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05 Nov

Gideon Slusher - Connected and Protected?

SlusherGideon Slusher attended Olivet University in Bourbonnais, Illinois. His father is the pastor at Southwest Church of the Nazarene in Gregory, Michigan. Gideon Slusher was married in 2005. He lives in Oakland Township. Slusher was an assistant youth minister at the Rochester First Church of the Nazarene. His wife’s father is the pastor there.

A Rochester Hills father recently brought his teenage daughter to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. The girl related that Gideon Slusher was having a relationship with the girl that far surpassed his pastorly duties –not to mention his marital vows. The girl and Slusher were working together on a church project. Slusher and the girl text messaged each other. They talked to each other on the phone. Gideon is 25 years old. The girl is just 15. That didn’t prevent Gideon from kissing her, right there in the church. One night, Gideon drove the girl home -and gave her another kiss.

Gideon’s wife was getting a little curious. She couldn’t grasp what the phone calls and text messages between her husband and the little girl were all about. Gideon decided it was best not to use the phone that his wife could view records of. That was just too risky to his new found romance. His wife wouldn’t understand his lust for a child.

Slusher is  a member of the faculty  of Waterford Academy. He’s an eighth grade teacher. He started using the phone at the Academy to communicate with the fifteen year-old. To keep up with technology and carry-on in secret, he set up a new email address –one his wife didn’t know about.

Then, in late February, he got down to the nitty-gritty. He wasn’t texting and emailing and calling this girl because he liked the conversation. He wanted more –and he was going to take it. In a room for the church’s youth group, Gideon Slusher sexually assaulted the 15 year-old girl.

Gideon Slusher was charged in Rochester Hills on two charges of third degree criminal sexual conduct and two charges of fourth degree criminal sexual conduct. He has been released on a $75,000 bond. Slusher is to have no contact with children.

Police spoke with the superintendent of the Eastern District of Nazarene churches in Michigan. The superintendent encouraged the church to cooperate with the investigation. The church’s pastor and Gideon’s father-in-law, Larry Crum, initially gave a written statement. Gary Slusher, Gideon’s father is also a pastor within the Eastern District. According to the sheriff’s office, church leaders have closed ranks and are no longer speaking to investigators. If this is true, it’s despicable. The concern should be for the child and getting to the bottom of the situation. Instead, this appears to be the code of silence that is often invoked by religious organizations. If you are a member of this congregation, you should do whatever you can to make sure that leaders cooperate with the law.

Ex-Rochester Hills youth minister charged with sexual assault of girl

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 at 7:17 pm and is filed under Child molestation, Michigan, Sex Offenders, Teacher, Uncategorized, children, churches, clergy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
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Viewing 6 Comments

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    "I find it utterly ludacris that people are jumping to conclusions and writing things like this before Mr. Slusher even has a heaing and the entire story is out!"

    Do you feel that same way with the Detroit Free Press? Perhaps all news media and information should then be shut down and we could all walk around aimlessly stupid.
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    I find it utterly ludacris that people are jumping to conclusions and writing things like this before Mr. Slusher even has a heaing and the entire story is out! What happened to innocent until proven guilty? I would like everyone to stop and look at themselves and exam your own life. When was the last time you did something wrong...probably a few hours ago and just because it was not made public does not make it any less of a sin in the eyes of God. If God can forgive than we need to learn to forgive as well.
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    Which is it? Is he innocent or in need of forgiveness? If he's innocent, why should he be forgiven? I t looks like you really don't care, either way. You want us to be quiet and maybe the whole thing will go away. It's not going to happen here. This is the Anti-Quiet. Maybe God will forgive your lack of empathy for the real victim. I certainly don't have to. Not everyone goes around raping kids --and not everyone defends rapists.

    BTW: Ludacris is a degenerate hip hop singer. Ludicrous, on the other hand, is a word that can be used to describe the attitudes people like you wish to impose on the rest of society.
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    To clarify something, this guy was never a paid employee of the church, only a youth volunteer. So he has no actual title at the church except maybe "assistant to the youth pastor," but NOT "assistant youth pastor. Any co-operation "problems" are not the church closing ranks, but rather the accused being told by his lawyer to shut him mouth and that would include his family. Since he is married to the pastor's daughter, that puts his in-laws in a precarious situation.

    Please don't accuse the Church of the Nazarene of any improprieties without knowing the facts of the situation as the church takes many precautions to try to prevent things like this from happening. Obviously, both the adult and minor in this case hid their relationship for quite some time and if anyone had suspicions, they did not come forward to let anyone from the church know (including the wife!).

    Here is a copy of the official press release from the Eastern Michigan District Church of the Nazarene (encompasses the eastern half of Michigan from the thumb on down):

    November 4, 2008

    Press Release

    The Eastern Michigan District Church of the Nazarene is saddened to learn of an alleged incident at the Rochester Church of the Nazarene involving a minor and a layperson who was a volunteer youth worker of the church. When word of this alleged incident became known, immediate steps were taken to protect the children and youth of the church. Yesterday I learned that the former volunteer youth worker, Mr. Gideon Slusher, was arrested and charged in this incident. Mr. Slusher has never been a youth minister or paid employee of the Rochester Church of the Nazarene, but did serve as a volunteer.

    The Eastern Michigan District Church of the Nazarene leadership has cooperated fully with the Oakland County Sheriff investigators and will continue to do so. We have attempted to be fully transparent and have also encouraged the leadership of the Rochester Church of the Nazarene to cooperate completely with the civil authorities.

    The desire of the Church of the Nazarene is to provide a safe environment for the young people that attend our churches and their activities. We will not tolerate any misconduct by individuals that are part of our churches. We deeply regret any harm that may have come to this minor because of this alleged act. Our desire is that the truth will be known and justice will be served.

    Dr. Stephen T. Anthony
    District Superintendent
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    Since this man's father and father-in-law are leaders in the church, I would say they are very much a part of the Church of Nazarene. I didn't accuse the church of anything; the police did. Just because a lawyer tells you to be quiet doesn't make it the moral thing to do. Of course, a pastor should already be aware of what is moral and what is merely covering one's ass. Regardless of the girl's behavior and actions, she is a child. She is a victim. She was never able to consent to the "volunteer assistant." This man was allowed to volunteer in the church. He had access to the church --keys to the church. He held a position of trust and authority. He may not have been remunerated monetarily, but he certainly gained from his position. This by no means seperates him from the church. If the man's father does not cooperate fully with authorities in this matter, as you have implied, how can he be trusted to lead responsibly a church congregation? Whether or not Gideon Slusher was paid or not is irrelevant. He was placed in a position of trust by the church. He was not worthy of that trust.
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    There are only two people that know the truth and that is Gideon and this girl. I know the pastor very well and I'm sure he's trying to find out everything he can and will help authority the best of his ability. This was only brought to his attention weeks ago; I’m sure that if he finds out anything new he will let them know. Monday Most churches are closed and nobody answer the phone.
 
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