ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote to these poisons is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Left-wing, National Council of Churches denominations.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Favorite Video? - Party in the MLC!
Koehn
Ex-teacher gets five months for sex with teen girl she mentored
Ex-teacher, coach was girl's mentor
By Frederick Melo
fmelo@pioneerpress.com
Updated: 02/05/2010 11:18:19 PM CST
A Kenosha, Wis., woman has been sentenced to five months in a county jail and 10 years' probation for maintaining a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student at a private West St. Paul high school.
Melissa Diana Koehn, 31, a former teacher and basketball coach, was ordered to pay $200 and register as a sex offender. Prosecutors had asked for a state prison sentence, but Dakota County District Judge Robert King stayed the execution of a three-year prison term. Her jail sentence begins Feb. 11.
Koehn taught history at St. Croix [WELS] Lutheran High School, where she befriended the girl and began an unofficial mentoring relationship with her during the girl's sophomore year.
When the girl began showing signs of depression, Koehn held frequent meetings with her and got to know her family, who at first warmed to the mentoring. Koehn joined them for dinners, holidays, social outings and overnight visits.
Authorities believe the relationship escalated by July 2008, shortly before the girl's senior year. During Koehn's jury trial in November, the girl's mother described frequent phone calls and finding an elaborate love letter.
In December, an Apple Valley police officer discovered Koehn kissing the girl in a parked car in a park. Koehn was arrested the next day.
On the witness stand, the teen denied any sexual contact with Koehn, then later said she couldn't remember.
Under Minnesota law, sexual contact with a 16- or 17-year-old is a felony if the
perpetrator is more than four years older and in a position of authority over the teen.
Koehn's attorney maintained that the relationship was not a crime because Koehn had taken a leave of absence from the school in the summer of 2008. Prosecutors noted, however, she had the girl in history class her freshman year and coached her in basketball her sophomore year.
On Nov. 20, a jury deliberated three hours before finding Koehn guilty of three counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact.
Frederick Melo can be reached at 651-228-2172.
The story was previously covered on Ichabod - where else? Read the details. Was a deal made to create the memory lapse? See the details in the linked Ichabod story.
Mary Lou College really needs a gaydar dish installed, or they should change the name to Mother Jones College.
This Archbishop Could Fill the Weakland Chair at Wisconsin Lutheran College
Roman Archbishop Weakland publicly taught at WLC,
apparently "outside the framework of fellowship."
Listecki misled legislators on policy, Eau Claire police chief says
The Eau Claire police chief is accusing Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki of being untruthful to lawmakers about the notification procedure for clergy sex abuse allegations in the La Crosse Diocese, where he previously served as bishop.
In a development that victims' advocates say is related, a La Crosse priest has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman he was counseling through a divorce, months after the diocese investigated and found no credible evidence supporting her accusations.
In a Jan. 22 letter to state Sen. Jon Erpenbach, Eau Claire Police Chief Jerry Matysik takes issue with a La Crosse Diocese policy that directs those with accusations of clergy sex abuse involving children to notify the diocese - rather than civil authorities, as directed by some dioceses.
According to Matysik, Listecki told Erpenbach during a Jan. 12 Senate Judiciary hearing that the policy was not current, saying, "If you take a look at the statement, that's not something that is happening now."
Matysik said the policy has remained unchanged, only substituting Diocesan Administrator Monsignor Richard Gilles' name as the point of contact for Listecki's, who took over as Milwaukee's archbishop in January.
In the letter to Erpenbach, Matysik said: "Senator Erpenbach, I carefully reviewed the interchange between you and Archbishop Listecki and it is clear that Archbishop Listecki's response was untruthful."
In an interview Thursday, Matysik said about Listecki: "He either misunderstood the question or misled the committee."
For more than a year, Matysik has been trying to get the La Crosse Diocese to change the statement, which appeared in the La Crosse Catholic Times as recently as late January.
"Archbishop Listecki appears more interested in protecting the organization than he is in protecting children," he said.
Listecki was not available for comment Thursday, his spokeswoman said. Erpenbach did not return a call seeking comment. The Jan. 12 hearing involved a bill that would make it easier for sex abuse victims to sue their offenders, which Listecki testified against.
Attorney defends diocese
La Crosse Diocese attorney James Birnbaum said the diocese's notification policy has been vetted by auditors and law enforcement officials on its sex abuse review board and made available to prosecutors in the diocese's 19 counties, and that no one but Matysik has taken issue with it. He said the policy lets the diocese respond more quickly to protect children, and that it turns over all allegations involving children immediately to civil authorities as required by law."We've never failed to report (child sex abuse) immediately to authorities," he said.
The Milwaukee Archdiocese's notification statement, which is posted on its Web site at www.archmil.org, directs those with complaints of sexual abuse involving victims younger than age 18 to notify civil authorities.
The latest sex abuse charge in La Crosse, against the Rev. Edmund Donkor-Baine, a visiting priest from Guyana, involves an adult, for which there is no state requirement to notify civil authorities. But it illustrates the concerns raised by victim advocates who say the La Crosse Diocese, where Listecki served as bishop from 2005 until 2009, sides overwhelmingly with priests over victims.
Donkor-Baine, 47, is accused of indecently touching a 47-year-old woman and forcing her to touch him in August while they sat in a vehicle in the Town of Shelby, according to the La Crosse County Sheriff's Department.
Donkor-Baine, who is free on a $250 signature bond, is scheduled for a hearing Feb. 11 in La Crosse County Circuit Court on a charge of fourth-degree sexual assault.
La Crosse County Sheriff's Capt. Kurt Papenfuss said the woman first reported the incident to the diocese, but it dismissed the allegations as not credible.
Birnbaum denied that characterization in an interview Thursday but was quoted in the La Crosse Tribune as saying "sufficient evidence did not exist to confirm the woman's story. There were no other like or similar allegations ever made."
A letter from Listecki to the woman in December said he needed a "sufficient amount of corroborating evidence to proceed" and could not "conclusively determine what happened," but the diocese has taken steps to limit and monitor the priest's activities.
A study for the U.S. Conference of Bishops found that the La Crosse Diocese sided with priests over victims in 64% of cases, compared with the national average of just less than 10%.
"This is a real-time illustration of what we've been trying to bring forward about the problem up there," Peter Isely of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests said of the charges against Donkor-Baine. "The bishop is instructing Catholics to report sex crimes to him. That's what this woman did, and this is what happened."
Papenfuss and Matysik, who was not involved in the investigation involving the woman, said victims of crimes should notify police, not the perpetrator or his employer.
"If my car is stolen, I'm not going to go to the thief," Papenfuss said. "Why would you go to the person who wronged you?"
Drive-By DMins Promote Drive-By Prayers
ELCA Bishop Confused - It's a Bully Pulpit - Not a Pulpit Bully
The Rev. Dr. Gary M. Wollersheim
Bishop
Chief Operating Officer, Spiritual Leader, Teacher of the Faith,
Pastor to all, and Servant of the Synod above all Synods - ELCA
Pastor to all, and Servant of the Synod above all Synods - ELCA
815-964-9934
bishop@nisynod.org
bishop@nisynod.org
Gary's response to our requested meeting
February 4, 2010
Ms. K---- M-----
Congregational Council Secretary
Faith Lutheran Church
1611 41st Street
Moline , IL 61265
Dear Ms. M------ and Congregational Council members of Faith Lutheran Church :
Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I find the request to meet with me from the Congregational Council of Faith Lutheran Church to be inconsistent with your past behavior.
I have made offers to meet with members of Faith Lutheran Church but they have either been ignored or refused. I have even suggested dates and times when I would be available.
I have written your pastor on several occasions and my letters for the most part have not been answered.
An attorney from Faith Lutheran Church has attempted to limit my contact with congregational members even though I serve as the pastor of the Northern Illinois Synod.
When the properly instituted Northern Illinois Synod Consultation Team was scheduled to conduct interviews at Faith Lutheran Church they were refused access to the Church building and were threatened: “This team will not be allowed to enter our property and will be removed by the Moline Police Department if they attempt to do so. “
I have also been accused by members of Faith Lutheran Church of being a liar and denying the basic tenants of the Christian faith as confessed in the Apostles’ Creed. These accusations are absolutely false and are a clear violation of the Eighth Commandment and Luther’s meaning:
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
“What does this mean?” ‘We are to fear and love God so that we do not betray, slander, or lie about our neighbor, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain his actions in the kindest way.’
Now, if you still wish to meet with me, I will need some explanation of the above behavior. Then we will need to agree on the purpose of said meeting and the agenda. After this is accomplished, I am willing to receive Congregational Council members only, at my office at 103 West State Street , Rockford . An appointment may be made through my administrative assistant, Ms. Julie Lewis. You may reach Ms. Lewis at (815) 964-9934.
In Christ,
Bishop Gary M. Wollersheim
Hard copy mailed to:
Ms. K---- M-------
Faith Lutheran Church
1611 41st Street
Moline , IL 61265
Bishop Gary M. Wollersheim
Northern Illinois Synod
103 W. State Street
Rockford, IL 61101
Phone: (815) 964-9934
Fax: (815) 964-2295
Email: bishop@nisynod.org
Unpublished Snarkers Get Themselves into Trouble
I love it when unpublished, anonymous snarkers try their GA-style humor in the comments section.
Flash news for y'all - Your publishing house sold my Liberalism: Its Cause and Cure for years and gave me the publishing rights. The book went through three printings, so someone was buying it. Liberalism will be available soon, via Lulu.
According to the logic of many Sausage Factory graduates, you are in fellowship with me and approve every word I have ever published, every book I have ever quoted, every comic book I have ever read. See the fake blog for examples of WELS illiteracy.
That also means Liberalism will be a free download for anyone.
NPH is currently selling Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant.
NPH wants me to review its books, and I have several more to write up in the near future.
Justification will be done fairly soon, March, God willing. I can do revisions instantly through Lulu, so I can move that along. Future question - do you subscribe to the Unaltered JBF?
More bad or good news - Printed copies of Thy Strong Word are gone, except for the second-hand market. I found all the files on my computer. I will probably print each chapter as a small book and everything together as a monster book.
All the PDFs are free from Lulu. I could charge but I would rather sow the seed than build new barns. Look what that did for St. Marv of Schwan. Premature death. Second wife went back to Rome. Foundation loot facilitated WELS/LCMS financial meltdowns.
I gotta hand one thing to Marv, and only a billionaire could do it. He proved once and for all that money is NOT a Means of Grace.
---
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Unpublished Snarkers Get Themselves into Trouble":
Brett,
I am firmly in Pastor Jackson's camp. However, I am one of many people who absolutely cannot be publicly associated with this blog. It is not a matter of faithlessness or cowardice. It is simply a matter of survival. I do not know if you have every been under the authority of the CG crowd, but they are unforgiving and ruthless when openly challenged. Here is the choice many of us face: openly attack and undermine them, and lose the ability to do what good we can for and with faithful people in the WELS or resist them behind the scenes and continue to serve, encourage, and strenghthen those we are called to serve and serve with.
Not all of us have the luxury of fighting our battles out in the open, and life is not always as black and white as you may like it to be. Believe me when I say that hundreds of little skirmishes in WELS and its institutions are fought every day (still at great risk to those who fight them) in ways that you will never see or know about.
***
GJ - I don't remember "fighting a battle out in the open" ever being a luxury! I do know the apostates never fight in the open. They deny, deceive, and destroy.
I recognize that there are many faithful pastors who are doing the best they can. I have been impressed with the number of LCMS pastors who identify as pro-life Book of Concord Lutherans.
---
Scott E. Jungen has left a new comment on your post "Unpublished Snarkers Get Themselves into Trouble":
Brett,
I'm going to have to second that Anonymous 4:08PM has to say. I'm in the Northern WI District, can you imagine having to fight Deputy Doug publicly? Who do you think makes up the call lists for the District? Since I'm no longer a WELS called worker, I have the freedom to speak my mind. I've already had my "means of income" taken away. There's nothing the district as a whole can do to me. Anonymous 4:08, feel free to look up my e-mail address in a WELS 2008-2009 yearbook and contact me. I'm the son of a CIA cryptographer, I know how to keep a secret!
Hi Steve! (inside joke to a friend I've steered to this website.
---
Scott E. Jungen has left a new comment on your post "Unpublished Snarkers Get Themselves into Trouble":
Dr. Jackson,
Ooops! It should read "second what Anonymous 4:08..." I've already seen you wield a pretty mean red pen so I will correct myself.
***
GJ - I chasten those whom I love.
There are many different ways to blow apostasy wide open. Providing information that I can publish is one way. Many people participate. I shared some between two researchers and one said, "That person is doing some heavy-duty research." They did not know each other and still do not. Others get in touch with each other various ways, but I do not reveal sources unless there is an agreement to do so. Once two people got together for something worthwhile and I did not even know the identity of one of them at the time.
The Internet means that most of us will not meet each other face-to-face on this earth.
I think it is essential to know how the money is being spent on apostasy and to stop it every way possible. Anyone can oppose these louts to their faces. Not everyone feels strong enough to do so, but there are those who are glad to do what is necessary and possible. Not attending is another vote against apostasy.
Pastors and councils and voters can write letters. A letter has a lot of impact. It should be factual, doctrinal, and copied all over the place.
DP Robert Mueller did not even acknowledge my letters, so I sent one all over Creation. That shocked him. "Why did you do that?" He must have heard from a few people. I said, "You never even acknowledged my letters."
Some people start blogs. A blog can be read all over the world and gets picked up by various softwares and Google. The best blogging is persistent, but even a good collection of facts, documents, and opinions will get around.
When I was your age, I would say to a new blogger, I did my own copying, addressed my own envelopes, paid my own postage, and reached about 20 people at the time, most of them trembling in their rabbit-warrens, fearful that someone would see my envelope on their desk. Now people can read it without fear of discovery and act upon the facts.
Ah, how the apostates are crying and whining now. Team Ichabod can outproduce them easily, by multiples. Over 40,000 pages were read here last month. Meanwhile, the CG experiments are oozing flop-sweat and clawing for more money to support their Copy and Paste Ministries.
This is what tickles me the most. What is the one prevalent theme of the Shrinkers in WELS? Right. They plagiarize.
What do they do to counter me, after howling about my creative artwork?
Correct. They plagiarize, without permission, from my blog. I am happy that they do. If I were not proud of Deputy Doug's graphic, I would not have designed and posted it - truly a labor of love. If five more people see it, I am happy, even if the thief is ranting about something he cannot comprehend, drunk or sober.
The Shrinkers cannot compose a case for what they do, so their only refuge is to obsess about what I do and call it a sin. A fake blog aimed against one person is rather peculiar, most people would say. I am not going to say the guy was potty-trained at gunpoint, but something went terribly wrong in his upbringing.
I assume he will run away and erase all his files, as he did twice before. If so, I will be crestfallen, because his fulminations are the nilhil obstat and imprimatur of this blog.
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