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-------- Original Message --------
| From: |
Bob |
| To: |
Danny Shelton |
| CC: |
Walt Thompson, Elder Ken Denslow |
| Subject: |
Final questions for now on Tommy Shelton allegations. |
| Date: |
Wed, 06 Dec 2006 11:48:57 -0600 |
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Hi Danny.
I think this may be the last email I send you regarding the
Tommy Shelton child molestation allegations, and I will try to
end it on an encouraging note.
Again, I want to just say that you and I initiated this discussion
one week ago because your board chairman, Dr. Walt Thompson,
gave me some information and said:
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"I would like to request ... that you ... verify [this letter's] contents."
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The following is what I can thus far come up with regarding some of the allegations against Tommy:
- Walt claims that there are allegations of some sort against
Tommy regarding children that are 30 years old.
- Tommy's ordination with the Church of God, Anderson, was
revoked around 1985 because of allegations of child molestation
arising from his pastoring the Ezra congregation in West Frankfort,
Illinois.
- Roger Clem claims that he was molested at the age of 16,
which would be about 1988, while Tommy was pastoring the breakaway
Ezra congregation that had sided with him and against the previous
alleged victims.
- Tommy pastored a Church of God congregation in Dunn Loring,
Virginia, from 1995 to about 2000, and then left apparently because
of the surfacing of some sort of sexual misconduct allegations
against him.
- Just now in late 2006 we have a new allegation of child
molestation coming to light in Virginia at the Church of God
congregation where he used to pastor.
Gailon has talked to quite a few individuals on this matter.
As of this point, I have only spoken to Walt Thompson, Church
of God pastor Glenn Dryden, a member of the board of the Dunn
Loring congregation who wished to remain anonymous, and alleged
victim Roger Clem.
Walt wrote:
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"Based upon my understanding that Dryden had had a long standing
feud with Tommy over factors unrelated to the above accusations
...
"Dryden was jealous of Tommy and was out to get him - a jealousy
that has continued to the present."
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Both Roger Clem and the Dunn Loring board member I spoke with
made it very plain that there was no malice, no feud, and no
jealousy between the two men. The board member said that they
had known Dryden and his family since 1990, and that they first
heard rumors two years ago, which was a year or more before Dryden
returned to Virginia. (Why did they hear about it only two years
ago? They said they had had a lesser position and thus would
not have been privy to such allegations.)
Question 21: Do you believe that the above scenario(s)
and time line painted by these four individuals is fairly accurate,
and if so, why did you essentially tell Walt Thompson, as he
claims, that there were no new allegations for the last 30 years,
and if not, how many more individuals do you think I should interview
before concluding that the above time line is essentially correct?
Walt wrote:
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"No physical actions ever occured."
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Pastor Dryden, based on what alleged victims have confided
to him, and Roger Clem, based on his own experience, both declare
that this is false. Thus,
Question 22: Do you personally believe that no physical
action occurred, and if not, what way would you propose that
we establish that none indeed occurred?
Soon after Clem came forward in 2003, Tommy phoned him. Clem
says that it was somewhere around a year later when he sent a
letter to Tommy. That letter ended with the following:
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"I will tell you up front, if I get a letter or phone call from
your brother or an attorney that in any way appears threatening,
I will immediately go to the sheriff's office and file charges
against you. This has gone on long enough with nothing being
done. This is Not a threat. It all rests on you Tommy, let your
conscience be your guide. I will not wait long before I will
decide what action is best to resolve this."
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Clem says that before Tommy had a chance to open and read
the letter, Tommy's wife had opened it, even though it was addressed
to Tommy, and read it to their daughters, and was calling Clem
about it.
Question 23: Is there any tendency among Tommy's family
to try to cover for him when these sort of allegations come up?
Clem had stated clearly, "I will not wait long before I will
decide what action is best to resolve this," and he claims that
Tommy called him the next day, this second phone call taking
place a year or so after the previous one, and said,
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"What do you want me to do?"
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Clem replied,
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"Register as a sex offender."
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Clem claims that Tommy replied,
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"Well, that's just not going to happen. I've dealt with it with
my family. I've dealt with it in counseling. That's all I feel
I should have to do."
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Thus,
Question 24: Do you believe that Tommy did indeed make
this much of an admission verbally and/or made anything akin
to this kind of reply, and if so, a) do you agree that all that's
necessary for someone to do who has had allegations of child
molestation leveled against them for so many years is to deal
with it in their family and in counseling, and b) can you please
describe for us the nature, timing, and duration of the counseling
Tommy obtained?
I touched on the next one previously. Walt wrote:
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"Accept for pastor Dryden's personal accounts, there are apparently
no other records of the allegations."
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Clem has two brothers. In one of the two calls Tommy made
to Clem in 2003 and 2004, Clem asked Tommy,
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"Did the same thing happen to my brother that happened to me?"
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And, according to Clem, Tommy replied,
Other things that Clem claimed were that people caught Tommy
with boys doing things that he shouldn't have been doing on back
roads and such. He claims that abuse happened at church, at Tommy's
house and in his car, and right down the road from the first
building of "3 Angels."
Dryden wrote:
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"In the summer of 1993 as my wife and two teenage sons and I
were preparing to relocate from Northern Virginia to West Frankfort,
Illinois, Tommy Shelton again was visiting in Virginia and asked
to meet with my wife and I. During this meeting he alerted us
that we may 'hear some things' when we got to Illinois. He also
informed us at this meeting that he had been caught in a lie
during his pastorate at the Ezra Church of God, intimated extenuating
circumstances and said he had sought and received forgiveness.
Indeed we did hear some things after arriving in West Frankfort,
Illinois, in mid-1993, including the circumstances surrounding
the lie (He was found alone with a young man in a home to which
he had access and when challenged said the young man [who was
out of view] was his son when in fact he was not. The individual
who came upon him confirmed this by immediately driving to the
church school Tommy's son attended and finding his son there.).
It was not until another victim's mother spoke with me in early
1996 that I fully realized that not only was sexual abuse of
adolescent boys the nature of the allegations but that there
was substance to these allegations as well."
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Clem told the same story without being asked, and added this
one detail: The lady from the congregation after seeing Tommy's
son at the school drove back to the house and saw a red-faced
boy leaving it, trying to cover his face.
After Clem came forward in early 2003, he claims that Tommy
called him shortly thereafter. Clem was very open about everything
in his church and community, and told me by name about two ministry
leaders or pastors of two different faiths, individuals who had
backed Tommy previously, whom he approached and informed that
the allegations were true after all because it had happened to
him. One of those men said, "You don't know how much that disturbs
me."
Question 25: Would you consider that these accounts
are essentially correct, and if so, why did Walt think there
were no other accounts of allegations except for Dryden's, and
if not, which precise points would you dispute and which ones
would you not?
Clem claims, as Dryden did, that Tommy has never given a meaningful
apology. He also says that Tommy has never apologized in writing
and is manipulative. In his letter sent around 2004 to Tommy,
Clem wrote, among other things,
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"When someone would confront you about what you did, you would
try to take the attention off of what you did by having some
sort of health problem (loss of memory, heart problems, nervous
breakdown). It seemed odd to me that you recovered quick when
you realized that you were in the clear. You really disgust me.
It makes me sick to realize how many lives you damaged and the
only time that you feel the need to apologize is when it all
comes back up again. Then you put on this POOR PITIFUL ME act
(how you wish it didn't happen, the reason you do this is because
you were abused as a child, you would take it all back if you
could, and the all-time favorite, please don't put my family
through this again). What about what you put all of us through?"
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Question 26: Is there any truth to the allegation that
Tommy resorted to manipulative behavior, such as having transient
health problems and/or trying to create sympathy in order to
hush up the accusers; and can you give us examples of when and
to whom Tommy apologized either before a big public spectacle
took place, or when he apologized in writing, or both?
In the same letter, Clem writes:
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"Then what makes me mad is when your brother calls to try to
scare people into not saying anything or when the church receives
a letter from Mike Riva telling us to stop saying anything. ...
I will tell you up front, if I get a letter or phone call from
your brother or an attorney that in any way appears threatening,
I will immediately go to the sheriff's office and file charges
against you."
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Similarly, the board member I spoke with from Dunn Loring,
Virginia said that whenever allegations would arise, you would
"execute a lot of pressure," and "make them go away."
Question 27: Is it true that you called people who
were raising allegations, and what exactly did you say that might
have given them the idea that you were trying to pressure them
into silence?
Your Illinois Tax Case lists as one of the attorneys present,
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"Mr. D. Michael Riva for 3 Angels Broadcasting Network."
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On June 13, 2003, Riva issued a letter that appears to be
a reply to Pastor Glenn Dryden's letter of May 14, 2003. In that
letter of seven paragraphs, paragraphs 1, 2, 6, and 7 contain
language threatening legal action against both the Ezra Church
of God and Pastor Dryden. From what I can tell, and I am not
an attorney, the only legal basis he gives for such a potential
lawsuit appears in paragraphs 3-5, and consists of supporting
arguments after the following sentence:
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"Even if the actions occurred, there is no criminal jeopardy
as the statute of limitations has long since passed." (bold added)
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Question 28: Do you think that it was wise for an attorney
who does or has served the network that preaches the undiluted
three angels' messages to use this sort of logic to threaten
a non-Adventist minister with legal action in order to shut him
up regarding his concerns over alleged child molestation?
Since the attorney who sent this threatening letter does or
has served 3ABN, this question appears in order:
Question 29: Did Mr. Riva perform his services for
Tommy Shelton pro bono, or did Tommy pay for them out of his
own pocket, or did you pay for them out of your own pocket, or
did 3ABN cover the cost, and what sort of documentation can you
provide to substantiate your answer?
Pastor Dryden writes:
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"Tommy vaguely alluded to the allegations in Illinois at times
in his preaching when invited by our founding pastors to minister
at the Community Church of God in the late 1980s. He did so by
speaking not of the allegations but of the 'persecution' he and
his family suffered as a consequence. He was successful in drawing
sympathy thereby as he spoke of hardship suffered by he and his
family." (bold added)
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Now let us consider the following facts:
- A special 3ABN Live telecast on August 10, 2006, claimed
that you and 3ABN were receiving "persecution" and that "lies" were being told about you.
- Shelley Quinn in that broadcast, to all appearances, compared
you to John the Baptist, Linda to Herodias, and Salome to Linda's daughter.
- Before Shelley identified the daughter she was speaking
of as being Salome, she described her as one who had become "entangled
in the web of deceit," when the Bible story does not indicate
that there was any deceit involved in regard to Herodias and Salome.
- Linda's daughter had previously issued a signed and confidential
statement alleging that you had sexually assaulted her.
Thus it appears that that broadcast was particularly attempting
to call Linda's daughter's allegations a lie and "persecution,"
even though throughout the broadcast the claim was repeatedly
made that you and the others would not be defending yourselves.
Question 30: Would you have any comment to make about
this apparent similarity between how Tommy (according to Dryden)
and you have both related to allegations of sexual misconduct?
On November 4 you wrote to me and said, among other things,
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"I will just say this, ... I have done nothing legally wrong in my administration with 3ABN."
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According to what Hal Steenson and John Lomacang told me,
I'm uncertain that this is true. But I won't go into that now.
I want to end by sharing with you a story from the Spirit
of Prophecy, a story from a sermon given by Ellen White in Minneapolis
in 1888 and from an 1888 letter, that is hard for me to read
without getting choked up. I was talking to my family about it
yesterday, and even though it's been a long time since I read
it through, it still got to me. And while formatting it for this
email, I could not refrain from weeping.
If any of the more serious allegations against you, Tommy,
and anyone else are true, I invite you and them to consider following
the example of the man she referred to, and just see if perchance
there may be a possibility that you will reap similar results
of blessings and good will, and that the cause of God will advance
with much greater power.
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"We have seen of the grace of God since we met you last. ...
I was at the Selma camp meeting. During my stay there I was introduced
to a tall man--over six feet tall--and well proportioned. When
he took my hand he seemed much affected and said, 'I am so glad
to meet you; I am thankful that I can speak with you.' After
going into the tent a brother came in and said, 'That man has
a history.' Then he went on and told how a year before he had
been converted; how he had once kept the Sabbath but had gone
back, and how he claimed that he never had been converted. Then
after he gave up the truth he went back into the company of hard
cases, and Satan took complete possession of him. Two or three
were linked with him in his wickedness--men who would not want
it to be known that they were in such business. They stole and
did wickedness in every way.
"He was not a licentious man; he had a wife and he respected
her. She was a Sabbathkeeper, and he would not allow a word to
be said against her. This was the position he took; he loved
her, but not enough to stop his evil course. He did not care
for the spoil of his robberies, but did it for the enjoyment
he found in it. Well, Elder [E.P.] Daniels was holding meetings,
and he was speaking on confession. What was said seemed to take
hold of this man's mind, and he could not resist. He seemed to
turn white, and then left the tent. He could not stand it. He
went out and then he came back again. This he did three times;
he looked as if he were going to faint away.
"After the meeting had closed he said, 'I must talk to you,
sir.' He told Elder Daniels his condition and said, 'Is there
any hope for me? I am a lost man; I am undone; I am a sinner.
Will you pray for me? I dare not leave this place to go home
for fear the Lord will cut me down in my sins.' He said he could
not stay in the tent, and went out again and again, but did not
dare remain outside for fear the power of the devil should fasten
on him and that would be the last of him.
" 'They prayed for him, and the man was converted right there.
The defiant look was gone; his countenance was changed. 'Now,'
said he, 'I have a work to do. I stole thirty-one sheep from
that man in Selma, and I must go and confess to him.' Elder Daniels
was afraid to have it known for fear they would shut him up.
He said he would rather go to prison and stay there than to think
that Christ had not forgiven his sin. So he started, with a young
man who before this was engaged with him in thefts, to go and
see the man. He met the man on the road and stopped him. The
man commenced to shake like an aspen leaf. He was an infidel.
Well, he got on his knees before them in the road and begged
to be forgiven. The man asked, 'Where did you get this? What
has brought you into this state? I did not know that there was
any such religion as this.' They told him that they had been
down to the camp meeting, and heard it preached there. 'Well,'
said he, 'I will go over to that meeting.'
"They confessed to having burned houses and barns. And they
went to the grand jury and confessed to having stolen here and
there. Mind, they confessed to the authorities. They said, 'We
deliver ourselves up. Do with us as you see fit.' So the case
was considered in court, and they had a council over the matter.
One suggested that they better put those men through. The judge
looked at him and said, 'What, put him through? Put a man through
that God is putting through? Would you take hold of a man that
God is taking hold of? Whom God's forgiving power has taken hold
of? Would you do that? No, I would rather have my right arm cut
off to the shoulder.' Something got hold of those men so that
they all wept as children.
"The report of that experience went everywhere. People thought
that there was a power in this truth that was in nothing else--a
power that shows that Jesus lives. We have seen the power of
His grace manifested in many cases in a remarkable manner." (1888
Materials, pp. 81, 82)
"Brother Will Smith is a man that was converted last year.
He was in the truth years ago, but for some reason gave it up,
and the devil took possession of him, and he became a desperado.
His wife kept the Sabbath. He is a tall, well developed, powerfully
built man. He went into all sorts of lawlessness, stealing, and
tried to kill, but his victim did not come in just when he was
prepared to kill him. Last year at Fresno under the labors of
Elder [E.P.] Daniels he was powerfully wrought upon, and he repented
with another backslider who had gone with him in all his wickedness.
Then commenced the work of confession and restitution. One man
they went to see and met him in the road and down they went in
the very dust and dirt on their knees, weeping and confessing,
and the infidel wept like a child. 'Now,' said they, 'We want
you to forgive us, and we do not ask you to arrest us for stealing
your sheep, but we ask pardon; we will pay every cent of the
cost of the sheep.'
"The man who had been wronged said, 'What has wrought upon
you to make this confession?' Said they, 'We have been attending
the campmeeting, and the spirit and power of God and the religion
of Jesus Christ have taken hold upon us.' 'Well,' said the man,
'If the work done there is of this order I must go there,' and
he did go, and he did tremble under the sharp arrows of God.
The influence of these confessions made to many others who have
been wronged, is as far reaching as eternity. This man in his
wickedness had nothing, but since his conversion the Lord has
blessed him greatly with means, and he is using it in making
restitution and in advancing the cause of truth. He is free,
generous to a fault, he is humble as a child, sitting at the
feet of Jesus, ready and willing to do anything. He takes 150
Signs and distributes. He has done more missionary work alone
the past year than the whole Fresno Church together." (Manuscript
Releases, vol. 6, pp. 150, 151)
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May God grant you, Tommy, and the rest by His grace the courage
to right every wrong, whether that wrong be small or great.
Bob
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