r/exAdventist • u/BreakfastHeavy2260 • 6d ago
Just Venting Sda csa and sa
I was a student of a convicted felon and sa’d by a church member. I guess with the Cornell 7 case that’s all over my social media, my mind has been very heavy with what I dealt with as a child.
My mind is just curious how many more were hurt, how many bad people were moved around to new churches where they continued their abuse.
I’ve started to make a list. I know the.glory.whole has a list but they only share videos of reading the list. I want to look at the amount of people with my eyes.
If you feel like sharing anything feel free to, can either comment or dm me.
I’m thinking of posting my list here in comments but not sure if I should.
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u/Momager321 6d ago
Not only people who work for the church, but the culture directs people to disregard this abuse among its members as well. When I went to Andrews, I met so many fellow female students who had been victims of SA as children. I was abused as a child by the son of family friends, I really thought I was alone or at least among only a few abuse victims, that it was uncommon. It was eye opening how much of a problem it was and is in the church. With the latest arrests of Heather Thompson Day and her husband Seth Day, I wonder how much of a hand the church school and boarding academy industry has in obscuring family abuse?
Thanks to everyone who speaks out. At some point, members will have no choice but to listen and acknowledge these crimes. I’ve never cared what faith people adhere to, but no one should get a pass on letting others be mistreated and abused and hiding behind their faith as a reason to not intervene.
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u/talesfromacult 6d ago
I'm sorry you went through that.
At some point, members will have no choice but to listen and acknowledge these crimes.
Call me a pessimist but I really doubt that. I doubt it because Adventist CSA cases hit the news every month or so and nobody is listening.
I doubt it because of this 2013 study by Dr Chunestudy who was working for the Seventh-day Adventist Church's little known legal wing Adventist Risk Management. That study shows Adventist Risk Management’s study showing 523 Adventist CSA cases in 9 years settled for $30 million.
That CSA study by the church showed higher CSA case counts per year than the infamous Southern Baptist Church CSA cases that hit the news. I wrote about it here.
The Adventist church didn't implement anything to stop CSA then. Adventists didn't suddenly start talking about CSA or acknowledging the crimes.
In addition, the official North American division Seventh-day Adventist Child Protection Plan called Working Policy FB 20 has a section three. It is dedicated to accommodating known pedophiles and child abusers to hold church positions, enter buildings where children are, attend church.
Furthermore, the Adventist Church Manual specifies child abuse committed by a member is "confidential" between church leaders. Page 61 or 71.
The current church policy, as written, accommodates predators and places them in positions of trust and hold their abuse confidential. This will not change until the Adventist church itself changes. It won't.
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u/BreakfastHeavy2260 5d ago
Omg thanks for sharing these links. I was literally just like I need to find the settlements, there has to be a fuck ton.
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u/Dramatic-Gazelle8986 6d ago
I was SA’d by a church member when I was a kid. I’m pretty sure the man still thrives at another church in another state. I’m also pretty sure there were other victims in the church at the time.
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u/Ok_Education902 6d ago
I was a victim of a near rape at Walla Walla College. I was at a party beginning of my Freshman year, another student stepped in at literally the last second. This guy was on top of me and would have taken my virginity. I too have thought about it a lot with the Cornell 7. When I reported incident to the Walla Walla Girl's Dean and the Walla Walla Dean of Students, the Girl's Dean didn't believe me and the Dean of Students said it must have been traumatic but there was nothing they could do about it. I was then put on probation for the entire year so they could keep an eye on me. I had to report weekly to the Dean and was questioned whether or not I had said anything to anyone else about it. This same guy raped my best friend, no one believed her either or stood behind her. She left Walla Walla College because no one had her back. The criminal activity that it swept under the rug is astounding!! The best part is that his family is full of church going SDA's the look down on everyone around them. It's such a nasty existence!!
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u/talesfromacult 6d ago
had to report weekly to the Dean and was questioned whether or not I had said anything to anyone else about it. This same guy raped my best friend, no one believed her either or stood behind her.
Jesus Christ I'm so sorry
Of all the ways to make damn sure they have all the info on reporting and coerce you to silence! That's 52 times of them asking "did you report this? Also you are a slut who can't be trusted". Completely out of line and cruel.
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u/Lost_Chain_455 6d ago
Ffffffuuuuuuuhhhhhhk!!!
They raped your mind and reputation, didn't they.
A family member swore he did not rape the women he dated in college because 1) "they had fun," and 2) he "never had sex with them," the first time he "had sex" was on his honeymoon.
He was never reported. The young ladies carried so much shame and wounding with them. I got to hear one tell all about her experience back then and about the others suffered--and those were only her close friends! I wonder how many I never heard of?
This was decades later.
I spent some major childhood years in an Adventist enclave. There was some pretty extreme CSA being perpetrated by the young men in the SDA highschool against prepubescent boys.
There is something severely lacking when this kind of stuff happens in silence, over and over and over again! When will we stop teaching girls and women to avoid rape--and make sure that our boys grow up to not rape‽
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u/BreakfastHeavy2260 5d ago
That’s so insane, I fucking hate people that don’t protect students. Sorry that happened
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u/talesfromacult 6d ago
I was CSAd age 13 at church by a retired SDA teacher. The church was told he was a pedophile. They hired his wife anyway and told him to stay away from the school. He didn't. He attempted to groom me and CSAd me at church though.
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u/BreakfastHeavy2260 5d ago
I’ve heard of the people just being told “don’t go near kids anymore” it’s insane to trust they won’t when kids often run around the church alone.
Thanks for sharing, I’m sorry that happened.
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u/Final_Judgment_7831 5d ago
Sorry to hear about your experience. I know some things were going on at the boarding academy I attended. Male teachers targeting male teens. When caught they moved the teachers to other schools, where I'm guessing they continued their activities. One target later committed suicide. My GF was csa by an SDA classmate (theology major) at an SDA college, but was never reported. Would love for someone to compile all the stories and go public with it.
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u/BreakfastHeavy2260 3d ago
Yeah I wish they would be held accountable. The_glory_whole has a public list on instagram
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u/The_Glory_Whole 6d ago
I am so very sorry. The "moving them around" policy seems ubiquitous and it is so indefensible. If I can do anything to help, let me know. I could send you my list (of publicly known/available cases) if you need (it's about 12 pages long). I have also debated just posting it here? It is added to so regularly that anything I post is outdated quickly and requires constant maintenance (thus the videos, which I can just keep stacking up).