Fact vs. Myth part 2
Common mistakes churches make regarding their volunteer background checks

Protect My Ministry currently serves over 5,000 different faith-based organizations in all 50 states, so we see a lot of situations and run into questions about these issues on a regular basis. So this month we will continue our investigation into more common mistakes or misconceptions many churches have regarding background checks:

Myth # 3 – “I am running a national search, so I am getting everything from every state.”

Fact – There is not a national database that comprehensively covers all 50 states criminal information. One of the reasons Protect My Ministry created an online consultation is because the type of information we get from the national database varies from state to state. Some states, like North Carolina and Texas, update their information regularly and include details on felonies, misdemeanors, convictions, and non-convictions. Other states, like Georgia and Alabama, only report felony convictions. So the type of search you run really varies depending on how much information you are looking for and how well your state reports.

Myth # 4 – “It’s not in the budget right now; we’ll just use people we know.”

Fact – You really cannot afford not to screen your volunteers. Within this objection are really two problems. First there is the assumption that you actually do know everyone in your congregation. No matter the size, one could question how well you know each person that comes through your doors. I know of a case where there was a check run on an assistant pastor who had just graduated from Bible College. After investigation it was discovered that while he was in college he had two felony arrests for spouse abuse and child abuse, as well as a restraining order against him. Sometimes you just never know. The other problem with this line of thinking is the court and legal cost the church could face if there is an allegation and there is not a child safety policy in place that includes background screening of volunteers. I have heard on several occasions that the cost to defend a church against a frivolous child molestation lawsuit can be $80,000-$100,000! And that’s just to prove that nothing happened! Background checks are cheap insurance compared to that.

For more information go to www.protectmyministry.com

Free Information From Protect My Ministry on church background checks, child safety training, and ministry automation is available at our website ProtectMyMinistry.com

Top mistakes churches make regarding their volunteer background checks-

Protect My Ministry reaches out to hundreds of churches every week and in that process we hear stories from churches of every denomination, tradition, and philosophy. The most common truth about volunteer background screening we encounter is this: churches often do not know exactly what they are getting when they do a background check on their volunteers.

Over the next few months, Protect My Ministry will take time to reveal several misconceptions churches have about background checks and what we do to address these issues. Here are a few of the most common myths regarding background checks followed by the facts:

Myth # 1 – “Background checks are all the same, so why does it matter who we use?”

Fact – There are several ways to do background checks and there are hundreds of background screening companies out there for a reason; and they are not all created equally. Here are a few questions you should be asking: Am I getting felony as well as misdemeanors or just felonies? What exactly is being searched for when I run this background check? Doesn’t a national search mean I am getting all 50 states? The answers to these questions are extremely important as you develop your child safety procedures.

Myth #2 – “I am getting my checks for free from the police station (or a member of our church is a police officer and runs them for us), so I’m covered.”

Fact – While the price may be right, chances are you don’t realize what is being checked and what is not. Most people just assume everything is. The truth is many police checks are checking only the state you are in and does not include criminal information outside of your state. The only exception to that is if they are checking the NCIC (the FBI database) and if you are getting that for free the person doing that for you is almost certainly doing it illegally.

For more information please visit www.protectmyministry.com

For some of our recommendations on how to screen volunteers, click here.

A father was arrested for molesting his two daughters and two pastors were also arrested on suspicion of failing to report the accusations to authorities, according to Phoenix Police

The father was booked with one count of sexual abuse, two counts of child molestation, and eleven counts of sexual conduct with a minor on July 9, according to Phoenix police spokesman James Holmes. The police are not releasing the father’s name to protect the identities of the victims.

His then 16-year-old daughter told a neighbor that she had been molested by her father for several years. The neighbor then confronted the father and he apparently admitted his involvement. The father also confessed that he knew what he was doing was wrong.

After this confrontation the Phoenix police were brought in and the girl was with the neighbor when she talked to officers, according to Holmes. The girl told officers of at least one instance of sexual intercourse and many instances of sexual contact over almost 5 years; she also informed police of the molestation of her older sister who moved out when she turned 18.

According to police, the father confessed to sexually abusing both victims after questioning and was arrested immediately.

The older daughter, now 19, told her two pastors about the alleged abuse in 2008 but they did not report the accusations to police, according to Holmes. Under Arizona law, and nearly every state has similar laws, the pastors had the duty to report to Child Protective Services and/or law enforcement.

Instead, the pastors met with the older daughter and the father. At that meeting, according to the police, the father confessed to sneaking into his daughter’s room to touch her. The pastors suggested the girl forgive her father, because he was repentant, Holmes added.

The pastors were arrested on one count each of failure to report sexual abuse.

For information on child safety training and screening your volunteers click here.

EDMONDS — A volunteer magician and puppeteer who worked with the children’s ministry at Westgate Chapel in Edmonds is being accused of fondling a young parishioner during Sunday school and sneaking his camera up the skirts of unsuspecting girls and women.

On Tuesday morning Terry Jensen, 55, of Edmonds was charged with first-degree child molestation and two counts of attempted voyeurism. This is not the first time Jensen has faced such charges.

According to court papers filed this morning, in 2006 an 8-year-old girl reported that Jensen fondled her three times during Sunday school. At that time Jensen allegedly apologized to the girl, her mother, and the church’s leadership team according to Snohomish County deputy prosecutor, Adam Cornell. The report stated that Jensen “got down on one knee” and asked the girl for another chance.

Jensen was confronted again with allegations of sexual impropriety with parishioners this past January. Prosecutors allege that Jensen used a small camera to take pictures up the skirts of women and girls at church and on business trips. Jensen allegedly told Westgate Chapel officials he used the church’s camera to take pictures underneath the skirts of some of the teenage puppet workers behind the stage, Cornell wrote.

Edmonds police have seized two of Jensen’s computers but were unable to find any images related to the allegations against him. Jensen allegedly destroyed a third computer and threw it in the garbage. Investigators have been unable to locate that computer according to Cornell.

For more information on screening volunteers at your church click here.

“Your hair smells like chocolate.”

Those were Damon Samudio’s alleged final words before he seduced a 15-year-old Boerne girl in his truck, setting off a secret affair between the two during the summer of 2007, according to the victim’s tearful testimony Wednesday in the 186th District Court.

Samudio, 36, a criminal investigator with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who has been suspended indefinitely, has been charged with 14 counts — down from 21 earlier this week — of sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child, according to court documents.

In opening statements, defense attorneys said the teenager fabricated her story and that the state was trying to twist Samudio’s relationship with her into something improper.

“It was a young teenage girl to a large degree living a fantasy life,” defense attorney Jay Norton said, adding no sexual encounters took place.

Samudio met the girl when he was volunteering at a church in the Boerne area and she was a member of a small youth group he counseled. The girl began spending time with Samudio and his wife to seek advice after breaking up with her boyfriend, according to an arrest affidavit.

When prosecutors called her to the stand Wednesday, she described a normal friendship that went awry after Samudio decided he wanted to divorce his wife and began sending the teen hundreds of text messages and calling her on the phone into the early-morning hours with promises of love and marriage.

“He used to tell me about dreams he would have with me in a grocery store with our baby in the cart,” she said.

By the end of the summer, the girl alleged Samudio sexually assaulted her at her parents’ house and then several more times at his parents’ house on a twin bed with teddy bears.

“I can look back three years ago and realize how deceived and manipulated I was,” she said, holding back tears.

Screen your youth workers

POST FALLS, ID. — A North Idaho man has been re-arrested on additional felony rape charges.

Post Falls Police say Jordan Vernon, 20, was arrested again on Tuesday for three additional felony rape of a minor charges. Detectives say they spoke to a 16-year-old girl who says she had sex with Vernon three times.

Officers say he did not meet her at Real Life Ministries, but rather through another victim. Detective Dave Beck says the victim told police her sexual encounters took place over the past summer while she was babysitting for someone else, and at her home.

Detective Beck says Vernon would get the girls’ phone numbers and connect with them by sending them text messages.

He now faces seven felony charges including sexual abuse and lewd conduct. Vernon already faces four similar charges. He is accused of meeting two teen victims, a 14-year-old girl and 17-year-old girl,  while volunteering as a youth leader at Real Life Ministries in Post Falls, having sex with them, and posting pictures of a sexual encounter with one of the victims online.

Post Falls police have also talked with another potential victim, an 18-year-old Vernon met through a youth counseling group sponsored by the police. She told detectives that from 2005 to 2008, Vernon tried repeatedly to have sex with her in forceful ways. Detectives cannot say if they will pursue charges on that incident.

That 18-year-old girl also gave police a list of other girls who may have information on Vernon. That may not indicate illegal activity with underage girls, but detectives are interested if he has been forcing himself on other women.

Vernon is currently in the Kootenai County Jail on $100,000 bond. He has maintained his innocence in earlier court appearances. He declined KREM 2 News’ request for an interview and his attorney would not return our phone calls.

Vernon’s half brother, Luke Denman, also faces charges for intimidating a witness.

Screen your youth workers

LAKELAND – Polk County Sheriff’s Special Victims Detectives arrested a Lakeland man Friday and charged him with three counts of lewd molestation.

The sheriff’s office said Michael Winborn, 45, of Lakeland, inappropriately touched two girls, ages 9 and 11, underneath their clothing on at least three different occasions at his home.

Winborn is currently enrolled in ministry school and is a youth program coordinator at the Church of Christ on South Florida Avenue in Lakeland.

Winborn is a friend of the girls’ families, having met them through the church.

According to church officials, Winborn receives $100 per week to attend the church’s full-time ministry school and Bible study, and is currently the church’s Bible Study Coordinator. Church officials also told detectives that Winborn is heavily involved with youth programs at the church, organizing youth trips and events for the past several years.

Winborn was booked into the Polk County Jail and is being held without bond.

Anyone with any information is asked to call the Polk County Sheriff’s Office at 863-534-6200 .

Employee/Volunteer background checks

Theft Stopped By Church Background Checks Church

Guard God’s money by using church background checks for volunteer and staff screening. This video is brought to you by Protect My Ministry-background checks for your assurance.

Church fraud is when a reliable person steals money from the church offering, church bank accounts or special funds and uses it for personal use. Church embezzlement is committed by pastors, layman, the church treasurer, church secretary, staff and volunteer cash counters.

Church fraud can hurt the church body in many different ways. The initial thought is that the sum of money taken is what would cause the most damage where it may lead to the church to need to close to may cause money trouble, but the genuine cost are measured in the lost trust in the control of the church and distrust of other believers in the church body. There’s often anger, bitterness, denial, feelings of betrayal, members leaving the church or even leaving the faith.

Some up to date examples of church crime and embezzlement from April twelve, 2010, police investigated a considerable number of suspected of taking thousands of bucks. The suspect is an accountant and serves at the church treasurer. Church leaders became suspicious when lots of their bills came back as unpaid. When they noticed this, they confronted the church treasurer. It involved their local police dep. to research it. On April 7, 2010, a church administrator is charged with taking $1 million from Calgary Chapel in Chino Hills.

the most common fraud that churches often see is in the utilisation of church debit cards. Here is where a pastor or staff member uses the card for personal items like gasoline, food or snacks, but the difficulty is that used regularly enough, these items take from donated money and is completely inappropriate. Also, there are times when the church treasurer may divert funds into an individual use. This is frequently when they’re counting petty cash and the money is taken and put into their checking account or church staff or volunteer uses funds without permission.

the easy way to limit church embezzlement? Well, step 1 and the commonest sense approach is to start with a church background check for folks that are in those delicate positions. This is the perfect place to begin. If your staff or volunteer has had integrity issues or theft issues and they’ve been charged by the police, then this is where the issue will first surface. Church background investigations like those supplied by ProtectMyMinistry.com run a background on the pastor, staff or volunteer beginning with the state they currently live in.

The church background investigation will search the SSID number and operate a license number for any illegal activity in the person’s past. Additionally, the church background investigation at your request will search particular county and state courts where the person may have lived in the past. You also want to consider installing finance controls in your church. It’s very important your church has a policy in place to be used of church funds, ATM cards and accounts. There must be controls placing a few folks in the chain to serve as early notification sources if money starts to disappear or is used inappropriately. There should be 3 folks counting any donations and 2 folks depositing money in the bank.

If you want more information about church background probes, then you can check out Protect My Ministry’s website at www.ProtectMyMinistry.com.