WEBVTT 00:00.031 --> 00:02.193 [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, you're really welcome back to the Pre-George podcast. 00:02.213 --> 00:03.475 [SPEAKER_01]: My name is Eric Scorsinski. 00:03.655 --> 00:09.300 [SPEAKER_01]: I am a former fundamentalist who is now shedding light on the dark side of the church from the popates to the pews. 00:09.421 --> 00:10.922 [SPEAKER_01]: Today is a doozy of an episode. 00:11.002 --> 00:15.387 [SPEAKER_01]: There are some really heavy headlines that I'm going to be unpacking in just a moment. 00:15.527 --> 00:25.036 [SPEAKER_01]: But first, I want to say thank you so much for listening to this episode with your listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or if you're watching over on YouTube, I really, really appreciate it. 00:25.097 --> 00:26.578 [SPEAKER_01]: Your support means the world to me. 00:26.558 --> 00:36.974 [SPEAKER_01]: And just two more things before getting to the main episode, one, there are two incredible projects I'm working on in the background that I can't talk about just yet for a Friday of reasons, but they're really exciting. 00:36.994 --> 00:40.179 [SPEAKER_01]: It's a little exciting things I've gotten to announce since starting the show. 00:40.199 --> 00:46.228 [SPEAKER_01]: If you want to be the first to know about that, have a free newsletter, it's preacherboys.substack.com. 00:46.248 --> 00:51.115 [SPEAKER_01]: You can go over there and you will be the first people to know when I make these announcements. 00:51.095 --> 00:52.177 [SPEAKER_01]: Again, it's completely free. 00:52.197 --> 00:55.461 [SPEAKER_01]: There's no paid version of my newsletter anymore. 00:55.581 --> 00:58.025 [SPEAKER_01]: So I completely made it ungated free. 00:58.966 --> 00:59.647 [SPEAKER_01]: Be sure to head over there. 00:59.687 --> 01:01.069 [SPEAKER_01]: And I do not blow up your inbox. 01:01.089 --> 01:05.696 [SPEAKER_01]: Like people who follow probably forget that I have one because I don't sound stuff out the hospital. 01:05.716 --> 01:07.398 [SPEAKER_01]: And so I'll be sure to head over there. 01:07.438 --> 01:17.052 [SPEAKER_01]: If you would like to support the show financially, given the nature of what I talk about on the show, most of my episodes are not suitable for advertisers because I give unedited, 01:17.032 --> 01:26.926 [SPEAKER_01]: news accounts, I'm talking about really heavy stories, which means that the ability to run ads on YouTube, for example, is very limited. 01:27.227 --> 01:30.311 [SPEAKER_01]: So what that brings in for the show is next to nothing. 01:31.413 --> 01:35.939 [SPEAKER_01]: I would encourage you if you want to support the show financially, head over to patreon.com slash preacherboys. 01:36.600 --> 01:45.773 [SPEAKER_01]: It's a place where you can get behind the scenes content and get early access to certain episodes and other perks, and it helps keep the show running the way I think it 01:45.753 --> 01:53.024 [SPEAKER_01]: Um, I do not want to have to do what a lot of creators have to do, which is when I'm talking about a story of rape, I don't want to have to say great. 01:53.365 --> 02:00.736 [SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to have to, you know, obscure when I'm talking about sexual assault because it makes it more eligible to be monetized. 02:00.756 --> 02:04.402 [SPEAKER_01]: Like, I want to be able to give you guys the facts, plain and straight, unedited, unfiltered. 02:05.002 --> 02:12.193 [SPEAKER_01]: And again, to be able to keep doing that on YouTube, you know, that's made possible by people support because it's not coming through YouTube. 02:12.214 --> 02:13.195 [SPEAKER_01]: I can tell you that. 02:13.175 --> 02:15.198 [SPEAKER_01]: Anyway, that's just some thoughts there. 02:15.599 --> 02:19.024 [SPEAKER_01]: Let's go ahead and get into some of the headlines from the past month. 02:19.284 --> 02:26.816 [SPEAKER_01]: It's March 1, 26, and I want to walk you through some of the most disturbing headlines connected to Baptist churches and institutions in the month of February. 02:27.176 --> 02:29.140 [SPEAKER_01]: Has always this episode as two purposes. 02:29.500 --> 02:37.292 [SPEAKER_01]: First, I want to catch you up on these major stories that you might have missed, and second, I hope this year volume of these stories leads to a bigger conversation. 02:37.272 --> 02:43.880 [SPEAKER_01]: It's time we reject the simplified bad apple narrative and confront systems that normalize and protect blatant abuse. 02:44.301 --> 03:01.542 [SPEAKER_06]: Let's dive in. 03:07.782 --> 03:23.265 [SPEAKER_01]: A new book hit shelves on February 2, 2026 titled Battered but not beaten, confronting hidden abuse within the home. 03:23.786 --> 03:29.695 [SPEAKER_01]: The book description declares it's time to protect the vulnerable and restore righteousness in the home and the church. 03:30.216 --> 03:30.957 [SPEAKER_01]: Sounds great, right? 03:31.558 --> 03:34.482 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, but there's one big problem, 03:34.782 --> 03:37.707 [SPEAKER_01]: This book is written by Pastor Greg Neal. 03:38.368 --> 03:39.890 [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm in the middle of editing this video. 03:39.930 --> 03:43.155 [SPEAKER_01]: I originally had a different photo here that I pulled from Greg's website. 03:43.556 --> 03:49.545 [SPEAKER_01]: And I posted a screenshot of this section of the video before the edit to kind of show the work in progress. 03:49.585 --> 03:51.508 [SPEAKER_01]: Let people know I'm excited for this dropping. 03:51.488 --> 04:05.137 [SPEAKER_01]: on Sunday and the next day, Tracy Burns photography had filed a DMCA claim on the post which is just reporting copyright infringement and they got a removed from Instagram so I had to swap for this different, more flattering still. 04:05.618 --> 04:07.903 [SPEAKER_01]: So shout out to Tracy Burns photography. 04:07.943 --> 04:11.370 [SPEAKER_01]: I really appreciate you copyright claiming the video. 04:11.350 --> 04:19.481 [SPEAKER_01]: And just to cross all my teas and out of my eyes, everything that you're going to see here is transformative content with commentary. 04:19.681 --> 04:21.624 [SPEAKER_01]: It perfectly falls under fair use. 04:22.265 --> 04:35.363 [SPEAKER_01]: And so if they try to strike anything else or if Greg tries to strike anything else, I'm going to dispute that and I'm going to push back on that on the YouTube platform because I'm well within my rights to share what I'm sharing. 04:35.403 --> 04:37.987 [SPEAKER_01]: It's all public information, et cetera. 04:38.067 --> 04:39.028 [SPEAKER_01]: So, 04:39.008 --> 04:39.869 [SPEAKER_01]: that's what that is. 04:40.209 --> 04:55.183 [SPEAKER_01]: But again, across my teas and dot my eyes, I did have someone reach out listen to the show named Crystal Rigby who gave me permission to use this old photo that is from her camera that she has the right stew and she's giving me permission to use it of Greg here. 04:55.343 --> 04:59.086 [SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, so if I need to, I can re-upload this entire segment. 05:00.067 --> 05:01.929 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to keep putting it out there. 05:02.429 --> 05:03.990 [SPEAKER_01]: I can re-upload it with this image. 05:04.571 --> 05:09.015 [SPEAKER_01]: It's so communicates how creepy Greg Neil is, but to be fair, 05:08.995 --> 05:14.202 [SPEAKER_01]: It's hard to find a picture or video still of Greg where he doesn't look creepy. 05:14.623 --> 05:21.312 [SPEAKER_01]: Greg Neal looks like such a sexual freak that when you look at his face, you almost audibly hear the lawn order sound effect every time you see him. 05:21.332 --> 05:22.614 [SPEAKER_01]: You're like, oh Greg Neal! 05:24.476 --> 05:25.858 [SPEAKER_01]: Greg Neal! 05:25.998 --> 05:26.759 [SPEAKER_01]: There he is again! 05:26.799 --> 05:28.762 [SPEAKER_01]: It's really incredible. 05:28.962 --> 05:29.603 [SPEAKER_01]: That's that. 05:30.164 --> 05:32.067 [SPEAKER_01]: Just want to give you guys a little editor's note there. 05:32.087 --> 05:36.032 [SPEAKER_01]: That's why this segment has been changed a 05:36.333 --> 05:45.599 [SPEAKER_01]: I kind of joke with all these disclaimers and legal lingo and allegedly and in my opinion, but it wouldn't be the first time that Greg Neal threatens a lawsuit to somebody. 05:46.321 --> 05:51.355 [SPEAKER_01]: If you guess remember Stacey Schifflet, who is a IFB pastor who's talked a lot about, 05:51.335 --> 05:58.963 [SPEAKER_01]: you know, sexual abuse and I have to be churches and has, you know, talked abadly about a lot of predatory men in that world. 05:59.784 --> 06:05.269 [SPEAKER_01]: If you could have Greg Neal's Facebook page, like he's actively threatening to sue Stacy Schoflet as well. 06:05.309 --> 06:08.352 [SPEAKER_01]: So, yeah, he loves to threaten legal action. 06:08.412 --> 06:16.060 [SPEAKER_01]: Again, if you're going to be a sexual perverted freak who allegedly, in my opinion, prays on 06:16.040 --> 06:23.452 [SPEAKER_01]: of vulnerable people within your ministry, then you should stand on that, just to thought there, but let's go ahead and get into the rest of the episode. 06:24.134 --> 06:28.561 [SPEAKER_01]: In case you don't know who Greg Neil is, here's a little excerpt from a 2019 news article. 06:29.182 --> 06:41.743 [SPEAKER_01]: Investigators told news for Jacks that video released by the Clay County Sheriff's Office in 2011 shows Greg Neil, a pastor at Breon Baptist Church, handling a camera used to record women changing in his church. 06:41.723 --> 06:51.495 [SPEAKER_01]: According to an arrest report, Neil was accused of hiding the camcorder in his office in Fleming Island in the spring of 2011, and videotaping while two women changed clothes. 06:51.735 --> 06:56.922 [SPEAKER_07]: Back in 2011, an assistant state attorney said this about Pastor Greg Neil. 06:57.122 --> 07:01.467 [SPEAKER_07]: The evidence of his crimes in 2011 is overwhelming. 07:01.888 --> 07:05.352 [SPEAKER_07]: Unfortunately, the statute of limitations had expired. 07:06.013 --> 07:10.819 [SPEAKER_07]: Eight years later, and Pastor Greg Neil now works at a manual back to St. Duval County. 07:10.799 --> 07:14.284 [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, and this is also the same Greg Neill who hired Cameron G. of Nellie. 07:14.564 --> 07:21.274 [SPEAKER_01]: While G. of Nellie was already under investigation by Baltimore Police, for sexually abusing Sarah Jackson at Calvary Baptist Church. 07:21.554 --> 07:23.417 [SPEAKER_03]: Greetings from Jacksonville, Florida. 07:23.437 --> 07:24.638 [SPEAKER_03]: I'm Pastor Greg Neill. 07:24.999 --> 07:34.512 [SPEAKER_03]: I'm here with Brother Cameron G. of Nellie, and I'm pleased to come to you today to make the announcement of the founding of the North Florida Baptist College. 07:34.627 --> 07:55.032 [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, and this is also the same Greg Neal, who's the primary supporting church for Galatians 61 ministries run by David Hiles, who's been accused of rape of teen girls by multiple victims, who's caught having multiple alleged affairs, and who was investigated for abuse of his child. 07:55.771 --> 08:01.980 [SPEAKER_05]: It wasn't long before her youngest son, 17-month-old Brent Stevens, came to the attention of abuse investigators. 08:02.000 --> 08:07.829 [SPEAKER_05]: In 1985, they found him with a broken leg plus eight or nine bones and various stages of healing. 08:08.150 --> 08:12.616 [SPEAKER_05]: Paul C. Alino was a homicide investigator for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. 08:13.137 --> 08:17.784 [SPEAKER_05]: He and his team fought unsuccessfully to keep Brent away from David and Brenda. 08:17.804 --> 08:20.348 [SPEAKER_04]: I wasn't concerned his show was going to be a due to the house concern. 08:20.388 --> 08:21.590 [SPEAKER_04]: His kid was going to wind up dead. 08:21.911 --> 08:22.892 [SPEAKER_04]: That was my concern. 08:23.176 --> 08:24.918 [SPEAKER_05]: his concern was justified. 08:25.358 --> 08:28.362 [SPEAKER_05]: A few months later, Brent Stevens was found dead in his crib. 08:29.263 --> 08:33.848 [SPEAKER_05]: Due to bureaucratic bungling, an inconclusive autopsy was done at a hospital instead of the morgue. 08:34.308 --> 08:38.433 [SPEAKER_05]: But at the inquest, David Hiles invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. 08:38.913 --> 08:41.276 [SPEAKER_05]: Brenda, the mother of the dead child, was a no-show. 08:41.836 --> 08:45.580 [SPEAKER_04]: As for the status of the investigation, this case is an open case still today. 08:47.382 --> 08:48.103 [SPEAKER_04]: Nothing's been done. 08:50.902 --> 08:53.425 [SPEAKER_04]: It can't even be done because absolutely it's a murder case. 08:54.006 --> 09:00.854 [SPEAKER_04]: I would even go further and say that if I could get David and grind in a court of law to go get convicted of murder without a doubt. 09:01.395 --> 09:06.061 [SPEAKER_04]: I had a dead child with a history of abuse and I had two people were the only people access to that child at night. 09:06.461 --> 09:16.133 [SPEAKER_01]: So with all of these stories behind it, do you really think Greg Neal should be writing a book about protecting the vulnerable and restoring righteousness in the home and the church? 09:16.113 --> 09:27.714 [SPEAKER_01]: And in the next story on Saturday, February 7th, 2026, a Baptist pastor and the former mayor of Fritch, Texas named William Robbins was arrested for charges relating to child sexual abuse material. 09:28.095 --> 09:33.565 [SPEAKER_01]: His charges were the solicitation of possession with intent to promote child pornography. 09:33.545 --> 09:45.037 [SPEAKER_01]: ABC7 News reported that on May 8th, 2025, Robbins commanded or attempted to induce a girl under the age of 17 to take naked photos or videos of herself and keep them on her phone. 09:45.578 --> 09:50.083 [SPEAKER_01]: Robbins attorney waived his right to pretrial, arraignment, and entered a plea of not guilty. 09:50.644 --> 10:01.155 [SPEAKER_01]: ABC7 also reported that Robbins was the senior pastor at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church from May 2024 to June 2025, so he was actively pastoring when this took place. 10:01.135 --> 10:04.241 [SPEAKER_01]: The church issued the following statement to the reporter covering the story. 10:04.541 --> 10:08.589 [SPEAKER_01]: Billy Robbins became the pastor of Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in May 2024. 10:09.130 --> 10:14.620 [SPEAKER_01]: He worked in that capacity until May 2025 when he went on personal leave for personal reasons. 10:15.101 --> 10:18.507 [SPEAKER_01]: He then resigned June 22nd 2025 for personal reasons. 10:18.968 --> 10:22.975 [SPEAKER_01]: He has had no affiliations with PVBC since that time. 10:22.955 --> 10:31.607 [SPEAKER_01]: And in the next story, Cedric Montez sharp has been the pastoral bright star of Michelle Baptist Church, and Texarkana Arkansas for just over a year. 10:31.647 --> 10:41.301 [SPEAKER_01]: He was arrested February 11th, 2026 on five counts of rape, and if convicted, he faces 10 to 40 years or life in prison on each count. 10:41.281 --> 10:47.250 [SPEAKER_01]: In in North Carolina, a pastor was dismissed for, quote, serious allegations of a sexual nature. 10:47.711 --> 10:52.318 [SPEAKER_01]: Marty Peyton is the former senior pastor of charity Baptist Church in Canapolis, North Carolina. 10:52.539 --> 11:04.858 [SPEAKER_01]: The Charlotte Observer reported on February 12th, 2026, that the allegations against Peyton stemmed from the time before he was their pastors, and, quote, did not include any other individuals in our congregation, and, quote, 11:04.838 --> 11:12.514 [SPEAKER_01]: Their statement continued, charity leaders took immediate action to address the matter, ensure the safety of the congregation and provide care for all involved. 11:12.915 --> 11:18.466 [SPEAKER_01]: Marty Peyton is no longer on staff at charity, and we grieve with all those impacted by sexual sin and its effects. 11:18.887 --> 11:23.657 [SPEAKER_01]: Our faith in Jesus Christ is unwavering He offers hope and healing to us all. 11:23.637 --> 11:28.407 [SPEAKER_01]: In another story, it passed or hired his sex offender son to work at church and school. 11:28.888 --> 11:36.484 [SPEAKER_01]: In 2016, Caleb Crawford was indicted on charges of indecency with a child involving sexual conduct involving a 12-year-old girl. 11:36.885 --> 11:43.840 [SPEAKER_01]: He's required to register as a sex offender for life and is listed as a moderate wrist level, meaning a moderate risk of reoffending. 11:43.820 --> 12:00.394 [SPEAKER_01]: His father Pastor Eric Crawford hired him as an independent contractor to work at Heritage Baptist Church and Heritage Christian Academy, a private Christian school that offers classes to students from K4 through 12th grade, who's also the music leader for the church and did maintenance around the properties. 12:00.374 --> 12:07.703 [SPEAKER_01]: Parents in the school discovered that Caleb was on the sex offender registry, and many began withdrawing their kids from the school, and demanding accountability. 12:07.843 --> 12:12.809 [SPEAKER_00]: Ryan Gunderson and Danny Joe Gunderson say they discovered Caleb's rap sheet online. 12:12.849 --> 12:15.973 [SPEAKER_00]: They say they're upset with the pastor's decision. 12:16.453 --> 12:26.145 [SPEAKER_02]: He's supposed to be in a position where he is taking care of the church members and the school members and all these kids in the school, and he is putting them all in harm's way. 12:27.458 --> 12:28.339 [SPEAKER_01]: early potential." 12:28.880 --> 12:33.226 [SPEAKER_01]: CBS News reported on this, giving a statement from a Crawford's father. 12:33.266 --> 12:38.513 [SPEAKER_01]: He said, in this instance, involving my son, the legal process had concluded several years ago. 12:38.994 --> 12:46.885 [SPEAKER_01]: My intent was to allow his gifts to serve the ministry while ensuring that he held no role of responsibility or authority over miners entrusted to our care. 12:46.865 --> 12:59.241 [SPEAKER_01]: CBS continues to report that Crawford said he reversed that decision after concerns were raised among parents of students at the Church's Affiliated School and Daycare, which, quote, created a necessary distraction within our ministry. 12:59.822 --> 13:07.912 [SPEAKER_01]: Since the Church's announcement, Caleb Crawford was arrested in Fort Worth on an outstanding warrant for failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements. 13:08.352 --> 13:15.842 [SPEAKER_01]: On February 19, 26, the Church issued a statement 13:15.822 --> 13:25.258 [SPEAKER_01]: And law enforcement in Davies' Kentucky were dispatched at approximately 9.54am on Thursday, February 20, 26, to investigate reported shooting. 13:25.759 --> 13:31.529 [SPEAKER_01]: Sheriff Brad Youngman said that upon arrival, deputies and firefighters found a deceased male in the yard of a residence. 13:32.090 --> 13:39.062 [SPEAKER_01]: That man was identified as David Rogers, a former worship pastor at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Owensboro, Kentucky. 13:39.042 --> 13:54.327 [SPEAKER_01]: Rogers, 40, had been charged with third degree rape, second degree sawdomy involving a position of authority, first degree sexual abuse, procuring or promoting the use of a minor by electronic means, and possession of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor under the age of 12. 13:54.788 --> 13:58.013 [SPEAKER_01]: He abused his victim for four to five years. 13:57.993 --> 14:08.894 [SPEAKER_01]: Rogers was arrested on February 16th and Paxton Media reports that, quote, Rogers' arrest citation says detectives interviewed Rogers, and that in the interview, Rogers confessed to the various offenses. 14:09.415 --> 14:16.288 [SPEAKER_01]: The next day he posted a $75,000 full cash bond and his agreement had been scheduled for March 18th. 14:16.268 --> 14:24.080 [SPEAKER_01]: The Owensboro time reports that Davies County jailer Art Maglinger confirmed Rogers was placed on Suicide Watch during his incarceration. 14:24.420 --> 14:33.033 [SPEAKER_01]: When asked whether inmates on Suicide Watch are typically eligible to postpone, Maglinger said eligibility for release is governed by constitutional protections. 14:33.614 --> 14:40.504 [SPEAKER_01]: Every inmate has a constitutional right to bail, except in cases involving capital offenses, Maglinger said. 14:40.484 --> 14:47.560 [SPEAKER_01]: The Davies District Judge, who set Rodgers Bond also dressed concerns, saying in part that he was not informed of any suicide risk. 14:48.221 --> 14:51.909 [SPEAKER_01]: I was not informed of any suicide risk at the time bomb was determined, he said. 14:52.330 --> 14:59.185 [SPEAKER_01]: If such information had been formally presented through pre-trial services, it would be considered as part of the overall assessment. 14:59.165 --> 15:03.090 [SPEAKER_01]: Our next story involves two predators who were leaders within the church. 15:03.371 --> 15:14.466 [SPEAKER_01]: Democracy Smith was serving as a pastor at O'Kill missionary Baptist Church, around 2015 to 2016 when federal prosecutors say he coerced a teenage boy to send him sexually explicit images. 15:14.867 --> 15:24.480 [SPEAKER_01]: He played guilty to the possession and receiving of child sexual abuse material and was sentenced to roughly seven years or about 85 months in federal prison. 15:24.460 --> 15:29.251 [SPEAKER_01]: Smith was released in 2023, and what do you know he went straight back into ministry. 15:29.631 --> 15:33.781 [SPEAKER_01]: This time he was teaching at Jordan River, Michigan Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. 15:34.302 --> 15:39.413 [SPEAKER_01]: Around the same period, a teenage boy in that same congregation crossed paths with another church leader. 15:39.854 --> 15:43.482 [SPEAKER_01]: Businessman and elder pastor, Martin As Tyler. 15:43.462 --> 15:47.751 [SPEAKER_01]: The boy's mother says her son like graphic design and started helping Tyler at his companies. 15:48.132 --> 15:55.088 [SPEAKER_01]: Memphis Obituary Company and Tyler's graphics and printing, doing print jobs and small orders that made him feel useful and trusted. 15:55.529 --> 16:01.622 [SPEAKER_01]: This was framed as mentorship and opportunity, the kind of things churches often celebrate from the platform. 16:01.602 --> 16:04.367 [SPEAKER_01]: Everything shifted when the boy's mom went through his phone. 16:04.788 --> 16:12.622 [SPEAKER_01]: She says she opened it and her heart shattered when she found nude photos and explicit sexual conversations tied to Marcus Smith. 16:13.063 --> 16:14.886 [SPEAKER_01]: And she went straight to the police. 16:14.906 --> 16:22.480 [SPEAKER_01]: Only then did she learn that the man messaging her son was already a registered sex offender who had previously gone to prison for exploiting a child. 16:22.460 --> 16:26.228 [SPEAKER_01]: Federal authorities brought new charges against Smith, this time tied to this boy. 16:26.889 --> 16:32.560 [SPEAKER_01]: May 2025, Smith played guilty to the new sex offenses, it was sentenced to 30 years in prison. 16:32.981 --> 16:37.971 [SPEAKER_01]: As sentence, the boy's mother says still doesn't feel like enough time in the world for what he did. 16:37.951 --> 16:45.743 [SPEAKER_01]: So by that point, one pastor from Jordan River, Missionary Baptist Church, was officially a twice convicted sex offender with a decades-long sentence. 16:46.263 --> 16:47.966 [SPEAKER_01]: But the story didn't end with Smith. 16:48.467 --> 17:02.828 [SPEAKER_01]: On February 10th, 2026, a Shelby County Grand jury also indicted Martin A. Steyler, the business owner who had been working with the young boy, on Tennessee State charges of human trafficking and aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor. 17:02.808 --> 17:13.689 [SPEAKER_01]: The same boy at the center of Smith's case is identified as the victim in Tyler's case, making Tyler the second church leader from the same congregation accused of sexually exploiting him. 17:14.190 --> 17:24.850 [SPEAKER_01]: Tyler was taken to custody with bail set at $200,000 as now facing serious state charges tied to what allegedly happened in the context of his business and church rules. 17:24.830 --> 17:29.798 [SPEAKER_01]: In my next headline, a Christian school teacher was charged for sexually assaulting a teen girl. 17:30.379 --> 17:43.480 [SPEAKER_01]: Back in March 2023, 46-year-old Jonathan Sowers was arrested on two felony charges, one count of a school employee sex act and one count of a school employee sexual contact with a student under 19. 17:43.460 --> 17:47.166 [SPEAKER_01]: He's now been charged as facing trial at the end of March 26. 17:47.987 --> 17:55.119 [SPEAKER_01]: The alleged abuse took place while Sours was a soccer coach and a Bible and science teacher at Faith Academy in Mobile, Alabama. 17:55.440 --> 18:03.072 [SPEAKER_01]: According to Alabama, Fox 10, Deputy said the 16-year-old alleged victim told her parents she was headed to Walmart to buy school supplies. 18:03.052 --> 18:11.808 [SPEAKER_01]: She hadn't returned in an hour and a half, so they went out, found her car, but did not find her daughter in the car, so Lieutenant Mark Bailey with the MCSO. 18:11.828 --> 18:16.477 [SPEAKER_01]: They went inside the Walmart and could not locate their daughter, so they became very concerned. 18:17.018 --> 18:22.849 [SPEAKER_01]: Allegedly, Sours had picked her up in his vehicle and drove her to a different parking lot where he had sex with her. 18:22.829 --> 18:25.955 [SPEAKER_01]: the victim told investigators that this had been going on for months. 18:26.476 --> 18:33.309 [SPEAKER_01]: Investigators told Alabama Fox 10 that they have surveillance video of the team getting into Sowers car before leaving the Walmart. 18:33.830 --> 18:40.062 [SPEAKER_01]: When I was diving into this particular story involving Jonathan Sowers, I came across a Reddit post from last year that said, 18:40.042 --> 18:43.768 [SPEAKER_01]: to anyone looking for private schools for the children, avoid faith academy. 18:44.208 --> 18:52.841 [SPEAKER_01]: I may be preaching to the choir here since they already don't have an amazing reputation, but my family has had to deal with their lack of empathy and just overall lack of care for their students. 18:53.302 --> 18:58.330 [SPEAKER_01]: Students are nothing but dollar science, these insensitive, falsely religious pedophile hiring idiots. 18:58.770 --> 19:03.197 [SPEAKER_01]: Thankfully, my situation has nothing to do with the latter, but it's no secret. 19:03.177 --> 19:10.907 [SPEAKER_01]: I was wondering what they were referring to and upon further digging, I found out that this is not the first teacher at Faith Academy to have sexually abused a student. 19:11.528 --> 19:21.901 [SPEAKER_01]: We back in 2015, 33-year-old Christina Busby was arrested on two counts of being a school employee and engaging in a sexual act with a student under 19 years old. 19:22.361 --> 19:28.609 [SPEAKER_01]: She said inappropriate texts and a provocative video invited the student to her home and engaged in sexual activity. 19:29.070 --> 19:31.513 [SPEAKER_01]: Her victim was a 17-year-old boy. 19:31.493 --> 19:46.667 [SPEAKER_01]: NBC 15 reported that she pleaded guilty in February 2017 to a consolidated misdemeanor assault charge, with sentenced to six months in jail, served at Metro jail, had two years probation and was required to relinquish her teaching certificate. 19:46.647 --> 19:49.151 [SPEAKER_01]: And my last headline takes us to Tennessee. 19:49.791 --> 19:52.315 [SPEAKER_01]: Abortion has been the illegal in Tennessee since 2022. 19:53.316 --> 19:59.806 [SPEAKER_01]: Those who perform them are charged with a class C felony punishable by 3 to 15 years in prison and fines of up to $10,000. 20:00.607 --> 20:04.753 [SPEAKER_01]: Those who drive some to another state to have an abortion can spend up to a year in prison. 20:05.233 --> 20:16.249 [SPEAKER_01]: There are no exceptions in state law for rape, incest or fatal fetal anomalies such as when a fetus's heart goes outside of the body. 20:16.229 --> 20:33.388 [SPEAKER_01]: Vivian Jones from the Nashville, Tennessee in reports, an amendment drafted for House Bill 570 and Senate Bill 738 with a loud prosecutors to charge women who obtain abortions with fetal homicide, punishable by life imprisonment, life without parole, and in some cases, the death penalty. 20:33.748 --> 20:44.380 [SPEAKER_01]: The bill specifically removes legal protections for pregnant women currently in statute, and classifies harm done to an unborn child as equal to assault on a person 20:44.360 --> 20:55.833 [SPEAKER_01]: As of the time I'm recording this February 25th, 2025, the bill did not get enough support to move forward in the house, but I still want to talk about it, specifically because of one of its outspoken endorsers, Clint Presley. 20:56.394 --> 20:59.418 [SPEAKER_01]: Clint Presley is the current president of the Southern Baptist Convention. 20:59.798 --> 21:06.486 [SPEAKER_01]: The largest body of Southern Baptist with approximately 12.7 million members as of 2024. 21:06.466 --> 21:11.718 [SPEAKER_01]: He took to Twitter to say, I am glad to support HB570 and SB738. 21:11.738 --> 21:21.842 [SPEAKER_01]: Two bills in the Tennessee legislature that would protect every preborn child in Tennessee from abortion by providing preborn children with equal protection of the law. 21:21.822 --> 21:29.429 [SPEAKER_01]: By protecting the lives of pre-born children with the same laws that protect people who are born, we're simply loving our neighbors in the womb, as ourselves. 21:30.069 --> 21:37.096 [SPEAKER_01]: Tennessee now has the opportunity to set an example of how states can protect the sanctity of human life, from conception to natural death. 21:37.536 --> 21:42.120 [SPEAKER_01]: I am urging the Tennessee legislature to move these bills forward, this legislative session. 21:42.601 --> 21:44.923 [SPEAKER_01]: It's both pro-life and consistent. 21:45.243 --> 21:51.829 [SPEAKER_01]: That's right, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention celebrated a bill which would allow 21:51.809 --> 21:53.792 [SPEAKER_01]: as pro-life. 21:53.812 --> 22:11.758 [SPEAKER_01]: Christopher Brown and author and advocate against clergy abuse responded in part by saying, while they may call such abortion bands pro-life, it's worth noting that women who live in states with such draconian bands are nearly twice as likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth, or soon after giving birth, as compared to women living in other states. 22:11.738 --> 22:15.825 [SPEAKER_01]: and miscarriages can become high-risk events, both medically and legally. 22:16.265 --> 22:21.694 [SPEAKER_01]: According to the Center for Disease Control, Tennessee already has the highest maternal mortality rate in the nation. 22:22.375 --> 22:29.327 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, Tennessee lawmakers want to stir still more death into the mix, by having the state itself deal out the death penalty to women who have abortions. 22:29.948 --> 22:36.278 [SPEAKER_01]: And so the Baptist leaders are working to put the power and influence of their 12.7 million member faith group behind this. 22:36.258 --> 22:45.987 [SPEAKER_01]: Of course, these are the same people who, for decades, have turned a blind eye to pastors who rape kids and have repeatedly rejected institutional accountability and common sense safeguarding measures. 22:46.427 --> 22:47.348 [SPEAKER_01]: But I digress. 22:47.908 --> 22:50.531 [SPEAKER_01]: I recommend reading Chris's full article on this matter. 22:50.551 --> 22:52.673 [SPEAKER_01]: It is well worth your time. 22:52.953 --> 22:56.877 [SPEAKER_01]: That's all the stories I'm going to be covering on this episode, but of course, the work isn't over. 22:56.897 --> 23:06.265 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm currently working on several very important interviews and preparing a few larger stories of institutional abuse within religious circles and I hope you'll stay tuned 23:06.245 --> 23:26.751 [SPEAKER_01]: Remember if you want to support the show even further, head over to patreon.com slash preacher boys, you can help make this show possible and you get early access to certain episodes behind the scenes looks at different content and even some exclusive items that are only available to patron supporters, head over to patreon.com slash preacher boys and I'll see you over there. 23:27.192 --> 23:35.442 [SPEAKER_01]: You've been listening to the preacher boys podcast hosted by Eric Squizinski. 23:35.422 --> 23:49.583 [SPEAKER_06]: I said come one come on We are gathered here today To praise the only fire To fill the glory of his name Anyone can worship here So long as you act straight