A youth leader at a Texas megachurch has been arrested for allegedly inducing young girls to send him explicit inappropriate images.
Prosecution documents in Abilene, Texas, state that 24-year-old Charles Goff admitted to police that he went on social media and solicited nude photos from girls aged 14 and 15. They also allege that Goff met with a fellow church member and admitted his wrongdoing.
Goff was a youth volunteer at Beltway Park Church, a large baptist megachurch in Abilene in north central Texas with two campuses in the city and a congregation of nearly 5,000 people every week.
Not to defend churches in general, but the article headline here is pretty misleading in calling this guy a youth leader. He was a volunteer. And, to the church’s credit, when this came out they immediately began cooperating with law enforcement and even referred anyone with more info to talk to the police.
I don’t like churches in general, but this one did as well as any other organization that has volunteers working with kids. They had background checks in place and did not try to cover anything up.
They also have a volunteer position with many potential victims in the first place…
I also remember when I was a kid playing tag hide and seek with my cousins I chased them into one room but they suddenly stopped to look up at the figurines and said “it’s mary…” and didn’t respond to anything for 3-5 minutes. That was probably the first time I ever felt scared of the church.
I’m not sure what difference it makes here that it was a volunteer position. There was a background check (two, actually) just like there would have been if it was a paid position. Schools often use volunteers too to read to kids or tutor after school, etc.
I’m not saying churches are always this responsible. I’m saying we should applaud the ones that take steps to prevent this and work with law enforcement when those steps fail