26 ICSA TODAY
Feds raid televangelist Benny Hinn’s Grapevine offices
“U.S. Postal Service inspectors and IRS investigators were
searching the offices of televangelist Benny Hinn in Grapevine
on Wednesday. NBC 5 reported that ‘A large number of agents’
were seen carrying boxes in and out of Hinn’s offices, beginning at
about 9 a.m. Reporters from WFAA and Fox 4 also reported seeing
federal agents executing a search warrant. … The U.S. Postal
Inspection Service referred questions to the U.S. attorney’s office
for the Northern District of Texas, which was ‘unable to confirm or
deny if there is an investigation,’ spokeswoman Lisa Slimak said.
… Hinn in 2007 was the subject of a Senate Finance Committee
investigation… The investigation ended in 2011 with no penalties
against Hinn or several other high-profile religious leaders. Hinn
said in a statement at the time that the investigation ‘has caused
us to renew our commitment to always honor our partners’
sacrificial giving.’” (Star-Telegram, 04/26/17)
Germany, Chile agree to form joint commission on secretive
cult
“Germany and Chile have agreed to create a commission to
document crimes committed at a secretive sect founded by
an ex-Nazi in the foothills of the Andes, the Chilean foreign
relations ministry said on Thursday. … Colonia Dignidad was
founded in 1961 by former World War II German army medic
Paul Schaefer. The community, which embraced ultra-traditional
values, operated as an isolated cult under Schaefer, who sexually
abused and tortured dozens of youths. During the 1973 to 1990
dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, the community also served
as a detention and torture site for enemies of the regime. … In
2006, former members of the cult issued a public apology and
asked for forgiveness for 40 years of human rights abuses in
their community, saying they were brainwashed by Schaefer,
who many viewed as a God. Colonia Dignidad continues to stir
controversy in Chile, as residents have rebranded the community
as a rustic, Bavaria-themed retreat for Santiago residents, which
victims argue is disrespectful. Schaefer died in 2010, while serving
a 20-year sentence for sex abuse.” (Reuters, 07/13/17)
Judge tosses charge against pastor in faith-healing death
“A judge on Wednesday ruled there was insufficient evidence
to charge the leader of a church that rejects modern medicine,
but prosecutors said they would try again to bring him to trial
in the pneumonia death of his granddaughter … 2-year-old Ella
Foster… Hours after the district judge’s decision, the district
attorney’s office said it planned to refile the felony count. [Rev.
Rowland] Foster, 72, serves as pastor of Faith Tabernacle
Congregation, part of a fundamentalist Christian sect that
instructs members to eschew treatment by physicians and the
use of pharmaceutical drugs. Prosecutors argue he should have
reported the girl’s condition to authorities because state law
requires ministers to report suspected abuse. The girl’s parents,
Jonathan and Grace Foster, are charged with involuntary
manslaughter and await trial. They have relinquished custody
of their six other children, but have not commented on the
allegations. The church’s stance against modern medicine has
resulted in the deaths over the years of dozens of children from
preventable or treatable illnesses, most in Pennsylvania, according
to an advocacy group that tracks faith-based medical neglect.
Their members have said they hope the pastor’s prosecution
might spur change in a church that has resisted it. Defense
attorney Chris Ferro said after the hearing that ‘there’s just a lack
of evidence all the way around.’ …Ella Foster likely suffered from
severely labored breathing and a temperature of about 104 on
the day she died, police said in charging documents. Dr. Neil
Hoffman, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy,
called her condition ‘quite easily or eminently treatable’ and
said she almost certainly would have survived had she been
given antibiotics. He said she would have had severely labored
breathing and a bad cough for at least a day before she died. …
The pastor told police he has never been to a doctor. He did not
testify at the preliminary hearing and did not comment afterward.
A few dozen supporters attended the hearing, some softly singing
hymns in the rural central Pennsylvania court building.” (The
Associate Press, 04/20/17)
Fugitive FLDS church leader Lyle Jeffs arrested in South
Dakota
“Fugitive Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Lyle Jeffs has
been arrested in South Dakota,” the FBI confirmed to FOX 13.
Jeffs is in the Minnehaha County Jail in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
on a U.S. Marshals hold. No other details surrounding his arrest
were immediately released.” Jeffs, an FLDS Church bishop, has
“been on the run for nearly a year, after he escaped from home
confinement while awaiting trial on food stamp fraud charges.
…Since then, the FBI elevated Jeffs to its ‘Most Wanted’ list with a
$50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.” Next week
would have marked one year on the lam. Lyle Jeffs is the brother
of imprisoned polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, who is serving
a life sentence in Texas for child sex assault related to underage
marriages. The FLDS Church has maintained a compound in
South Dakota, near the tiny town of Pringle. “FOX 13 visited it last
year. It features a guard tower, and has a massive footprint for a
development that some have speculated could be the site of a
new temple.” (Fox 13 News, 06/15/17)
Judge rules polygamous border towns discriminate, but he
won’t break up the police force
“A federal judge has issued a major ruling in a discrimination case
involving the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah, and
Colorado City, Ariz[ona]. In an order issued late Tuesday and
obtained by FOX 13, U.S. District Court Judge Russel Holland ruled
the town governments and their police force did discriminate
against non-members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church.
However, he declined to enforce severe sanctions against them,
including dismantling the police force. …The ruling stems
from a lawsuit leveled in Phoenix by the U.S. Department of
Justice against Hildale and Colorado City, accusing the towns
of discriminating against non-FLDS members in housing and
services. The police force was accused of acting as de facto
agents for imprisoned FLDS leader Warren Jeffs. Judge Hilland
News Desk
24
Feds raid televangelist Benny Hinn’s Grapevine offices
“U.S. Postal Service inspectors and IRS investigators were
searching the offices of televangelist Benny Hinn in Grapevine
on Wednesday. NBC 5 reported that ‘A large number of agents’
were seen carrying boxes in and out of Hinn’s offices, beginning at
about 9 a.m. Reporters from WFAA and Fox 4 also reported seeing
federal agents executing a search warrant. … The U.S. Postal
Inspection Service referred questions to the U.S. attorney’s office
for the Northern District of Texas, which was ‘unable to confirm or
deny if there is an investigation,’ spokeswoman Lisa Slimak said.
… Hinn in 2007 was the subject of a Senate Finance Committee
investigation… The investigation ended in 2011 with no penalties
against Hinn or several other high-profile religious leaders. Hinn
said in a statement at the time that the investigation ‘has caused
us to renew our commitment to always honor our partners’
sacrificial giving.’” (Star-Telegram, 04/26/17)
Germany, Chile agree to form joint commission on secretive
cult
“Germany and Chile have agreed to create a commission to
document crimes committed at a secretive sect founded by
an ex-Nazi in the foothills of the Andes, the Chilean foreign
relations ministry said on Thursday. … Colonia Dignidad was
founded in 1961 by former World War II German army medic
Paul Schaefer. The community, which embraced ultra-traditional
values, operated as an isolated cult under Schaefer, who sexually
abused and tortured dozens of youths. During the 1973 to 1990
dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, the community also served
as a detention and torture site for enemies of the regime. … In
2006, former members of the cult issued a public apology and
asked for forgiveness for 40 years of human rights abuses in
their community, saying they were brainwashed by Schaefer,
who many viewed as a God. Colonia Dignidad continues to stir
controversy in Chile, as residents have rebranded the community
as a rustic, Bavaria-themed retreat for Santiago residents, which
victims argue is disrespectful. Schaefer died in 2010, while serving
a 20-year sentence for sex abuse.” (Reuters, 07/13/17)
Judge tosses charge against pastor in faith-healing death
“A judge on Wednesday ruled there was insufficient evidence
to charge the leader of a church that rejects modern medicine,
but prosecutors said they would try again to bring him to trial
in the pneumonia death of his granddaughter … 2-year-old Ella
Foster… Hours after the district judge’s decision, the district
attorney’s office said it planned to refile the felony count. [Rev.
Rowland] Foster, 72, serves as pastor of Faith Tabernacle
Congregation, part of a fundamentalist Christian sect that
instructs members to eschew treatment by physicians and the
use of pharmaceutical drugs. Prosecutors argue he should have
reported the girl’s condition to authorities because state law
requires ministers to report suspected abuse. The girl’s parents,
Jonathan and Grace Foster, are charged with involuntary
manslaughter and await trial. They have relinquished custody
of their six other children, but have not commented on the
allegations. The church’s stance against modern medicine has
resulted in the deaths over the years of dozens of children from
preventable or treatable illnesses, most in Pennsylvania, according
to an advocacy group that tracks faith-based medical neglect.
Their members have said they hope the pastor’s prosecution
might spur change in a church that has resisted it. Defense
attorney Chris Ferro said after the hearing that ‘there’s just a lack
of evidence all the way around.’ …Ella Foster likely suffered from
severely labored breathing and a temperature of about 104 on
the day she died, police said in charging documents. Dr. Neil
Hoffman, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy,
called her condition ‘quite easily or eminently treatable’ and
said she almost certainly would have survived had she been
given antibiotics. He said she would have had severely labored
breathing and a bad cough for at least a day before she died. …
The pastor told police he has never been to a doctor. He did not
testify at the preliminary hearing and did not comment afterward.
A few dozen supporters attended the hearing, some softly singing
hymns in the rural central Pennsylvania court building.” (The
Associate Press, 04/20/17)
Fugitive FLDS church leader Lyle Jeffs arrested in South
Dakota
“Fugitive Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Lyle Jeffs has
been arrested in South Dakota,” the FBI confirmed to FOX 13.
Jeffs is in the Minnehaha County Jail in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
on a U.S. Marshals hold. No other details surrounding his arrest
were immediately released.” Jeffs, an FLDS Church bishop, has
“been on the run for nearly a year, after he escaped from home
confinement while awaiting trial on food stamp fraud charges.
…Since then, the FBI elevated Jeffs to its ‘Most Wanted’ list with a
$50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.” Next week
would have marked one year on the lam. Lyle Jeffs is the brother
of imprisoned polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, who is serving
a life sentence in Texas for child sex assault related to underage
marriages. The FLDS Church has maintained a compound in
South Dakota, near the tiny town of Pringle. “FOX 13 visited it last
year. It features a guard tower, and has a massive footprint for a
development that some have speculated could be the site of a
new temple.” (Fox 13 News, 06/15/17)
Judge rules polygamous border towns discriminate, but he
won’t break up the police force
“A federal judge has issued a major ruling in a discrimination case
involving the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah, and
Colorado City, Ariz[ona]. In an order issued late Tuesday and
obtained by FOX 13, U.S. District Court Judge Russel Holland ruled
the town governments and their police force did discriminate
against non-members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church.
However, he declined to enforce severe sanctions against them,
including dismantling the police force. …The ruling stems
from a lawsuit leveled in Phoenix by the U.S. Department of
Justice against Hildale and Colorado City, accusing the towns
of discriminating against non-FLDS members in housing and
services. The police force was accused of acting as de facto
agents for imprisoned FLDS leader Warren Jeffs. Judge Hilland
News Desk
24
