Deputy, pastor facing rape charge
 

Hammond has a population of just under 20k. When shit like this happens just down the road from your house it really reorients things for you.

http://www.hammondstar.com/articles/...me/crime02.txt

According to juvenile investigator Reginald Bryant, the investigation began with a call from the mother of a juvenile from Columbus, Ohio, about five weeks ago. She told deputies she fled from Louisiana in fear for her child and that counseling with her child raised allegations of sexual abuse.

The arrest was made in conjunction with the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Department following Monday's arrest of Louis Lamonica for two counts of aggravated rape and a charge of crime against nature.

More arrests made in cult sex case

http://www.hammondstar.com/articles/...me/crime01.txt

The victims' ages range from infancy to adolescence, Edwards confirmed.

Lamonica, 45, of Holden, is the pastor of the church, which is affiliated with the Church of God in Christ. He's reportedly telling authorities all that he knows and implicating other suspects who were involved, Edwards said.

There's no number yet on how many children were abused or how many animals, although Edwards did specify that cats and dogs were involved in the misconduct, which he said was part of what the public would call a cult.

The men involved lives are ruined by the accusation alone.

And I got $5 on "recovered memories."

The first inkling that there was anything going on in the community was "during the child's therapy." Enthusiastic (and often incompetent) therapists, social workers, and investigating interviewers are the source of most false accusations of child abuse.

Particularly when the stories start getting more and more bizarre.

And involve words like "animal torture" and "cults".

Like the McMartin Preschool.

There's that possibility, but having the pastor come out like he did makes me wonder.

A friend of mine lives across the street. She said the place has always had a strange vibe.

We'll see.

Most pentacostal churches have the strange vibe.

As far as the admissions? Read this: Remembering Satan. This book was originally a two part article in the New Yorker ... They unfortunately don't have extensive online archives. Anyway ... there have been cases of recovered (false) memories on the part of the accused perpetrators in these types of cases.

There are also some chapters devoted to the Oregon case on Richard Ofshe's Making Monsters.

When the perpetrators start rolling over on each other, so to speak, we'll see. If the stories match we're good to go.

The carpet may yield some exclusionary* evidence.

*Edit: I remembered the word I was looking for.

The stories matched in the case in "Remembering Satan" as well.

I understand all of that, and I understand the impulse to crucify people for things like this. I've seen what false accusations can do, not to me, but close.

I'm not buying into it, but the very fact that something like this, true or not, has come out in my town, small as it is, is just disturbing.

whoops, sorry, Washington, not Oregon.

Here's one synopsis of the case.

Here's another page about the details of the case. As is not uncommon for AOL homepages, there are some very frustrating dead links.

A rather more concise analysis of the case from religious tolerance.org.)

Paul Ingram apparently has been released from prison (April 2003), however he has not been cleared of the charges and is being treated as the most violent level of sex offender. After not having committed any crimes.

I got it, I got it...

You and I are on the same page.

It's just that the story hasn't developed far enough to give any more to work with.

Cop? Republican? Guilty! :lol:

Yeah, right next door to the daycare that we want to send our daughter to.

D.A.O. and I were talking with Amanda about that the other day. One of the waitresses at WH knows the guy that the Pastor claimed was part of it, and no one who knows the guy thinks that he'd do something like that...'course, you never know, right? But A.O. said that it's most likely that the Pastor was trying to shift blame. Considering that A.O. is pretty good when it comes to sizing up the criminal element, it being his job and all, I tend to trust his judgement.

I can't help but wonder if no one wants to believe it because it was a pastor who was accused and not a priest...'cause you know if a Father-someone had been implicated, not a single person would've questioned it.

And just because a church is ostensibly christian doesn't mean it's not a cult...

I guess we'll see.


Sidhe

No shit. Nothing irks me more than social workers, et al who think they're psychiatrists. Social workers are the worst, I think, because, having known quite a few, I know they're more concerned with reuniting families than they are with the welfare of the children. And when it comes to "recovered" memories...*snort*


Sidhe

Horatio Alger Jr. wote 130 dime novels described as rags-to-riches stories, how poor boys could achieve the American dream of wealth and success through hard work, courage, determination, and concern for others.
He turned to writing after being dismissed as minister(pastor) of First Parish Brewster on Cape Cod. He was canned, according to the church records, by the church board for "unnatural familiarity with boys" in 1866. Same old, same old. :rolleyes: