by Bruce A. Smith
Michael Fontenot, a former lay minister of the New Testament Christian Church in Graham, and also a part-time choir leader and the former publisher of the church’s pamphlet, The Trumpet, has been convicted on child rape charges, his ex-wife Christina Growder and other principals involved in the case announced recently.
According to documents from the Pierce County Superior Court, Mr. Fontenot was convicted on two counts of Rape of a Child in the Second Degree, and he is currently serving a ten-year to life sentence in the Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen, WA.
Fontenot was convicted on these charges based upon his admission that he had sexual contact in 2005 with his then-twelve year-old daughter, which included finger-penetration.
However, his conviction took place in 2006 and it was only in 2010 that he began serving the entirety of his sentence.
Initially, the prosecuting attorney, John Sheeran, sought a sentence of ten years to life, but Mr. Fontenot and his defense attorney requested – and received – an alternative sentencing agreement from the court, known as a SOSSA.
SOSSA stands for Special Sexual Offending Sentence Alternative, and is a well-established legal program that blends short-term prison sentences with extensive counseling and probationary requirements. At his sentencing in mid-2006, Mr. Fontenot received his SOSSA and was sentenced to six months in prison, whereupon he was immediately released based upon time already served.
What transpired over the intervening four years – from the conviction in 2006 until Fontenot’s SOSSA was revoked in October 2010 – is a complex web of legal intricacies and problematic personal behaviors by Mr. Fontenot.
Coupled with impacts within the community – and especially within the NTCC – the case has become multi-faceted. To fully understand it the Mountain News has spoken to many individuals connected to Mr. Fontenot, his family, the church and law enforcement.
Central to grasping these complexities is Fontenot’s SOSSA agreement.
As is standard for SOSSA sentences, Fontenot’s SOSSA protocols mandated that he abstain from alcohol and drugs, maintain weekly counseling sessions with a SOSSA-approved therapist for five years, and assume complete financial cost for the therapy.
In addition, he was forbidden to have any direct and indirect contact with minors, and he was required to disclose his status as a sexual offender to all romantic partners and announce these relationships to his therapist. Also, Mr. Fontenot was not allowed to have any contact with his child and wife, and he had to submit to regular polygraph testing and frequent probationary reviews to insure compliance with the terms of his release.
However, in 2007 Fontenot violated some of his SOSSA requirements and was re-arrested and placed in prison. The court found that his infractions of alcohol and marijuana usage along with socializing with neighbors of his family to be relatively minor, and after serving 120 days for these violations Fontenot was again released, according to Ms. Growder.
(Note: Due to the emotional nature of this story, Christina, who is the mother of the child involved, has asked for a measure of anonymity and the Mountain News has changed her name slightly to provide her with a degree of privacy.)
Christina says that over the next few years Mr. Fontenot violated his SOSSA protocols with some frequency and was re-incarcerated multiple times, typically serving 20-30 day sentences.
Nevertheless, in 2009 Fontenot began having a prolonged romantic relationship with a young woman who had a five-year old child, a major SOSSA violation. Apparently, Mr. Fontenot informed his therapist of the relationship as required; but she failed to inform the court or other law enforcement. Whether any legal actions will be taken against this therapist is unknown at this time.
However, in 2010 a family member did alert law enforcement about Fontenot’s relationship, and as a result, Mr. Fontenot was arrested in July, 2010 and his SOSSA was revoked in October, 2010. At that time, Fontenot was re-sentenced to his original ten year to life sentence.
In August, 2010, after the arrest but before the revocation, Ms. Growder contacted this reporter and began sharing the details of the crime and its court proceedings.
Christina said that prior to their divorce in 2007, she had been married to Mr. Fontenot for fourteen years and their daughter was born in 1992. During this time, the family had also been attending the New Testament church regularly.
The Fontenots had met in Arizona, and after an uneven courtship that spanned several years they finally married and settled in St Louis. There, Christina and Michael intensified their involvement in the NTCC, and a year later, in 1995, the family moved to Washington so that Christina could attend the NTCC Bible Seminary in Graham.
At that time, the NTCC also hired Michael Fontenot to run their print shop and produce The Trumpet. In addition, Mr. Fontenot, who had been a long-time member of the NTCC and had been ordained as a minister, began teaching in the Bible Seminary.
Also, Christina began teaching Sunday school in the NTCC’s children’s church, and did so for at least six years. In addition, their daughter attended the children’s program.
Although she characterizes herself as a fervent believer and a dedicated member, Christina also describes her involvement within the NTCC as mixed, saying she rolled her eyes over a few things, especially the “exceptionalism” of the NTCC as proclaimed by the leadership.
Despite their devoted participation in the NTCC, Christina says they were never part of the inner circle.
“We were never invited to rent one of the homes on the campus (allotted to) the families of the ministers.”
Relations between the Fontenots and the church – and certainly within the marriage – changed dramatically in 2004 when Christina discovered that her husband was having an affair, and also, had been frequenting porn sites and sexual chat rooms on the Internet.
“Michael admitted it,” Christina said when she confronted him, and they resolved to bring the matter to the NTCC leadership, which led to Michael being fired from the print shop and having his minister’s license revoked.
After Michael’s dismissal, Christina says her family began “pulling away” from the NTCC. Christina still attended Sunday worship, but Michael stopped attending services altogether.
The admission of adultery and his dismissal seemed to trigger something very profound within Michael Fontenot.
“He got depressed and just didn’t care anymore,” said Christina. “He also started going out to clubs at night.”
This latter behavior devastated the marriage. Further strains ensued throughout the next year as the couple grappled with financial issues.
Then, in late 2005, Christina spotted Michael leaving their daughter’s bedroom wearing only his underwear.
“That was so unlike him,” Christina said. “He always wore sweat pants and running suits around the house.”
That strange sight of her husband planted a thought that perhaps he was more than just an adulterer.
“The idea that Michael could be having sexual contact with our daughter was so foreign to me, I couldn’t even conceive of it at first – even with his being a philanderer and the adultery and the clubbing. I just didn’t see it.”
However, by the next day, Christina’s suspicions began to crystallize.
“I didn’t have a clue up until this one particular moment,” Christina said. “Then, it was like God just dropped the question into my head.”
Acting upon this intuition, Christina asked her daughter, “Has your daddy ever touched you in a sexual way?”
Christina reports that her daughter was initially evasive and turned away, but she did eventually confirm her father’s sexual behavior.
Next, Christina confronted her husband, and he confessed to digital intercourse with his daughter and to placing his mouth on her breast.
“He had a deer-in-the-headlight look,” she said, and then a profound drama unfolded.
Christina says that Michael began “balling and crying” and asked that she take him to a psychiatric hospital, saying that he didn’t want to live anymore and that he might harm himself.
Bundling the family into their car, Christina then drove to the American Lake Veterans Administration Hospital in Lakewood, where Michael was admitted into the psychiatric unit.
At this point in the telling Christina became quite animated.
“I’m not a big believer when people say they hear God talking to them, but sitting there in the VA hospital waiting room and filling out paperwork, I heard a voice – clear as day – and I believe it was the voice of God. It said, ‘You’re in the wrong place.’”
“Where should I be?” she asked the voice.
“‘A police station,’” the voice replied.
Christina reports that she next turned to her daughter and asked, “Are you ready for a really hard time? I have to report this to the police.”
Christina says that her daughter replied very evenly, “Yes, I’m ready.”
When the admissions nurse returned for the papers, Christina told her she needed to speak with law enforcement, and arrangements were made for her to speak with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. Over the next few days charges were filed, statements given and an investigation launched that included a team of detectives, deputies and medical personnel.
“They were the nicest people,” says Christina. “I really compliment them – they really had the human touch – they even gave my daughter a Teddy bear and a $20 gift card to Target! I’m so thankful.”
A week later, Michael was arrested upon discharge from the American Lake VA, and incarcerated at the Pierce County jail.
Although Christina said that she felt her husband was totally honest with her at this time, and that his abuse of their daughter had been recent, she later learned that was not true. At the SOSSA revocation hearing in October 2010, Mr. Fontenot admitted to initiating sexual contact with his daughter four years earlier, when the girl was eight years old.
Further, Fontenot’s therapist also told the court that Michael had been grooming his daughter throughout this early time frame in preparation for more intimate relations.
However, in 2006 only part of this was known, and at that time Christina says her husband began accusing her of being a cold and frigid wife – in effect blaming her for the molestation.
“At the NTCC Michael was told that a wife should be subservient to her husband, and that when he came home from work she should be raring to go – well, that’s just not the way it is in real life,” said Christina.
In short, she says that Fontenot complained she wasn’t sexy enough.
In addition, Christina says her husband was highly judgmental and rarely supported her in any difficult emotional time.
“He sure knew how to be charming to women he just met, and how to be a clown with his buddies, but he never knew how to be a loving husband,” she says.
Nevertheless, as harsh as life had been with Michael Fontenot, and certainly the financial strains imposed upon the family by his incarceration added greatly to the family’s struggles, another trauma befell Christina and her daughter upon Michael’s conviction – she was shunned by the NTCC.
When Michael was first imprisoned, Christina informed the leadership of NTCC, specifically founder Rodger W. Davis and CEO Mike Kekel; yet they offered no assistance whatsoever – no financial aid, counseling, or emotional support.
Christina was shocked by their rebuff.
“Helping out by paying my mortgage for a month would have made a real difference,” said Christina, who began to cobble together part-time and full-time jobs to earn the $1,400 per month she and her daughter lived on.
“Where was my religious family when I needed them?” she asks.
Further, few called or visited, and no one commiserated with Christina.
“No one offered a shoulder to cry on,” said Christina. “Friends of ours, two couples from NTCC came over, but they never asked, ‘What happened?’”
Christina feels that much of this emotional abandonment is a result of the culture and religious doctrines of the NTCC.
“No one even came to pray with me,” she says. “That is just like the NTCC – even on simple things members are forbidden to talk with each other. They can’t even talk about the bible or discuss personal troubles together. People learn to shut up.”
Christina says she made “feeble” attempts to tell people what had happened, but met a wall of resistance from her faith community.
The NTCC says that if something is wrong in your life, then you’re not right with God. I confronted Verna (NTCC founder RW Davis’ wife) about the abandonment, but she just said over and over, ‘We do miss you, just come to church.’”
Recalling the incident, Christina became angry.
“Why should I go to NTCC? I’d just sit by myself and cry all through the services,” Christina said, her voice filled with passion. “So, I stopped going to NTCC altogether after that.”
Back home, Christina suffered in silence.
“I just curled up in a ball on my bed,” Christina said. “But I wanted to be strong for my daughter – I never let her see me when I was a basket case. So, when my daughter needed something, I’d sit up in bed, clench my fists and say, ‘Function!’”
She also prayed for “real friends” and found them straight away, and her life has improved steadily ever since.
“The day I confronted Michael – that was the worst day of my life – and the best! A lot of good has come into my life after I left my husband and the NTCC.”
As proof, Christina first divorced Michael in 2007, and has since remarried to a remarkably sensitive and secure man. In addition, her daughter has had a wonderful family in which to thrive and grow.
Reflecting upon her daughter’s happiness, Christina shared a story about the first time her daughter met the man who eventually became her step-father.
“My boyfriend (now husband) just asked her how life was as a fifteen year-old, and she just opened up and told him everything – giving him her opinion on everything in her life – high school, her friends and how they didn’t care about school and she did, everything – for an hour. Michael never did that.”
Christina continued and said that after her beloved left for the evening, her daughter made a very insightful comment.
“’Michael never asked me my opinion on anything,’” Christina recounts her daughter saying, a statement that fully illustrates the lack of emotional connection within the Fontenot family.
Nevertheless, as Christina looks back on those times she smiles.
“Finding out the truth (of the NTCC and Fontenot) and being set free – it’s been great,” Christina proclaimed.
However, in 2006 when Michael was first released from jail he reportedly became an active member in the NTCC again. Alarmed, Christina informed pastors Davis and Kekel of Michael’s status as a convicted child rapist.
“It’s clear now, after the last SOSSA hearing (in 2010) that they never told the church members anything,” Christina said. “That’s totally irresponsible.”
Whether Davis or Kekel, or any members of the NTCC leadership alerted their congregation, is unknown. When questioned on this subject by the Mountain News, Graham NTCC co-pastor Phil Kinson simply said, “I have nothing to say to you. Have a nice day.” Then, he hung up.
Further, when the Mountain News telephoned co-pastor and NTCC CEO Mike Kekel, he merely uttered, “No Comment,” and afterwards he did not hang up the phone or continue the conversation. After a lengthy silence this reporter re-identified himself and re-iterated the purpose of the call, and left the contact information for the Mountain News with no apparent results.
In addition, efforts to reach NTCC founder and patriarch Rev. Davis have been unsuccessful.
However, a former but long-time licensed and ordained NTCC minister has told the Mountain News that he did not hear the leadership issue any warnings about Fontenot upon his re-introduction to the faith community, especially his probationary requirement that he have no contact with minors.
(Note: this pastor has asked for anonymity, clearly reflecting the grand silence that seems to envelope the NTCC community on challenging issues. Hence, for the sake of linguistic clarity he will be identified as Rev. T.)
“I didn’t even hear a rumor about Michael Fontenot – nothing,” Rev. T said, “and pastors usually hear stuff like that.”
Further, Rev T, who knew Fontenot in St Louis, invited Michael to dinner at his family’s home in Spanaway and says he never suspected the sordid details of Fontenot’s recent past.
However, Rev. T now concurs with Christina’s perspective that the absence of any effort by the NTCC leadership to alert the congregation left the membership vulnerable to assault from a sexual predator, and at the very least was highly irresponsible if not legally questionable.
Sadly, Michael Fontenot took advantage of this veil of secrecy at the NTCC.
After his multiple arrests and subsequent releases, he reportedly kept returning to the NTCC community. As stated above, there were apparently no announcements made regarding the dangers that Fontenot presented to the congregation.
In addition, Michael soon married again, to his third wife, a woman named J who was reportedly a member of the NTCC and the mother of a friend of his. However, beginning in 2009 – while still married to his new wife – Mr. Fontenot began spending time with an old flame from St. Louis named KL, who had also relocated to Graham when the NTCC moved its primary activities to Washington in the mid-1990s.
Recently, the Mountain News spoke extensively with KL, and the following is what she shared about the events that lead to Michael Fontenot’s re-incarceration in 2010.
(Note: Again, KL and her husband have requested anonymity in this story despite their central role in the arrest and re-sentencing of Mr. Fontenot. The Mountain News hopes it has reached the proper balance between an honest telling of this complex story and assuaging the sensitivities of those involved.)
KL said that she had known Michael about twenty years earlier when they were young adults and attending the NTCC. At that time, couples need permission to date, and Rev. RW Davis did not allow them to see each other romantically because Michael was black-skinned and she was white.
(Note: In court documents Mr. Fontenot identifies himself as American Indian/Alaskan, while Christina says that Mr. Fontenot’s family was a mix of Creole-based parentage.)
Reportedly, Davis’ pronouncement was founded on the notion that such a relationship would not enhance the work of the NTCC ministry.
Although they would chat occasionally, KL and Michael succumbed to the unrelenting social pressure from the NTCC and went their separate ways. Soon, they began dating others and eventually married their new partners, with Michael marrying his first wife, a woman named G.
When KL met Michael in Graham in 2009, she had been married twice, as well, with her second marriage occuring seven years earlier, in 2002.
However, KL’s marriage was rocky and she had already left her second husband several times even though they had a young daughter together.
KL speaks about the Michael Fontenot she knew in St Louis in warm terms and with depth. She describes Michael’s childhood as horrific, declaring that his stepfather physically abused Michael and his older brother and their sisters, charges that Christina confirms.
By September 2009, KL and her five-year old daughter had left her husband for good, and moved in with Rev T and his wife.
Rev T. sheltered KL and her daughter, and over time Michael Fontenot began visiting.
Both KL and Rev T claim that they had no knowledge of Michael Fontenot’s criminal past, nor were they aware that he was violating the terms of his probation by being in the company of a young girl – or even that he was mandated to inform any woman that he dated that he was a convicted sexual offender.
Regardless, his community correction officer, Angela Stanger, reported in her brief to the court in 2010 that Fontenot’s behavior at this time “is exceedingly below the standard expected of supervision (in SOSSA).”
Nevertheless, KL adamantly claims that her daughter was never alone with Michael Fontenot.
However, court records indicate the threesome saw each other with frequency, even going to Seattle on a day trip that included a boat ride and diner. Further, documents reveal that the daughter confirmed that Mr. Fontenot “gave her hugs.”
KL says she divorced her husband in December 2009, and later moved into an apartment near her mother, a current and long-time NTCC member named M.
M admitted to the Mountain News that she has a “minimal relationship” with her daughter due to issues over the NTCC, which KL confirms.
Nevertheless, M says that she helped babysit KL’s daughter, particularly after school when she received the child back home, often meeting her at the school bus.
During this time period, M says that she saw Michael Fontenot coming around KL’s apartment multiple times and that at one point he even had the keys to her home.
M says that Fontenot was a “weird-acting person” who didn’t want her to know who he was, and he parked his vehicle behind the apartment complex to further obscure his presence. When she confronted KL on why she was spending time with such an unsavory character – even giving him keys – M said her daughter retorted: “I’m of age, Mom!”
By mid-2010, events with KL, her daughter and Michael Fontenot escalated.
M. learned the truth of Mr. Fontenot, apparently receiving specifics from Michael’s most recent wife, who was attending the NTCC with her.
“She (J) knew that Michael was on probation,” M said.
M says she further confronted her daughter about the dangers of Mr. Fontenot, and claims that KL eventually realized that Michael was deceiving her – and most importantly that her daughter was at risk.
Shortly thereafter, M contacted her ex-son-in-law, who in turn contacted law enforcement. Pierce County Sheriff’s Department quickly re-arrested Michael Fontenot and placed him in jail, where he has remained to this day.
In the aftermath, KL has developed some profound insights.
“Thank God, my child is safe,” said KL. “That’s the most important thing, and I thank my (ex) husband for working so hard to protect our child. But Michael lied to me. I’m frustrated, hurt and mad…I asked Michael, ‘Why,” and all he could tell me was that he was ‘delusional,’ and maybe he was. All I know is that he’s totally different than the person I knew inSt Louis….I don’t hate Michael, and I pray for him. I hope that one day he gets the help that he needs. Repeating that cycle of life – all that abuse – is all that people like Michael know.”
As for her family, KL is looking to the future and moving on.
But, for Christina, her views on Michael Fontenot are strident.
“I’m all out of sympathy for him. He has violated all sympathy shown to him.”
Christina also has hard words for Michael and his relationship with the NTCC.
“Michael is a narcissist and a pathological liar, and he cloaks it all in the bible. He used his position to hurt people.”
Christina continues:
“The NTCC fuels this mind-set,” she said. “The NTCC takes wounded people (like Michael) and feeds their authoritarian and patriarchal behaviors – a wife is only a sex toy. They tell a couple that if a spouse leaves the church, you’re going to hell, and they actively try to get the spouse who is still in the church to divorce the one who is leaving. It’s very hurtful, and it harms families.”
Christina says that she would love to confront NTCC CEO Mike Kekel and the church leadership on why they didn’t assist her family in their time of need.
“I’d love to tell them, ‘It doesn’t have to be this way.’”
Nevertheless, Christina’s ultimate objective – keeping her family safe and protecting the community – has been achieved; Michael Fontenot is now in prison for a very long time.
© 2011 The Mountain News – WA
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Amy Pivetta Hoffman
Attorney at Law
Civil and Governmental Affairs
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What an incredible article. My heart truly goes out to Christina and her daughter. Former members of NTCC like myself know how much courage it took for her to speak out about this. I knew this man and I had absolutely no idea about any of this. I’m very grateful the time was taken to write this article and I am sure that by Christina speaking out, this will encourage others who read this that not only is it okay to speak out, but it is the only way to get away from such an abusive situation.
I also never knew about SOSSA until reading this. It is really sad to hear about because I believe people who commit less severe crimes do not receive this level of probation. I think any harm that comes to children, who are among the most vulnerable in our society, should be sentenced to much stricter time and penalties. It is only by locking away someone of this nature that those in society can be protected. Unfortunately, as we read in this reporting, the breakdown in the chain of reporting issues in SOSSA and the failure to do anything about it when it is reported combined with the massively silent and secretive culture of New Testament Christian Church let this go on for an exceptionally long time.
At one point while I was living near Graham Wa and attending church at NTCC and the seminary program, I was talking with another mom and member. She explained to me that she had invited a guest to church and this person had children. As was the norm there, children were requested to be dropped off at the children’s church several buildings away on the campus. This mom told me her guest immediately asked, “Do you do background checks on your staff?” to which the mom said “No.” This wise guest and parent refused to leave her children there and inisisted they stay with her during the service.
It was as if a light bulb went off in my head. Never once had it occurred to me that I should wonder about the criminal background of the people I was surrounded by in the church and seminary. Especially those in charge of watching my children.
There is a level of control on communication like I have never witnessed before in the culture of New Testament Christian Church. I believe it attracts people who are looking to put a suit or dress on and play the part of an outstanding person while being able to cover up what is really going on or who they really are. This article puts a spotlight on the enormous responsibility churches have to protect their members from criminals and not create a culture that lets them thrive.
Nicole, you imply many things about NTCC, as has Bruce Smith, that are unfounded. This can happen in any church, and you know that having a suit on or not has absolutely nothing to do with wether a person might be a pedophile or not. Background checks don’t always show anything, so it is impossible to know everything about everybody. You also know that NTCC did NOT approve of Mr. Fontenot’s behavior once this was discovered, so this is positively despicable of you to try and impugn NTCC for such behavior. Mr. Fontenot is also an American, so does this now impugn the United States of America for his behavior??? And what do we know of your behavior? Was a background check ever done on you before we let you attend our churches??? Be for real!
If you will be honest with yourself, you know that no one in NTCC leadership would EVER approve of such behavior, not to mention the fact that it has always been warned AGAINST! Your desires to justify yourself for whatever your short-falls are, are somehow vindicated in your own eyes by trashing others??? This is the norm for all these x-ntcc’ers and few of you are likely to ever see Jesus being as many of you have an unforgiving, vengeance-seeking heart. Your trashing a church for your own ends, even if the church isn’t perfect, sends a message the devil wants all to hear- and simply vindicates their hatred for ALL churches. NTCC is not the only ones that must stand before God, but YOU ALSO. However, instead of preaching and spreading the True Gospel, which you all claim to have, WHY AREN’T YOU SPENDING YOUR TIME OUT SPREADING IT, INSTEAD OF WASTING YOUR TIME TEARING OTHERS DOWN??? Are you totally without any mercy – the very crime you accuse NTCC of???
Nicole, you imply many things about NTCC, as has Bruce Smith, that are unfounded
I read her comment and agreed with everything she said. What did she say that was so unfounded? Truth hurts Ross.
DnA said:
While this sort of thing can happen to any church, the ntcc seems to be a magnet for sexually deviant behavior. The ntcc is not any church. The ntcc enforces strict dating requirements and manipulates relationships between it’s members by matchmaking, approving and disapproving of relationships and driving wedges between existing relationships. The ntcc creates an environment of celibacy for a lot of young men and this has caused numerous problems throughout the years. Do you ever wonder why a church as small as the ntcc has so many problems with Adultery, Fornication, Homosexuality and Child Molestation? You’ve got a bunch of pent up young GI’s whose hormones are raging and a manipulative pastor that preaches hell, fire and brimstone, says all the sisters are off limits because God has called them to Bible School, or steers them away from relationships as if they were called by God himself to control that part of a young man’s life. Young Christian men have enough pressures to deal with, without having some abusive and manipulative jerk telling them who they can and can’t talk with. And what kind of logic is this, “Background checks don’t always show anything, so it is impossible to know everything about everybody.” That’s a good excuse to allow perverts around children. “Sorry, Mrs. Ntcc Church Goer, that your daughter got raped and she will be emotionally scarred for the rest of her life and never be comfortable with a relationship with a man, because we don’t do background checks.” Do you think this is an exaggeration? It actually goes beyond this because not only did Davis and Kekel ignore and shun the mother after she warned them of Fontenot, but they allowed this known child molester to become an active member of the ntcc, after he was released from jail, and no public warning was given to parents in the ntcc alert them to what this man had done. And you want to do a background check on Nichole? Be for real, Ross.
Bruce,
This is a well written account of a huge story that takes much time to digest. What we see here, among other abhorrent behaviors, is
THE NTCC CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT IN FAILING TO PROTECT ITS CONGREGATION FROM A CONVICTED CHILD RAPIST.
It would have been simple for the ntcc to warn its members that a CONVICTED CHILD RAPIST was among them. By stating Fontenot’s name and circulating a photo of him with the charges he is convicted of and the statement that individuals should not take the law into their own hands but should protect their children from a CONVICTED SEXUAL PREDATOR.
That did not happen.
ntcc is once again guilty of child endangerment!
As I have recently begun reading, finding blogs and information, I can sadly say I ‘knew’ loosely used word Fotenot. I remembered (as a women) seeing him on campus or at the conferences and he APPEARED to be a nice, charming person. I see why now he used charm. I had no personal communication or contact with him though. But I WAS (gone now and so freeing!) in WA during the time he came back as a “member”. I didn’t know why he was gone. I assumed he’d walked and came back type thing. I can say I USED to be there at each service and I never heard any notification either of him or his offenses and as a women/mom I am furious that NTCC (New Testament Cult Church in my book) didn’t care to protect anyone. But sadly this is only one of how many times they failed to protect anyone. Like “Christina” years back I let them know of abuse one of my children suffered (non-NTCC related BUT he and I were in NTCC at that time in another state). They too didn’t help me. They too didn’t announce he had been a predator and had been in that church around children. I too left furious and full of pain (but not before I ended up married to one of their “Licensed Abusers I mean Ministers”. And of course I’m the shunned one now and the dirty rotten sinner to them but I’m not. SHAME on NTCC for the way they allow all this to go on and don’t protect anyone. But then again if they were a real church and not a cult, maybe they would be protecting their people.
“THE NTCC CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT IN FAILING TO PROTECT ITS CONGREGATION FROM A CONVICTED CHILD RAPIST.” Why do you post such a lie? Had the NTCC known that he was such, he wouldn’t have been accepted. Once it came to light, he was put out. Was NTCC supposed to put up wanted posters all over the campus and Church to call shame upon a former professing Christian??? Did you want your sexual sins to be plastered all over the world once they were known for everyone to see? they were not, which proves your allegations against NTCC are false, since you are doing something worse by plastering your unfounded allegations all over the internet! Will you keep serving the devil’s agenda by bringing shame to the Gospel???
DnA said:
You are the one that is a liar, Ross. According to former and current pastors of the ntcc, Fontenot was allowed to come back to the ntcc after his first release from jail and became an active member of the ntcc. This took place after Christina, (The mother of the molested victim), had called Davis and Kekel and warned them about Fontenot. Nothing was done. Christina was shunned in the cover up and the ntcc is nothing more than a cesspool of sexual deviant behavior that is covered up, and the perpetrators are harbored and favored above their victims. You ask, Special Ross, if the ntcc was supposed to put up wanted posters all over the Campus and church to call shame upon a former professing Christian??? Yes, they should have at the very least informed every parent in the ntcc, that they were letting a convicted child molester become a member of their church and warned them to keep their children away from this child molester. They should have put up signs and publicly warned people of Fontenot’s past, or better yet if they had any ethics at all they should have told him to stay away from the ntcc. But the ntcc has a long history of allowing sexual deviant people to not only attend church but to remain in the ministry and get promoted as was the case with a pastor in Graham who we will not name on this website, who has never came out and denied that he frequented a whore house in Japan. He came on Jeff’s blog and in a Clintonesque fashion tap danced around the subject but never denied the issue at hand, which was getting sexual release from a prostitute at a whorehouse. Sorry, Ross, we are not going to allow you to smooth this over and pretend like the ntcc was innocent in this whole thing. You say our allegations were unfounded, why don’t you prove otherwise? Your notion that the ntcc would have never knowingly allowed Fontenot to be accepted back into the church is unfounded and Bruce’s article clearly documents that this did in fact happen with more than one witness as you seem to require us to have.
When Michael Fontenot arrived in Washington, I helped him get a job at Valley Press in Puyallup, where I worked. I also moonlighted running the church’s print shop at that time, which I had set up for them. They paid me $10/hour, under the table, in cash. At some point, I shared with Michael my opinion that NTCC might get itself in trouble with the IRS because they treated employees (not just me, but all the full time office and building crew workers) as if they were independent contractors, even though they had zero control over their work and schedules. A couple weeks or so later, I was told after service that RW Davis wanted to talk to me in his office. So I went over and was ambushed by the entire General Board. I wasn’t invited to take a seat. RW told me that Michael had informed him what I had said, and that they had attorneys and accountants advising them and that their practices were legitimate. The rest of them just stared balefully. So I apologized and told them I wasn’t trying to be malicious or critical (and I wasn’t; it was just an opinion about something that concerned me). After this incident, there was hot and heavy preaching directed at me in each service, and I was removed without warning or explanation from my role teaching (for which I was paid $25/class, under the table, in cash) in the “college” (which is now a “seminary,” although either term is a joke when applied to this unaccredited sham institution). This had the desired effect, and I and my family swiftly decided to remove ourselves from the NTCC orbit. Things are much better now.
I still worked at Valley Press with Michael. One morning the supervisor came looking for him. Someone had seen him earlier, but he was nowhere to be found. Eventually, she discovered a note from him on her desk stating he quit. NTCC had hired him full time to run their print shop, but he didn’t have the guts or decency to give proper notice or even tell anyone personally that he was leaving. At that point, I couldn’t help but wonder if he intentionally sabotaged me in order to weasel into NTCC’s print shop himself. It turned out to be a huge favor, but I have to question the purity of his motives.
Interestingly, it wasn’t long afterward that I heard the report that full time workers had started getting W-2s. I guess they changed lawyers/accountants. I really wish the IRS would put NTCC (and especially its leadership) under the microscope. They would probably have to use very little magnification to find some serious crime.
Vic Johanson said, “Interestingly, it wasn’t long afterward that I heard the report that full time workers had started getting W-2s. I guess they changed lawyers/accountants.”
Ange says,
As I recall, a church organization in Texas was sued for paying its workers as “independent contractors”. That church lost a bundle of money in the suit; and NTCC got Elliot Gesang to start his shell company, Gesang Enterprises, (whose sole customer was ntcc) as a front for the ntcc building crew; who takes all its orders from Rodger Wilson Davis.
Since my late ex-husband worked for the NTCC building crew, I had to sit through some of Rodger Davis’ lectures to the building crew members in which Davis stated he did not want to give out W-2s because, in his words “For every dollar I pay you” (off the books/under the table) “the IRS would take almost a whole dollar too!”
This was Davis’ way of “politic-ing” to keep people from demanding W-2s, or wages, or worker rights like breaks, paid lunches, overtime, sick leave, or vacation. Those things do not exist in the world of ntcc building crew members who were paid off the books, with 10% tithe deducted before they saw any money, for only 40 hours a week regardless of working overtime without breaks or any benefits.
To put things in perspective:
Prior to coming to NTCC my late ex-husband, Eric Barden, was trained as a General Contractor in Construction and, with the exception of plumbing, could take blue prints and clear a plot and build a structure from start to finish.
When we married in 1991 NTCC was ‘paying’ him $6/hour for only 40 hours a week despite actual overtime worked. He brought home only $214/week (6×40 minus ten percent tithe) off the books!
When Eric left NTCC in 1999 they were paying him only $10/hour for a forty hour week, despite overtime worked; and yet Eric was in the words of Elliot Gesang “One of our highest paid workers.”!!
In contrast, Eric’s brother, who was never entangled in the NTCC, was earning $24-$27 / hour straight time plus time and half for any overtime, double on weekend overtime, triple on holidays, paid vacation, labor laws for breaks observed, and other benefits like vacation, sick leave, personal days, dental, medical, retirement, etc.
NTCC was making slaves of these highly skilled workers, calling them “independent contractors” just to avoid paying taxes, and actual hours worked / overtime! It is only one form of abuse and law breaking prevalent in the NTCC.
Ange
Clicking my name at the head of this comment will bring up a page dedicated to Eric Barden.
One of the worst things I ever did was help influence Eric Barden into the same trap I was in, although as his pastor, I meant well at the time. At least he’s free now.
This is a loose quote but nonetheless, the bible says: Anyone who harms even one hair of the head of these, His little ones’, shall suffer eternal damnation. So, I wonder, what does God think of His “churches…the congregations, the individuals and the leaders?”
Outstanding article Bruce.
At what point will this organization be held accountable by the law and the government? Seriously! I’m not talking about those below the heirarchy of leadership that are good-hearted and good-spirited and deceived. I mean the top. How many phone calls of “No comment”, “I have nothing to say to you” whether it be related to murder or child molestation must it take? How many Internet forums of bruised souls? How many reports of murder by former members dazed and confused by their experience? How many reports of suicide/homicide by former members who were instructed that having children would damn them before God? How many victims must one organizatoin obtain before law enforcement and the government will investigate while people I love that are deceived to the core are abused day after day, year after year under the guise of Godly love? I’m thankful that this article was posted yet saddened because yet still, the organization is once again unaccountable to any authority. More stories like this will no doubt get reported until a thorough investigation is conducted…meanwhile, victims with no voice or representation will continue to suffer.
Great Article Bruce. I also concur with all the comments this far. I also knew nothing of Fontenot’s crimes. I was one of their Ministers (and a Pastor) from 1996 – 2008. My family has also fellowship with them during this time. Both at our home and at there’s. Hung out with them at conferences, etc. I have also spent much time around Pastor Davis (even staying at the lodge multiple times) and Company, and never heard a word about any of this…stated differently, they had plenty of opportunity to personally tell my wife and I about this (especially since they knew we hung out with them in Graham…they new this because we had to get permission to do it) , but NTCC’s leadership also should have made an announcement in all the conferences we were all required to go to…or, even just sent out a letter (or an email) to all the churches.
This kind of silence by the NTCC you describe Greg is remarkable, and sad. Thank you for shedding more light on this sordid episode. When I hear folks like you and Nicole Brown admit that you knew nothing of Michael Fontenot’s crime, I am so thankful that Christina Growder had the courage to come forward and start the march towards truth.
Bruce,
One other thing I would like to expand upon…For anyone in Graham, you have to get permission from the senior leadership to visit/hang out with anyone there (no exceptions). The Fontenot’s were always quite active socially in Graham, all made possible through the senior leaderships direct approval. Approval both to go over someone’s home, or to have them in yours. No approval, no visit.
In response to what Greg said at 11:51 p.m.
What Greg says is true. The NTCC used this system of permissions to control everyone. The NTCC said the permission rule was in place to protect you. But that is not true. The NTCC used the permission rule to control everyone, to remove their autonomy, to make them dependent on the NTCC for mundane decisions like whom they could call on the phone, give a ride to in their own car, invite to their own home, etc. It’s a common cult technique used to break down people’s ability to think for themselves. The NTCC did not protect anyone from Fontenot.
Fontenot was in the quartet, was a song leader in Graham & at NTCC’s national campground, worked in NTCC’s Graham headquarters, was often in mixed (adults & children) fellowship after church, taught in the Seminary, and was at national conferences (where no permission is needed to fellowship with anyone you want). I used to go into his office at HQ Graham, so he could show me “how to surf/stuff on” the internet (NTCC Graham has had the internet since at least 2003).
Fontenot was also heavily involved in the Graham soul-winning program, visiting people in their homes as a representative of NTCC. He played instrument in the Graham church band. Wasn’t he also a lay-pastor in Graham?
Was there anything Fontenot wasn’t involved in in NTCC?
Comments removed by editor. 2. 23. 13.
– BAS
These revelations about the social control at NTCC are remarkable. The power that NTCC leadership has is extraordinary.
(Editor’s note: the following commentary is from Angela Riggio Tumioli, a long-time member of the NTCC.)
Bruce said, “The power that NTCC leadership has is extraordinary.”
Yes it is. And the leaders, we were trained, were to be obeyed and feared. OR ELSE. Face it, your reputation or testimony is in their hands. They can smear you from the pulpit with no repercussions against them. The leaders frequently have done so. As ministers they have broken ministerial trusts, exposing things told to them in confidence. The leaders are a ruthless group of thugs (in my opinion.) They (allegedly) have spies who report every and anything to them. They have men who (reportedly) will physically attack others if directed to do so by their leaders. Sound far fetched? It’s true. Here’s a summary of one example of the NTCC’s power gone awry:
One couple who went to their St. Louis bible school was ex-communicated by Rodger Davis when they had done nothing wrong. Davis then put out an order that nobody in the church was allowed to help this young couple; or else they too would be thrown out of the church. When one brave man decided to let the young couple stay at his house, Davis had two men (reportedly) search house-to-house to discover who was helping them. These men (reportedly) tried to force their way into the home of the man giving sanctuary to the young couple. All of this happened back in 1978 and the controls have only gotten worse over the years. (In my opinion) the NTCC leaders are crazy thugs who have no regard for the law, no Christian charity, and no business running a so-called church.
Here is the web address detailing the full story about Davis and his thuggish ways:
http://newtestamentchristianchurchdebswtnss.blogspot.com/2010/03/st-louis-mo-1978.html
Or you can click the link at the head of this comment.
Ange
Mr. Smith, your character-assasinations are not reporting, but biased since you only publish one side of every story, therefore, you are definitely a failed reporter since there is no real objectivity in your reporting. Sad, so sad. You are a mere sham.
The leadership of the NTCC has repeatedly declined my invitation to discuss these issues. Yes, I spoke with Mike Kekel once, initially, and then with his co-pastor a few times after that. However, for this article they have declined all comment. Further, RW Davis has steadfastly refused to meet or speak with me at any time since I began reporting on the NTCC.
DnA said:
Ross, as you well know there is a shroud of secrecy that surrounds the ntcc. The ntcc leaders have opinions and positions on this subject and many other subjects that are indefensible. This is why Davis will never talk to Bruce Smith or go public with any information regarding this or any other scandal. This is why Kekel and Kinson say, “No Comment” and will not address these issues. Bruce Smith has given the ntcc leadership many opportunities to respond and covered both sides of the ntcc related stories that he has reported. There are many scandals that have tainted the ntcc’s past and the leadership is not able to come out publicly and take a position because they are guilty of the things that are shared by many witnesses. This is how cults operate. This is why cults like the ntcc place so much emphasis on keeping their cult members off of the internet and isolated from society. Isolationism is a very important mechanism to keeping people from discovering information that would jeopardize the cash flow in the ntcc as well as many other cults. Apparently you haven’t got the memo yet, but maybe you have by now because we noticed you haven’t been back to respond.
Bruce,
You are only scratching the surface! There are more stories yet to unfold, I’m sure of it!
Comments removed by editor. 2.23.13
– BAS
Ross? Or is this perhaps JRA? Not sure who you are, but then only a coward would post behind only a name. I am not afraid of what you have to say about me. First off, there would only be one person that would know anything about me and that would have to be the pastor of this so called church of God. My question to you Sir is how would you know anything about me, unless there was some gossip going around? Hmmmm…this leads me to believe that indeed this is fact!
Its amazing to me how you can post something about all when you yourself are without sin! I wonder if you would be man enough to post your full name! Awwww but alas..I don’t think that is going to happen, because there might be someone that knows your peccadillos.
Pedophilia is not something that any church should keep covered from any of their church members. Pedophiles are suppose to have their home listed so that others may know where these jerks are. How can a church knowingly allow that with as many children that they have around there. You stated to Nicole that she should get a background check…REALLY? WHY? You need to be for REAL man!
First of all, Great article Bruce. I read it with interest. I’m so glad that at least some of the ways of this organization is finally being brought to light. As I’ve said before, all they are is just a Real Estate Company masquerading as a Church.
Perhaps I may be coming across as a bit calloused and rough as to what I’m going to say next, But I hope that Rodger Wilson Davis lives long enough to see the empire that he has built crushed to rubble. He has a birthday this coming February and will be 83 years old, so I know time is running out. Any pain, or anguish that he feels if and when that ever happens will pale in comparison to the damage that he has done to others through the years, and “All in the name of the Lord”. I love many of the common folk that go to NTCC, But I despise the leadership.
Matthew Henry, who was a Preacher in Chester, England from 1610 to 1630 said something that I Iike, and that is that no attribute of God is more dreadful to sinners than his Holiness. The very thing Rodger has talked about in many of his Sermons through the years is the very thing he may think about dreading.
How long will you poisonous vipers vent your angst and your vitriole? “Wherefore love your enemies…” This is some strange love you people show. What does the G. stand for Mark? Good, Godly and Grand??? Until you are willing to forGive, you haven’t got much chance. “He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.” (Jesus)
DnA said:
Again Ross, Why are we expected to “love our enemies”, while you are calling us poisonous vipers? Why do you exempt yourself from your own standards? You are demonstrating the very things that we have been speaking about for years now. While we were in the ntcc, we allowed ourselves to be kicked around by people like you, but we have found our freedom and some of us are no longer afraid of people like you. Your rules do not apply to us, so don’t expect us to allow you to mistreat us the way that you are used to. We hope that our replacements will hear our voices and escape for their lives, before they find themselves hopelessly trapped without the will power to break free of the tyranny and abuse of the ntcc and it’s rich rulers.
Whether Davis or Kekel, or any members of the NTCC leadership alerted their congregation, is unknown. When questioned on this subject by the Mountain News, Graham NTCC co-pastor Phil Kinson simply said, “I have nothing to say to you. Have a nice day.” Then, he hung up.
Further, when the Mountain News telephoned co-pastor and NTCC CEO Mike Kekel, he merely uttered, “No Comment,” and afterwards he did not hang up the phone or continue the conversation. After a lengthy silence this reporter re-identified himself and re-iterated the purpose of the call, and left the contact information for the Mountain News with no apparent results.
In addition, efforts to reach NTCC founder and patriarch Rev. Davis have been unsuccessful.
Teen brides were routinely married off in NTCC, and probably still are. And I lived in the dorm with Mike Kekel and Phil Kinson, and reiterate that they both boasted to me that they were engaging in heavy petting sessions with their future brides when these girls were only 14-15 years old, and that they refused all entreaties to repent. I was there, dude; St. Louis, 1982-3. You weren’t.
(Editor’s Note: The above paragrpah is an excerpt of Vic’s comments, posted above.)
Statutory Rape Is Illegal Sexual Activity Between Two People When It Would Otherwise Be Legal If Not For Their Age
In accordance with the FBI definition, statutory rape is characterized as non-forcible sexual intercourse with a person who is younger than the statutory age of consent. The actual ages for these laws vary greatly from state-to-state, as do the punishments for offenders.
Missouri — Age of Consent
MISSOURI
Added 03-2002:
Statutory rape, second degree, penalty.
566.034. 1. A person commits the crime of statutory rape in the second degree if being twenty-one years of age or older, he has sexual intercourse with another person who is less than seventeen years of age.
2. Statutory rape in the second degree is a class C felony.
(L. 1994 S.B. 693) Effective 1-1-95 As of August 28, 2001.
Source: http://www.moga.state.mo.us/statutes/C500-599/5660034.HTM
Of course Kinson and Kekel have nothing to say, and want to add nothing to the investigation. They are as guilty as Fontenot in the molesting of young girls. To condemn Mike Fontenot of such a perverted crime, is to condemn themselves! For some evil there is no forgiveness!
You are disgusting. And what of YOUR foibles??? Let’s hear some confessions about yourself???
DnA said:
All David has done was quote some statutes and laws that normal law abiding citizens are expected to follow. These laws protect our children from predator’s and violence. In this comment, Ross, it sounds like you are trying to justify the actions of a sex offender that violates little girls. Why would you accuse David of being disgusting when he is doing his part to alert the public to the statutes that exist to protect young children? You are not making any sense, Ross. I know who David is, and I will say this, Ross. There is not a person that I know on this planet that loves God and cares about people more than he does. You are worried about his Foibles? I’m sure that if he has any, which we all do, including you, he is not obligated to confess them to you. Who are you, anyway, that you should demand such things?
We may never know how far Kinson and Kekel went with the petting sessions they admitted to having with their young teen future brides according to Vic’s testimony. Also we are not sure as to the exact age of Tanya and Debbie, but we do know that they were definitely under 17 years of age at the time that Kinson and Kekel bragged about their sexual conquests and we also know that Kekel was well over the age of 21, and Kinson most likely was too. At the very least the sexual deviant behavior that Kekel and Kinson bragged about could be described by either of the Missouri statutes below, depending on the age of Tanya Davis (Kekel) and Debbie.Johnson (Kinson) at that time.
Child molestation, second degree, penalties.
566.068. 1. A person commits the crime of child molestation in the second degree if he or she subjects another person who is less than seventeen years of age to sexual contact.
2. Child molestation in the second degree is a class A misdemeanor unless the actor has previously been convicted of an offense under this chapter or in the course thereof the actor inflicts serious physical injury on any person, displays a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument in a threatening manner, or the offense is committed as part of a ritual or ceremony, in which case the crime is a class D felony.
(L. 1994 S.B. 693, A.L. 2000 S.B. 757 & 602)
CROSS REFERENCE:
Child, genital mutilation of a female child, crime, penalty, defenses, 568.065
Child molestation, first degree, penalties.
566.067. 1. A person commits the crime of child molestation in the first degree if he or she subjects another person who is less than fourteen years of age to sexual contact.
2. Child molestation in the first degree is a class B felony unless:
(1) The actor has previously been convicted of an offense under this chapter or in the course thereof the actor inflicts serious physical injury, displays a deadly weapon or deadly instrument in a threatening manner, or the offense is committed as part of a ritual or ceremony, in which case the crime is a class A felony; or
(2) The victim is a child less than twelve years of age and:
(a) The actor has previously been convicted of an offense under this chapter; or
(b) In the course thereof the actor inflicts serious physical injury, displays a deadly weapon or deadly instrument in a threatening manner, or if the offense is committed as part of a ritual or ceremony, in which case, the crime is a class A felony and such person shall serve his or her term of imprisonment without eligibility for probation or parole.
(L. 1994 S.B. 693, A.L. 2000 S.B. 757 & 602, A.L. 2006 H.B. 1698, et al.)
Effective 6-05-06
CROSS REFERENCE:
Child, genital mutilation of a female child, crime, penalty, defenses, 568.065
(2000) Suspended imposition of sentence is not a conviction and thus cannot be used to upgrade crime of child molestation in first degree. State v. Prell, 35 S.W.3d 447 (Mo.App.W.D.).
________________________________________________________________________________
The fact that we are even having this conversation or that Kekel or Kinson who now are leaders of what they claim to be a holiness organization speaks volumes for the character of this so called church and it’s founder R.W. Davis. There is a pattern of abuse present in this organization that goes even deeper than the sexual perversion that seems to be a trademark of many of the leaders of the ntcc. Sexual sins seem to be blatant within the ntcc with many reports of similar behavior among the church leadership.
I am not going to attempt to define the immorality of the New Testament Christian Churches of America’s leadership or the laws they broke or the penalties that they should face. The fact that they publicly will not address the allegations points to a cover-up and the narcissistic attitudes they have towards anyone they can use and manipulate for their own greed and lust. The actions of the ntcc leadership are as far away from Christianity as the Pharisees and hypocrites that Jesus rebuked for their double standards. If they would have upheld the standards that they have condemned others for violating than we wouldn’t be having this discussion today. Most people that leave the ntcc have more of a problem with the phoniness of the hypocritical leadership of the ntcc than they do with many of the doctrines they preach. In the ntcc we have seen adultery on demand, the splitting up of families, spiritual manipulation and abuse, unrepented of fornication and adultery, homosexuality, lust and greed and just about any sin that the bible mentions. We all have sinned but the ntcc leadership fails to acknowledge the destructive role they play in so many lives. They brush everything under the carpet and explain it all away, placing the blame on the sheep which they have destroyed. God sees it all and will have the final say about this. Everyone has been given time to change and make things right but it’s the ones that say, “We have no sin”, and continue to spin lies and cover up their own folly that can’t be helped.
For those of you ntcc’rs that think you are in a healthy church where everyone loves God and your leaders are a bastion of righteousness, why not confront Kinson and Kekel about their evasiveness to the questions they were asked by Bruce Smith? Don’t let them give you an inconclusive answer. Pin them down with yes and no questions and demand a straight answer from them. Don’t you deserve it? If you are going to give your money and time and unwavering loyalty to them; can they at least be expected to give you a straight answer to a reasonable question? Is not honesty a quality which you should expect out of your leaders who proclaim to be Christ-like? Since they will not be honest or transparent with the general public, what makes you believe they are honest and transparent with you? If you are not afraid to stand your ground and you ask your leaders some of the hard questions that should be asked of them; don’t settle for an answer like “no comment” or have a good day, sir”. You deserve a lot more than that.
Don and Ange
You people are disgusting with all your gossip of others. You take at face-value everything others say (as long as it’s juicy!) as fact. The Bible itself condemns you since it requires 2 or three witnesses to the same event. Let’s get the witnesses to tesify about YOU Don, what about your conduct in the military??? You were living a holy life-style right? Oh, I know, your problems were all the fault of someone else!???
Greetings Ross,
Some of your recent posts on the Mountain News have crossed the line of our ethical standards and have been removed.
Anger and rage are okay to express, but non-specific attacks against individuals are not.
Also, impassioned defense of the NTCC is acceptable but we expect you to back-up your charges that the NTCC leadership would never condone child rape. The Mountain News has never said that; however, the NTCC leadership has engaged in border-line behavior that comes close to being illegal and morally questionable, in particular the practice of encouraging very young girls to “age-up” and court and marry much older men.
Also, the NTCC leadership has a moral and legal responsibility to engage in due diligence to protect its faith community from sexual predators. The NTCC leadership was warned of such behavior in our judgment and failed to act responsibly. If we are incorrect in this matter, please let us know. If you have documents that prove that the NTCC leadership alerted the community to the return of Mr. Fontenot, please present them.
Bruce A. Smith
Publisher
The Mountain News-WA
Eatonville, WA
wow,what a shame. I use to attend ntcc in the early eighties and its just unreal how this church has changed for the worst.
It wasn’t so great in the early ’80s either; we were just blind.
You can be blind, but others can’t- YOU can be unmerciful, but others can’t. You people are SOOO transparent!
DnA Said:
Transparency is a trait that we all wish the ntcc possessed. Their lack of transparency in this and other matters, shows that they have much to hide. We were once blind members of this controlling group but we now see things clearly, and I think most of the readers of this forum feel the same way. Being merciful does not mean to stand idly by and allow atrocities to happen without saying or doing anything. We have done our part to expose the ntcc for enabling people like Mr. Fontenot. I wish that this was not necessary. If the ntcc leaders would have taken appropriate action we would not be here discussing these things. The ntcc has a long standing history of ignoring the abuse, shunning the abused and harboring the abusers. In addition, the ntcc leadership has never acknowledged their inaction or indiscretion; nor have they apologized for the hurt and suffering that many have endured in the ntcc. Their response has always been to remove any opposition or disagreeing parties from their organization and keep the perpetrators around. They call this mercy, but I would have to ask you Ross, what about mercy for the victims? How come you accuse us of being unmerciful, but you haven’t had one word of compassion for the six year old girl that was sexually violated, or the mother that was shunned by the ntcc and it’s leadership? Don’t talk to us about mercy or forgiveness. Don’t condemn us and demand that we confess our sins to you. I don’t hate you Ross, I actually pity you. I feel sorry for you because you are the prime example of what the ntcc does to people. There are so many people just like you in the ntcc, and they probably were decent people at one time, but the constant pressure of trying to live up to unobtainable demands and seeking the approval of the narcissistic ntcc leaders, has stripped you and many others of every ounce of individuality and decency that you ever had. We hope that you find peace and delivery from this bondage.
I am glad to hear some truth about some religions.Now i know why my x boyfriend whose parents were missionaries in china got his sexual problems & he can’t show true God love but just lies & his sister is a Norwegian in China getting awards for religion for helping the (poor chinese) kids. My x man friend goes there every yr ( China)as his boyfriend has sex with young women & I saw a pic on Facebook of him (while he was)lying to me while e mailing me every day from China. They were both intercoursing the chinese young girls & perhaps the kids too?His teacher friend teaches iEnglish n China. His friend Jim is not a teacher in the USA tho?So much to say, but anyway he caught Herpes there he said, but I was lucky I did not catch STD, so now I’m very careful & check them out on internet & ask questions to whom ever you date.Please expose more people like this.
Ross said: “You people are disgusting with all your gossip of others. You take at face-value everything others say (as long as it’s juicy!) as fact.”
Well, Ross, I do take much of what I hear spoken against the ntcc at face value. I’m really glad that you brought this up because there are many witnesses that have gone public with ntcc misconduct of a sexual nature, and we know that the MO of the ntcc is to dismiss it as gossip, and discredit those who would have a voice against them. So lets start off by addressing the issue of gossip. In an earlier comment of yours to Diana that Bruce deleted, you stated “Do you want some of your stories told”? If you do know anything about Diana, and that’s a big if, the only way you could have obtained that knowledge is through gossip. The only Ross that could possibly be privy to information of a personal nature concerning long time members of the ntcc, is James Ross Ashmore. This is how things work in the ntcc for those who might not know. When a person leaves the ntcc they are publicly discredited and gossip is the vehicle of choice that is used to destroy the character of many good people who have left. I know this first hand for a fact. Many people who have left, (more than two or three witnesses), have testified how their names have been drug through the dirt after they have left the ntcc. They have been wrongfully accused of adultery, pornography and many other sins. People are lied about when they leave the ntcc. I was lied about when I left the ntcc. The lie that was originally spread about me was that I slept with the wife of an X-minister of the ntcc. This lie was spread by R.W. Davis publicly and that’s how the gossip starts. I can verify that this never happened as I have recently been in contact with the party that was co-accused of this adultery and she is happily married to the same man. This woman and her husband can testify that this never happened, (that’s two witnesses, by the way). Another lie that was spread about me when I left is that I was with this women alone and didn’t have sex with her because I was a homosexual. The ntcc often preached that men and women could not be trusted to be alone unless they were married. If you were alone with a woman that you were not married to you were tempting God and if nothing happened or you didn’t commit fornication or adultery it was because you were a homosexual or she was a lesbian. I heard with my own ears a pastor in the ntcc, speak to Olson and Kinson on two separate phone calls accusing this woman of being a lesbian. So which is it? You can’t have it both ways.
The ntcc leadership has the art of gossiping mastered. Gossip is used to keep their ntcc cult members living in fear and afraid to leave. I have seen and heard too much to not give credence to the thousands of testimonies that have been shared by former ministers and church members of the ntcc. Factnet, Jeff’s blog, our blog, Deb’s Witness and the Mountain New’s series on the ntcc have generated many witnesses that have testified against the ntcc. When we mention these things it’s called gossip by people like Ross, who won’t even take ownership of his accusations by leaving his full name. It has been shared that if you throw a rock into a pack of dogs, the one who yelps the loudest is the one which got hit. My question to you Ross: “Why are you yelping”? Perhaps this article on pedophilia revealed a subject that you prefer to keep hidden in your own life. I will take what an X-member of the ntcc says at face value any day over your twisted version of the truth, because they have spoken out in numbers against you, while you hide behind the name Ross. Why is it that you ntcc’rs are afraid to sign your name to your accusations? If you want your comments to be credible and your accusations to be considered then take ownership of them big Ross.
If you click on my name it will bring you to the blogpost that we did on the Fontenot story on our X-er blog and the comments that were left.
Ross said: “Let’s get the witnesses to tesify about YOU Don, what about your conduct in the military??? You were living a holy life-style right? Oh, I know, your problems were all the fault of someone else!???”
Let’s do that, because in testifying against me, they are testifying against the ntcc system and it’s leadership. Unlike leaders in the ntcc, I have been very honest and forth coming about my past. I have been to hell and back with the ntcc, and because of this I have tried to warn others so they would not have to endure the same things that I had to. Bring those witnesses on if you have any. I’m not afraid of anything you have to say about me. Many people have left the ntcc and they are afraid to share what they have been through, because they don’t want to relive it again. Many have gone public and many have not. I choose to share the truth about the ntcc because I do not wish for others to have to endure the suffering that I had to endure.
You ask me if I was living a holy life-style? I was according to any standards of examples that I had ever seen in the ntcc. I was the model Christian in all the Servicemen’s Homes that I was a part of. I subjected my self to all of the standards of dress that were required of ntcc members, and many of these standards are no longer being kept by ministers or church members because apparently, God has changed his mind about how we should conduct ourselves as Christians. I also had a prayer life, studied my bible and brought many people to church. I was obedient in all things to every pastor that I ever had in the ntcc. Unfortunately some of those pastor’s required obedience that went way beyond that which the bible requires. I cut off all communication with all of my friends from the past and forsook members of my own family for the ntcc. You tell me, by the ntcc’s definition of holiness, was I living it? I paid my tithe faithfully and gave in every offering. I led the way in many of the collections that were taken up and took up many offerings myself at the request of Pastors. What about the money Ross? Where does it all go? You want to talk about people living a holy life-style? Do you think that it is right to condemn people to hell for not paying their tithe? Do you think that it is right for the leaders in the ntcc to live in million dollar mansions, drive cars and Recreational Vehicles worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, wear Rolex watches, Diamond pinky rings, have expensive gun collections, knife collections and musical instrument collections valued at tens of thousands of dollars all while the common ntcc church member can not afford life insurance to take care of their families when the man of the house who has the only income dies?
As for blaming my “problems” on someone else, I’ve never done that. I’ve taken responsibility for my part in every instance. I’ve actually lived in condemnation for years and tortured myself over and over until one day I realized that God still cared about me. The ntcc dropped me like a hot potato, and made no attempt to help me or even contact me after I left. That’s the way it is in the ntcc. When they are done with a person they kick them to the curb. The ntcc cares nothing about former ntcc’rs until they affect the ntcc’s bottom line, which is their cash flow. That’s when people like Ross get on and start attacking folks. God is nothing like the ntcc leaders.
In conclusion, Ange and I, Jeff, Diana, Greg and Deb, Vic and others have chosen to take a pro active approach to exposing the ntcc. We all might take different approaches and we might not agree in all things but we do what we do because we don’t want others to suffer needlessly. We know that the ntcc is an abusive organization that has a history of mistreating it’s members and we have exposed them for this by sharing our stories and the stories of hundreds of others. We take no pleasure in this. I wish it were not necessary. I would love to have the years of my youth back to live over. My biggest mistake in life was to trust in the ntcc and it’s leaders, who have proven to be worst sort of people that you would ever expect to be considered ministers of God. We miss all of our friends that are still in the ntcc, and because we are no longer allowed to talk to them, our only means of communication is on the internet on a public forum like this one.
Ross said:
” The Bible itself condemns you since it requires 2 or three witnesses to the same event.”
Really, Big Ross? Can you share where it says the “same event”, or are you adding to the scriptures? Let’s make sure we apply that same standard to the ntcc and it’s leadership, before we throw that scripture at the X-ers. I recall three ministers being removed from the ministry because of the testimony of one brother. Do you know anything of this? If you want, we can rehash this and maybe you can tell me why this standard didn’t apply to those ministers. Did the bible condemn Davis because he took the word of one witness? We have a very large cloud of witnesses that have shared their true stories on this website, our own blog, Jeff’s blog, Greg and Deb’s blog and FACTNET to name a few. You can act all sanctimonious and talk down to us if you’d like, but when it’s all said and done, your accusations condemn yourselves more than us, because you are guilty of the very things that you are accusing us of. Do you think that you are exempt from the scriptures that you throw at us? Please don’t take us for a bunch of fools and stop acting like you are above everyone else. Your condescending attitude reflects your ignorance and speaks volumes of your character or lack thereof.
Ross said:
If you will be honest with yourself, you know that no one in NTCC leadership would EVER approve of such behavior, not to mention the fact that it has always been warned AGAINST! Your desires to justify yourself for whatever your short-falls are, are somehow vindicated in your own eyes by trashing others??? This is the norm for all these x-ntcc’ers and few of you are likely to ever see Jesus being as many of you have an unforgiving, vengeance-seeking heart. Your trashing a church for your own ends, even if the church isn’t perfect, sends a message the devil wants all to hear- and simply vindicates their hatred for ALL churches. NTCC is not the only ones that must stand before God, but YOU ALSO. However, instead of preaching and spreading the True Gospel, which you all claim to have, WHY AREN’T YOU SPENDING YOUR TIME OUT SPREADING IT, INSTEAD OF WASTING YOUR TIME TEARING OTHERS DOWN??? Are you totally without any mercy – the very crime you accuse NTCC of???
Don Said:
No, we do not know that anyone in the NTCC leadership would disapprove of such behavior because doing nothing about it is the same as approving it and they have a standing history of ignoring the victims of sexual abuse and allowing the sexual predators to thrive and prosper in the ntcc. We wish that people like Ross would hold themselves to the same standards that they hold us to. We are unforgiving? We are totally without mercy? We are trashing a church of our own ends? Who are you to require this of us? The ntcc is a church that runs good people off because they have honest questions about their transparency and finances that can’t be explained. When people disagree with the ntcc leadership on many subjects like tithe, financial transparency and holiness, they are publicly rebuked for being contentious and unless they conform, they will continue to be humiliated until they leave in disgrace. Once they leave, the existing members are no longer allowed to be a friend to that person. They are considered the enemies of God, and the ntcc church members get scriptures thrown at them like, “What Fellowship hath light with darkness”? This is how the ntcc takes good people, ignores their honest questions and issues, turns against them and shuns them. You want to talk to us about mercy and forgiveness? Don’t tell us that “few of us are likely to ever see Jesus” or “that we are sending a message the devil wants all to hear”. We aren’t out here claiming to be the last move of God on earth. You need to take the beam out of your own eye so you can see clearly enough to remove the mote from our eyes. You strain at a gnat and swallow a camel, Ross.
I have a question for Ross concerning his reply to me. In the secular world, why do public schools enforce mandatory background checks on their employees? I ask this question because I work a very fulfilling career in the school system helping children and I was required to pass a background check in order to secure employment. If the secular world understands this and sees it is necessary to protect children, what is lacking in organizations such as Ntcc?
Well said Nicole. After leaving ntcc and healing, I have been going to a very healthy church. They require background checks to if you want to work with the children there and I am very impressed! For years, many reports came from the Catholic church of sex crimes (I’m not bashing them) but it’s a perfect example to add to this one – “Church” doesn’t mean 100% safe. You would think it should be but as long as the church has human beings it won’t be. Look at pre-Jesus days, during Jesus days, and post Jesus – there’s sex sins all thru history.
Why in the world people like “Ross” would want to defend such people, I don’t know. I can say I know this for sure – I was there when Fotenot left and came back (that would be when he went to jail and came back). I never heard not one thing said AND I was working in the childrens church. At minimal you’d think the Childrens church teachers would’ve been notified to keep an eye out on him and if he’s ever around the children to contact someone immediately.
Don, you have brought up several great points. Ross, if there is any truth at all to your defense, please bring it. You want witnesses, I am another one!!
Kat D
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You people are something else from beginning to end, a family destroyed and all you do is find blame. Where is your Jesus at? When anyone becomes too religious you allow the devil come into your house and to entertain thoughts and it festers into perverse behavior. Where is your God? yeah I don’t think he is here you are all ugly people. Full of hate if there is a heaven containing individuals like yous, yeah I see why Americans don’t believe anymore or become Muslim. From a full fledged Sinner…they say a sinner knows a Christian I seen none here.
If Jesus was around he’d be turning tables and scourging the hypocrites himself. He was full of hate for religious phonies who preyed on others, and we have no reason to suspect his attitude has changed. Do you propose just “turning the other cheek” and ignoring predatory behavior in the name of “love?” Get real.
I’ve read much and probably everything that you former ministers have written on here, over there (fact net), and everywhere. First of all I must say that I am not a ntcc bible college graduate, nor have I ever stayed in “the lodge”. Try not to let this fact cause you to think that I couldn’t possibly have any thing to add to this ‘thread’.
I was reached by some soul winners in ’92 and slowly began attending church. The first message that I heard preached caused me to have a difficult time at holding back my tears. Not because the preacher said hurtful things but because of the awful truth of it all. I never had heard it put forth in such a manner. Then after the preaching, when a man I didn’t even know came over to me and invited me to come and pray for salvation I said I wasn’t ready to do that. After he spoke with me for just a moment longer he walked away. The concern and love that I saw in that mans eyes for me, a stranger, broke my heart and then the tears started to flow. I could no longer control it, I had to bury my face almost down into my lap so that my girlfriend (or anyone else) wouldn’t see.
I can’t remember how much time passed before I returned to another service. I am sure that I went a few more times. But then another man came and took over the pastorship. It was this man that I remember as my ‘first pastor’. He was the one that was there when I finally surrendered to Jesus. Man, oh man could this guy preach. Deep, meaty, interesting, taking you there, type sermons that just hit home with me. God used the pastor to reach into my heart and begin a new thing in me. God uses pastors to do this. Of course it wasn’t only the preaching that impacted me. It was also the multi-faceted assault (upon my carnality and worldly upbringing) by the other church members there. What I mean by “assault” is how everyone at church treated me and spoke to me. I (with my worldly upbringing) wasn’t used to being spoken to so …politely, or without some sort of witty maliciousness. For instance, even today in the world, I witness it, when a man will greet another man from a distance by cussing at him and actually using his middle finger, flipping him off. And this is done as a greeting. You see what I mean? So, out in the world I learned to act, walk, talk, and live a certain way that conformed with everybody else who was out in the world. I found it extremely difficult to relate with people at church. I was uncomfortable but, still I could not deny that God was doing something in me here at this church, not any other one.
I grew up going to an Assembly of God church and prided myself in being more spiritually adept than most individuals. But I did not attend nor had I attended any church, at that time, for many years, probably since 1980. When I came here to ntcc the soul winners would come to visit us to encourage us to come out, you know. Soul winning can be a thankless, and at times a fruitless drudgery. But when one is consistent in it, through the years, fruit does come. It’s work, no doubt about it. It’s God’s work for us to do, and work ain’t no fun. God knows we’re only human. But as christians (who knowing the terror of the Lord) we better do something. Jesus died for a reason, there is a cause. As the years roll on the cause can grow dim and at times “this little light of mine” refuses to shine. So here I am 23 years later. I ask myself, “Have I did much for God?” My answer is always NO. Am I a walking bible? NO. Have I let God down? YES, much too often. Do I deserve the gift of eternal life in a Heavenly paradise? NO.
I have left church and come back again, Because, the “hook in my jaw”, God would not leave me alone. So I wonder about you who have left. You who have stayed at “the lodge”. I wonder if we are really much different from each other. We all experienced a personal move of God within each of us. We all have worked in some capacity within the ministry. The early years when we were moved upon by God in such a manner as to shake the very foundation of our souls. Gods sweet presence upon us, wrapping his loving arms around us and letting us know that he was there. Then also the years of purposed growth where he pulls away and causes us to have to pray and to draw close TO HIM as opposed to Him just freely giving his presence to us. These are the years that I now find myself in. I have found that if I don’t make the effort then I’ll just “go through the motions” for long periods of time. But other things can creep in and steal my time away from “me and God time”. Eventually I can see that I could possibly have a change of heart and grow weary of this “church stuff”. Fortunately I have always been the type of person whose alarm bells ring loud and ring long. Meaning I can sense when I am veering off the path.
We christians suffer. Not openly but we do suffer a systematic persecution that is woven into the fabric of our godless society. It is relentlessly beating upon us and it will make us weary. The things that strengthen us again aren’t a secret. It’s Bible reading, PRAYER, church attendance, and PRAYER. Plain and simple and yet so cotton pickin’ difficult to do for most people. Especially the PRAYING.
Ntcc is full of imperfect people. From Kekel, to Olson, Kinson, and on and on. I heard that Kekel has a motorcycle, among other things. It makes it difficult for me to pay my tithe sometimes now that I know about that. But I do pay tithe as if I am giving it to Jesus. If the preacher takes it to the caSINo and gambles it away, what is that to me? “Follow thou me” Jesus said to Peter. If they are sitting up there in “the lodge” drinking beer out of a beer bong and passing joints around the table, does the cause of Christ not yet ring out loud to “reach the lost”?
As I grow older the battle rages on and I still have a long way to go. I may never get to “the lodge” but I don’t care. I may slip and fall a hundred (thousand) more times and bring disgrace to my God. Hopefully when I stand before Him and say, “Lord, Lord” He will know me as one of his own. If not then let me go to Hell. I am 48 yrs old and I will stay here in this church until death or the rapture take me.
All of the reports and witnessed events that I have read concerning these men and this leadership have only made my resolve more fixed. My eyes were opened, as I too had placed all of them upon a high pedestal. It is comforting for me to see that we all need God’s grace. From the beloved Rev Davis and his family to my family, and your family too.
As for this Fontenot fellow. I remember him but only as a distant acquaintance. It’s a shame that it has happened. I remember his wife also but their daughter was just an infant. Hope she and daughter is well now and hope the best for him too. I hope the best for you all and to God be the glory.