Sitting in church yesterday, I had one of those aha moments. You know one of those moments when another piece of the puzzle snaps in place. The preacher was talking about roots. How when he was a kid he tried to chop down a fig tree. He chopped it all the way down to the ground, but didn’t destroy the roots.
Now he might’ve been going in a completely different direction than me. But by then, me and God were having our own conversation. I have wondered, questioned, discussed with others why after all we’ve been through, with all the abuse, with all the confusion and false doctrine, why are we still able to hang on? Why have we been able to move on?
Now, don’t get me wrong. We still have a bad day sometimes, or something will trigger an emotion in us. But over all we are healing, we are able to minister to others. We are finding our place in Life. When I see people, friends, loved ones still caught up in the condemnation, shame, lies that they were told for so long, it hurts my heart. I want to fix it for them, but sadly, all I can do is support them and encourage them.
I think yesterday, I found the answer to that question for my life. Noting we aren’t all just alike, what works for me might not be for you. But I was just like that fig tree that was chopped to the ground. I spent 20 plus years oppressed, depressed, feeling hopeless in the situation. But, somehow in the midst of that I had roots. Not roots in the United Pentecostal Church, not roots in standards, or with a congregation or preacher. But, with God. See, he did come to me when I was searching, and I have a relationship with him, not man. I could’ve gone anywhere and lived for him. Sadly, I ended up at a UPCI church.
Thankfully my roots are grounded in him. In his grace, his mercy, his sacrifice, not in my works. And not in the opinion of man. Because of that I am able to stand. I am able to hold on. I’ve been able to see new life springing forth. If you feel chopped down, cut off, abandoned, dig a little deeper, brush away the debris of hurt, and hopelessness. Maybe you too can find that root coming up. And you can start fresh and new. If you have lost all, and have nothing left, just hang on to the root. And see how beautiful your brand new life can be.
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My journey began, as I’m sure most of yours did, searching for Jesus. Finding out his true character has been a 20 plus year journey for me. I was in my twenties with two children. An abusive husband and a longing for love, purpose and escape from the pain. We got invited to a United Pentecostal church. I had not grown up consistently going to church. I knew basics and my mom had taught me about Jesus, but I’d never had the experiences that come with teaching.
My first thought of these people were man, these people are crazy! But, as with most, they started out so loving. Giving lots of attention, time, clothes, etc. Looking back, now I realize there were a lot of inconsistencies and red flags but I was enjoying the love there as opposed to what I was living at home, so I didn’t notice. At first things weren’t as crazy. We sang at different churches. We still visited our family that wasn’t UPCI. Yes, my dress had changed. All the ‘standards‘ I was now abiding by. I had the Bible study with the few scriptures they used to support it. Of course it really shouldn’t be called a study because now after lots of study and prayer I see where those scriptures are taken out of context. But then I would’ve believed anything they said. And I did.
After the new wore off I started to notice that people weren’t treated equally, depending on who you were the ‘rules’ were changed. I figured out questioning wasn’t an option. You NEVER questioned leadership or the humiliation over the pulpit would be extreme. Years passed with many trials and hurts. But, this was the Christian life right? Anyone who didn’t believe as we did were lost, convicted, or persecuting us.
The pastor made the decision to withdraw from the UPCI. Many of his friends were doing the same. Basically that meant he had no one to answer to so he could do as he pleased. Oh, he had a board of elders, all filled with his best friends that supported him in everything. So basically that was all for show. The standards all of a sudden started changing. Only 3/4 length sleeves. No splits, hose at church always, no hair down, no perms, men could only wear white shirts to church. It changed it seemed every month or so. It got so bad people would be asking each other if this or that was OK. Then you would see the pastor’s daughter wearing something that someone else got sent home for. It was all so confusing.
We were no longer allowed to fellowship our ‘unsaved’ family, which meant not believing as we did. The one good thing in all these years was I had divorced my abusive, unfaithful ex-husband. And married my now husband of almost 18 years. (remember this part as it plays a vital role in us leaving, years later) We were married in the pastor’s office by him. My children grew up. I had four by then; three biological, one bonus. My boys both got kicked out of the church school. They had learning problems and their answer for that was to just spank them more. They weren’t getting enough discipline.
That was his answer for most things. More spankings, or praying more cause they had a spirit. Excessive baby crying was a spirit. Unless it was his grand-baby.
As soon as my bonus son turned 18, he left home. When my other son was 16, he went to live with my mom to escape from the abuse at church. For eight years. We rarely saw him or talked to him, if we did or if someone thought we did, he talked about us over the pulpit.
My oldest daughter married a guy in the church that had three children. She basically felt forced to marry him, was strongly encouraged by leadership and she felt as if she had no choice. She went through five years of emotional, physical, spiritual abuse. No one at church would believe her. She had black eyes, a bruised neck, he would have her going crazy, emotionally distraught, then video her and send it to the pastor. So the next service he would get over the pulpit and humiliate her and say how full of the devil she was. She almost had a mental breakdown from the abuse at home and church. We were both humiliated constantly. I was accused of interfering with her marriage because I encouraged her to go to the police. Her baby girl was said to have a devil because she was a fussy baby and wanted to nurse too much. That was her comfort for the home life she had.
Finally we went to authorities and got a restraining order for a year and after two years, she was finally ‘allowed’ to divorce him. Not long afterwards the pastor made a new rule that anyone ever married before could never marry again. She was 25 yrs old. Now remember that me and several other couples had been married before, but his answer for that was that even if it was a sin for us, that sin was on him. He told us it was OK so it was. As long as he told us.
We were told we could never be saved at any other church. If we left there, our family was cursed. He said he was the only preacher in the whole state of Mississippi that was right. That church was the only one that was right and preaching truth. After many situations, lies and abuses, we finally left. I began studying everything I had been taught for over 20 yrs. It was both scary, exciting, enlightening and freeing!
My family and I are all involved in church. A Bible believing, grace teaching, loving church, that is teaching that Jesus loves us and that salvation isn’t earned. We can’t dress or act ‘holy’ enough to be worthy of salvation. It’s all because of Jesus and his love for us. We live free! No more condemnation, humiliation. Just joy, grace and freedom. We help as many as we can that are escaping the cult, as we call it. It hasn’t all been easy but it has all been worth it. There is hope, our prayer is that others find hope and healing as we have.
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This is Part 32 of an ongoing series on sexual abuse in the United Pentecostal Church. Ronald Terry Litz, now 82 years old and living in Glenn Heights, Texas, was born August 11, 1937 and at the time of his sex crimes he was married with three older children, and was the pastor of the Danville Apostolic Church, which was actually in Riverside near Danville. He was living at 702 Fifth Street in Riverside, Pennsylvania and had been the pastor for ten years. The sexual charges against him involved three different teenage boys. The church later became known as Landmark Apostolic Church and Kevin Schramm had been the pastor since May 2008. The name changed once again in the 2020s to Victory Life Church where Aaron Wright is currently the pastor in 2024.
Ronald Terry Litz
Ronald Terry Litz, who has gone by his middle name for decades, was the vice-president of the 1963 24 member graduating class of ABI (Apostolic Bible Institute in Minnesota, a UPCI endorsed Bible college). That year, he and his wife, Martha May Litz, were the new Hobby Club Directors working under Mrs. S.G. Norris. (S.G. Norris was the college President.)
It is unknown to me when Litz obtained his United Pentecostal Church license as my older UPCI Directory collection is limited. He is not seen in the editions I have from the 50s and I have none from the 60s. As he was one of their Bible college graduates, one could guess that he may have received license in the 1960s. The 1972-73 Directory has him with a general license in Ohio and the 1975-76 Directory lists him as an ordained minister. There he was the pastor of the Lake Breeze Apostolic Church of Lorain (screen shot of a 1975 ad), a non-affiliated church. (Any church whose pastor is licensed by the UPCI is considered a UPCI church. They can go a step further and have a legal affiliation with the organization. This church did not.) I did find a 1971 ad from an Ohio church in the same town. I have a few directories from the 1980s, starting with 1981 where he is listed as living in Riverside, Pennsylvania and was the pastor of the Danville Apostolic Church, a non-affiliated church in Northumberland County.
I did find a mention of him and the church in a 1978 newspaper article, making him the pastor since at least that year. He is last seen in the 1987 Directory, where his wife was listed as the Ladies Auxiliary Secretary for the Pennsylvania District. In the late 1980s while Litz was pastor, Bill Woodruff, a 1986 ABI graduate, became the Youth Pastor, a Sunday School teacher and a church bus driver at the Danville Apostolic Church, though he did not hold license. After Litz was arrested, Harold I. Lloyd, a United Pentecostal minister with just a local license, became the acting pastor. He is no longer listed as a UPCI minister. No pastor is listed for the church in the 1988 UPCI Directory but in 1989, the church became affiliated while Seth Avery became the new pastor. He is now in Oklahoma.
Ronald Terry Litz
The Pennsylvania newspapers started covering Terry Litz’s cases in September of 1987. He was 50 years old when arrested on September 3 and was out on $50,000 bail by the next day. He was arraigned on Friday, October 23, 1987 in Luzerne County, where he entered a not guilty plea and requested a jury trial. His crimes against two boys occurred at the United Pentecostal Church’s Pennsylvania District church camp in Fairmount Township between December 1986 and September 1987. This was in Red Rock in Luzerne County along Route 118. Terry Litz had taken the boys to the camp to help with maintenance chores, where he fondled them and engaged in oral and anal sex.
The two boys were members of the Danville Apostolic Church. Reports varied as to their ages, with one stating both were 15, another said they were 14 and one claimed they were 14 and 15. The charges, filed by the State Police, were involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault and corruption of minors. Litz voluntarily resigned as a United Pentecostal minister soon after charges were filed. L. Daniel Garlitz was the Pennsylvania District Superintendent at this time and confirmed that Terry Litz had resigned as pastor and turned in his ministerial credentials. Litz’s wife and 18 year old daughter soon moved to Texas to live with Terry and Martha’s two other daughters.
On March 8, 1988, Terry Litz plead guilty to three counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and five counts each of indecent assault and corruption of minors. He did this as part of a plea agreement that had been discussed with the families of both boys, where the District Attorney was to recommend that he only serve the sentence on one count of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. The other charges were to run concurrently with this. Whatever time he was to serve in this case, was to run concurrently with a case from Northumberland County. If the judge were to decline the District Attorney’s recommendations, Litz was free to withdraw his guilty pleas.
A sentencing date of May 25, 1988 was set. Michael Dennehy was his attorney, Ann Lokuta was the assistant district attorney and Gifford S. Cappellini, now deceased, was the judge. (See the March 9, 1988 article in PDF format.) In 1992 Lokuta became a judge and was removed from office in 2008 after charges were made against her in 2006 by the Judicial Conduct Board.
Your conduct will require confinement for further protection of young children in our community. Your actions have caused grave emotional consequences for the victims. You were an authority figure and took advantage of young children. – Judge Gifford S. Cappellini in sentencing Ronald Terry Litz
There was a separate criminal case in Northumberland County, where in another plea arrangement Terry Litz plead guilty on February 4, 1988 to three counts of corrupting the morals of minors. Sentencing was scheduled for May but was later postponed until June. The original charges, filed by Riverside Patrolman Steve Watkins, involved three counts of the corruption of morals of a minor and three counts of indecent assault for the oldest victim and one count of each of the same charges for the youngest victim. This involved one of the 15 year old boys from the Luzerne County case, as well as a 14 year old. Litz assaulted the boys in the church office and in Litz’s home. The 15 year old boy’s assault happened on two different days in August 1986. The other was for a July 1987 assault on the 14 year old. The police investigation of these cases caused them to discover the Luzerne County cases.
On March 24, 1988 Jerome Cohen, of the District Attorney’s office, requested a mandatory five year prison sentence, which Litz’s attorney claimed went against the plea agreement where he was orally promised that they would not recommend the mandatory prison time. Dennehy filed a motion to have the judge order them to withdraw it. The District Attorney’s office agreed to withdraw the demand.
Ronald Terry Litz 11/10/04
On May 25, 1988, Ronald Terry Litz was sentenced in Luzerne County to two years minus one day to five years minus two days, with five years of probation to follow. He reported to the jail on May 31. The judge told him, “Your conduct will require confinement for further protection of young children in our community. Your actions have caused grave emotional consequences for the victims. You were an authority figure and took advantage of young children. I’ve considered the impact of public shame and humiliation not only to you but to your wife and family. (But) a lessor sentence would depreciate the seriousness of your crimes.” His time was to be served in the Luzerne County Jail instead of state prison, which is why the five year sentence was made to be minus two days. He also received a concurrent sentence of 11 to 23 months on the five counts of indecent assault. He had faced up to twenty years on each of the felony charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, as well as a $25,000 fine.
Litz shared that after serving his sentence, he planned to leave Pennsylvania and volunteered to do community service by speaking to high school groups and civic organizations about sexual abuse. For six weeks prior to sentencing (one report stated three months), Litz underwent weekly psychiatric counseling in a Louisiana hospital, where he claimed he “was able to understand [his] problem.” He continued to attend church. Terry Litz’s attorney admitted that Litz had a problem for years and was molested by an older man when he was twelve years old. Litz expressed remorse for his actions to the victims, his “family, community and profession.” Litz shared that his wife left him, but at some point they got back together after he was released from prison. They own a home and have been together in Texas for many years. He first registered as a sex offender in Glenn Heights on October 31, 1999.
I have tried my best to correct my mistake. All I’m asking is that you have mercy on me. – Ronald Terry Litz, convicted pedophile
On June 28, 1988, for the Northumberland County charges, Judge Samuel Ranck sentenced Ronald Terry Litz to six to 23 months on the three counts of corrupting the morals of minors. It was to run consecutive to the Luzerne County sentence, followed by three years of probation. This was to be served in the Northumberland County Jail after his other sentence was completed. Judge Rank felt Litz received a break in the other cases considering the nature of the charges.
Litz claimed he had visited two psychiatrists prior to his arrest as he had been feeling “urges inside.” He said, “I have tried my best to correct my mistake. All I’m asking is that you have mercy on me.” (Where was his mercy toward the boys while repeatedly assaulting them?) Litz’s attorney submitted a letter showing that he had attended more meetings than required by normal therapy. Also submitted were letters in support of Litz, including a therapist who had placed him on Lithium and a pastor in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, where he lived for awhile after his arrest. At that time, there was one United Pentecostal Church in Belle Chasse, an affiliated one where James Comeaux was, and still is, listed as the pastor. (See the June 29, 1988 article, page one and page two, in PDF format.)
It is draining to compose these articles and my heart grieves for the survivors and their families, as well as the family members of these predators who are innocent of wrongdoing. When I read that a predator considered multiple sexual assaults involving three boys as a “mistake,” I could not help but think that this person is not truly remorseful and has not accepted responsibility for their actions. He reminds me of the alleged pedophile, Steven J. Dahl, who wrote on December 9, 2013, “I made a lot of mistakes, that cost me my future as far as being a minister for the organization.” Assaulting anyone isn’t a “mistake,” but a reprehensible criminal act – a devastatingly life-altering violation of an individual. His attorney said that Terry Litz had a problem for years. One can only ask, and wonder, how many victims were there before these three? Are there any from when he was a pastor in Ohio? What about his days at ABI in Minnesota? Have there been any victims since his release? These are questions to which we may never know the answers as all too many assaults go unreported and history has shown that pedophiles repeat their behavior.
Articles:
Scrantonian Tribune: June 29, 1988
Daily Item: September 4, 1987 & May 27, 1988
Citizens’ Voice: May 27, 1988 & June 30, 1988
Danville News: September 15, 1987, March 9, 1988, May 26, 1988 & June 29, 1988
Times Leader: March 9, 1988, March 25, 1988, May 11, 1988, July 1, 1988, October 20, 1987 & October 24, 1987
Diego Antonio Rodriguez, born August 13, 1994, was a youth leader at Apostolic Faith Church, a United Pentecostal Church located at 3045 Airline Rd, Racine, WI where James Schumacher, born October 4, 1946, has been the pastor for decades. (new website as Michael Portman became the pastor after this article was written, though Schumacher is still there) Diego Rodriguez didn’t hold license with the UPCI, but he had preached at this church.
Diego Antonio Rodriguez
On June 11, 2015, he made his first court appearance where he was charged with one count of using a computerized communication system to facilitate a child sex crime (948.075 1r, a Class C felony) and three counts of sexual intercourse with a male child (948.09, Class A misdemeanor). He was 20 years old at the time of the crimes, while his victim, born in November 1998, was 16. This is case 2015CF000730 in Waukesha County. After his arrest, the church quickly scrubbed their website and social media of pictures and mentions of Diego. It is unknown to me how long he had been working with the youth.
Rodriguez met the boy in early 2015 through a phone application called Grindr, a gay social network. He claimed that the boy shared he was 18, but at the first sexual encounter at a home in Waukesha, he discovered he was 16. It happened two additional times at other locations after this, so Rodriguez was aware that a crime was being committed. The victim stated that he was a willing participant and was neither threatened, nor forced.
Diego Antonio Rodriguez
In April 2015, Rodriguez used Grindr to chat with another boy who was 15-years-old, though this time it was a Waukesha police detective in an undercover sex sting. The online contact continued through June, even though the detective warned him he could go to jail. He requested pictures and let him know he wanted a sexual encounter as well as a “three-way.”
On June 8, Rodriguez asked to meet at the Wendy’s restaurant on Moreland, where police arrested him while he was parked across the street. After the arrest, he admitted to knowing that what was planned was a crime. Prior to his arrest the officer posing as the boy had asked him asked if 15 was too young and if people could be arrested and Rodriguez replied that they could.
He entered an initial plea of not guilty and since his $25,000 bond was never paid, he remained imprisoned.
A trial was eventually scheduled for December 15, 2015, but was cancelled as a plea agreement was in process. On January 22, 2016, Diego Rodriguez changed his plea to that of being guilty on the first count of the charges, which was the felony of using Grindr to facilitate a child sex crime. The three sexual intercourse misdemeanors were dismissed, but read into the court record.
Diego Antonio Rodriguez 11-17-22
On April 4, 2016, Judge Ralph Ramirez sentenced Diego Rodriguez to ten years, with five of those to be served in prison and five under extended supervision. He was ordered to register as a sex offender through June 3, 2040. He was to have no contact with the victim, nor was he permitted to have unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18. He is not allowed to have pornographic or explicit material, nor is he allowed to have a computer or anything that can access the Internet unless permission is given. He also had to submit a DNA sample and pay a few hundred dollars in court fees. Rodriguez remains incarcerated as of the writing of this article.
James Schumacher
An aspect of this case which is especially troublesome is that on the Fox news report article, a person claiming to be a former member of the church alleged, “The problem is that the pastor did know that this issue existed because, in addition to members bringing rumors to the pastor, Diego himself went to him and admitted it, looking for help. The response was to sweep it under the rug, allow Diego to continue working with the youth, and intimidate everyone into silence. Dig deeper into this church’s history. This isn’t the first time this has happened there and unless someone intervenes, it won’t be the last.”
Timothy Patrick Gregory
I had already known years earlier that this wasn’t the first child sex assault case of which Pastor James E. Schumacher has been aware. There were at least two others involving Timothy Patrick Gregory, a previously convicted child sex offender who the pastor allowed to teach Sunday School. He is currently incarcerated. It was alleged that pastor James Schumacher encouraged the parents to not report Gregory and even threatened to excommunicate the family members of the victims, sisters who were ages 12 and 8 at the time of the assaults in 1997. Schumacher admitted to not doing a background check on Gregory and stated, “We are a Christian church. The Bible says we need to forget the past.” James Schumacher, like some other United Pentecostal Church ministers, failed to report these assaults to the police or Child Protective Services. Since the law in Wisconsin allows for the legal loophole of claiming clergy privilege, he was permitted to do this.
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.
Jasper Apostolic Church
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.
Howard Wayne Geck
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.
Rodriguez met the boy in early 2015 through a phone application called Grindr, a gay social network. He claimed that the boy shared he was 18, but at the first sexual encounter at a home in Waukesha, he discovered he was 16. It happened two additional times at other locations after this, so Rodriguez was aware that a crime was being committed. The victim stated that he was a willing participant and was neither threatened, nor forced.
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 
Howard Geck, born July 27, 1956, also pastors 
