Amber’s Altar-Cations September 17, 2023

Altarcations is our way of changing the narrative in the conversation on who is grooming and molesting children.  The far right would like you to believe it’s the drag queens and members of the trans communities committing these offences.  But the facts point that the high percentage of offenders are ministers, priests, and others associated with religious education.

Why do some many people of religion like child pornography?

Florida man Shawn Fitzgerald was, I repeat was, director of youth services at a First United Methodist Church and a high school teacher, was arrested after investigators found more than 700 pictures and videos of child porn on his phone.  The images on his phone were of children as young as infants being sexually abused.

He's been sentenced to 35 years in prison.  Good luck surviving six months, pastor.

Tyler Selby a worship leader at a Baptist church in Mississippi, was arrested on federal charges of producing child pornography.

He is accused of producing a video that shows him in a tub with a young boy committing sexual acts.

Online, Selby, a married family man, posed as a 17-year-old girl named “Emma Long.”  To obtain child sexual abuse material, he shared a video of “Emma’s” 5-year-old sister engaging in sexual activity to entice others to sexually abuse children and share thei videos.  Worship leader indeed.

Rodolfo Martinez-Guevara, a priest with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles

has been charged with possession of child pornography.  Allegedly he possessed more than 600 images of child sexual abuse material, including pictures and videos of minors under 12 – unsurprisingly, mostly of boys.

The District Attorney said “As a priest, the defendant is in a position of tremendous power, authority, and trust. The alleged crimes deeply violate that trust and involve a disturbing number of sexual images of young boys. These are not simply images and videos … they constitute horrific exploitation of our most vulnerable.”

And while it may look like they’re wearing dresses, please don’t confuse them with Drag Queens.

And that’s this week’s Altar-Cations.