An 88-year-old Virginia pastor was sentenced Monday to eight years in prison for child sex crimes, after a judge greatly reduced it from 55 years. According to Richmond County Circuit Court records, a plea deal allowed the pastor, who had previously faced 31 charges, to receive the shorter sentence. Albert “Ben” Wharton, pastor of Victory Baptist Church in Warsaw, Virginia, from 1976-2002, pleaded guilty to eight of the counts against him, court records showed.| The Roys Report
Sept. 1 marks a historic victory for child sexual assault survivors in Texas and Missouri. “Trey’s Law” has officially gone into effect, banning the misuse of nondisclosure agreements in civil settlement agreements pertaining to sexual assault claims. In Texas, this legislation releases survivors from existing NDAs that restrict them from telling their stories, unless a court specifically orders otherwise. Missouri’s House version of Trey’s Law (HB-737) also went into effect last Th...| The Roys Report
Disgraced former megachurch pastor Robert Morris waived his right to a preliminary hearing at a court appearance Thursday morning regarding accusations he sexually abused a 12-year-old girl over four decades ago. Flanked by attorneys and wife Debbie, Morris appeared before Judge Cindy Pickerell at the Osage County District Court in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Morris confirmed he understood the implications of waiving the hearing. Preliminary hearings are where a judge decides if there’s sufficient ...| The Roys Report
A pastor and social media influencer in Fort Worth, Texas, was arrested Sunday on a sexual assault charge. Alonzo Diego Fuller, 39, was arrested by Fort Worth police on a second-degree felony charge of sexual assault that, according to The Dallas Morning News, allegedly occurred in June. On Monday, Fuller was released from the Tarrant County jail on a $40,000 surety bond, according to jail records. But Fuller, founding pastor of Journey Fort Worth Church, said he “categorically denies” th...| The Roys Report
A pastor at a Baptist church in Virginia was arrested Aug. 6 for allegedly pretending to be a teenage boy online to lure young girls into having sexually explicit communications with him. Jacob Ryan Barnett, 34, of Catawba, Virginia, is facing a federal charge of attempted coercion and enticement of a child, according to a criminal complaint filed Aug. 5 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. Barnett worked as the associate pastor of students and mobilization at Cata...| The Roys Report
Amid mounting accusations of procedural misconduct in the church trial of one of their own bishops, more than 150 members of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) attended a virtual town hall Tuesday where a plan was unveiled for overhauling the denomination’s clergy misconduct policies. “I think it is a good thing that the proposal has come out at this time, while the challenges of the Ruch trial are fresh in our memories, our impressions,” said the Rev.| The Roys Report
"Plenty of SBC leaders, past and present, have received Jordan’s emails and could have spoken up to denounce Jordan and support survivors."| Baptist News Global
When the Southern Baptist Convention meets next week in Dallas, many clergy sex abuse survivors will feel the hurt and betrayal of it.| Baptist News Global
Casting a pall over the gathering is the recent death of one of the most high-profile whistleblowers in the Southern Baptists’ scandal of sexual abuse.| Word&Way
New Jersey pastor Stephen Sweet has been arrested on charges he sexually abused a child, according to Bergen County Sheriff records.| The Roys Report