This is Part 27 of an ongoing series on sexual abuse in the United Pentecostal Church. I have started to cover a few cases on which I don’t have as much detailed information as I have on some others. When/if I have more details, I will either update these articles or write a new one with the additional information.
Darrel Wayne Coffman was born July 28, 1981 and at the time of his crimes he was single and helping in numerous ways at his father’s church. He was also a self-taught graphic artist, doing work for his church and some other UPCI/Apostolic churches, both before and after his arrest. The church website, which is no longer in operation, stated, “Darrel leads in worship, teaches, leads in Superchurch ministry and also plays the drums and trumpet.” According to the website, Darrel remained in these positions for years after his arrest and conviction. I don’t believe that is accurate due to his sentence and it is possible that the church never bothered to change that page on their website.
Darrel Coffman was a youth pastor, but not a licensed minister, at his father’s affiliated United Pentecostal Church, Promiseland Apostolic Church of 115 S. 6th Street in West Terre Haute, Indiana. The victim and his family also attended the church. It was originally called Whitcomb Heights Apostolic Church. Kenneth W. Coffman was the pastor for decades and remained the pastor through either late December 2016 or early January 2017. His late father-in-law, Wayne H. Hamilton, was the previous pastor for 28 years. On December 9, 2016 Kenneth announced he was leaving and wrote in part, “To my son, Darrel and daughter, Dayna (& Austin) Keller, your input in our pastorship was over the top wonderful! You often sacrificed your time, gave your energy and resources and shared your parents for the sake of others. What a wonderful blessing you’ve been and continue to be to us!” The new pastor, Ryan Thomas, was announced in mid December 2016. The church is now called Highland-Church, though it wasn’t listed in the UPCI Directory under that name or pastor until 2019.
The investigation began on September 12, 2011. It was not the victim who turned him in to authorities and the victim believed the age of consent was 16. The two would use their computers to video chat with one another. It was reported that Darrel Coffman performed or submitted to sexual acts with a 15-year-old male in both his home and car during the period of February through June 4, 2011. This happened before or after various church events as Coffman would sometimes drive him. Coffman would have been 29, just shy of 30 years old, during this time period and the victim would have been 14 and 15 as his birthday was in March.
Darrel Wayne Coffman was stopped by police on his way to work and arrested on October 13, 2011. In Vigo County his bail was set at $35,000 and was stipulated as cash only. His charge of 35-42-4-9(a)(1) is a Class B felony of sexual misconduct with a minor, specifically when “A person at least twenty-one (21) years of age who, with a child at least fourteen (14) years of age but less than sixteen (16) years of age, performs or submits to sexual intercourse or other sexual conduct.” By October 26, the court allowed real estate to be used for the bond. He was ordered to surrender his passport, was not permitted to leave the county or to go to his parent’s home, had to stay away from school property by his residence and was prohibited from contacting the victim and his family. In mid June 2012, the court removed the prohibition of visiting his parent’s home.
My family will always be affected by this. – The victim’s mother at sentencing
In early January 2012, the state filed an initial proposed plea agreement. Darrel Coffman’s attorney more than once requested mental health records of the victim. The court granted these and on September 21, 2012 there were strict stipulations placed upon them. By November 19, 2012, a signed plea agreement was filed. Then on December 3, a motion was filed for a change of plea and sentencing hearing. A guilty plea was entered on January 15, 2013 and on January 23 a plea agreement was entered and he was pronounced guilty of the crime.
He was sentenced to eight years in prison, with six years as an in-home detention at his aunt’s home in Indianapolis, which is in Marion County. Two years were suspended. He was prohibited from any contact with the victim and was credited with 14 days of jail time previously served. Coffman’s defense attorney presented a mental health expert who testified that they felt he didn’t have a propensity to crime and wasn’t likely to offend in the future. The expert believed at least part of the reason for Coffman’s crime was due to tension between his sexuality and the religious and moral standards he held.
Coffman apologized to the victim and their family and while the victim’s mother had concerns that he could do the same to other children, she stated she forgave him. Under the plea agreement, Judge John Roach could have sentenced Coffman to ten years. He pointed out that Darrel Coffman betrayed the trust of the family and made it clear that due to the victim’s age, he could not consent to sexual activity. Coffman was ordered to register as a sex offender through January 15, 2023. In addition, he paid $171.00 in court costs and a $1.00 fine.
It appears that in July 2015, he purchased a home in Indianapolis. On December 31, 2015, the court granted a request for probation to be transferred to Marion County. On January 5, 2018 he was released from probation.
Facebook Discussion
On WTHI’s Facebook page, there was a discussion back in 2011 when they reported the news story. I am going to share some quotes with minimal commentary. There were several people from Promiseland who were posting in support of Coffman and while they stated were praying for him, only one of them shared they were praying for the victim. I well remember the mindset. You rally around and support the pastor and believe whatever the pastor or other leaders claim. If this were not the pastor’s son, but had been some other church member, would they have been so quick to show support and disbelieve his guilt? If this had been a former member, would they have stated the same things? One woman, who saw the victim as causing trouble, in part wrote, “but like i said i have been going to that church for years and Darrel Coffman is not a child molestor i dont believe he done it and i wont let anyone convince me other wise this man has done nothing wrong and i hope the teen that is sturring up this lie comes foward with the truth soon.” Allow me to remind everyone that according to court records, the teen was not the one who reported Coffman.
One woman stated in part, “Also, instead of people judging Darrel, why don’t you pray for him and his family. It is a very difficult time for him and the family. Judge not lest ye be judged. He that is without sin, cast the first stone. No sin is above any other sin. So, even if he did do this, the fact that people are judging him is a sin in itself for the Bible even says not to judge. Your sin is the same as any sin, if you are judging. . . . I too know the Coffman family and Darrel VERY well. They are good Godly people that love God with everything that is in them. If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all. . . . I just want people to understand that Darrel is not some monster. He has a heart of gold.” What this person is doing is called sin leveling:
Sin-leveling is the teaching that we have all sinned and all sins are the same. But this is not true. Thinking about having sex with someone not your spouse is not the same as committing adultery. They are related to one another, but they are not the same sin. Nor do they have the same consequences, which is the key point. But it sounds good, because all of us carry some shame around with us. It is easy to see our own faults and think that we would want people to overlook our mistakes. But abuse is not a mistake. Abuse pours acid on the soul of another human. God reveals great wrath about those who abuse “one of the least of these”. He says it would be better if a millstone were hung around their necks. (source)
One male member wrote that Jesus was able to forgive all sin and if you were without sin, then cast the first stone. A woman who obviously didn’t understand the law, and that people of a certain age cannot legally consent to sexual activity, wrote in part, “I too know Darrel Coffman. I also know his family. They are awesome God fearing people. I love Darrel and my prayers go out to him. I do not know whether he committed the crime he is accused of or not. What I do know is he is NOT a pervert. The ‘victim’ as you call him said himself it was consensual. He is old enough to know right from wrong, just as Darrell is. I am not condoning his actions, if he in fact did do this, But I am saying he did not act alone.” People should remember that Coffman was 29, just shy of 30, and the boy was 14, just turned 15.
Another woman wrote, “Darrel is a kind and wonderful young man. His ultra-strict religious environment could NEVER allow him to just BE true to himself…….a SELF that IS a beautiful person. It’s SO sad the media has gotten ahold of this story and put their ‘spin’ on it. My prayers are with ya, Darrel. I know the kind of person you are…not who the news has made you out to be.”
Articles:
Terre Haute youth pastor accused of sexual misconduct with teen – October 13, 2011
Police arrest former youth pastor on alleged sexual misconduct charge – October 14, 2011
Ex-youth pastor to hire attorney in sexual misconduct case – October 15, 2011
Former Youth Pastor Arrested on Sex Charge – October 16, 2011
Former youth pastor sentenced – January 15, 2013
Coffman gets 6 years of home detention – January 16, 2013
Indiana Sex offender registry (partial screen shot)
You will find a complete list of articles in this series by clicking here.
Much of this festering issue and the historical way of just ‘burying’ it – or covering up – stems directly from generations of the same family in pastorate. Strong pastors and their wives WANT that son in power when they retires. It becomes a family business – expectations are that sons just automatically take over the church when dad retires. It happens all the time and members are given no choice, but are often too blinded by ‘devotion’ to object. Only when that son has proven himself – perhaps by successfully building and pastoring a small church away from daddy for a few years – only then would he earn the possibility of being considered. But it’s almost never a good idea — fresh families with fresh blood never hurts.
My husband and I attended an Apostolic Oneness church for 5 years. We noticed that homosexuality is a problem with a lot of men in these types of churches.