Sexual predators can infiltrate any social organization, even those with the noblest and most pure ideals like the Church. In our instance, the blame lies solely on the offender, not the organization. The best course of action is to educate individuals and organizations to be on guard for sexual predators in their midst.
30 is 30 presents a statement from the Trinity United Methodist Church of Homewood, Alabama, where Charles Donald Corley and Victim #1 attended. As evidenced below, the Methodist Church, and Trinity United Methodist Church in particular has strong policy in place to prevent and recognize child sexual abuse, and they remain prayerful supporters and advocates of those affected by sexual abuse in this case, and in all cases. Trinity United Methodist Church’s willingness to share their position on 30is30.com is appreciated and treasured.
The Social Principles of the United Methodist Church declare that “violence and abuse in all its forms – verbal, psychological, sexual – is detrimental to the covenant of the human community.” Our Book of Resolutions advocates reducing the risk of child sexual abuse in churches and other venues (paragraph 3084) and for realistic assessments of recidivism among those who sexually abuse children (paragraph 8009). The devastating life-long impact of abuse should be taken seriously by people of faith. Trinity embraces all of these admonitions.
Trinity United Methodist Church recognizes that an environment in which children and young people are not protected from abuse or neglect cannot sustain any of the characteristics – such as love, compassion, safety, healing and acceptance – that define a church. To this end, Trinity has in place a Child Protection Policy. The stated goal of this policy is to “protect children from sexual abuse, child molestation, or any type of inappropriate behavior by employees or volunteers in this church and to protect employees and volunteers from false accusations.” The Policy requires, among other things, that all paid employees of the church, as well as all
volunteers who work with children or youth receive – in advance- a clearance from criminal a records and a Department of Human Resources background check. Reasonable efforts are made to have at least 2 adult workers present, or nearby, with preschoolers, children and minor students during church activities. Trinity’s policy states, specifically, “The church staff will not deny, minimize or blame any individual involved in allegations…” Observed or reported child sexual abuse, physical abuse or molestation is required to be reported immediately to the appropriate age group director or to any pastor of the church. All allegations are taken seriously and church staff are directed to take action in accordance with Alabama law.In addition, Trinity recognizes the importance of its role to minister to survivors of abuse. To this end, we offer pastoral and prayerful support to all survivors of abuse. We recall the words of Jesus who commanded his disciples to welcome children and who warned in graphic terms any who would harm them (Matthew 18:5-6). Such abuse of power and persons is sin and at cross purposes with the redemptive love of God.
Since abuse thrives on secrets and shame, part of our work as a church is to listen attentively and carefully to the voices of survivors and to make sure all have a safe space in which to be heard. Jesus promised his disciples that what was secret would come to light (Luke 12:2), and these are meant to be words of hope, of justice, and of healing. We encourage that the voices of survivors, in this and every case, be given full weight within the judicial system. The first concern must always be with the victims and survivors for justice and healing.
Leadership Team
Trinity United Methodist Church
Between 5% and 15% of victims report being molested.
South Carolina:
The year was 1995 and a group of fraternity brothers were sitting in an emergency meeting. There was big news. One of our own was starting his ordeal with his hometown (Homewood, Alabama) Police, providing testimony that he was molested as a child. Because news media was on campus, Victim #1 chose to tell the fraternity about his molestation. I remember the questions that night. They were all over the map, but here were some of the college “guy” type questions.
The list goes on and on….
It is very confusing when you learn that a dude in your fraternity (and one you regard as being very strong headed) has had unwanted sexual contact with another dude. No doubt it would have been easier if Victim #1 were coming out of the closet rather than the complexity of dealing with an adult molester. It brings up quite a few questions – some harsh, some stupid, some completely dumbfounding, to say the least. The night wore on, and at the end, we all pledged our support to Victim #1. Days and weeks passed. Over the last 16 years I have known Victim #1 and educated myself about this issue on my own and through him. Not once have I asked again the question “How did you let this happen to you?”
To this day, when I think about what happened in the meeting 16 years ago, I just feel empty. this is one of those topics that it is entirely impossible to have empathy for. You just cannot put yourself in the other person’s shoes, because it is beyond imagination. If I felt a rift between me and Victim #1 that night, imagine what Victim #1 felt at the outset, with everyone else on the other side.
To those who are close to Victim #1’s situation in Birmingham, to those who grew up next to Victim #1 and might have had very different experiences with Don Corley, and anyone else out there who might be wondering how on earth this happens without being reported:
An excerpt from the interview above (paraphrased): Between 5% and 15% of victims report being molested. A common theme in all of these cases is “why are you telling us now?” Healing and helping are most often the reasons. Aside from keeping Don Corley in jail, healing and helping are our reasons, too.
As a society and in our communities, we should be actively looking around to eradicate this issue. Let’s find the victims and potential victims, lest they find us too late.
Please see our Molestation Resources, stay vigilant, and stay educated.
A molestation is an event, but it’s more like a wound. It’s a wound that grows, if unattended. Multiple molestations cause multiple wounds. These wounds that each victim endure are the facts.
Guys usually don’t talk about each other like this, but I’m going to get a little mushy-gushy: as if one of my best friends had been mugged and beaten within an inch of his life, as if he endured a terrible burning car crash, emerging from twisted metal with a disfiguration or handicap. Knowing that my friend went through repeatedly being molested by Charles Donald Corley evokes similar emotion to a catastrophic physical injury, except worse.
Unlike most physical injuries, I know my friend is not completely healed of his wounds, years and years after being molested, which is a constant reminder of the severity of the crime. A person who has endured a car accident or a mugging have fewer long-term internal wounds that affect relationships, self image, success. Knowing my friend has been molested and is still feeling the effects evokes a different kind of sadness. You can’t have empathy for your friend, and even if you could, you wouldn’t want to know what it’s like. Sympathy doesn’t help, either. My friend, Victim #1, just has to endure and heal, which takes tremendous personal effort, internal courage, and unrelenting will. The most important lesson I learned when I chose to support 30 is 30 is that the statistics of molestation do not reflect the events, the wounds – the true facts.
You can find statistics in blogs and Universities, and in government reports. A statistic some people feel is key in determining whether sex offenders should stay in jail are recidivism rates. For child molestation, you can find numbers on recidivism varying from under 10% to over 20% and higher.
It’s important to remember that recidivism rates count the people who have gotten caught again sex offending, not those who have offended again. It’s just impossible to know whether they have or haven’t. But you can point to the nature of the offenders. Take Don Corley. 3 boys pressed charges, and there are at least a dozen others but we don’t know the true number of people affected by Don Corley. He successfully convinced his church and the Boy Scouts that he was a good leader for over more than a decade, while taking advantage of those positions for his sexual desire of young boys.
This is what molesters do. They are experts in social engineering. They figure out how not to get caught.
I’ll give you a statistic. Don Corley was convicted for less than 20% of his crimes. Perhaps even less than 10%. Molesters create fear, and sex crimes create an undesirable stigma on known victims. Coming forward means getting yet another wound when the world finds out. Unlike Victim #1, I’m not sure I could have been that courageous.
Society should not tolerate repeat sex offenders. The wounds, the true facts, the lives affected, cannot be measured, therefore cannot be adequately paid for with a specific amount of jail time. However, Don Corley has been given 30 years. We ask that he serve the remainder and stay away from creating more gruesome facts.
Often people put forth the argument that child molestation is a relative rarity in today’s society. Unfortunately that myth is untrue. The facts don’t lie.