This past Friday was a very eventful day, not for me so much, but for a friend of mine. But what happened to him, based on his choices, was heartbreaking, and was a terrible blow to him and to those who knew him and felt like they could trust him.
On Friday I was devastated to learn that this man was arrested in what was called a "human trafficking" investigation in Midland County. Various agencies, from Homeland Security to the Midland Police Department, were involved in "Operation Damascus." This investigation, in spite of the somewhat dramatic title of "human trafficking," was actually a "sting" in which a police officer went to various social media sites and chat rooms online, and pretended to be a child under age eighteen. A total of thirty-seven individuals, men and women, solicited the "minor" for sex. As these persons then arrived at a certain residence to meet the "minor," they were instead greeted by the inter-agency "Damascus" team, and arrested for various charges relating to prostitution, soliciting minors online, soliciting persons under the age of sixteen for sex, and promoting prostitution.
Unfortunately one of the persons arrested, as I mentioned, was a person known to many of us in the area, and trusted by many people to be around their children. This person, in fact, even served as a volunteer school crossing guard at a local elementary right up to the day he was arrested. Worse, this man was trusted by parents and church members to actually care for their children on a limited basis. So you can well imagine the betrayal and fear many people felt when they learned of this man's arrest for his part in Operation Damascus.
I am not posting this blog to judge this man, in fact I will not even name him here. He is easy enough to find, if you are interested. Just "Google" Operation Damascus. I am writing about this situation because it sometimes needs to be restated that we may never really know a person as well as we think we do. I am posting to remind us all that even if we come to trust someone, we must still keep a close watch on our children or on the children of others, such as children in a church or school. The parents may not be able to spot a potential child molester, but other people might. I am also posting this to say again that when one gets a "gut feeling" about another person, when one feels the neck hairs prickling, when one notices that even small children seem somewhat afraid of a person, one should not disregard all of these little signs even though others may think the person in question is "okay" or that he or she "just loves" children.
I am mostly chiding myself because I, a former police officer and a former child welfare investigator, one who was specifically TRAINED in the recognition of persons who might POSSIBLY be child molesters, or who at least bear watching, failed to follow my own advice, that is, to follow my own gut instincts. Because so many others around flocked around this person and championed him as a person who loved children and wanted to help children and their parents in any way he could, because of this, I let my own guard down, and I failed to act on my "gut feeling," my suspicions, if you will. Yes, the first time I met this person I quickly developed an uneasy feeling as I saw him interacting with the children of our church, and with their parents. Yes, I know...church is a place where Christians gather, thus by definition, child molesters WOULD NOT be there. But, actually, the church is made up of sinners. We are all sinners, we all fall short of the glory of God. So, in the spirit of Christianity, and seeing all the other people who felt no sort of trepidation concerning this man, I put my own feelings aside. And I made a mistake.
When a person is arrested for a crime, whether a fairly minor thing such as shoplifting, or a more serious and heinous thing such as soliciting a minor child online for sexual purposes, there are a couple of things to remember. First, and of very high importance to me, a person IS NOT GUILTY of crime just because the person is arrested. The person is not guilty of a crime just because he is indicted. A person must be presumed innocent (at least in court) until a prosecutor provides evidence that proves the person did indeed commit the alleged crime. So this man, though he has been arrested, and has betrayed our trust, is still entitled to both a fair trial, and to be treated as an innocent man until he is either convicted or he pleads guilty to the crime with which he is charged. This can be challenging for you and me, particularly if the crime is heinous and disgusting, such as attempting to meet a minor girl at her home for sex. I want to treat my friend (yes, my friend) fairly and with an open mind, but at the same time I want to be sure that any children that may come near him are safe until the matter is settled in court. He is an innocent man at this point, but one must err on the side of caution when it comes to keeping children safe.
When a church member, a person with whom other members have shared private troubles and cares, is arrested for a crime or is otherwise brought into question for some reason, it is doubly hard to live out one's belief as a Christian, that is, that no matter what one's sin might be, Jesus has already died for that person and his sins, and that person has but to turn back to the Good Shepherd for forgiveness. For the other members of the church, it can be very challenging indeed to allow this person back into the congregation, let alone to FORGIVE the person for that thing that he may or may not have done. Indeed, for many it may be much easier to forgive a murderer than one who is suspected of abusing or attempting to abuse children. And the Good Book tells us that if one causes a little child to stumble, it is better for that person not to have been born at all. Again, however, if the person has turned back to God and begged for forgiveness, the Lord will forgive him. Even if Christians find themselves unable to do so at present. This is indeed a hard thing.
I cannot be too hard on this person even though I am appalled and disgusted at the alleged crime. I cannot be too hard on this man because, like him, I have failed and betrayed those I love. We all know people that we love and respect, AND TRUST, but are yet betrayed or "let down" be these people at one time or another. Sometime we ourselves are the ones who do the "letting down." The New Testament and the Old are both replete with people in positions of trust and authority who gave in to temptation or fear, who failed...yet failed in one instance only. From King David to Saint Peter, many great men and women failed at one time or another. But one failure is not the summary of their entire lives or their entire walk with God. This is a trying time for our little church, and trying time for the man in question, as well. It is a very difficult test for us, and for him. But the truth is that this man indeed failed...in THIS instance...but not in the entirety of his walk with God. Whether mere mortal Christians are able to forgive him, if he gives his life back to God, the Lord will forgive him. In time, maybe those of us on this earthly plane can forgive him as well.
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