Personal Stories from the Survivors of Sexual Abuse
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A History of Abuse
My Story (by Larry Spencer)
Background
1983 started like any other year. I was excited to be finishing the 8th grade at Teel Sr. Elementary school and moving on to Beyer High School in Modesto, CA. I was on a local little league baseball team and was surrounded by friends and a foster family who loved me.
My parents were very attentive and made sure that I had everything that a 13-year old boy could want. We took regular trips to exciting places like New York, Washington DC, fishing trips to Montana, snow-skiing trips to Bear Valley and Dodge Ridge, and summers at Lake Tahoe. When we weren't out running around, some of my most memorable moments were spent at First Baptist Church in Modesto, California. At the time, the church had about 3,000 active members. They had an outstanding youth program. My normal week was spent attending church on Sunday mornings and evenings in youth activities, Tuesday evenings in Bible Study, Wednesday evenings in choir practice and early Thursday mornings in Chi Alpha - a mini-bible study with different fun activities at Marty Pedlowe's house (I only mention his name because he and his wife were AWESOME!). Each year, we spent a week at Summer Camp (Sugar Pine), a week of Winter Camp in the snow, "Grub Camp"(a three to four day backpacking adventure) and would travel once or twice a year on Choir Tour. For those who don't understand the enormity of these programs, we would take large productions, including 100-200 kids, a full band, sound equipment, stage lighting, and a full stage complete with elaborate sets around California, Oregon, and Washington, where we would perform shows in 2 to 4 different venues. One of our favorites was staying in the barracks at Camp Pendleton and performing for all the Marines in Oceanside California.
In 1983, Bob Chapman joined the junior high youth group at First Baptist. He had been the church organist for many years and had a daughter who just graduated to the High School Youth Group. He and his wife were good friends of my parents. As part of his tasks on staff, he was given the opportunity to lead a group of 8 - 10 boys through a series on adolescence.
We spent each Saturday at Bob's house, walking through the book, Preparing for Adolescence by Dr. James Dobson. We would openly discuss the topics in each chapter and at the end of the day, since it WAS Saturday and we WERE boys, we would load up Bob's little red Honda Prelude with an air tank and a horn that must have come from some old big rig truck.a We would drive around town blowing it as we passed people, or we would act like police by talking over his CB radio with a loudspeaker he had mounted under the hood, telling people to get out of the way. We always seemed to end up at the Stockton 99 Speedway to watch the races and then Bob would return us safe and sound to our homes. I looked forward to these moments of hanging out with the kids and the biggest kid of them all, Bob, who was about 50 years old at the time.
After Several weeks of studies on adolescence, Bob planned an evening for us to all stay the night at his house after the week's lessons. I remember distinctly the topic of conversation that week, masturbation.
We laughed and joked during the lesson, coming up with all the different terms we had heard associated with the topic, "Polishing the purple helmet," "Beating the meat," "Jerking off," you get the picture. Later that evening, we ate dinner, downed lots of ice cream and ran around singing Mr. Roboto from Styx. Bob had a special surprise for us, Splash! Can you imagine 6 or so 13-year olds with sugar highs all sitting around watching Darryl Hannah prance around completely naked? This was the best church group ever! Or so, we thought.
The Abuse
I fell asleep on the of a very large sectional sofa. I'm not sure if it was the in the middle of the night or very early in the morning, but I remember waking up at some point with a very strange sensation between my legs. I could feel a hand touching and rubbing against me. I opened my eyes and saw Bob there in the dark with his hands on me. I was so shocked about what was happening that I layed there pretending to be asleep in the hope that he would go away. He didn't. He continued more and more, grabbing my penis and masturbating me until I ejaculated. I didn't know what to do, I was scared and confused. Here was someone that I trusted, who my parents and my church trusted, and he had just done the worst thing that I could have imagined to me.
The house was particularly quiet that morning. We all got up, got dressed and were ready to go without saying much. I went home and acted as if everything was perfectly fine. "Just a little tired, Mom," was my response.
If my story ended there, my life and psyche would more than likely have ended up in much better shape, but the abuse continued. Bob lived several block from us and my parents relied on him to give me a ride home from our mid-week church groups. About half of the times, there would be others in the car, but the other half, on those long rides home, he would stop the car and start touching me again. As time progressed, he would grab my hand and start forcing me to rub him. He would take me or a group of boys over to his mother's house to swim in her pool. The touching became more intense when he saw that I was alone. On several occassions, he pulled my pants down and attempted to force himself inside of me as he held me against the side of the pool or would force me under the water and try to put his penis in my mouth.
I felt so ashamed and dirty. I couldn't trust anyone and had no idea who I was, how I should identify myself sexually, or worse, how to make it all stop. I was screaming inside as loud as I could, but no one else could hear me. I screamed for three years.
Coming Forward
In June of 1986, while installing a ceiling fan in the bedroom of my younger foster brother, "Billy", Bob came over to visit. I was up in the rafters attaching the main bolt and my brother was down below, standing on a chair and raising the fan up to me. I could see Bob below trying to steady him on the chair. When I saw Bob moving his hands up "Billy's" thigh. I quickly attached the fan and "Billy" got down from the chair. I thought about this all day and in the evening, as I snuck a call to my then girlfriend in the middle of the night, I told her what I saw that day and about the years of abuse I suffered at the mercy of Bob Chapman. She left for the church Summer Camp the week after and retold my story to one of the staff members.
The church group returned from camp and on Sunday morning I was summoned to Marvin Jacobo's (Youth Director) office. He told me that he heard the story of my abuse and questioned me for about 1/2 hour regarding my story. My parents were not brought into the meeting, nor were they informed by the church. At the conclusion of the meeting, Marvin told me to go home and they would, "Handle it."
When I arrived home, I told my foster mother about my meeting with Marvin and about the abuse. To my dismay, she was more concerned that I told my girlfriend instead of coming to her first. At least she felt obligated enough to call the police and file a report, but not quite enough to not allow Bob Chapman to come over that evening to talk with me alone in my bedroom. He pleaded and begged for me to not take this any further and told me that he had never done anything like this before, that I was the only one, as if that was supposed to make me special. This was my first witness to the mentality of the people who were involved in the church. To their willingness to sacrifice the victims to save the name of the church and to keep the cash cow rolling at full steam so they could have their big stage productions, new buildings, comfortable pews to sit in, and houses for all of their staff to live.
"Justice"
The officer who came to take the report was in my house for about 20 minutes. When the door closed behind him, I thought, "Finally, this is over!" Bob Chapman would get what he deserved for all the torment he put me through and life would return to normal.
My foster mother contacted my best friend's mother to let her know what happened to me and told her that she should speak with her son to see if anything similar happened to him. He broke down and admitted that Bob abused him the night of the sleepover. In all, 4 boys admitted to being abused that night. Three wanted to proceed with legal action, and another backed out after meeting with the District Attorney because his parents did not want to hurt the reputation of the church. Court documents only indicate that, "There was a conflict by the public defender and the private defender based on the juvenile matter."
We were called to meet with Carol Peters, then Deputy District Attorney for Stanislaus County. She took statements from each of us and asked us how we would like to proceed. My exact answer was, "Fry him" and to give him to maximum time available. The others responded in kind. That was the last we heard from the District Attorney's office. In June of 1987, I received word that Bob appeared before the court and that he plead guilty to the charges. He later changed his plea to Nolo Contendere (meaning that he admitted no guilt, but was willing to accept the required punishment to make the case go away). He was sentenced to 10 months in jail and 3 years of probation and was asked to pay restitution of of $250 plus a total of $540 for probation services, in monthly installments of $15. What a crock!
Chapman transcript - Click to view
It wasn't until I received this document from my attorney in 2019 that I discovered the DA ignored my three years of abuse and only charged him with the first contact, and that the names of the juveniles had not been redacted as is customary in cases involving juveniles.
Chapman judgment - Click to view
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First Baptist Church of Modesto and District Attorney Protects Abusers, Not the Victims
During the course of the Bob Chapman case, the victims were not invited give testimony during any court hearings, including the preliminary hearing or sentencing. Bob, however, was allowed to have character witnesses appear on his behalf. Those present to support him were Phillip Steinhart, a local news person and First Baptist Church's very own Senior Pastor, William Yeager. (My family and I spent many evenings dining at Pastor Yeager's house and I considered him a great man. Always kind, always compassionate and always willing to do the right thing. I particularly remember his large fishing boat parked out back, the Jehovah Jireh, which apparently the Lord and all the generous donations from the congregation provided). Incidentally, not once did Pastor Yeager ever ask to speak with me, offer me his support, or even an apology.
Jim Talley, who worked under Pastor Yaeger, and the Senior Staff at First Baptist, Modesto, CA. from 1976 - 1991, as the Pastor to Singles Adults, praises Pastor Yeager as, "He watched the Church grow for around 300 to 3600 members and 2 staff to 25 full-time ministers, and 25 Pastoral Interns." Several of these full-time ministers and interns were comprised of sexual predators who ruined the lives of countless young men and women.
I all but stopped attending First Baptist Church during the first months of 1987 but would occasionally make an appearance. On one such visit, I was approached by the senior youth leader, Bill Stewart, who passed away in 2018. During our brief encounter, he told me that I was not welcome at the church and that I should not return. Me being stubborn, I showed up the following week with my girlfriend (the same who broke the story. Immediately following the service, Bill again approached me and told me that I was not welcome at the church, that my mere presence was causing a distraction and that if I returned, he would personally have me arrested for trespassing. As soon as he finished his tirade, I walked straight over to the Associate Pastor, Ron Blanc (Bill Yeager's second in command) and told him of the discussions I had with Bill Stewart over the past two weeks. To his credit, Pastor Blanc showed great character and told me that he would take care of the situation and that I was ALWAYS welcome at First Baptist Church of Modesto. I'm not sure of the impact of our little talk, but Bill Williams shortly left the church and moved to Scottsdale, AZ. I attended First Baptist Church a couple years later and was dismayed to see Bob Chapman standing each Sunday in the Adult Choir as a testament of just how seriously First Baptist Church, now CrossPoint Community Church, takes child abuse from it's staff.
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Former Pastor Les Hughey assaulted Tracy Epler when she was 17 years old. In a lawsuit filed against First Baptist Church, she claims that church leaders removed a staff member who was overseeing about 200 junior high age young people after learning of her abuse in 1977, but instructed her not to tell her parents or any else about the abuse.
Rather than taking disciplinary action such as reporting the allegations to the police, the claimant says the congregation “praised and glorified” her abuser and promoted his transfer to become the minister of youth education at Peaceful Valley Church of God in Sonora, California, in 1978.
Hughey resigned last year as founding pastor of Highlands Community Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, after three additional women came forward and him of sexually abusing them four decades earlier.
Former youth staff, organist and current Choir member, Robert (Bob) Chapman was my abuser. Along with me, he abused at least three others during a sleep over at his house in 1983 and just a few months prior to the molest the 4 of us suffered, was accused of molesting another boy, Carl Epperson. The abuse was reported to church leaders and the Modesto Police Department but the youth pastor, Robert Chapman, wasn’t fired or arrested.
Instead, Epperson said church leaders blindsided him by bringing him into a room with his alleged abuser, who got to tell “his side of the story,” and the detectives assigned to the case treated him like a suspect by questioning his sexuality and threatening him with juvenile hall if he was lying.
Had Carl's case been treated properly, I, and the other boys who were molested would have been given the chance of leading normal lives, and I would not have suffered through the next three years of terror at the hands of this monster.
George Austin, a California Highway Patrol officer who frequently brought his 5.0 Mustang to the church for the boys to see, to his former patrol office, to Santa Cruz, to Great America,and camping in the mountains, and was a good friend of Bob Chapman, was accused and charged with molesting about 10 boys (12 counts in all). When First Baptist Church first heard of the abuse, they did what the did best and simply asked him to leave, rather than reporting the incidents. George went on to another Modesto church, where he continued his abuse. He was later accused and found guilty and was sentenced to 28 years in prison. Again, if First Baptist staff stood up for the first victims of sexual abuse, many other boys would have been spared from another predator.
Former pastor, Brad Tebbutt, was accused by Jennifer Roach (Graves). Brad groomed and took advantage of Jennifer Roach from ages 14 to 17. At 14, Roach was distraught over her father’s death in a car accident, she said, and at first she welcomed attention from the 27-year-old First Baptist youth pastor in charge of students at Modesto’s Beyer High School. Soon he was kissing, fondling and having sex with her, she said, and it went on for 2 1/2 years. When she did come forward after Tebbutt left town, church leaders did not tell her mother or authorities and instructed her to forgive and forget, citing concern for “the reputation of the church, and of Jesus himself,” she said.
Marvin Jacobo, the very same man who spoke with me when I came forward to report Bob Chapman, now executive director of City Ministry Network in Modesto, said he didn’t go to Modesto police about Tebbutt 30 years ago because Roach “did not want to press charges.” Tebbutt later went through an “18-month repentance and restoration process” with a psychologist, a pastor at his Missouri church. Brad later when on to lead the Simeon Company Internship at International House of Prayer in Kansas City.
Jennifer Roach sued First Baptist Church (Crosspoint) for her years of abuse and received a settlement on her case.
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Modesto Bee Article Sunday, February 25, 2018 (Garth Stapley) - Click Here
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Where Do We Go from Here?
When I first spoke with Garth Stapley from the Modesto Bee, in late January of 2018, the #MeToo movement was in full swing. The Harvey Weinstien scandal opened the floodgates for sexual abuse victims to join together. For too long, we hid in the shadows, pretending that everything was alright. If we spoke out, who would really listen anyway? It turns out that this despicable man would unite abuse victims and finally give us the freedom to speak out against our abusers. Adults who were abused as children tend to disclose at an even slower rate. Studies show that 82.9% of victims did not report any of they rapes they endured during childhood.
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Report on Delayed Disclosure by ChildUSA.org - Click Here
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Until recently, the statute of limitations for reporting childhood sexual abuse in California required that survivors file a lawsuit within eight years of reaching adulthood or within three years of the date a survivor who has reached adulthood “discovers or reasonably should have discovered” they suffered damages, whichever comes later.
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One California lawmaker, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), took the time to listen to victims. “The idea that someone who is assaulted as a child can actually run out of time to report that abuse is outrageous," said Gonzalez. “More and more, we’re hearing about people who were victims years ago but were not ready to come forward to tell their story until now.” Her bill, AB-218, extends the extends the statute of limitations for reporting childhood sexual assault from the time a victim is age 26 to age 40, and increases the period for delayed reasonable discovery from three to five years.
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The bill also provides a window of three years for the revival of past claims that might have expired due to the statute of limitations. In addition, damages can be trebled in cases in which a child becomes a victim of sexual assault as the result of an effort to cover up past assaults, Gonzalez said.
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Read AB-218 - Click Here
The law offices of Joseph C. George, and my attorney, Maricar A. Pascual, filed a claim on behalf of Carl Epperson and myself in February, 2020. The complaint alleges negligent supervision or retention of an employee, negligent supervision of the plaintiffs when they were minors, failure to report childhood sexual abuse and childhood sexual abuse.
I will continue to post updates as the case progresses and will work to be an advocate of other victims of childhood sexual assault.
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If my story sounds like your story, but you haven't arrived at the point where you are ready to share, I want you to know that you are not alone. I, and thousands of others, have been exactly where you are right now and are willing to help. Please feel free to reach out to me, or if you are ready to take further steps but don't know who to call, please follow this link over to the law offices of Joseph C. George and let them explain what options you have at your disposal.