This is part 30 of an ongoing series dealing with sexual abuse and the United Pentecostal Church. Back in late May, I wrote about the criminal charges against Dexter Lee Hensley for child sexual abuse involving more than one victim. The assaults are alleged to have occurred during the period of January 2012 through December 2015 and at least some, if not all, happened at the Jasper Apostolic Church (listed as Apostolic UPC, Inc. in the United Pentecostal Church Directory and located at 231 Hillside Drive in Jasper, Indiana) where the pastor is Howard Wayne Geck. The church operates Jasper Christian Academy, a small school located at the church.
Howard Geck, born July 27, 1956, also pastors New Life United Pentecostal Church (104 W. 3rd Avenue in Huntingburg), an affiliated UPCI church.
The previous pastor of the Jasper church was Judith C. Branam, who appears to have been the pastor when the alleged assaults occurred. Branam founded the Jasper Apostolic UPC and the Jasper Christian Academy. Howard Geck, who married Branam’s daughter, Kim, became the pastor in 2016 according to UPCI Directories. It is unknown whether Branam was ever aware of these or any other possible allegations against Hensley.
Howard Geck was pastor when the guardian of the girls reported the abuse to him at some point in 2017. On May 20, 2019, the guardian of the victims “confirmed that about two (2) years ago, she was made aware of the inappropriate touching and that she reported the abuse to the church pastor, Brother Geck.” Dexter Hensley was a member of the church. She went on to say that she and Pastor Geck met with Hensley and “that the issue was taken care of.”
Pastor Howard Geck never informed the police or Child Protective Services of the abuse, even though everyone in the state of Indiana is a mandated reporter. Too many of these pastors have the mistaken notion that they are somehow qualified to investigate and handle sexual assault cases. Instead of reporting them, they choose to handle them ‘in house’ and this is exactly what appears to have happened in this instance.
On June 26, 2019, United Pentecostal pastor Howard Wayne Geck was charged in Dubois Circuit Court with a Class B misdemeanor, 31-33-22-1(a), for failing to report this case of sexual assault after he learned of it. This is case number 19C01-1906-CM-000628. Due to the seriousness of failing to report, as it gives opportunity for perpetrators to continue to harm others and brings no justice for victims, you would think that the penalty for this would be at least somewhat severe, especially when it involves a minister. Apparently that is not the case.
Probable cause was found and an initial hearing was scheduled for July 23, 2019, which was later waived. A pretrial conference was then scheduled for August 13. It was cancelled because on July 30, 2019, a pretrial diversion agreement was filed and all Howard Geck had to do was pay the court $454.00.
This was a case where, in my opinion, there was no doubt that Geck had been notified of the abuse two years prior and he chose to not report. Have there been any other cases where he has acted similarly but they have not come to light? Since the penalty was so little, will he or others choose to do so again in the future?
Why did the United Pentecostal Church not step in and revoke his license or at the very least remove him from any positions in the organization? Yet, this isn’t a total surprise as when two UPC ministers in California were convicted in the 1990s of failure to report, they retained their licenses and positions and one even later moved up in the organization and is now a District Superintendent. (I speak of Arthur Hodges and George Nobbs.) Their case even brought about change in California state law.
Nothing happened to Colorado pastor Dannie Hood, who chose not to report or testify in the case of Jessie Klockenbrink (though he legally was permitted to do so by claiming the loophole of clergy privilege).
They appear to have done nothing about the numerous child sexual abuse allegations surrounding Calvary Gospel Church in Madison, Wisconsin that goes back decades, despite our numerous articles, as well as those by several others, including the Capital Times. We’ve written about other allegations involving churches and ministers where men still retain their licenses.
I have heard from more than one source that at the past General Conference this September, the UPCI adopted a position paper about ministers and reporting such cases, though it has yet to be released to the general public. Will action truly be taken against any of their ministers, no matter their status, their Apostolic pedigree, or how much money they give, if they fail to report sexual abuse to police or have committed sexual crimes themselves?
Is David Bernard, the current General Superintendent, going to do what is right and thoroughly investigate all these cases and remove ministers from their ranks who fail to report, as well as those who have committed sexual assault that may not have been reported to police and prosecuted? David Bernard is an attorney, and while he may not have ever dealt with such cases as a lawyer, I believe he does understand the seriousness of this issue. While I am in disagreement with the UPCI on many things, I personally believe that Bernard has helped the organization and has made some positive changes as they are in a much better situation now than before he became their leader. He has also made some brief statements about sexual abuse and the need to report and support victims. This issue is one that he absolutely must address and do so publicly in order that all those attending UPCI churches are made aware of what the UPCI expects their ministers to do when it comes to sexual abuse and the consequences that must consistently happen to ministers who fail to do what is right.
As to Dexter Hensley, on November 18, 2019, a change of plea hearing was scheduled for December 17. Hensley had originally entered a plea of not guilty. It would appear that a plea agreement may have been reached. A new court date of January 27, 2020 is scheduled for acceptance of his plea and sentencing.
Articles:
Pastor charged with failing to report child molestation
Pastor charged with failure to report
Dubois Co. pastor arrested after failing to report alleged child abuse – Includes video
Jasper Pastor Charged With Failing to Report Child Sexual Abuse Cases
You will find a complete list of articles in this series by clicking here.
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