Time and time again we see the spectacle of anti-gay Republican elected officials and "conservative Christian" leaders being convicted of sex crimes and/or involved in tawdry sex scandals (think now former Gov. Robert Bentley of Alabama). "Godless liberals" on the other hand in general - with a few exceptions - do not get themselves continually involved in such crimes and situations. To me, it goes to the utter hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy of those who wrap themselves in religion, condemn others, yet are themselves the liars and threats to children. The latest to deservedly fall is "Bishop" Kenneth Adkins, a Georgia pastor who last year in the wake of the Pulse nightclub massacre stated that the victims "got what they deserved" who was convicted on eight counts of child molestation involving a boy and a girl in his church congregation. As I have noted before, each issue of the Freedom From Religion Foundation's news letter is filled with pages full of clergy crimes. Adkins is not the exception, but the norm. Here are highlights from the Times-Union:
BRUNSWICK, Ga. | In a matter of an hour, a jury of three men and nine women found Kenneth Adkins guilty Monday of eight child molestation-related charges stemming from his sexual relationship with a teenage girl and boy at his church seven years ago.
The controversial, anti-gay pastor showed no emotion as the verdict was read. He will be sentenced April 25. Georgia has strict mandatory minimum sentencing laws; and because Adkins, 57, has a prior record, there’s a possibility he will never again be a free man.
Adkins’ attorney said once his client is sentenced, he’ll file paperwork for a new trial. Kevin Gough maintains the state deliberately withheld pertinent evidence that could have called into question the mental stability of Adkins’ accuser.
That accuser’s mother left the courtroom Monday in tears. Though not wishing to make a formal statement, she expressed her relief that the trial was over and that in the end her son was believed.
The young man, a specialist in the Army stationed at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, came forward a year ago and told the military about his past life with his girlfriend and Adkins. He admitted offering up his girlfriend sexually to Adkins seven years ago, when he and the girl were 15 and Adkins was 50.
The state claimed Adkinis was grooming the two teens — youths he was supposed to be mentoring — to have sexual intercourse in front of him.
Five of the charges he’s guilty of relate to the female, who denied anything of the sort happened. She lived with Adkins and his wife until about a month after Adkins’ arrest.
“She’s in his clutches,” [Assistant District Attorney] Gropper said. “What he has done to that girl is not only criminal, it is deplorable.”
Despite evidence suggesting Adkins did have some sort of sexual relationships with the male and female, Adkins in his phone call continued to say he never had sex with them. When asked about photos and electronic messages he sent, he said, “Those were bad decisions. I cannot justify any of that.”
Often, one of the most dangerous places for children is in church with their pastor. Rather than worry about false claims of molestation by transgender individuals, parents need to worry about Republican elected officials and their church's clergy.Adkins is a former drug addict who reinvented himself in Jacksonville when he opened up a public relations firm. Some in North Florida looked to him to help them gain black votes. Adkins was fairly successful. . . . Adkins told the Times-Union he was picked by multiple pastors to trumpet their anti-gay, anti-expansion stance.
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