"I would like to call your attention to ... an evil that, if allowed to continue, will probably lead to great trouble.... It is the accumulation of vast amounts of untaxed church property."
--- Ulysses S. Grant
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Today's Quote
"Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity."
--- Thomas Jefferson (Notes on Virginia, 1782)
--- Thomas Jefferson (Notes on Virginia, 1782)
Friday, October 31, 2008
Today's Upstanding Christian
Rev. Donald Ray Robinson, 56
Cleveland, OH, United States:
Sentenced to three years in prison. Pleaded guilty to multiple counts of aggravated theft, money laundering, identity fraud and securing records by deception. Robinson stole over $300,000 while he was pastor at Lane Metropolitan Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.
Source: Plain Dealer
Cleveland, OH, United States:
Sentenced to three years in prison. Pleaded guilty to multiple counts of aggravated theft, money laundering, identity fraud and securing records by deception. Robinson stole over $300,000 while he was pastor at Lane Metropolitan Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.
Source: Plain Dealer
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Today's Upstanding Christian
Rev. John Moore, 52
Colorado Springs, CO, United States:
Pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a female parishioner, 15. Normally, the sentence for sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust is a crime that carries up to 12 years in prison. Because of the victim's family's insistence, the sexual predator will likely serve no more than 60 days in jail. Moore admitted to beginning the assault when the girl was 15, starting by fondling her and eventually having intercourse in the church basement after Sunday Services. The assaults continued for about a year.
Source: The Greeley Tribune
Colorado Springs, CO, United States:
Pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a female parishioner, 15. Normally, the sentence for sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust is a crime that carries up to 12 years in prison. Because of the victim's family's insistence, the sexual predator will likely serve no more than 60 days in jail. Moore admitted to beginning the assault when the girl was 15, starting by fondling her and eventually having intercourse in the church basement after Sunday Services. The assaults continued for about a year.
Source: The Greeley Tribune
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Today's Upstanding Christian
Matthew Beise, 37
Buffalo, NY, United States:
Sentenced to 14 years in prison. Pleaded guilty to embezzlement, mail fraud, and transmission of child pornography. Beise served as council treasurer for Cross Evangelical Lutheran Church in Rockford. He took money from church funds, and sent the fraudulent expense reports through the mail. During the investigation, his computer was seized and investigators found nearly 200 images of child pornography.
Source: Star Tribune
Buffalo, NY, United States:
Sentenced to 14 years in prison. Pleaded guilty to embezzlement, mail fraud, and transmission of child pornography. Beise served as council treasurer for Cross Evangelical Lutheran Church in Rockford. He took money from church funds, and sent the fraudulent expense reports through the mail. During the investigation, his computer was seized and investigators found nearly 200 images of child pornography.
Source: Star Tribune
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Evangelist: 'Puberty' Is Age Of Sexual Consent
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (AP) -- Since Tony Alamo's start as a California street preacher more than 40 years ago, the self-styled evangelist's story has been colorful and checkered.
When his wife died of cancer, Alamo claimed that she would be resurrected and kept her body on display for six months while their followers prayed. It would be 16 years before her body was returned to her family.
For a time, his elaborately painted denim jackets were a must-have in Hollywood, but sales contributed to tax problems that landed him in prison for four years in the 1990s.
Alamo was charged but not convicted of other crimes, including child abuse. Now the 74-year-old is accused by former church members of abusing children and running an organization in which girls who just reached puberty can marry. Agents raided his southwest Arkansas compound Saturday and placed six girls in state custody.
On Monday, Alamo spoke of the allegations with a mix of denial and defiance, saying that he never promoted sexual abuse but that he believes there's a mandate from the Bible for young girls to marry.
"In the Bible, it happened. But girls today, I don't marry 'em if they want to at 14, 15 years old. Because we won't do it, even though I believe it's OK," Alamo said.
On Saturday, he had said that for girls having sex, "consent is puberty."
On Monday, he bristled at descriptions of his organization as a cult, saying enemies want to cast him as a "weirdo for preaching what the Bible says."
People who have left Alamo's organization say they have witnessed older men marrying girls who just reached puberty.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said in an e-mail that was inadvertently sent to media last week that agents expected to find children ages 12 to 14 who had been abused and that they expected to file charges. The e-mail said agents believed that child pornography was being produced at the compound in Fouke.
Alamo also denied creating any pornography.
Government agents "have got six of our girls in custody. Little girls. They probably disrobed them. I mean, it's the most filthy bunch of devils that I've ever heard of," Alamo said.
As for former followers making the allegations, Alamo said, "I've kicked a lot of people out of the church, and they'll say anything to get back at me."
He suggested that efforts to gather evidence against him will only bring more people to his ministry, noting that daily traffic on his Web site has grown more than 10-fold, to more than 1 million hits, since the raid.
"They're really making us famous," he said with a laugh.
Alamo, who now lives in California, said he still preaches daily. He bought land in Arkansas in 1975 for a complex near Alma and from there grew to own a number of businesses.
Fashion was his best-known business. His painted denim jackets were worn by celebrities for a time and even now are offered for hundreds or even thousands of dollars on the Internet. Alamo's Web site features a picture of Mr. T wearing one.
Alamo went to prison for tax evasion after the complex was raided in 1991. He fled with his followers before the raid, taking with him the body of his wife, who had died nine years earlier.
In order to be released from his sentence in 1998, Alamo followed a judge's order to return Susan Alamo's remains to members of her family.
And Alamo's property had been raided once before, in 1988 in Santa Ana, California, where state officials came to seize three boys and return them to their fathers' custody.
An 11-year-old boy told police that Alamo directed four men to strike him 140 times with a wooden paddle as punishment for minor offenses. Alamo briefly faced a child-abuse charge, but a prosecutor directed that the count be dropped, citing a lack of evidence.
In 1991, Alamo was acquitted on a charge that he threatened to kidnap a federal judge.
Alamo claims to be unique among Christian preachers because he was born a Jew and had a "supernatural experience" through which he became a born-again Christian.
"I am a completed Jew," he said, though he added that he had never believed in Judaism.
Alamo's anti-Catholic bias is evident as he speaks. He claims that the White House is in league with the Vatican, which he says also controls the United Nations.
He said that being a Jew gives him special insight.
"We wrote the Bible. I don't want these stinking gentiles in Rome telling me what it says. They don't know," he said.
Under state law, investigators have to make a court filing after a search warrant is executed that details what the search found. But Circuit Judge Jim Hudson said the document would be kept under seal because of the juveniles involved.
The six girls taken into state custody will require a hearing if they remain with the state on a long-term basis, but there was no indication Monday that a hearing had been set.
Arkansas Department of Human Services spokeswoman Julie Munsell said the children were taken from the compound because they were "in harm's way or in imminent danger." She said the state is trying to identify the children's parents.
As for what would inspire people to follow Alamo or other charismatic leaders, there is no single or easy answer, said David Bromley, professor of religious studies at Virginia Commonwealth University.
"These groups vary, and when they are at the hot stage, there is intense commitment. When people leave, when you have that kind of intensity, they tend to be rejected by the group, and they tend to be quite hostile when they leave," said Bromley, who is writing a book on why people join such movements.
Bromley said that such organizations may not be as strong as they seem.
"These groups are much more diverse than they appear on the surface. You have people who look and talk alike, but when you find out who the members are, you find the levels of commitment are enormously different," Bromley said.
"It looks pretty solid to you from the outside, but you find out people have different reasons for being there and that half are on their way in and half are on their way out," he said.
Alamo would not discuss how his organization operates beyond saying it accepts donations. He said he has workers who keep the books and pay the bills, including his $70,000 salary.
"Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell, because the damn government would come right after [donors]," he said. "I wouldn't be that simple-minded to tell anybody where the money comes from.
"You must think I'm very stupid after 44 years of this stuff," Alamo said.
When his wife died of cancer, Alamo claimed that she would be resurrected and kept her body on display for six months while their followers prayed. It would be 16 years before her body was returned to her family.
For a time, his elaborately painted denim jackets were a must-have in Hollywood, but sales contributed to tax problems that landed him in prison for four years in the 1990s.
Alamo was charged but not convicted of other crimes, including child abuse. Now the 74-year-old is accused by former church members of abusing children and running an organization in which girls who just reached puberty can marry. Agents raided his southwest Arkansas compound Saturday and placed six girls in state custody.
On Monday, Alamo spoke of the allegations with a mix of denial and defiance, saying that he never promoted sexual abuse but that he believes there's a mandate from the Bible for young girls to marry.
"In the Bible, it happened. But girls today, I don't marry 'em if they want to at 14, 15 years old. Because we won't do it, even though I believe it's OK," Alamo said.
On Saturday, he had said that for girls having sex, "consent is puberty."
On Monday, he bristled at descriptions of his organization as a cult, saying enemies want to cast him as a "weirdo for preaching what the Bible says."
People who have left Alamo's organization say they have witnessed older men marrying girls who just reached puberty.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said in an e-mail that was inadvertently sent to media last week that agents expected to find children ages 12 to 14 who had been abused and that they expected to file charges. The e-mail said agents believed that child pornography was being produced at the compound in Fouke.
Alamo also denied creating any pornography.
Government agents "have got six of our girls in custody. Little girls. They probably disrobed them. I mean, it's the most filthy bunch of devils that I've ever heard of," Alamo said.
As for former followers making the allegations, Alamo said, "I've kicked a lot of people out of the church, and they'll say anything to get back at me."
He suggested that efforts to gather evidence against him will only bring more people to his ministry, noting that daily traffic on his Web site has grown more than 10-fold, to more than 1 million hits, since the raid.
"They're really making us famous," he said with a laugh.
Alamo, who now lives in California, said he still preaches daily. He bought land in Arkansas in 1975 for a complex near Alma and from there grew to own a number of businesses.
Fashion was his best-known business. His painted denim jackets were worn by celebrities for a time and even now are offered for hundreds or even thousands of dollars on the Internet. Alamo's Web site features a picture of Mr. T wearing one.
Alamo went to prison for tax evasion after the complex was raided in 1991. He fled with his followers before the raid, taking with him the body of his wife, who had died nine years earlier.
In order to be released from his sentence in 1998, Alamo followed a judge's order to return Susan Alamo's remains to members of her family.
And Alamo's property had been raided once before, in 1988 in Santa Ana, California, where state officials came to seize three boys and return them to their fathers' custody.
An 11-year-old boy told police that Alamo directed four men to strike him 140 times with a wooden paddle as punishment for minor offenses. Alamo briefly faced a child-abuse charge, but a prosecutor directed that the count be dropped, citing a lack of evidence.
In 1991, Alamo was acquitted on a charge that he threatened to kidnap a federal judge.
Alamo claims to be unique among Christian preachers because he was born a Jew and had a "supernatural experience" through which he became a born-again Christian.
"I am a completed Jew," he said, though he added that he had never believed in Judaism.
Alamo's anti-Catholic bias is evident as he speaks. He claims that the White House is in league with the Vatican, which he says also controls the United Nations.
He said that being a Jew gives him special insight.
"We wrote the Bible. I don't want these stinking gentiles in Rome telling me what it says. They don't know," he said.
Under state law, investigators have to make a court filing after a search warrant is executed that details what the search found. But Circuit Judge Jim Hudson said the document would be kept under seal because of the juveniles involved.
The six girls taken into state custody will require a hearing if they remain with the state on a long-term basis, but there was no indication Monday that a hearing had been set.
Arkansas Department of Human Services spokeswoman Julie Munsell said the children were taken from the compound because they were "in harm's way or in imminent danger." She said the state is trying to identify the children's parents.
As for what would inspire people to follow Alamo or other charismatic leaders, there is no single or easy answer, said David Bromley, professor of religious studies at Virginia Commonwealth University.
"These groups vary, and when they are at the hot stage, there is intense commitment. When people leave, when you have that kind of intensity, they tend to be rejected by the group, and they tend to be quite hostile when they leave," said Bromley, who is writing a book on why people join such movements.
Bromley said that such organizations may not be as strong as they seem.
"These groups are much more diverse than they appear on the surface. You have people who look and talk alike, but when you find out who the members are, you find the levels of commitment are enormously different," Bromley said.
"It looks pretty solid to you from the outside, but you find out people have different reasons for being there and that half are on their way in and half are on their way out," he said.
Alamo would not discuss how his organization operates beyond saying it accepts donations. He said he has workers who keep the books and pay the bills, including his $70,000 salary.
"Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell, because the damn government would come right after [donors]," he said. "I wouldn't be that simple-minded to tell anybody where the money comes from.
"You must think I'm very stupid after 44 years of this stuff," Alamo said.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Women Drugged, Sexually Assaulted In 'Prayer Sessions'
SYDNEY, Australia — Two men were arrested Friday and charged with 230 sex offenses police said they committed during prayer sessions with a woman who believed one of the men could cure her of a religious curse.
The men, aged 61 and 38 years, are highly regarded members of Sydney's Greek Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox communities, New South Wales state police said in a statement. Officials declined to release their names.
The 61-year-old man claimed to be a spiritual mentor who could speak to angels, remove curses and banish evil spirits, police said. After telling the 30-year-old woman she had been cursed, he charged her money to remove the evil and then repeatedly assaulted her over a period of four years, police said.
The 61-year-old was charged with 151 sexual offenses, and the 38-year-old charged with 79 sexual offenses, police said.
At a press conference Friday, Fairfield Police Acting Superintendent Gary Bailey declined to discuss details of the alleged assaults.
"I have never seen anything as bizarre as this or as callous as this before," he said.
The woman told authorities she believed she and her family had been cursed by a member of the Greek community and that they would suffer terrible consequences including death and illness unless the curse was removed. Police said she attended numerous prayer sessions with the men at various hotels in Sydney between 2001 and 2005, during which she was blindfolded and sexually assaulted.
Police said she paid the men up to 70,000 Australian dollars (US$56,200) for the sessions.
The two men were arrested in June — along with the 38-year-old's wife — over allegations of sexual assault on another woman, and charged with similar offenses, including sexual assault and extortion, police said. They were released on bail and the two men re-arrested on the new charges Friday.
Bailey said both women had been assaulted by the men at hotels, and both may have been drugged during the attacks. He declined to say how they might have been drugged.
Bailey said police believe the men also assaulted additional women.
"We will allege these women have been the cruel prey of callous individuals who used religious fear to manipulate and abuse them for their sexual gratification and financial gain," Bailey said in an earlier statement. "Sexual offenses are heinous but an offender who hides behind the cloak of religious respectability is particularly vile."
The men were expected to appear in court later Friday.
The Coptic Church is the native Christian church of Egypt, and has a doctrine similar to the Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox churches.
Bailey said both women come from religious families and were raised to follow the Orthodox faith, which includes a belief in the evil eye — a glance believed to harm those on whom it falls.
"We believe this was a major reason why they were persuaded into believing they were cursed," Bailey said.
The men, aged 61 and 38 years, are highly regarded members of Sydney's Greek Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox communities, New South Wales state police said in a statement. Officials declined to release their names.
The 61-year-old man claimed to be a spiritual mentor who could speak to angels, remove curses and banish evil spirits, police said. After telling the 30-year-old woman she had been cursed, he charged her money to remove the evil and then repeatedly assaulted her over a period of four years, police said.
The 61-year-old was charged with 151 sexual offenses, and the 38-year-old charged with 79 sexual offenses, police said.
At a press conference Friday, Fairfield Police Acting Superintendent Gary Bailey declined to discuss details of the alleged assaults.
"I have never seen anything as bizarre as this or as callous as this before," he said.
The woman told authorities she believed she and her family had been cursed by a member of the Greek community and that they would suffer terrible consequences including death and illness unless the curse was removed. Police said she attended numerous prayer sessions with the men at various hotels in Sydney between 2001 and 2005, during which she was blindfolded and sexually assaulted.
Police said she paid the men up to 70,000 Australian dollars (US$56,200) for the sessions.
The two men were arrested in June — along with the 38-year-old's wife — over allegations of sexual assault on another woman, and charged with similar offenses, including sexual assault and extortion, police said. They were released on bail and the two men re-arrested on the new charges Friday.
Bailey said both women had been assaulted by the men at hotels, and both may have been drugged during the attacks. He declined to say how they might have been drugged.
Bailey said police believe the men also assaulted additional women.
"We will allege these women have been the cruel prey of callous individuals who used religious fear to manipulate and abuse them for their sexual gratification and financial gain," Bailey said in an earlier statement. "Sexual offenses are heinous but an offender who hides behind the cloak of religious respectability is particularly vile."
The men were expected to appear in court later Friday.
The Coptic Church is the native Christian church of Egypt, and has a doctrine similar to the Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox churches.
Bailey said both women come from religious families and were raised to follow the Orthodox faith, which includes a belief in the evil eye — a glance believed to harm those on whom it falls.
"We believe this was a major reason why they were persuaded into believing they were cursed," Bailey said.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
God, Or No God?
Hi there. Welcome to present-day Earth.
War, hate, fighting, corruption, fear, anger, vengence, racism, prejudice, bigotry, genocide, slavery, crime, murder, torture, rape, child molestation, cannibalism, famine... earthquakes, blizzards, landslides, tidal waves, typhoons, hurricanes, tsunamis, volcanoes, tornados, lightning storms, floods, meteorites, forest fires, pollution, global warming, plane crashes, train wrecks, ship wrecks, car wrecks... disease, AIDS, cancer, malaria, e-coli, influenza, pneumonia, polio, plagues, viruses, heart attacks, sunstroke, frostbite, death, misery, suffering, infant drownings, stillbirths and miscarriages, birth defects, SIDS, animal cruelty and neglect, euthanasia, lonliness, homelessness, despair, sorrow, alcoholism, drug addiction, derangement, psychosis, schizophrenia, depression, suicide...
If there really is a God out there, he must be the deadbeat Father who comes home drunk day-after-day and beats the shit out of our Mother Earth. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and omnipresent, yet He is so easily dismissed from responsibility for any of these things? I'm not buying it. I see one of two things going on here...
One: God just doesn't give a shit about us or the world we live in. If this is the case, it's time we learn to take care of ourselves and our planet, and stop waiting for Him to do it for us. Why should we worship and dedicate our lives to someone like that anyway?
Or two: There is simply no god.
The latter is far more logical and believable. It makes the only sense to me.
War, hate, fighting, corruption, fear, anger, vengence, racism, prejudice, bigotry, genocide, slavery, crime, murder, torture, rape, child molestation, cannibalism, famine... earthquakes, blizzards, landslides, tidal waves, typhoons, hurricanes, tsunamis, volcanoes, tornados, lightning storms, floods, meteorites, forest fires, pollution, global warming, plane crashes, train wrecks, ship wrecks, car wrecks... disease, AIDS, cancer, malaria, e-coli, influenza, pneumonia, polio, plagues, viruses, heart attacks, sunstroke, frostbite, death, misery, suffering, infant drownings, stillbirths and miscarriages, birth defects, SIDS, animal cruelty and neglect, euthanasia, lonliness, homelessness, despair, sorrow, alcoholism, drug addiction, derangement, psychosis, schizophrenia, depression, suicide...
If there really is a God out there, he must be the deadbeat Father who comes home drunk day-after-day and beats the shit out of our Mother Earth. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and omnipresent, yet He is so easily dismissed from responsibility for any of these things? I'm not buying it. I see one of two things going on here...
One: God just doesn't give a shit about us or the world we live in. If this is the case, it's time we learn to take care of ourselves and our planet, and stop waiting for Him to do it for us. Why should we worship and dedicate our lives to someone like that anyway?
Or two: There is simply no god.
The latter is far more logical and believable. It makes the only sense to me.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Today's Upstanding Christian
Mark Comford, 24
LaPorte, IN, United States:
Sentenced to 20 years in prison. Pleaded guilty to two counts of felony child molestation. Comford often worked for his grandfather at the Faith Baptist Church. Police say he molested two boys, 9-12, on separate occasions on church property and at church sponsored events. Both Comford, and his clergyman grandfather are defendants in a lawsuit that alleges his grandfather knew about the abuse but did nothing.
Source: South Bend Tribune
LaPorte, IN, United States:
Sentenced to 20 years in prison. Pleaded guilty to two counts of felony child molestation. Comford often worked for his grandfather at the Faith Baptist Church. Police say he molested two boys, 9-12, on separate occasions on church property and at church sponsored events. Both Comford, and his clergyman grandfather are defendants in a lawsuit that alleges his grandfather knew about the abuse but did nothing.
Source: South Bend Tribune
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Pastor Michael Guglielmucci Spun Gospel Of Lies
He preached to thousands about his terminal illness and tugged at hearts with a hit song.
The problem is the pastor wasn't dying at all.
Michael Guglielmucci, who inspired hundreds of thousands of young Christians with his terminal cancer "battle", has been exposed as a fraud.
Guglielmucci, whose parents established Edge Church International, an Assemblies of God church at O'Halloran Hill in Adelaide's southern suburbs, now is seeking professional help.
Earlier this year, Mr Guglielmucci released a hit song, Healer , which was featured on Sydney church Hillsong's latest album.
The song debuted at No. 2 on the ARIA charts.
It since has become an anthem of faith for believers, many of whom are suffering their own illness and were praying for a miracle for Mr Guglielmucci, who has claimed for two years to be terminally ill.
In one church performance that has attracted 300,000 hits on YouTube, he performs his hit song with an oxygen tube in his nose.
It appears Mr Guglielmucci, who was a pastor with one of Australia's biggest youth churches, Planetshakers, may even have deceived his own family.
"This news has come as a great shock to everyone including, it seems, his own wife and family," Hillsong general manager George Aghajanian said in an email to his congregation yesterday.
"Michael has confirmed that he is not suffering with a terminal illness and is seeking professional help in Adelaide with the support of his family. We are asking our church to pray for the Guglielmucci family during this difficult time."
The Advertiser was told last night Mr Guglielmucci may release a statement on the situation.
The Australian Christian Church said Mr Guglielmucci's credentials immediately were suspended once he told the national executive that his cancer claims were "untrue".
"The national executive is taking this matter very seriously and is awaiting the results of medical tests before determining the full extent of the discipline that will be imposed upon him," vice president Alun Davies said.
"We are very concerned for the many people who have been or will be hurt by Michael's actions.
"We encourage all of our churches to pray for all those affected."
The problem is the pastor wasn't dying at all.
Michael Guglielmucci, who inspired hundreds of thousands of young Christians with his terminal cancer "battle", has been exposed as a fraud.
Guglielmucci, whose parents established Edge Church International, an Assemblies of God church at O'Halloran Hill in Adelaide's southern suburbs, now is seeking professional help.
Earlier this year, Mr Guglielmucci released a hit song, Healer , which was featured on Sydney church Hillsong's latest album.
The song debuted at No. 2 on the ARIA charts.
It since has become an anthem of faith for believers, many of whom are suffering their own illness and were praying for a miracle for Mr Guglielmucci, who has claimed for two years to be terminally ill.
In one church performance that has attracted 300,000 hits on YouTube, he performs his hit song with an oxygen tube in his nose.
It appears Mr Guglielmucci, who was a pastor with one of Australia's biggest youth churches, Planetshakers, may even have deceived his own family.
"This news has come as a great shock to everyone including, it seems, his own wife and family," Hillsong general manager George Aghajanian said in an email to his congregation yesterday.
"Michael has confirmed that he is not suffering with a terminal illness and is seeking professional help in Adelaide with the support of his family. We are asking our church to pray for the Guglielmucci family during this difficult time."
The Advertiser was told last night Mr Guglielmucci may release a statement on the situation.
The Australian Christian Church said Mr Guglielmucci's credentials immediately were suspended once he told the national executive that his cancer claims were "untrue".
"The national executive is taking this matter very seriously and is awaiting the results of medical tests before determining the full extent of the discipline that will be imposed upon him," vice president Alun Davies said.
"We are very concerned for the many people who have been or will be hurt by Michael's actions.
"We encourage all of our churches to pray for all those affected."
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Today's Upstanding Christian
Rev. Raymond Clayton Sr., 44
Mount Carmel, PA, United States:
Sentenced to one year in jail. Pleaded guilty to stealing the identities of his church members. He must pay $28,000 in restitution. He is the pastor of Grace Fellowship Church.
Source: Associated Press
Mount Carmel, PA, United States:
Sentenced to one year in jail. Pleaded guilty to stealing the identities of his church members. He must pay $28,000 in restitution. He is the pastor of Grace Fellowship Church.
Source: Associated Press
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Minister Gets Jail For Stealing Flock's Identities
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- A Baptist minister in central Pennsylvania has been sentenced to one year in jail for stealing the identities of his church members.
Raymond Clayton Sr., 44, was also ordered to pay more than $28,000 in restitution at his sentencing Wednesday. Clayton is the former pastor of Grace Fellowship Church near Mount Carmel.
Federal prosecutors said Clayton used parishioners' personal information to obtain credit cards between November 2006 and April 2007. He pleaded guilty in March to access device fraud.
The church has since disbanded.
Raymond Clayton Sr., 44, was also ordered to pay more than $28,000 in restitution at his sentencing Wednesday. Clayton is the former pastor of Grace Fellowship Church near Mount Carmel.
Federal prosecutors said Clayton used parishioners' personal information to obtain credit cards between November 2006 and April 2007. He pleaded guilty in March to access device fraud.
The church has since disbanded.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Deal Reached In Chicago Clergy Abuse Cases
$12.6 million in payments to settle lawsuits involving 11 Catholic priests
CHICAGO - Chicago's Catholic archdiocese agreed Tuesday to pay more than $12.6 million to settle lawsuits by 16 victims of sexual abuse by priests over three decades.
"My hope is that these settlements will help the survivors and their families begin to heal and move forward," Cardinal Francis George said in a statement in which he also offered an apology for the abuse.
Fourteen of the cases involve sexual abuse by 10 different priests and two relate to the Rev. Daniel J. McCormack, who pleaded guilty last year to having abused five children.
The archdiocese has now settled four of the five lawsuits stemming from abuse by McCormack.
"I apologize again today to the survivors and their families and to the whole Catholic community," George said in his statement.
"We must continue to do everything in our power to ensure the safety of the children in our care," he said.
The settlements were reached through a mediation process in which the cardinal himself gave a lengthy deposition.
Attorney Jeff Anderson, who represented some of the victims praised the mediation process that arrived at the settlements and said in a statement that the cardinal was "actively involved in this process."
"He has demonstrated his commitment to healing these survivors," Anderson said.
CHICAGO - Chicago's Catholic archdiocese agreed Tuesday to pay more than $12.6 million to settle lawsuits by 16 victims of sexual abuse by priests over three decades.
"My hope is that these settlements will help the survivors and their families begin to heal and move forward," Cardinal Francis George said in a statement in which he also offered an apology for the abuse.
Fourteen of the cases involve sexual abuse by 10 different priests and two relate to the Rev. Daniel J. McCormack, who pleaded guilty last year to having abused five children.
The archdiocese has now settled four of the five lawsuits stemming from abuse by McCormack.
"I apologize again today to the survivors and their families and to the whole Catholic community," George said in his statement.
"We must continue to do everything in our power to ensure the safety of the children in our care," he said.
The settlements were reached through a mediation process in which the cardinal himself gave a lengthy deposition.
Attorney Jeff Anderson, who represented some of the victims praised the mediation process that arrived at the settlements and said in a statement that the cardinal was "actively involved in this process."
"He has demonstrated his commitment to healing these survivors," Anderson said.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Boy In Suitcase Was Cult Victim, Police Say
BALTIMORE, Maryland (AP) -- A toddler whose remains were found inside a suitcase in Philadelphia in the spring was starved to death by members of a religious cult, including his mother, in part because he refused to say "amen" after meals, police said.
Ria Ramkissoon, the mother of Javon Thompson, was charged Sunday with first-degree murder in the boy's death, and Baltimore police said Monday that three other members of a group called 1 Mind Ministries have also been charged with first-degree murder. Police and Ramkissoon's family said the group is a cult.
Members did not seek medical care for Javon when he stopped breathing, and the boy died in his mother's arms, according to court documents that described police interviews with a confidential informant and two children. He would have been about 19 months old when police say adults stopped feeding him in December 2006.
Ramkissoon, 21, was being held Monday in the psychiatric ward of Baltimore's Central Booking and Intake Center, and a bail review was postponed until Tuesday. Her public defender declined comment.
The three other people charged in Javon's death -- Queen Antoinette, 40, also known as Toni Ellsberry or Toni Sloan; Marcus Cobbs, 21; and Trevia Williams, who turns 21 Tuesday -- were already in custody. They were arrested in May in New York City on warrants charging them with failure to appear in court in Baltimore. Those charges stemmed from a scuffle with police in a child custody dispute.
No one answered the phone Monday afternoon in the office of a public defender assigned to Antoinette, Cobbs and Williams.
A fifth alleged cult member, Steven Bynum, has been charged in a warrant with first-degree murder and remains at large, police said Monday. He was believed to be in New York.
Ramkissoon's family said she should not be held responsible for her son's death.
"She had no control over that situation at all," her stepfather, Craig Newton, said Monday.
Ramkissoon's mother, Seeta Khadan-Newton, told The (Baltimore) Sun on Sunday that it wasn't her daughter's decision not to feed the boy.
"My daughter was a victim, just like my grandson," Khadan-Newton said. "Somebody made that decision to not feed that child, and my daughter had to follow instructions."
Members of 1 Mind Ministries wore all white, swore off medical care and referred to some members with titles including queen and princess, according to court documents. The group was also accused of insisting that a pregnant woman give birth without access to doctors.
Ramkissoon joined 1 Mind Ministries after Javon was born. Ramkissoon's mother last saw her in April 2006; she later sued for custody of her grandson, writing in a letter to a judge that "the cult leaders" were preventing her from contacting her daughter.
The documents show police interviewed two school-age children who had been part of the group but were taken away from members by Philadelphia police. The children told investigators that members stopped feeding Javon in December 2006, in part because the boy refused to say "amen" after dinner. Members also viewed Javon as "a demon."
Another unnamed informant told police that after Javon died, Antoinette left the boy's body in a room for more than a week, claiming "God was going to raise Javon from the dead," the documents show.
Afterward, Antoinette burned the boy's clothing and a mattress and placed his body in a green suitcase, which she would periodically open and spray with disinfectant to mask the odor, police said in the court documents.
In early 2007, the group members left Baltimore for Philadelphia. They left the green suitcase and other luggage inside a shed belonging to a man they befriended while there, police said, and then relocated to Brooklyn, New York.
Police recovered the suitcase in April after they got a tip from the confidential informant. The remains of a small child were inside. DNA tests are pending to confirm the boy's identity.
Ria Ramkissoon, the mother of Javon Thompson, was charged Sunday with first-degree murder in the boy's death, and Baltimore police said Monday that three other members of a group called 1 Mind Ministries have also been charged with first-degree murder. Police and Ramkissoon's family said the group is a cult.
Members did not seek medical care for Javon when he stopped breathing, and the boy died in his mother's arms, according to court documents that described police interviews with a confidential informant and two children. He would have been about 19 months old when police say adults stopped feeding him in December 2006.
Ramkissoon, 21, was being held Monday in the psychiatric ward of Baltimore's Central Booking and Intake Center, and a bail review was postponed until Tuesday. Her public defender declined comment.
The three other people charged in Javon's death -- Queen Antoinette, 40, also known as Toni Ellsberry or Toni Sloan; Marcus Cobbs, 21; and Trevia Williams, who turns 21 Tuesday -- were already in custody. They were arrested in May in New York City on warrants charging them with failure to appear in court in Baltimore. Those charges stemmed from a scuffle with police in a child custody dispute.
No one answered the phone Monday afternoon in the office of a public defender assigned to Antoinette, Cobbs and Williams.
A fifth alleged cult member, Steven Bynum, has been charged in a warrant with first-degree murder and remains at large, police said Monday. He was believed to be in New York.
Ramkissoon's family said she should not be held responsible for her son's death.
"She had no control over that situation at all," her stepfather, Craig Newton, said Monday.
Ramkissoon's mother, Seeta Khadan-Newton, told The (Baltimore) Sun on Sunday that it wasn't her daughter's decision not to feed the boy.
"My daughter was a victim, just like my grandson," Khadan-Newton said. "Somebody made that decision to not feed that child, and my daughter had to follow instructions."
Members of 1 Mind Ministries wore all white, swore off medical care and referred to some members with titles including queen and princess, according to court documents. The group was also accused of insisting that a pregnant woman give birth without access to doctors.
Ramkissoon joined 1 Mind Ministries after Javon was born. Ramkissoon's mother last saw her in April 2006; she later sued for custody of her grandson, writing in a letter to a judge that "the cult leaders" were preventing her from contacting her daughter.
The documents show police interviewed two school-age children who had been part of the group but were taken away from members by Philadelphia police. The children told investigators that members stopped feeding Javon in December 2006, in part because the boy refused to say "amen" after dinner. Members also viewed Javon as "a demon."
Another unnamed informant told police that after Javon died, Antoinette left the boy's body in a room for more than a week, claiming "God was going to raise Javon from the dead," the documents show.
Afterward, Antoinette burned the boy's clothing and a mattress and placed his body in a green suitcase, which she would periodically open and spray with disinfectant to mask the odor, police said in the court documents.
In early 2007, the group members left Baltimore for Philadelphia. They left the green suitcase and other luggage inside a shed belonging to a man they befriended while there, police said, and then relocated to Brooklyn, New York.
Police recovered the suitcase in April after they got a tip from the confidential informant. The remains of a small child were inside. DNA tests are pending to confirm the boy's identity.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
One Small Thought For Man
In my opinion, the best thing for the human race right now would be to discover alien life. The moment we finally have solid evidence of a species from another world out there, people will finally begin to see how full of shit religion is.
There's nothing I'd like better than to see this disgusting world of religion turned upside down. All these phony, power-hungry, hypocritical individuals trying to force-feed us more of their bullshit explainations. Explainations, no doubt, created merely to discourage us from anything resembling questioning or logical conversation. No free thought allowed.
I would love to hear the christian church (not capitalized on purpose) try to explain why, as it turns out, we are not the superior of God's children after all.
The moment of first contact; the discovery of, or communication with other life in the universe, will mark the beginning of religion's downfall. And I can think of no greater possible "giant leap" for mankind.
There's nothing I'd like better than to see this disgusting world of religion turned upside down. All these phony, power-hungry, hypocritical individuals trying to force-feed us more of their bullshit explainations. Explainations, no doubt, created merely to discourage us from anything resembling questioning or logical conversation. No free thought allowed.
I would love to hear the christian church (not capitalized on purpose) try to explain why, as it turns out, we are not the superior of God's children after all.
The moment of first contact; the discovery of, or communication with other life in the universe, will mark the beginning of religion's downfall. And I can think of no greater possible "giant leap" for mankind.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
145 Die In India Temple Stampede
Mostly women, kids crushed at religious festival in Himachal Pradesh state
Stringer/india / ReutersPeople stand near bodies outside the Naina Devi temple at Bilaspur, India, on Sunday.
updated 9:50 a.m. PT, Sun., Aug. 3, 2008
CHANDIGARH, India - At least 145 people, mostly women and children, were crushed to death under the feet of thousands of pilgrims in a stampede at a temple in northern India on Sunday, police said.
"We have confirmation now that 145 people have been killed," Daljit Singh Manhas, a senior police officer told Reuters by telephone.
Chanting and singing hymns, Hindu worshippers were snaking up a 2.5-mile trail, leading to a hill-top temple in Himachal Pradesh state, when part of iron railings on one side of the road broke, causing the stampede.
Thinking there was a landslide, the pilgrims panicked and started fleeing down the hillside, trampling falling women and children, police and witnesses said.
Earlier, The Associated Press quoted a policeman as saying that at least 68 people, including 30 children were killed at the mountaintop Hindu temple. But the figure changed quickly.
"The injured have been taken to two places and the toll could be more as we are awaiting news from other hospitals," Manhas added.
Thousands of worshippers had gathered at the temple in Bilaspur to pray to a Hindu goddess during an annual festival.
Witnesses said people jumped over broken railings and bodies to save themselves. Children lost their grip on their mothers' hands and were crushed under the feet of scared pilgrims.
"Many children and women were shouting for help and I saw people tumbling down the hillside," pilgrim Dev Swarup, 48, told Reuters by telephone from Bilaspur.
"There were rumors of boulders coming down on us and we all ran like the others," said Swarup, his voice choked with emotion.
Slippers, parts of torn clothes and bags with flowers and offerings lay along the narrow path winding up the hill, television pictures showed.
People crowded into hospitals looking for injured relatives.
A television channel showed a young women pilgrim pleading for water in a corner as rescuers brought more injured people on stretchers for treatment.
More than 10,000 people were trying to get into the temple and police had to struggle desperately to keep the situation under control.
"There were too many rumors, and we tried our best to keep things under control, but it went out of hand," one officer said.
Most of the worshippers were from the neighboring state of Punjab, with numbers rising sharply at the weekend.
Stampedes at temples are not uncommon in India where thousands of people gather to pray during festivals. In 2005, about 265 pilgrims were killed in a stampede near a temple in the western state of Maharashtra.
"We have confirmation now that 145 people have been killed," Daljit Singh Manhas, a senior police officer told Reuters by telephone.
Chanting and singing hymns, Hindu worshippers were snaking up a 2.5-mile trail, leading to a hill-top temple in Himachal Pradesh state, when part of iron railings on one side of the road broke, causing the stampede.
Thinking there was a landslide, the pilgrims panicked and started fleeing down the hillside, trampling falling women and children, police and witnesses said.
Earlier, The Associated Press quoted a policeman as saying that at least 68 people, including 30 children were killed at the mountaintop Hindu temple. But the figure changed quickly.
"The injured have been taken to two places and the toll could be more as we are awaiting news from other hospitals," Manhas added.
Thousands of worshippers had gathered at the temple in Bilaspur to pray to a Hindu goddess during an annual festival.
Witnesses said people jumped over broken railings and bodies to save themselves. Children lost their grip on their mothers' hands and were crushed under the feet of scared pilgrims.
"Many children and women were shouting for help and I saw people tumbling down the hillside," pilgrim Dev Swarup, 48, told Reuters by telephone from Bilaspur.
"There were rumors of boulders coming down on us and we all ran like the others," said Swarup, his voice choked with emotion.
Slippers, parts of torn clothes and bags with flowers and offerings lay along the narrow path winding up the hill, television pictures showed.
People crowded into hospitals looking for injured relatives.
A television channel showed a young women pilgrim pleading for water in a corner as rescuers brought more injured people on stretchers for treatment.
More than 10,000 people were trying to get into the temple and police had to struggle desperately to keep the situation under control.
"There were too many rumors, and we tried our best to keep things under control, but it went out of hand," one officer said.
Most of the worshippers were from the neighboring state of Punjab, with numbers rising sharply at the weekend.
Stampedes at temples are not uncommon in India where thousands of people gather to pray during festivals. In 2005, about 265 pilgrims were killed in a stampede near a temple in the western state of Maharashtra.
Friday, July 18, 2008
War, God, Stuff Like That
These anti-war demonstrators are really unimpressive people. They're against war? How groundbreaking; what a courageous stand. Listen, angry asshole, pick something difficult. Like religion. Why don't you get out on the street and start marching around against religion - something that's really harmful to mankind. War is simply nature's way of doing things; of keeping down the count. Religion is the problem. Get rid of religion and you've done the planet a favor. So how about getting out there next weekend and marching around with a sign that says HO HO HO! RELIGION MUST GO!? Come on, protesters, show some balls.
--- George Carlin
(from his third book, When Will Jesus Bring The Pork Chops?)
--- George Carlin
(from his third book, When Will Jesus Bring The Pork Chops?)
Monday, July 7, 2008
Cult
These are actual definitions of the word "cult" according to the following sources:
*Webster's 21st Century
-- A religious practice or devotion.
*Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
-- A system of religious belief and worship.
*Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
-- A particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
*Wordnet by Princeton University
-- A system of religious beliefs and rituals.
-- Followers of an exclusive system of religious beliefs and practices.
*American Heritage Dictionary
-- A system or community of religious worship and ritual.
*Webster's 21st Century
-- A religious practice or devotion.
*Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
-- A system of religious belief and worship.
*Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
-- A particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
*Wordnet by Princeton University
-- A system of religious beliefs and rituals.
-- Followers of an exclusive system of religious beliefs and practices.
*American Heritage Dictionary
-- A system or community of religious worship and ritual.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
John & Elvis Are Dead
Close friend of mine as a child fell into a slumber
No sign of life since '75
Then one day he just... what do you know
I guess God just called his number
He called me up, he called me up and said
"I've been awake about a week
I'm thinking about asking the doctor
If he could put me back to sleep"
Then he laughed and said
"Hey all the girls they look the same"
Don't they know just what their mothers
Paid in blood and tears to change?"
But the words that made me cry
The thing he softly said
It stayed with me, it keeps messing with my head
He said, "If Jesus Christ is alive and well,
then how come John and Elvis are dead?"
Youth, beautiful youth
We walked through the walls until we found the truth
And said, "Change it. It's ugly, just change it"
Everyone we used to know
Must have given up, so long ago
You can see it, it's written on their faces
And the inside of their clothes
But the words that made me cry
'Cause I knew just what they meant
He turned to me and said
"Hey boy, if Jesus Christ is alive and well,
Then how come John and Elvis are dead?"
"Tell me if Jesus Christ is alive and well
Then how come Marvin and Elvis are dead?"
I said "If Jesus Christ is gonna save us from ourselves,
How come peace, love and Elvis are dead?"
"John & Elvis Are Dead" by George Michael
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Today's Quote
"I think we all have obligations to be good, honest, hard-working, caring and compassionate. You have to try and it won't always be easy but you try your best. I do not believe that because you are not prepared to submit yourself to a god or a higher being, that when you get to the end of the road, you will be sent down. I'm not prepared to believe that."
---Lance Armstrong (February 28, 2004)
---Lance Armstrong (February 28, 2004)
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Today's Quote
"The Christian resolve to find the world evil and ugly, has made the world evil and ugly."
--- Friedrich Nietzsche
--- Friedrich Nietzsche
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Dear God
Hope you got the letter
And I pray you can make it better down here
I don't mean a big reduction in the price of beer
But all the people that you made in your image
See them starving on their feet
'Cause they don't get enough to eat
From God
I can't believe in you
Dear God
Sorry to disturb you
but I feel that I should be heard loud and clear
We all need a big reduction in amount of tears
And all the people that you made in your image
See them fighting in the street
'Cause they can't make opinions meet
About God
I can't believe in you
Did you make disease, and the diamond blue?
Did you make mankind after we made you...
and the devil too?
Dear God
Don't know if you noticed
But your name is on a lot of quotes in this book
Us crazy humans wrote it, you should take a look
And all the people that you made in your image
Still believing that junk is true
Well I know it ain't and so do you
Dear God
I can't believe in...
I don't believe in...
I won't believe in Heaven and Hell
No saints, no sinners
No devil as well
No pearly gates, no thorny crown
You're always letting us humans down
The wars you bring, the babies you drown
Those lost at sea and never found
And it's the same the whole world round
The hurt I see helps to compound
That the father, son and holy ghost
Is just somebody's unholy hoax
And if you're up there you'll perceive
That my heart's here upon my sleeve
If there's one thing I dont believe in...
Dear God
Monday, May 26, 2008
Today's Quote
"The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this."
--- Albert Einstein (January 3, 1954)
--- Albert Einstein (January 3, 1954)
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Parents Pick Prayer Over Docs; Girl Dies
WESTON, Wis. — Police are investigating an 11-year-old girl's death from an undiagnosed, treatable form of diabetes after her parents chose to pray for her rather than take her to a doctor.
An autopsy showed Madeline Neumann died Sunday of diabetic ketoacidosis, a condition that left too little insulin in her body, Everest Metro Police Chief Dan Vergin said.
She had probably been ill for about a month, suffering symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, excessive thirst, loss of appetite and weakness, the chief said Wednesday, noting that he expects to complete the investigation by Friday and forward the results to the district attorney.
The girl's mother, Leilani Neumann, said that she and her family believe in the Bible and that healing comes from God, but that they do not belong to an organized religion or faith, are not fanatics and have nothing against doctors.
She insisted her youngest child, a wiry girl known to wear her straight brown hair in a ponytail, was in good health until recently.
"We just noticed a tiredness within the past two weeks," she said Wednesday. "And then just the day before and that day (she died), it suddenly just went to a more serious situation. We stayed fast in prayer then. We believed that she would recover. We saw signs that to us, it looked like she was recovering."
Her daughter — who hadn't seen a doctor since she got some shots as a 3-year-old, according to Vergin — had no fever and there was warmth in her body, she said.
The girl's father, Dale Neumann, a former police officer, said he started CPR "as soon as the breath of life left" his daughter's body.
Family members elsewhere called authorities to seek help for the girl.
"My sister-in-law, she's very religious, she believes in faith instead of doctors ...," the girl's aunt told a sheriff's dispatcher Sunday afternoon in a call from California. "And she called my mother-in-law today ... and she explained to us that she believes her daughter's in a coma now and she's relying on faith."
The dispatcher got more information from the caller and asked whether an ambulance should be sent.
"Please," the woman replied. "I mean, she's refusing. She's going to fight it. ... We've been trying to get her to take her to the hospital for a week, a few days now."
The aunt called back with more information on the family's location, emergency logs show. Family friends also made a 911 call from the home. Police and paramedics arrived within minutes and immediately called for an ambulance that took her to a hospital.
But less than an hour after authorities reached the home, Madeline — a bright student who left public school for home schooling this semester — was declared dead.
She is survived by her parents and three older siblings.
"We are remaining strong for our children," Leilani Neumann said. "Only our faith in God is giving us strength at this time."
The Neumanns said they moved from California to a modern, middle-class home in woodsy Weston, just outside Wassau in central Wisconsin, about two years ago to open a coffee shop and be closer to other relatives. A basketball hoop is set up in the driveway.
Leilani Neumann said she and her husband are not worried about the investigation because "our lives are in God's hands. We know we did not do anything criminal. We know we did the best for our daughter we knew how to do."
An autopsy showed Madeline Neumann died Sunday of diabetic ketoacidosis, a condition that left too little insulin in her body, Everest Metro Police Chief Dan Vergin said.
She had probably been ill for about a month, suffering symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, excessive thirst, loss of appetite and weakness, the chief said Wednesday, noting that he expects to complete the investigation by Friday and forward the results to the district attorney.
The girl's mother, Leilani Neumann, said that she and her family believe in the Bible and that healing comes from God, but that they do not belong to an organized religion or faith, are not fanatics and have nothing against doctors.
She insisted her youngest child, a wiry girl known to wear her straight brown hair in a ponytail, was in good health until recently.
"We just noticed a tiredness within the past two weeks," she said Wednesday. "And then just the day before and that day (she died), it suddenly just went to a more serious situation. We stayed fast in prayer then. We believed that she would recover. We saw signs that to us, it looked like she was recovering."
Her daughter — who hadn't seen a doctor since she got some shots as a 3-year-old, according to Vergin — had no fever and there was warmth in her body, she said.
The girl's father, Dale Neumann, a former police officer, said he started CPR "as soon as the breath of life left" his daughter's body.
Family members elsewhere called authorities to seek help for the girl.
"My sister-in-law, she's very religious, she believes in faith instead of doctors ...," the girl's aunt told a sheriff's dispatcher Sunday afternoon in a call from California. "And she called my mother-in-law today ... and she explained to us that she believes her daughter's in a coma now and she's relying on faith."
The dispatcher got more information from the caller and asked whether an ambulance should be sent.
"Please," the woman replied. "I mean, she's refusing. She's going to fight it. ... We've been trying to get her to take her to the hospital for a week, a few days now."
The aunt called back with more information on the family's location, emergency logs show. Family friends also made a 911 call from the home. Police and paramedics arrived within minutes and immediately called for an ambulance that took her to a hospital.
But less than an hour after authorities reached the home, Madeline — a bright student who left public school for home schooling this semester — was declared dead.
She is survived by her parents and three older siblings.
"We are remaining strong for our children," Leilani Neumann said. "Only our faith in God is giving us strength at this time."
The Neumanns said they moved from California to a modern, middle-class home in woodsy Weston, just outside Wassau in central Wisconsin, about two years ago to open a coffee shop and be closer to other relatives. A basketball hoop is set up in the driveway.
Leilani Neumann said she and her husband are not worried about the investigation because "our lives are in God's hands. We know we did not do anything criminal. We know we did the best for our daughter we knew how to do."
Thursday, March 20, 2008
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