler is the offender? The criticism has merit because abuse happens
through the actions of abusers as well as through the negligent actions of
adults who do not properly safeguard children. 

In three critical arenas, Doug Wilson acted irresponsibly, and his actions
allowed a serial pedophile access to a vulnerable baby. This access led to
preventable endangerment wherein Sitler used his baby for
<http://www.correctionsone.com/corrections/articles/9369232-Idaho-sex-offend
er-allowed-to-return-home-with-child/> "sexual stimulation." In the first
arena, Wilson advocated for limited legal accountability for Sitler's crimes
when he was originally tried and convicted in 2005. In the second arena,
Wilson officiated Sitler's ill-advised wedding in 2011. In the third arena,
Wilson's public responses to Sitler's most recent legal trouble reveal his
teachings about pedophilia, accountability, child protection, and grace that
create a culture where children are exposed instead of protected. 

Despite Wilson's dereliction of pastoral duty, the evangelical and Reformed
church community remains silent on this issue of child sexual abuse. Silence
in the face of child sexual abuse only helps to maintain the status quo, a
status quo that led to a pedophile's easy access to a vulnerable baby. 

Arena #1: Wilson Advocates for "Measured and Limited" Legal Accountability

Two measures of genuine repentance for pedophiles is their awareness of the
damage their actions cause and their ability to own full accountability for
that destruction. Offenders typically only confess when they get caught,
like Sitler. When pedophiles are caught (as opposed to them proactively
seeking help before they have offended), they display an extreme lack of
awareness about how their attitudes and actions bring incredible harm, and
their repentance must be judged with great care and wisdom. Offenders are
masters of deception and manipulation, often saying what people want to hear
so that they attract attention and compassion toward themselves and away
from their victims. 

Moreover, regardless of anyone's judgment about their repentance, people who
have abused a child show they are capable of harming children and must never
be allowed access to children again. Never. Full stop. Not once. No
exceptions. Children are too vulnerable, and pedophilia is too serious a
crime for exceptions. There are no measures too drastic in order to keep a
child from the evil of sexual abuse. Repentant offenders will realize their
danger and will insist on strict accountability, including no access to
children. Sitler originally received a fair and just life sentence for his
crimes.

In 2005, as Sitler was being sentenced, Wilson wrote the judge
<http://www.tomandrodna.com/CR_2005_02027/CC_Ltr_081905.pdf>  asking for
leniency in the realm of civil penalties, arguing that he believed Sitler
was genuinely repentant. Among Wilson's evidence for this assertion was
Sitler's willingness to sit through a handful of sessions with Wilson,
including the completion of assignments (which included reading books).
Wilson also assessed that Sitler was "completely open and honest" with him
and that Sitler was growing in his awareness of his problem. In other words,
Sitler confessed to certain wrongs, and Wilson believed that this confession
was the whole story, demonstrating Sitler's change of heart. 

Wilson, in the letter, does not explicitly factor into his assessment how
Sitler was caught in his crimes. Sitler, nonetheless, has been deceiving
people since he was a young man, serially abusing children (a court document
filed by his defense references Sitler's
<http://sitler.moscowid.net/2006/04/19/steven-sitler-defense-clarifications/
defense-clarifications-10/> "volume of offenses over the years"). With
training, Wilson would know that offenders typically only admit to as little
of their crimes as possible. Offenders also know the language that pastors
expect to hear. No doubt Wilson would agree that repentance is more than
words, and yet, in this case, he seems to have accepted these few talks with
Sitler as establishing enough repentance to advocate for "measured and
limited" punishment. The Bible is clear that, at best, words are only the
beginning of repentance, and that repentance is a heart change that must
bear fruit over time in actions (Luke 3:8-14). In fact, a repentant
pedophile would not argue for a limited punishment, but instead, accept the
full legal consequences of the crimes. 

Doug Wilson has no professional licensing or accreditation in treatment for
sexual offenders. Wilson founded a church, denomination, college, and
minister training school, but evaluating a pedophile's repentance is beyond
his expertise. The professional evaluation of Sitler is that he is a
<http://sitler.moscowid.net/2012/03/07/stevens-county-washington-public-noti
ce-sex-offender-notification-level-iii/> "high risk" offender. A few
sessions of pastoral counseling with a high risk offender should not be used
to judge the genuineness of repentance. Sitler's subsequent violations of
his probation
<http://www.tomandrodna.com/CR_2005_02027/Report_of_Probation_Violation_0618
07.pdf>  and failed polygraphs demonstrate how Wilson prematurely judged
Sitler.

With more training in the dynamics of abuse as well as a dose of humility,
Sitler could still be in jail instead of free to harm children. With
training in the dynamics of child sexual abuse or consultations with an
expert, Wilson could have recognized that Sitler was not demonstrating
actual repentance, a costly failure on Wilson's part. Pastors have a
responsibility to protect the sheep in their flocks from dangerous wolves
(Ez 34; Acts 20). The current publicity surrounding abuse and abuse dynamics
makes it impossible for pastors to claim the excuse of ignorance. This is
not just a mistake or oversight, but a grave dereliction of pastoral
responsibility.

In 2005, excellent resources were available to understand from experts how
predators deceive and how we can see through their deception and
manipulation. Anna Salter, in her book, Predators
<http://www.amazon.com/Predators-Pedophiles-Rapists-Other-Offenders/dp/04650
71732/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441934010&sr=8-1&keywords=anna+Salter> , shows
that 93% of convicted offenders identify as religious
<http://boz.religionnews.com/2014/01/09/startling-statistics/> . Sexual
offenders are common in the Christian environment because in churches they
typically find easy targets
<http://boz.religionnews.com/2014/04/26/sex-offenders/> . Offenders groom
not only their victims, but their churches to see them as caring people,
masking their true agenda. Christians tend to just trust that the people
around them are wonderful people (because most of the time they are!). At
the same time, this environment is also a recipe for abuse if Christians are
not trained and following best practices in child protection. 

Without informed training, pastors will not recognize pedophiles' false
repentance. The fruit of Sitler's repentance is absent. Within months, the
bad fruit in his heart resurfaced, including violating his probation and,
most disturbingly, demonstrating the classic offender attitude of hubris and
entitlement
<http://sitler.moscowid.net/2015/08/24/department-of-correction-special-prog
ress-report/> : "Mr. Sitler continues to do things his way, and continues to
make disclosures and still fails the polygraphs, to which leaves one to
think of how much he is not disclosing (emphasis added)." Despite these
latest reports of Sitler's deception and "heinous" violations, Wilson still
holds on to the notion that Sitler is repentant
<http://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/an-open-letter-from-christ-chur
ch-on-steven-sitler.html>  as of Saturday, September 5, defending himself
and Sitler, saying, "since Steven's conviction and conditional release from
prison and jail, Steven, as a penitent Christian, has been welcome at Christ
Church, and has worshiped regularly with us since that time." 

Wilson should never have advocated for leniency because there is no solid
foundation to claim Sitler is repenting. Advocating for a "measured and
limited" civil penalty does not protect children in the community or help
pedophiles walk in repentance.

Arena #2: Wilson Officiates Sitler's Wedding

Before Sitler's wedding in 2011, the Idaho Department of Correction did not
support
<http://sitler.moscowid.net/2011/05/27/idaho-department-of-correction-re-ste
ven-sitler-2/>  this marriage, and Sitler
<http://sitler.moscowid.net/2011/06/01/steven-sitler-hearing-to-approve-marr
iage/> 's probation officer testified in court that if Sitler's marriage
produced children, he should be forced to live separately from his children.
Although the judge allowed the marriage to go forward, this was against the
advice of the Idaho Department of Correction. The Department of Correction
knew that having Sitler in the home with his own child would pose a danger
to the child. The representative from the Department of Correction correctly
pointed out that if Sitler lived in the same home as his future child, there
would be times when Sitler was unchaperoned around the child because his
wife would have to sleep. Wilson had the opportunity to intervene on behalf
of any future little children's safety. Instead, he officiated the wedding.

As a pastor, Doug Wilson had a moral obligation to go above and beyond the
protection that the state can provide. Despite the judge's ruling, Wilson
must answer to Jesus through whom God will judge the world, and who speaks
strongly against anyone who harms a child, saying, "whoever causes one of
these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to
have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the
depth of the sea" (Matt 18:6). In these words, Jesus acknowledges the
inherent danger of anyone who has abused a child and the urgent need to
guard children against these abusers through physical and permanent
separation between the abuser and any child. Jesus never minimizes the
danger an abuser is to children or risks exposing children to harm.

Jesus shows the church what grace looks like when responding to child abuse:
children take priority. Grace rescues the vulnerable and oppressed (Ps
82:1-4). The church must immediately and permanently remove access to
children for anyone who has abused a child.The church must diligently guard
potential victims by ensuring that people who harm children never have
access to children again. Such actions display God's grace and kindness. The
gospel of grace leads Christians to defend sheep from wolves. 

If an admitted and diagnosed serial pedophile like Sitler is walking in
repentance, he would demonstrate that repentance by renouncing the
possibility of having children and thus marriage. Instead, Sitler proposed
on the second date to his future wife and, according to the Department of
Corrections, Sitler said having children was very important to his religion
<http://sitler.moscowid.net/2011/06/01/steven-sitler-hearing-to-approve-marr
iage/> . Wilson, as a spiritual authority in Sitler's life, should have
intervened to hold Sitler accountable to his repentance. The most loving and
gracious action toward Sitler himself would have been to seek to stop the
marriage so Sitler would not be put in the potential position of harming
another child. Wilson had a moral obligation to intervene for future victims
and Sitler, but he did not.

 

Arena #3: Wilson Responds Publicly

Wilson's public responses have displayed no awareness of the damage his
leadership has caused victims. In
<http://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/an-open-letter-from-christ-chur
ch-on-steven-sitler.html> "An Open Letter from Christ Church on Steven
Sitler," Wilson places 100 percent of the blame for the situation upon
Sitler's shoulders. No doubt Sitler bears full responsibility for his
actions, but Wilson played a key role in exposing children to a dangerous
man. In the statement, Wilson denies the risk Sitler poses to his own child,
and the part he has played in orchestrating the risk, saying, "Our ministry
to Steven, in other words, has not been conducted at the expense of any
children in our church community, or in a way that puts any of them at
risk." However, the church and Wilson have put Sitler's baby at risk, so
much so that Sitler has been ordered not to have any contact with his son
until reliable chaperones can be secured. Then, moving forward, this child
can only have contact with his father under a chaperone's direct line of
sight. This scenario is the very definition of high-risk as children cannot
protect themselves from predators. Instead, they rely upon the adults in
their lives to advocate for their safety. Wilson has been in a position to
advocate for this baby's safety but has not. It is also been noted
<http://sitler.moscowid.net>  that Wilson failed to inform his congregation
in a timely fashion that Sitler was a danger to their children. Without
raising any suspicion, Sitler could have easily gained access to their
children because of Wilson's failure to notify them. Wilson's actions have
put children at risk.

Wilson continues to defend himself by saying it is the church
<http://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/an-open-letter-from-christ-chur
ch-on-steven-sitler.html> 's job to minister to sinners. Wilson writes, "the
task of ministering to broken people is one of the central glories of the
Christian church. For us, there are two causes of rejoicing in this. The
first is that Christ came into the world for the sake of the screwed-up
people." However, not all sins have equal repercussions in this present
world. A pedophile in the church is best described as a wolf in sheep's
clothing. People who sexually abuse children prey upon vulnerable lambs as
wolves do. If the church treats pedophiles like any other Christian who
struggles with any other sin, then it will sacrifice all its precious little
lambs to the wolf. The church must not minister to wolves at the expense of
the sheep. Children pay the cost when leaders do not respond appropriately
to pedophiles. Pastors commonly mistake child sexual abuse as just another
sin. Doing so removes the urgency from proactive child protection and
demands a high cost in children's lives. 

Furthermore, Wilson's responses are a failure of empathy. In the five public
statements (statement 1
<http://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/an-open-letter-from-christ-chur
ch-on-steven-sitler.html> , statement 2
<http://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/the-high-mountain-air-of-public
-calumny.html> , statement 3
<http://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/clean-rain.html> , statement 4
<http://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/dont-think-so-scooter.html> ,
statement 5
<http://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/the-only-kind-of-gospel-there-i
s.html> ) Wilson has issued in the past few days, never does he mention
sorrow for this vulnerable baby who has been the victim of his pedophile
father's "heinous" behavior. Instead, Wilson's public statements argue that
he is one of the victims, saying, "This is because he [Sitler] provides an
easy way for enemies of our ministry to attack us." Instead of showing
empathy for the victim, Wilson claims persecution. He sees himself as a
victim. Such a posture is hurtful to true victims and discourages true
victims from coming forward. 

It needs to be investigated whether other victims have not come forward in
the Sitler case or others, because Doug Wilson has blamed victims (for
example here
<http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fO_XfR6pWDg/VfIKLP47DSI/AAAAAAAAAQ0/8k9zsdREQWU/s
1600/12011663_10100692553629174_835113146_o.jpg> , here
<http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L7C-sLNmLs4/VfIKLG6iOwI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/a-bChvT6580/s
1600/12011438_10100692553878674_1713314146_o.jpg> , and here
<http://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/the-only-kind-of-gospel-there-i
s.html> ), and supported offenders in court (see public testimony here
<https://homeschoolersanonymous.wordpress.com/2015/09/08/the-jamin-c-wight-s
tory-the-other-child-molester-in-doug-wilsons-closet/> ). Also discouraging
victims from coming forward is Wilson's minimization of Sitler's crimes as
only one count of lewd conduct: "The twittermob has been circulating
numerous untruths, among them that Steven Sitler is a child rapist. He was
actually convicted of one count of Lewd Conduct with a Minor under 16 years
of age (Idaho Code 18-1508)." This is an inexcusable minimization of child
sexual abuse. You can read the awful reality of what constitutes Lewd
Conduct with a Minor in Idaho here
<http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/idstat/Title18/T18CH15SECT18-1508.htm> .
You can also read an account of a victim
<http://www.tomandrodna.com/CR_2005_02027/Private_Letter.htm> 's family in
court records describing how Sitler lured their two year old into an
isolated situation and forced the toddler to kiss his erect penis.

Without proactive leadership on child protection, kids in any setting are
vulnerable. Leaders must speak strongly on behalf of victims. Ecclesiastes
4:1 captures the dynamic well, "Again I saw all the oppressions that are
done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no
one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and
there was no one to comfort them." Doug Wilson's public statements defend
himself; they fortress his power instead of humbling owning his errors,
learning from experts in the field, and making changes for the future. When
shepherds use their power to protect themselves, sheep are exposed.

Child sexual abuse hides in an environment of silence, shame, and fear. When
leaders do not speak out and name these sins, offenders easily find victims,
and most often children suffer in silence. Leadership must combat the
silence, shame, and fear with vocal advocacy for safeguarding children and
vocal support for victims. Wilson has failed to lead his people to this
place of safety. Wilson helped create and lead this culture. He must own up
to its failures and resolve to help change it. 

A Plea to Leaders in the Reformed Community

As dismaying as Wilson's actions have been, perhaps even more upsetting has
been the silence from the Reformed corner of the evangelical church. There
has been no outcry, no call of urgency for child protection, and no
lamenting over yet another victim of preventable abuse. There are no voices
taking up the cause of the voiceless (Prov 31:8-9). There are no rescuers to
deliver the weak and afflicted from the hand of the wicked (Ps 82:1-4).
There are no comforters for the oppressed. The oppressors have power, but
victims have only their tears (Eccl 4:1). Victims in our churches are still
waiting for those with power and influence in the Reformed corner of the
church to come in on the side of the vulnerable and the oppressed.

Children would be spared the horrors of child sexual abuse if leaders would
use their voice to call for child protection in our churches with urgency.
Even though the powerful are not themselves at risk, are we willing to look
beyond our own needs to the needs of others, even the little lambs that
Jesus places at the center of his Kingdom (Phil 2:4; Mark 10:13-14)? Where
are the voices of the leaders of Reformed churches and Reformed networks who
can gain a hearing from Doug Wilson and influence thousands of other pastors
in their denominations and circles of influence? Where are the voices from
The Gospel Coalition? Crossway, why are you giving a voice to a man who will
not use his voice for voiceless? Who is asking Wilson, "Where is your
grieving heart for this baby and the other victims? What child protection
training are you putting in place or experts are you consulting so this does
not happen again?" 

God calls all of us to use our power to protect the weak and asks us, "Is
this not what it means to know me?" (Ps 82:1-4; Jer 22:9). No matter how
small the church we can choose to safeguard children. There is a silent
epidemic of child sexual abuse in the church and those sitting in darkness
are waiting for leaders with a voice to speak for them. How long will they
wait? 

Permission to republish is granted, provided the post is presented in its
entirety without alterations and post is linked back to its original source.


 

 

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