Are kids safe at church? It is estimated that half of registered s*x offenders are churchgoers?

Question

Seventy churches a week report sexual abuse allegations, according to Christian Ministries Resources. Most of the allegations involve members of the congregation and not church staff. About a third of juveniles Sporer has treated attended church before being caught and over 50 percent planned to attend church after leaving treatment.

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070419/s*x-offenders-use-pews-for-healing-hiding.htm

Answer 1

No.

Answer 2

Statistically, a child is more likely to be molested by a family member than a stranger. They are in more danger at home or at family events, where one's guard is likely to be down.

Answer 3

No, not safe. Part of the reason so many s*x offenders go to church is because they are predators and they know that people have a false sense of security at church making it easier for the predators to have access to vulnerable people. Namely children.  

Answer 4

And so it is with our neighborhoods , grocery stores , amusement parks , restaurants and so on .. We must always be on alert over children no matter where we are !

Answer 5

More people are stung by bee's per day. So will that mean you will never go outside again?

Think of how many churches there are in the USA alone. Just near my house within just 5 miles is at least 8 churches. So figure easy 500,000 churches in USA. So what is 70 of that?  0.014%

Answer 6

I used to attend a church in a medium sized city. I had been going there for about a year when a couple started coming

. They knew the Bible, offered to do anything they could to help. They were the perfect example of what the church called a good Christian. after about 6 months , they were offered Sunday school classes with the kids. They were happy to do it, so to the basement they went. They offered to start a children's church to keep the noise down in the main auditorium and were granted the duty.

Things went smooth for about 3 weeks when all h**l broke loose. Several families just quit coming to church, more threatened to quit. Questions were asked and after the investigation, the children admitted that the couple had been having s*x with them, making them do all sorts of sexual things with each other and even having s*x in front of the kids. Needless to say, they went to jail, but that doesn't help the kids, and don't say much for churches. The church is no longer in operation, The pastor is no longer preaching, and the kids are still messed up in the mind.

Trust your religion if you must, but keep your kids in sight.  

Answer 7

Because 3/4 of the country claims to be Christian (though the term 'Christian' is often misused)

Answer 8

70 a week?  That's pretty amazing considering that there are thousands of such cases reported weekly nationally.

Answer 9

Yeah but hardly anyone is a pedophile

You are probably more likely to get hurt in a car crash.  Do you plan to never let your kids get in a car?

Answer 10

For the most part, yes.  Most churches have safety programs in place now, or are in the process of putting one into place.  

For instance, the Methodists have "Safe Sanctuaries."  Adults must undergo a background check, there must always be 2 adults present with any child or group of children, and even in emergencies an adult can't be alone with a child -- it has created some headaches, but there is a real effort to ensure the safety of children.

Lots of mainline denominations and non-denominational churches are putting programs like this into place.

Don't get me wrong -- I think even one case of child abuse in a church (or anywhere else) is wrong and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and I think that kids should be safer in churches than anywhere else.  But churches are no more dangerous than schools, and even private homes in many cases.  Statistically, more children are abused by a relative than anyone else.

___________

But the best way to keep your child safe is to assume they're not...

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Missouri Student Nurse-- then I hope you will do your part, and if you hear that your ex-husband is attending a church, that you'll call the church to warn them about him.  Hopefully they will do a background check on him.

Answer 11

As long as you don't let them out of your sight, yes.

I would question the wisdom of the week-long summer camps, though.

Answer 12

All of those churchgoers also go to the mall, movies, grocery store, walk down the street...do you see where I'm going with this?

Answer 13

Kids aren't necessarily safe anywhere.  They certainly shouldn't be left alone with strangers, whether in a church or anywhere else, until they're old enough to take care of themselves.

If you look at how many reports of sexual abuse there are every week, and how many churches, seventy reports isn't really that many.  The sad reality is that it is still a small fraction of the number of sexual abuse cases that happen in the child's own home.

Answer 14

Kids aren't safe anywhere anymore.

That includes in churches also.

It's when parents feel safe with a stranger watching over their kid is when they make that mistake and put their child at risk.

And to the person who says there are hardly any pedophiles,why don't you go look up on the data.

There is even more not on that list..YET.

I'd rather my child be in a car crash than have a pedophile watch over them.At least then I'd know some scum of the earth wasn't putting their hands on my child.

Answer 15

One of the reasons I left the church where I sang was the pastor who advised our friends to not pursue the matter when  Sunday School teacher fondled their 3 year old inappropriately. It apparently wasn't the 1st time either. This minister kept covering it up.

Answer 16

The stat is irrelevant. Assuming the USofA...

About 85% of the population believes in the god of Abraham, with the vast majority of those christian. About half of them regularly attend their house of worship, a little more than 40% of the population. So, if 50% of registered s*x offenders are churchgoers that's not too far out of line with every one else. It's a little above average which may make sense if the assumption that predators know how to find their prey is true.

Answer 17

Your figures are way off!!

Government research showed Christians were vastly over represented in prison for sexual and violent crime!!  The Catholics are paying millions in compensation for the s*x crimes of their priests alone and in the UK a priest has just been found to have molested six kids in his congregation so it continues!!

Most mass murderers say god told them to do it.

If you look at the reality church seems to be a not very safe place at all!!

I am sure pedophiles find churches an ideal grooming ground and that parents should be very careful about leaving their children alone!!

Answer 18

NO WAY! My ex-husband is a s*x-offender and goes to church. They'd probably even let him take over the nursery, if they asked! Church goers don't believe that someone that goes to church would do anything to their kids IN church. How gullible!!!