Read Part One HERE
In this post I will focus on Jamin Wight a member of Christ Church pastored by Doug Wilson, who sexually abused a previous member of the church, Natalie (Rose) Greenfield.
Natalie's parents moved to Moscow and became members Christ Church when Natalie was 13 years old. They took in a 23-year old boarder, Jamin Wight who was a student at Greyfriar's Seminary, which is associated with Christ Church. He groomed and sexually, physically, verbally and emotionaly abused Natalie for over a three-year period. At the age of 17 she finally confided to a friend about the abuse. Her friend convinced her to tell her parents and to go to the police and press charges. Pastor Doug Wilson wrote to the case officer when he expressed his view that yes, Jamin Wight had sinned, but the Greenfields were foolish parents. He continued by stating that he does not believe Jamin to be a sexual predator.Wight's sentence ended up being reduced and he only served 4 months in prison.
Natalie has raised the following issues:
"I was offered little to no support from the Church I attended (Christ Church)."
"On the day of the sentencing my former pastor (Doug Wilson) and my abuser's pastor (Doug Wilson) sat on his side (Jamin Wight) of the courtroom."
"We were encouraged to go to mediation rather than to trial, and at the last minute the visiting judge decided the sentence/label of "sexual offender" was too harsh."
After having served his prison sentence, Wight returned to Mocow and to Christ Church, which understandably presented a very uncomfortable environment for Natalie. She left Christ Church.
Pastor Doug Wilson and Christ Church placed blame on Natalie, saying she consented (at the age of 13!!).
Natalie was placed in church disciple.
After Natalie left, she received an e-mail from the Church saying they would withhold communion until meeting with the elders.
According to Pastor Doug Wilson's written testimony:
".... the parents had bizarrely brought Jamin into the house as a boarder so that he could conduct a secret courtship with Natalie. So Jamin was in a romantic relationship with a young girl, her parents knew of the relationship and encouraged it, her parents permitted a certain measure of physical affection to exist between them (e.g. hand-holding), Natalie was a beautiful and striking young woman, and at the time was about eight inches taller than Jamin was. Her parents believed that she was mature enough to be in the relationship, and the standards they set for the relationship would have been reasonable if she had in fact been of age and if the two had not been living under the same roof."
The above statement is incorrect for Natalie's parents had strictly forbidden any development of a physical or romantic relationship between her and Jamin Wight who had expressed an interest in getting to know her. Her parents had at that time told him to wait until she was older. As far as they were concerned there was no special friendship between the two of them and they were completely unaware of the sexual abuse that was happening under their roof. Her father was devastated when he eventually learned about it from Natalie.
Read Part Six HERE
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