Evangelist Convicted on 10 Counts of Sex Abuse

Old Tony sure wasn't hiding his head from the camera, was he? Reply

I got an awesome flier from his church about a month ago. "It's not global warming, it's global scorching and freezing!" 3 pages of unhinged hilarity. Too bad he's a Chi-mo. Reply

Where's your god now? Reply

Its not the religion, its the people who hide behind it or sit on a pedestal made from it. An idea of faith is healthy, BUT don't follow so blindly that your personal idea of right and wrong no longer factor. Reply

A very good point Serenity. Reply

It is not the religion, it is the man. It is not whatever god you or he may believe in, it is the sick and perverted actions that he took. I am no fan of religion in general but I refuse to tie all people of faith to one degenerate. That is presumptuous and narrow minded. Reply

Where were the parents of these little girls??? Reply

good question...just where ARE the parents during these little "faith based jaunts"......I don't know about the rest of "yall", but I am too suspicious for the safety of my daughter, to let her go on "missions" or whatever they want to call them...unless myself or her mother was with her....that type of activity just sets off the warning bells Reply

Is this the same guy who sold all of those ugly airbrushed denim jackets in the 1980's? http://celebgalz.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/4132.jpg Reply

My name is Keith Smith. I was abducted, beaten and raped by a stranger. It wasn't a neighbor, a coach, a relative, a family friend or teacher. It was a recidivist pedophile predator who spent time in prison for previous sex crimes; an animal hunting for victims in the quiet suburbs of Lincoln, Rhode Island. I was able to identify the guy and the car he was driving. He was arrested and indicted but never went to trial. His trial never took place because he was brutally beaten to death in Providence before his court date. 34 years later, no one has ever been charged with the crime. In the time between the night of my assault and the night he was murdered, I lived in fear. I was afraid he was still around town. Afraid he was looking for me. Afraid he would track me down and kill me. The fear didn’t go away when he was murdered. Although he was no longer a threat, the simple life and innocence of a 14-year-old boy was gone forever. Carefree childhood thoughts replaced with the unrelenting realization that my world wasn’t a safe place. My peace shattered by a horrific criminal act of sexual violence. Over the past 34 years, I’ve been haunted by horrible, recurring memories of what he did to me. He visits me in my sleep. There have been dreams–nightmares actually–dozens of them, sweat inducing, yelling-in-my-sleep nightmares filled with images and emotions as real as they were when it actually happened. It doesn’t get easier over time. Long dead, he still visits me, silently sneaking up from out of nowhere when I least expect it. From the grave, he sits by my side on the couch every time the evening news reports a child abduction or sex crime. I don’t watch America’s Most Wanted or Law and Order SVU, because the stories are a catalyst, triggering long suppressed emotions, feelings, memories, fear and horror. Real life horror stories rip painful suppressed memories out from where they hide, from that recessed place in my brain that stores dark, dangerous, horrible memories. It happened when William Bonin confessed to abducting, raping and murdering 14 boys in California; when Jesse Timmendequas raped and murdered Megan Kanka in New Jersey; when Ben Ownby, missing for four days, and Shawn Hornbeck, missing for four years, were recovered in Missouri. Despite what happened that night and the constant reminders that continue to haunt me years later, I wouldn’t change what happened. The animal that attacked me was a serial predator, a violent pedophile trolling my neighborhood in Lincoln, Rhode Island looking for young boys. He beat me, raped me, and I stayed alive. I lived to see him arrested, indicted and murdered. It might not have turned out this way if he had grabbed one of my friends or another kid from my neighborhood. Perhaps he’d still be alive. Perhaps there would be dozens of more victims and perhaps he would have progressed to the point of silencing his victims by murdering them. Out of fear, shame and guilt, I’ve been silent for... Reply

Keith Smith Story Continues.... over three decades, not sharing with anyone the story of what happened to me. No more. The silence has to end. What happened to me wasn't my fault. The fear, the shame, the guilt have to go. It’s time to stop keeping this secret from the people closest to me, people I care about, people I love, my long-time friends and my family. It’s time to speak out to raise public awareness of male sexual assault, to let other survivors know that they’re not alone and to help survivors of rape and violent crime understand that the emotion, fear and memories that may still haunt them are not uncommon to those of us who have shared a similar experience. My novel, Men in My Town, was inspired by these actual events. Men in My Town is available now at www.Amazon.com For those who suffer in silence, I hope my story brings some comfort, strength, peace and hope. For additional information, please visit the Men in My Town blog at www.meninmytown.wordpress.com Reply

I am assembling a collection of news reports on these false prophets who use religion to raise money (or get/stay elected while all the time they are practicing what they preach against the most). The file is getting rather thick. What is really amazing is the capacity for our so called relgious leaders to "forgive" those with whom they agree politically (Vitter, Ensign, Sanford) while they continue to rail against those with whom they disagree on everything else (i.e. Clinton). The Bible advises us to beware of false prophets and, if I'm not mistaken, bearing false witness -- which so many of these guys do -- is also one of the ten no-no's. All in all, our organized religions have a penchant for hypocrisy unmatched by any other segment of the population. (Altar boys anyone?) The thing is, if you reduce your recruiting pool to people who are willing to forego sex with women, and, if sex is one of the driving forces of human nature, you wind up with people who want sex with someone other than a woman. The whole purpose of the celibacy thing was to avoid disputes over church property anyway so how did it become an edict from God? It's enough to make me turn into a pagan, which at least admits to superstitions. Ah well, life goes on. Reply