Sex Offenders in Church/Safety Plan

One of my clients, a registered sex offender and probationer, formerly an active member of a San Francisco community church who is negotiating his way back into the flock, found something on the Internet entitled, “Church Attendance Safety Plan,” which he wanted to share with me. I do not know its providence but it may be useful to others.
The cut and pasted document begins: “The purpose of this safety plan is to support the probationer in . . . exercising his religious freedom while assuring the safety of the community . . . while minors are present.”

A 13 item check list follows, including:

* Church services without children present do not require supervision.

* Church services with children present require a "supervisor" to be present

* Supervisor accompanies probationer throughout the church except the bathroom where the supervisor must enter first and confirm that no children are present. Must precede probationer to confirm no boys are inside

* Attendance at other church functions must be approved in advance and monitored as appropriate (as above)

This particular Church Attendance Safety Plan puts me in mind of one of my first sex clients, which began my interest in this field.

His profile: 64, no criminal record, the pastor of his own small but successful church outside Houston, father and husband, lived and living an exemplarity life. His crime: his housekeeper’s 15-year old daughter enticed him into fondling her breasts. Twice, on two separate occasions this evil man of God ‘took advantage’ of a girl (who got herself pregnant a year later with someone closer to her age) by touching her newly arrived and loudly announced breasts, as offered to him.

A year later the young lady went to her Mom, owned up to being pregnant, with some of the explanation being the daughter’s memory of those violations of her upper person.

Result? Loss of everything. including his church, plus life long stigma, and difficulty in supporting himself.

(I got involved because the gentleman’s TX lawyer wanted to move him to Napa to live with his ailing mother. Failed because the TX probation officer would not let him leave the state after I had arranged the hearing here.)