In September 2019, the blog section of the spiritual abuse website had 10,490 visits, with 6004 being unique. There was an average of just over five pages per visit. Below you will find the top eleven read posts. All but three of these ended up pertaining to our series on sexual abuse and the United Pentecostal Church. I included eleven in this post as the Jamaica article periodically has a high viewership.
We are always looking for new people to join our group of bloggers, so please consider registering and watch your email for additional information. Be sure to check your spam folder. How frequently you post is up to you and no one needs to be a professional writer. Have you shared your experience in an unhealthy church? Do you have helpful thoughts on recovery? Are you interested in tackling some erroneous teachings? Let your voice be heard and help others recover. Read here.
Woman ‘in the Spirit’ on a Jamaican Flight – author Lois (accessed 1329 times) This fake news story from 2017 is getting passed along once again by hundreds of people who won’t take a couple minutes to fact check.
Sometimes a victim of sexual abuse will be bribed or threatened somehow in order to keep them quiet. It happens for various reasons and doesn’t always come from the perpetrator. If the abuse is somehow related to a church, the pastor or others in leadership may want it kept quiet as they don’t want the church in the news. If the perpetrator is a minister, or a relative of a minister, great pressure can be placed upon the victim to remain silent. Some of those people retain their license or even gain it after assaulting someone because their crime was never reported as it ought to have been, such as in the case of Glen Uselmann and Don Martin, where UPCI District Superintendents endorsed them for their licenses. It is horrible enough when someone is sexually harmed but that harm is compounded when coercion or threats are involved to convince them to remain silent.
Sometimes those who expose these abuses get threatened or intimidated and that brings me to the reason for this article. There is a woman, who I will call Kate, who has experience in the Wisconsin District of the United Pentecostal Church. She has been sharing on her Facebook profile recent news reports which have partially exposed decades of unreported child sexual abuse at Calvary Gospel Church in Madison. Kate shared, “My intent on posting was to make people aware in their churches. Ask questions and do some digging regardless of what church leadership says. If churches are ‘families,’ families share heartaches as well as victories. Justice needs to be done. Not coverups.” She further shared that in response she received private messages and that some “brought up many instances of deviant behavior in a couple churches here in Wisconsin.”
This past week, on September 25, 2019, Kate received an anonymous typed letter from someone who mailed it in the Milwaukee area (or at least that is where the postmark originated). The envelope did not include her street address but was marked ‘general delivery’ and there was no return address. She believes the communication was either to intimidate her into not posting anymore about sexual abuse in the United Pentecostal Church, or to remind her of what happened many years ago with a relative. It was three short sentences as follows (with a name redacted as they were a minor at the time and his records were sealed). [screenshot of the letter]
[redacted] victims have not forgotten.
Think of those that have committed suicide because of the abuse.
[redacted] has received a lot of mercy,
I have been in contact with the woman who received this letter and, with their permission, I am sharing the background of what happened. I don’t like when people are threatened or intimidated to keep quiet and while whoever wrote this may or may not have intended for it to be taken that way, it is exactly how the receiver felt when they read it. Kate is coming forward publicly, though anonymously because this involves her son, in an effort to be open and to remove whatever power this person might think they have over her. I know it wasn’t easy for Kate to share about what happened and I appreciate her honesty and openness in sharing what was a painful and difficult time for everyone involved.
I believe it was a bullying tactic to remind me. What right did I have of posting coverups in the church? Look at you and the incident that happened years ago. . . .Whoever sent it wants to make it a comparison. Look at you… and you’re posting this content from Grant’s church.
Let me take you back to the late 1980s, where a sexual assault occurred in an ACE school restroom at a United Pentecostal Church in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. The assault referenced in the anonymous letter was regarding Kate’s son when he was 15 years old and a male victim about two years younger. The supervisor of the classroom would often leave the students unattended for long periods of time. Besides Kate’s son, it is alleged that this supervisor assaulted at least one student, though it was never reported to authorities. He was married at the time and had four young children.
Kate’s son was reported to police. He went through professional counseling for 1.5 years. It wasn’t covered up and his parents worked with the victim’s mother. Letters were written to the parents. Kate stated that the victim’s mother “never held any animosity toward us. We prayed together and worked through the whole ordeal. She is a good person. She had every right to be angry with us.” She went on to share, “We were totally broken when this happened. But we knew it all had to come out in order for everyone to heal. In no way do we condone this deviancy. We didn’t cover it up. And apologies were made- sincere heartfelt apologies. We called NO ONE A liar. Because curiosity in children is as old as time. Children have to learn to keep in their own space and never touch anyone or be touched inappropriately. Parental guidance is a must.” The records for Kate’s son were ordered sealed. The church school was later shut down.
Tragically, later as an adult, his victim committed suicide via an overdose. It may have been around ten years later. It isn’t really known whether this was related to the assault, something else, or a combination of things, but some people blamed Kate’s son. Though the letter mentions suicides in relation to the assault, this was the only one.
I pressed Kate for additional information as the letter referenced more than one victim as it was plural. She shared that her son also assaulted her niece and that this information was not publicly known. Kate stated, “My sister, her daughters and I remain close after all these years.” Two United Pentecostal pastors in Wisconsin know about this other assault and Kate wonders if the wife of one of them sent the anonymous letter. That pastor’s wife has a son, who is alleged to have assaulted more than one girl. To my knowledge, he was never reported, but later went on to receive a license in the UPCI, though he no longer is licensed.
The reports coming out of the Wisconsin District of the United Pentecostal Church are many and new ones keep coming to the surface. Though I have written much about Calvary Gospel Church in the past, as you can see from the two other churches mentioned, they aren’t the only UPCI church in Wisconsin that has these secrets, though they may be the worst. I imagine you will be reading new reports here, and elsewhere, in the future. Meanwhile, if this anonymous letter was meant to intimidate or threaten, this article should put an end to that thought. Kate is determined to continue speaking out about the various abuses in UPCI churches.
You will find a complete list of articles in this series by clicking here.
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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
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.
March 31, 2024 Darrel Coffman
Darrel Coffman was a youth pastor, but not a licensed minister, at his father’s affiliated United Pentecostal Church, Promiseland Apostolic Church at 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. He now attends the Brazil United Pentecostal Church in Indiana, where he sometimes preaches. 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
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 and his mother posted a $35,000 property bond on that date. 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
Darrel Wayne Coffman
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.
1-21-24 Darrel Coffman
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)
December 2023 Darrel Coffman
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.”
This is Part 26 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.
Tony Sasnett
Tony Wayne Sasnett was born June 27, 1976 and at the time of his crimes he was married with three school-aged children. He was a project manager at Allied Communications and this is where he was arrested. Since at least September 2013, Tony Wayne Sasnett was the home Bible study director at Greater Faith Apostolic Church located at 3412 Clays Mill Road in Lexington, Kentucky. William J. McGraw has been the pastor for decades. While the church quickly removed the information about him from their website, it is archived in Wayback as seen by this screenshot. He preached at the Greater Faith Apostolic Church at least as far back as 2010 (screenshot).
Sasnett first appears in the 2013 edition of the UPCI Directory, indicating that he obtained his local license in 2012. (Directories are issued in January of each year and are more reflective of the prior year.) The license was granted by the Kentucky District of the UPCI when Scott Marshall was the District Superintendent and William J. McGraw was a Presbyter. As of the writing of this article, Marshall yet holds this position but McGraw does not. Sasnett last appears in the 2016 Directory, which is the year of his arrest. He was the Section E leader for the Kentucky District’s North American Missions Team (screenshot and PDF file).
Tony Sasnett
On February 11, 2016, Tony Wayne Sasnett was arrested at his place of employment. On February 12, he was officially charged with one count of the prohibited use of an electronic communication system, one count of sexual abuse and five counts of third degree rape of a 16 year old girl, who he met at church. In Kentucky third degree rape, a class D felony, in part occurs when the perpetrator is ten or more years older than a person who is sixteen or seventeen years old. All the crimes happened when she was 16. The sexual abuse charge came from an incident that happened in August 2015 that didn’t involve intercourse. Then in a parking lot in October, he initiated sex by telling her, “I’m in charge now,” and that’s when he first raped her. At a preliminary hearing on February 23, one of the rape charges was dropped when it was realized it happened in Jessamine County and not Fayette County. He was being held in jail on a $17,500 bond, which was reduced to $10,000 and he was forbidden the use of any electronic communication system. At the time he plead not guilty. The judge sent the case to a grand jury to review the charges to determine if there was enough evidence to send it to trial. As a part-time employee at Greater Faith Apostolic Church, he was fired after his arrest.
According to news reports (source), on February 23 Detective Tyler Smith testified that Sasnett met the girl when she was ten and threatened her that she would be banned from mission trips and wouldn’t be able to attend the church if she told anyone what was happening. Smith testified that Sasnett “escalated the relationship with the victim from a joke about a massage to sex in parked cars and in Sasnett’s home.” He had sex with her five times and on her phone she had sexually explicit text messages and a nude photo request from him. His victim repeatedly tried to end his contact with her, even asking him in a text message, “I don’t understand why you want to have sex with me because I’m a 16-year-old girl and you have a wife at home.” Part of what was involved in this case is that Sasnett, being a minister and leader in the church, was in a position of trust with the victim. That makes his crimes more serious and usually the punishment is more severe. Any person who holds such a position and sexually abuses someone attending the church is abusing their position of trust. Though his attorney fought the charge, the judge ruled that Sasnett was in a position of trust.
Tony Sasnett
On December 7, 2016, Tony Wayne Sasnett either was convicted, or made a plea agreement (I assume the latter), under Kentucky Revised Statute 510.155, a class D felony which is the “unlawful use of electronic means originating or received within the Commonwealth to induce a minor to engage in sexual or other prohibited activities” and 510.110 [1], another class D felony, which is sexual abuse in the first degree. He was sentenced to one year for the electronic charge and five years for sexual abuse and it appears they are running concurrently. Sasnett is presently incarcerated at the Northpoint Training Center, a medium security prison on Walter Reed Road in Burgin, Kentucky. His expected release date is February 6, 2021. Due to the serious nature of the charges, they do not allow for parole. This is case 16CR303 in Fayette County.
Tony Sasnett
May 13, 2022 update: Tony Sasnett was released from prison in early February 2021. He quickly moved back to Oklahoma. He is a lifetime registered sex offender and lives in Oklahoma. See here.
This is Part 25 of an ongoing series on sexual abuse in the United Pentecostal Church. I am going to start covering a few cases on which I don’t have as much detailed information as I have on some of the prior cases I’ve covered. When/if I have more details, I will either update these articles or write a new one with the additional information.
Michael Rodney Jones was born on November 19, 1970 and at the time of these events he was married with four young children; three girls and a boy. He came from a broken home and started drug use at an early age and later became addicted to marijuana and cocaine. In his mid-20s, he made his way to the Salvation Army’s adult rehabilitation program where he began his recovery and later ended up at an an affiliated UPCI church called Norfolk Apostolic Church, where for decades Michael Blankenship has been the pastor. He became a licensed minister. The church is located at 3131 Azalea Garden Road in Norfolk, Virginia. At the time when he was interviewed by The Virginian-Pilot in 2007, he had allegedly been clean for ten years and was very involved at the church. His older brother Marcus, now deceased, had been the pastor over the church outreach to the Lawrenceville jail.
Michael Rodney Jones first appears in the 2005 edition of the UPCI Directory, indicating that he first obtained his local license in 2004. (Directories are issued in January of each year and are more reflective of the prior year.) The license was granted by the Virginia District of the UPCI when Jack Cunningham was the District Superintendent and Michael Blankenship was the District Secretary. As of the writing of this article, Jack Cunningham and Michael Blankenship yet hold these positions and still did in 2024. In 2006 he received a general license, as is reflected in the 2007 UPCI Directory. He is last seen in the 2015 Directory with a general license, which was the year of his arrest. During the entire time he held license, he was part of the Virginia District of the UPCI. He was an associate pastor, youth pastor, musical director and worship leader at the Norfolk Apostolic Church. (This PDF flow chart shows since at least January 2014, Michael Rodney Jones was an associate pastor at Norfolk Apostolic Church.) Jones had also been the director of the Alcohol Chemical Treatment Series program at the church, though I am unsure if he still was at the time of his arrest. The following crimes were committed while he held general license.
As soon as I can start to take responsibility for what I am then I can start to change,” he said. “You have to have a vision for your life and for what you want your life to be. – Michael Rodney Jones, 2007 interview
On December 3, 2014, Michael Rodney Jones entered the home of a fellow associate pastor in his early 50s and installed a camera in the bathroom. With this he captured nude images of the man’s wife and 19-year-old daughter. After four months of secret surveillance, on April 8, 2015, he again entered the home, this time placing one or two cameras in the daughter’s bedroom, facing them toward her bed. Video surveillance at the home caught him entering through the back door and police were notified by the owner that day. According to news reports, Jones was fired from his positions at the Norfolk Apostolic Church on April 9, 2015.
On April 17th, 2015, Michael Rodney Jones was arrested. He was charged with burglary under Virginia code 18.2-92, which is a class 6 felony. It is a charge for breaking and entering with the intent to commit a misdemeanor. He was also charged twice under Virginia code 18.2-386.1, a class 1 misdemeanor. This is the charge is when a person “knowingly and intentionally create(s) any videographic or still image” of a “nonconsenting person if that person is totally nude, clad in undergarments, or in a state of undress so as to expose the genitals, pubic area, buttocks or female breast.” If the person being photographed is under the age of 18, it would be a class 6 felony. These are Norfolk Circuit Court Criminal cases CR15001264-00, CR15001264-01 and CR15001264-02. In addition he was charged under Virginia code 18.2-89, a class 3 felony, which was later amended to 18.2-92. This is case CR15001265-00. The church had given Jones an Apple Macbook laptop and this was seized during the execution of a search warrant on his home.
I do want to point out it’s not the ministry that failed, it’s a man that failed. – Pastor Michael Blankenship, 2015 interview
Soon after being charged with these crimes, Michael Rodney Jones entered a plea of guilty on July 9, 2015. On January 22, 2016, he was sentenced to “ten years for two counts of burglary and 24 months for two counts of taking nude video without consent of the subject. Norfolk Circuit Court Judge Joseph Migliozzi suspended the 10-year felony sentence.” (source) For the two felony counts, Jones was placed on supervised probation that was to start the day of his sentencing and last three years. On September 20, 2018 he requested an early release from probation that was granted on the 24th. It appears he was charged court costs of $1,378.00 as well as $2,400.00 for restitution. He didn’t pay much of a price for what he did in violating the privacy of these two women.
His actions cause one to wonder how long activity like this had been going on. Did he do, or attempt to do, the same or similar to others? What a horrible invasion of someone’s privacy. What would have been his next act, had he not been caught after installing the other camera? Something like this isn’t a spur of the moment event. It took careful planning and it happened twice. He now gets to go on his merry way, while these women will forever remember what was done to them.
The week that Jones was arrested, pastor Michael Blankenship was supposed to be on vacation, but that was cancelled due to what happened. He shared in a sermon on April 12 that it turned out to be one of the worst weeks in his life. Near the end he stated, “But your brothers’ failure, or your sisters’ failure, is not a license for you to fail. It should be a warning that should rattle you to your core and cause you to come to this altar and find God and say, ‘God, I wanna talk about my cup, not his cup or her cup. It’s my cup I wanna deal with.’ The Spirit of the Lord is sending, and has sent, a purifying fire on Norfolk Apostolic Church and he is uncovering sin and is cleaning things up. I doubt that it is done because I think there’s a number of things that are very contrary. But the good news is, it’s not the enemy’s fire, it’s the Lord’s fire.” When he started to address 1 Timothy 5:20-21, the video goes silent as he most likely directly addressed what had been happening. The message is cut short due to this. Then on April 15, 2015 he preached on betrayal and processing hurts.
Mike Jones 2/23/24
Added April 10, 2020:
In a similar situation at another Oneness Pentecostal Church in Silsbee, Texas, on March 4, 2020 21-year-old Noah Quillen was arrested. It is alleged that he set up cameras in at least two homes of members of the First Pentecostal Church where Homer Looper is pastor. Quillen has been charged with burglary of a habitation, possession to promote child pornography and invasive visual recording. It was shared that one of the homeowners discovered a camera and called the office of Sheriff Mark Davis. For more details, see this news report.
June 4, 2022 Edit: A follow up on Michael Rodney Jones being used in leadership positions at another UPCI church is found here.
According to news reports (
