I would suspect that God would not be amused when someone does this using His name.
Yeah sure, you say He is forgiving and loves all.
But, really? When these sorts of things are done using Him? I wouldn't want to find out I'm wrong, eh?
Accuser: Anderson used God to manipulate
- The trial began Tuesday for a former youth pastor and local churchgoer turned alleged sexual predator.
Matthew Anderson, 31, is charged with five counts of sexual assault and two counts of indecency with a child, with witnesses testifying that he used the word of God to convince a then 16-year-old boy to perform sexual acts multiple times between December 2005 and January 2006.
Anderson pleaded not guilty to all charges Tuesday, just before a full day of testimony began with Comal County Assistant District Attorney Steve de Lemos painting Anderson as someone who used his knowledge of scripture to earn and eventually shatter the trust of a local minor.
“Unfortunately there are people that go to church who are predators, and I expect the evidence to show that Mr. Anderson is one of those predators,” De Lemos told the jury during opening statements. “This man turned a close mentoring relationship into a perversion.”
Anderson’s accuser was identified by the pseudonym “David Wright” in Anderson’s May grand jury indictment. It is the Herald-Zeitung’s policy not to publish the actual names of alleged victims of sexual abuse.
Wright and his parents all testified that they first met Anderson, a former youth pastor in Alabama, while worshipping at the Tree of Life Church in June 2005.
The family quickly forged a close relationship with him, having dinners together, and congregating for Bible readings and prayer meetings, according to witness testimony. The bond between Anderson and Wright became stronger, Wright said, because he wanted to be a more devout Christian and felt Anderson’s knowledge would help him get closer to God.
“I was at a point in my life where I was ready to go deeper with God,” Wright told the jury, adding that he was looking for anyone to “help me on my Christian walk.”
Wright said the relationship began to turn physical in October and November, with Anderson using verses from scripture to explain why “God wanted them to be together.”
Anderson began having “visions” from God, which Wright said Anderson used to justify the sexual acts between the two reputed to have occurred in December and January.
“I was willing to believe anything he said,” Wright told the jury.
One of those sexual encounters Wright said occurred in a home being rented by Anderson that was owned by former Tree of Life pastor Mike Fehlauer, who resigned from the pulpit in April 2005 amid allegations of sexual misconduct with one of his parishioners.
In all, Wright cited nearly 10 times that the two had some manner of sexual contact in the end of 2005 and the beginning of 2006.
His parents both testified that Anderson began “dominating his time” over that span, buying him new clothes, forcing all of Wright’s former friends out of his life and teaching him what the Wrights said they felt to be outlandish Bible doctrines — such as that there was no hell and that God wanted both of them never to get married.
“I felt I was losing my son,” the accuser’s father told the jury.
Eventually Wright’s father testified that he told Anderson to stay out of his son’s life in February, and that the two had limited contact since then.
It was two years later during a mission trip that Wright decided to come forth with his allegations against Anderson so “it wouldn’t happen to anyone else,” he said.
Anderson subsequently was arrested in October 2007.
After the family testimony Tuesday, a video interview with Anderson and an officer from the New Braunfels Police Department conducted after his arrest was shown to the jury. In it, Anderson phones a friend, whose voice is audible to the recording equipment.
His friend asked Anderson if the allegations of sexual abuse with a minor were true, to which Anderson replied “yes.”
NBPD Detective Sgt. Tarinna Skrzycki testified that she considered that an admission of guilt by Anderson.
Skrzycki was the fourth person who took the stand Tuesday for the prosecution. The defense has not yet had a chance to a call a witness, and defense attorney Joseph Garcia III declined to make an opening statement.
The trial is scheduled to resume today at 8:30 a.m. in front of Comal County 433rd Judicial District Court Judge Dib Waldrip.
