Letter: Church showed support for wrong person

Published 1:30 am Saturday, June 20, 2026

Editor,

This is in response to the “church family” letter. The subject of the legal proceedings plead guilty to sexually assaulting multiple women and is now a registered sex offender. This matters — it’s not a “here nor there” situation and should not be minimized to fit a narrative for one’s selfish actions. As a close friend of one of the victims, it was disheartening to see such a crowd of “community members” supporting the guilty party.

One would think that support would have been provided to the victims who are also members of the community. Sexual assault can happen to anyone — I wonder if this much compassion would have been shown had one of the victims been part of the flock — a sister, a granddaughter, a friend. I also wonder what God would think of supporting those who intentionally hurt others. That’s not a community I would want to be part of.

Lauren Newman

Redmond