A 59-year-old youth minister for a church in Tucson recently was convicted on six counts of sexual molestation of a 13-year-old girl, a member of the youth group.
A 25-year-old youth ministry intern, who had been serving in a church in Tempe for only six months, recently was arrested after admitting to having sex with a 14-year-old girl in the youth group.
Two 13-year-old boys recently were arrested in Tucson for using their mobile phones to send a nude photo of a 13-year-old girl that she had sent to one of the boys using her mobile phone.
These three stories, all very close to home, illustrate how vulnerable youth is to predators and, sadly, to youth themselves.
In the first story, an older man volunteers his time, but takes advantage of the trust of the church community. He violated prudent boundaries by taking children home in his car. I am sure it seemed harmless enough to those in charge, but he used the opportunities to size up potential victims, eventually picking out a girl whose need for a father figure must have been obvious to him.
This predator moved slowly but surely, molesting her for more than a year while he went about his other duties as a youth minister. He dominated the girl’s psyche by professing his care for her and threatening suicide should she reveal the abuse.
In the second story, the youth ministry intern, still a student, offended in a very different manner than the older man. He convinced the girl to sneak out of her house so they could have sex in his car. In the wake of his arrest, two other girls from a church in another state where he had worked also accused him of abuse.
In the third story, the two boys, still minors themselves, and the girl who sent the picture of herself, got caught in what is an increasing source of danger to our children and youth – the use of the electronic communication devices to share inappropriate images and information.
In this case, the crime was committed only by minors. It could have easily expanded to involve adults who would use the image and information for even worse purposes.
I can only imagine the sense of betrayal, failure and disappointment that those responsible for supervising these youth ministers and the young offenders must have felt.
The impact of these crimes goes beyond the churches themselves. Such incidents further erode in our communities the trust that parents have in people of faith who are involved in youth ministry.
We don’t know what policies to prevent abuse were in place in the churches involved or how well they were followed. We do know what we are to do to prevent such things from happening and how to respond if they do.
This year, I am collaborating with Joe Perdreauville of our diocesan Office of Pastoral Services and John Shaheen of our diocesan Property and Insurance Office to enhance our policies, procedures and resources to make our youth ministry programs as safe as possible for young persons and those who serve them.
How important and challenging it is to provide ministry to our youth!
I sometimes use the analogy of the electrical system to bring home this point.
We can’t really live our normal lives without electricity, and we certainly can’t use electricity safely without the skills and dedication of electrical engineers and electricians.
Youth ministry is essential to our parishes, and we certainly can’t have safe youth ministry without skilled and dedicated youth ministers – people who know the techniques of good youth ministry, people who know the boundaries of proper ministry and people who want our young persons to be safe.
Nothing we do will completely eliminate the risks of youth ministry, but whole-heartedly implementing our Safe Environment Program allows us to carry on this critical work so that our young persons are safe as they learn about and experience God’s presence in their lives.
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