United Pentecostal Minister Don Martin Second Degree Rape of a Minor

Don Giovanni Martin 2021
Don Giovanni Martin 2021

This past Tuesday, June 21, 2022, was a year ago that United Pentecostal minister Don Giovanni “Donnie” Martin was arrested and charged with second-degree rape, second-degree sex offense and second-degree assault of an 11 year old girl in 1990. Martin would have been 25 at the time of his crime and was married. Pay attention to dates, as these will be important in what I will share in a subsequent post. This is case number C-03-CR-21-002614. You may read some of the court documents in PDF format here.

The assault happened at Martin’s apartment during a youth group sleepover at which his wife was also present. Martin was a youth pastor at Abundant Life Church, previously the Dundalk United Pentecostal Church, and lived on Havenwood Road in Baltimore County.

Martin had been known to flirt with girls in the youth group, including the victim. While the others were asleep, Martin and the victim went out on the balcony where he kissed her, pulled her pants down and penetrated her from behind.

The day after the rape, the girl told her sister and mother. It was reported to the pastor, Chris Tharp, who set up a meeting with the victim and Don Martin. Martin’s wife was also present. Martin denied the accusation and his wife is said to have yelled at the victim. After this, the Martin family left the church and went to Christian Revival Center in Reisterstown, where Charles Curry was, and still is, pastor. Meanwhile, in late 1997, David Reever became pastor of Abundant Life.

In 2003, Don Martin wanted to return to Abundant Life Church due to something that happened at the other church, so a meeting was held where Don Martin and David M. Reever were present, along with two other UPC ministers who worked with Reever, Raymond Almsteadt and Andrew Smith. In that meeting, Don Martin admitted to ‘having sex with’ the victim and claimed that she was attractive and came on to him.

When Andrew Smith was interviewed by police in 2021, he recalled the meeting and shared that Don Martin admitted that he was unfaithful to his wife and that it may have involved a minor. When Reever was interviewed by police the same year, he remembered who the victim was and shared that Martin admitted to having sex with her when she was a minor.

Ray Almsteadt shared that he spoke to David Reever in an attempt to prevent Martin from returning to the church, but he was told by Reever that he had unforgiveness in his heart and needed to forgive Martin.

Don G. Martin 2021 criminal charges
Don G. Martin 2021 criminal charges

Martin, born March 26, 1965, originally had five charges against him, but in a plea agreement on October 28, 2021, he plead guilty to second degree rape, a felony, and the other charges were dropped. He was sentenced to twenty years in prison, with 18 of them suspended, and he was ordered to serve five years of supervised probation. Unfortunately, he was not required to register as a sex offender due to how long ago the crime occurred.

On November 29, 2021,  a petition for modification of Martin’s sentence was filed by him and on December 22, 2021 it was denied by the court. He is currently serving his time at the Baltimore City Correctional Center, a minimum security level facility in Baltimore.

Church members in court hallway
Church members in court hallway

One man shared on social media that he was shocked to show up at court and see church members who arrived to support Martin, including David and Christina Reever. The authorities were also shocked that so many showed up for the sentencing of a rapist. How is this consistent with the 2019 UPCI position paper which calls for its ministers and churches to prioritize care for the victim? (“The UPCI charges our ministers and our institutions to create a culture in which victims can safely share instances of abuse and receive necessary care and protection throughout the process.”)

This is not the first time I have heard of this happening, where church members and/or ministers attend court proceedings in support of a perpetrator, instead of the victim(s).

The man wrote, “This came out 30 years later because the perpetrator was given a license to pastor even though his endorsing pastor was aware of the abuse that happened. When the victim confronted the endorsing pastor he dismissed her feelings and said ‘I hope you find healing.'”

David Reever 2021 District Superintendent
David Reever April 2021 District Superintendent

The endorsing pastor mentioned is David Reever, the current Superintendent of the Maryland-Washington DC District of the UPCI, having been elected in April of 2021. He has been the pastor of Abundant Life Church, an affiliated UPCI church, for more than two decades.

It is important to note that when an individual applies for a UPC license, the pastor must endorse them and sign their application. This is what David Reever did, after the 2003 meeting mentioned above. Let that sink in. This clearly goes against the rules outlined in the UPCI Manual. Martin never should have even been considered for a license as his crimes forever banned him from obtaining one, as well as being forbidden to ever preach in one of their churches.

Don Martin first appears in the 2020 UPCI Directory, indicating that he received his license in 2019, as the Directories are issued every January. Chester Wright was the District Superintendent then, with Reever the District Secretary. It is extremely important to note that this license was granted after at least four UPC ministers had been made aware of his crimes. There was also at least one other alleged assault of which I am aware, that happened after this victim, but she was not a minor. Martin was asked to resign his license in 2021, which he did.

The crime was reported to police in early 2021, after the victim learned that David Reever permitted Don Martin to preach at Abundant Life. She first reached out to Reever, asking why he was allowed to have influence, as Martin had returned to the church and later became licensed. As shared above, Reever’s response to her was, “I hope you find healing.” When interviewed by police, Reever stated that he allowed Don Martin to preach there because he didn’t have access to children. This is untrue and has been confirmed by more than one individual.

After this was reported to police, they suspected there could be more victims (like in the ongoing Scott and Travis Huse cases in Wisconsin). It is well known that a pedophile does not abuse just one person. In all the years which have passed, there could be many survivors out there and if so, we hope they will come forward. Maryland has no criminal statute of limitations on child sexual abuse. Baltimore Police can still be contacted at 410-307-2020 if you were a victim, or know of a victim. Callers may remain anonymous.

I previously wrote an article on the United Pentecostal Church Rules Regarding Sexual Immorality & Ministers as well as a six part series with information on licensing in the United Pentecostal Church and the rules for ministers.

You will find a complete list of articles in this series by clicking here.

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Then & Now: Changes to the United Pentecostal Articles of Faith Part 1

Then & Now: Changes to the United Pentecostal Articles of Faith- Public School Activities. Comparing 1952 to 2022.

1952 Articles of Faith Public School Activities
1952 Articles of Faith Public School Activities

The United Pentecostal Church formed in 1945. Over the years they have increasingly added rules. Here we will examine what the Articles of Faith have stated about public school activities.

Please note all the added changes between 1952 and the current year. This section was not included in the initial UPCI Manual. It first appeared in 1948. In 1952 this section contained one sentence. Since then, four more have been added.

They remained as written in the 1952 version through 1981. In 1982, the second paragraph had been added and it stayed like this through the 1989 Manual. The next two paragraphs were added in the 1990 Manual and it has not changed since then.

2022 Articles of Faith Public School Activities
2022 Articles of Faith Public School Activities

To read the entire 1952 UPCI Articles of Faith, go here.

Then & Now: Changes to the United Pentecostal Articles of Faith Part 1: Public School Activities
Then & Now: Changes to the United Pentecostal Articles of Faith Part 2: Holiness
Then & Now: Changes to the United Pentecostal Articles of Faith Part 3: Fundamental Doctrine
Then & Now: Changes to the United Pentecostal Articles of Faith Part 4: Atonement
Then & Now: Changes to the United Pentecostal Articles of Faith Part 5: Conscientious Scruples

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The Western District & United Pentecostal Pastor Ron Bohde & SafeChurch

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.

Ron Bohde Western District Presbyter

SafeChurch
David Bernard’s June 14, 2022 Facebook post

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.

Dylan Ritterman Ron Bohde Victor Becerra
Dylan Ritterman, Ron Bohde & Victor Becerra

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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Michael Rodney Jones & United Pentecostal Pastor Jared R. Arango

This is the 47th installment in this series and a follow up to my 2019 article on former United Pentecostal minister, Michael Rodney Jones.

Some things that happen in churches are absolutely mind boggling.

Michael Rodney Jones
Michael Rodney Jones April 11, 2022 church website screen shot
  • If you knew that someone had twice broken into another man’s house in order to set up cameras in a bathroom, plus the bedroom of this man’s daughter, would you use them as part of a pastor’s team and have them be an altar ministry leader?
  • If you knew that this person held license when this occurred, and did this to a fellow associate pastor that he was working with, would you permit them to work on the church audio visual team?
  • If you knew that this person was arrested and plead guilty to two counts of burglary and two counts of taking nude video
    Michael Rodney Jones Altar Ministry Leader
    Michael Rodney Jones April 11, 2022 church website screen shot

    without the consent of the subject (as he captured nude images of the fellow minister’s wife and 19-year-old daughter), would you use them to work in any leadership role at your church?

  • If a church has home meetings, where this person could be going in and out of member’s homes, would it concern you?
  • If your church was just a half hour from the church where the perpetrator had previously helped, and that fellow associate pastor is still attending there, would you use this man in these roles? Wouldn’t that be a slap in the face to the other minister, his family and that church?

Do I have your attention? Incredible, is it not? This is seriously concerning. And yet it is, and for some time has been, happening at The Peninsula Pentecostals on Sharon Drive in Newport News, Virginia where Jared R. Arango is pastor. This is a United Pentecostal Church that touts itself as “a cutting-edge church.” Arango promotes himself as a “leader of leaders.”

The church where Michael Jones previously was an associate pastor is the Norfolk Apostolic Church, also a United Pentecostal Church, where for decades Michael Blankenship has been the pastor. The two churches are approximately 30 minutes from each other. Besides the things mentioned above, you will also see Jones singing on the platform at times. Jones has been involved at The Peninsula Pentecostals since at least 2019, as can be seen from looking through public Facebook posts.

2021 Church Team Leaders
2021 The Peninsula Pentecostals Pastor’s Team Leaders. Behind the pastor on the right is Michael Jones.

What Michael Rodney Jones did for months to his fellow associate pastor and his family was devastating and one of the worst kind of betrayals. I cannot fathom how another pastor could use Michael Jones in the ways he is being used at The Peninsula Pentecostals in Newport News. His acts were planned and calculated. He even used a computer, that the church gave him when he became an associate pastor, for his evil deeds. Are other victims out there? How safe are the members of this church and have they been told about his crimes? [The video below is from WKTR News 3 on May 6, 2015.]

This was a horrible invasion of someone’s privacy. What would have been his next act, had he not been caught after breaking in a second time to install another camera? Something like this isn’t a spur of the moment event. It took careful planning and he did it twice. Admitting guilt and receiving a minimal sentence and probation, Jones goes on his merry way, walks right back into leadership roles at a different church, as it’s as if nothing much happened.

2021 Jared Arango & Michael Rodney Jones
2021 Jared Arango & Michael Rodney Jones

Jared “JR” Arango should know better than to use Jones in such leadership roles in the church. Arango has been quite involved in the United Pentecostal Church for many years. According to the church website, he has served in the Virginia District as a Youth President for eight years, Home Missions Director for eight years, Global Impact Director for two years and the Strategic Growth Coordinator. He has also served as the National Pentecost Sunday Coordinator for the UPCI.

Perpetrators can’t be given access to potential victims
in the future. As an analogy, when church treasurers embezzle money, they can be forgiven of their sin, restored to salvation, and restored to some form of church involvement. However, they have forfeited their access to such a position because they have broken trust. We would never appoint them to be a church treasurer again because they’ve shown susceptibility to this form of temptation and because others wouldn’t trust them or the church. Even more so, we can’t restore abusive leaders to positions of authority in which they could abuse people again. Doing so can result in great spiritual damage as well as legal liability. – David Bernard, Summer 2022 Forward

Michael Rodney Jones 2/23/24

Some will proclaim that crimes like this, if repented of, are in the past and should be forgiven and that the individual should be permitted to be active in church. Yet there are some sins and crimes that should preclude a person from being active in certain ways. If someone has embezzled funds or in any other way stolen money, then they should not be the church treasurer or an usher that helps to collect offerings. If they have exposed themselves to, or assaulted a child, you certainly don’t have them working with minors. If someone installed hidden cameras in an effort to obtain nude videos of people, they should not work on the church audio visual team. If they broke into a person’s home to do this and the church has home meetings that this individual is participating in, then everyone present should be made fully aware of their past crimes. If anyone has committed any type of sexual crime, including obtaining videos/pictures of people naked, then that person should never be placed in a leadership position again.

In a forthcoming article, you will see what happened after Michael Orten, another United Pentecostal pastor, trusted and believed it was fine to actively use a convicted and registered sex offender in the church. Orten is the pastor of Truth Apostolic Church in Madisonville, Kentucky.

A preacher may fall into sin, be forgiven by God, be restored to the church, and even be restored to many areas of service, but this does not automatically entitle him to his former position of leadership. He must once again meet the qualifications of being blameless, having a good report, and so on. This takes much time, and in some cases total restoration may never be possible. …Moreover, some sins-such as child molestation, incest, and rape-may indicate deep personality problems that would permanently disqualify someone from many leadership positions.David Bernard, January-March 1988 Forward

Articles:
Norfolk man converts from addict to minister and drug counselor – October 17, 2007 (old article on Jones and his work with addicts through the church)
Former Norfolk pastor accused of spying on young woman via hidden surveillance camera – May 6, 2015 (includes video)
Ex-Norfolk pastor sentenced for taking nude videos of woman, teen – January 25, 2016
Ex-Norfolk pastor sentenced for sneaking into house, taking nude video – January 25, 2016

You will find a complete list of articles in this series by clicking here.

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Giveaway: Heretics & Politics: Theology, Power, and Perception in the Last Days of CBC

This is only open to those with a USA mailing address.

This is your chance to receive a new copy of Heretics & Politics: Theology, Power, and Perception in the Last Days of CBC by Thomas Fudge. It is the second book in his series on Oneness Pentecostalism. It sells for $29.95. It covers the United Pentecostal Church sponsored Conquerors Bible College that was founded in Portland, Oregon in 1953 and abruptly closed in 1983. Fudge attended this college. Former UPCI minister Don Fisher is addressed in this book as he used to be the president of the college. Some will also be interested in his daughter’s memoir, The Uncomfortable Confessions of a Preacher’s Kid, by Ronna Russell.

This giveaway is a drawing and not a first come, first served giveaway. To enter, just leave a comment to show you wish to be included. The drawing will close on June 4, 2022 at 6pm (eastern time), after which I will draw a winner. Be sure to check back to see if you have won as in the past some people have not responded after winning and so a new winner had to be drawn. You will then need to email me your mailing address if I do not already have it, so be sure to watch your email and check the spam folder. There is absolutely no cost to enter. Don’t be alarmed if your comment does not immediately show. We also have entries being made in our Facebook support group.

We always provide these at no charge to our readers. If anyone would like to help with the expenses involved in providing material to people, you may do so via PayPal below.

Some might be interested in a series of lectures by Thomas Fudge on the history of Christianity from the Roman Empire until the Reformation. https://youtu.be/WgTDplQabRk

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