This is infuriating. How does the United Pentecostal Church expect people to take them seriously when one of their pastors, who TWICE mishandled sexual abuse cases, gets elected as a presbyter of the Western District? Yes, Ron Earl Bohde is now the presbyter of Section 3.
David Bernard, the General Superintendent of the UPCI, states that since September 2021 they’ve been working on the new section of their website called SafeChurch. They are supposed to be making reforms regarding sexual abuse and how it should be handled and prevented. When one of their Districts does something like this, it calls into question how serious they are about addressing the decades long issue of sexual abuse in their midst.
Remember Dylan Ritterman, who pleaded guilty to two counts each of attempted first degree sexual abuse and second degree sexual abuse of two boys at Bethel United Pentecostal Church in Oregon? Ron Bohde was the pastor. He failed to report the abuse to police when he heard of allegations. After that he was uncooperative with the police investigation at first.
Prosecutor Kevin Barton had this to say about Bohde, “This was a worst-case scenario when it comes to a church and a pastor not cooperating.” Let that sink in- A WORST-CASE SCENARIO.
Even SNAP released a statement saying, “This pastor [Bohde] should be harshly punished.” They were deeply disturbed by Ron Bohde’s actions.
After that Bohde headed south and took over as pastor of the Calvary Apostolic Church in Dinubi, California. Remember Victor Becerra, a former licensed United Pentecostal minister? He was found guilty of 19 counts of child molestation involving four minor girls.
It was reported that Bohde and some church members were supportive of Becerra. When people were protesting outside the church, Bohde was quoted as saying in a sermon, “Just to mess with their minds- I’m just praying that they get rain, cold and soaked wet, and miserably enjoy their protest.”
This is the type of man and pastor that the Western District voted in to become the presbyter of section three. This is so very wrong and sends a message quite opposite of what David Bernard is stating.
This District, in my opinion, has failed survivors of sexual abuse once again.
For additional information on Ron Bohde, see our prior article.
You will find a complete list of articles in this series by clicking here.
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