Parents battle church over sex offender meetings near school
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HILLSBORO, Ore. – Parents have been fighting for years without success to get a church near a public grade school to move its meetings for sex offenders.
They say they've run into roadblocks trying to get this sex offender meeting to move. They say they've been trying for at least three years to convince Sonrise Church, where these registered offenders meet, to move the meeting far away from any schools.
Additionally, some of these sex offenders will actually start living at the church within the next month, KATU News has learned.
The motto at the church is "A safe place to hear a life changing message." But parents who have children right next door at Quatama Elementary School question that message.
The church holds a service every week and as many as 120 registered sex offenders attend.
"This like having an AA meeting in a bar," said parent Shannon Jones.
It's about 60 steps from the church to the school, a distance that can be walked in just over a half-minute.
Parents want the Hillsboro School District to notify everyone about what's going on and "help us communicate to families right in this area that might not know," said Marcy Tell.
But they say the district refuses.
A district spokesperson says the district takes no position on the issue and that it has a good relationship with the church.
Employees at the church were resistant to speak to KATU News Thursday. But a pastor said he won't move the services. The church was there first, and he said security guards are at the church to protect kids.
Parents question his truthfulness because of something that happened at another church seven years ago.
Pastor Jerry Mettee filed a false police report in 2005 saying he was stabbed by a burglar when, in fact, he stabbed himself. But the church and district said there hasn't been one incident involving offenders and kids.
"You can't undo something after it's already happened and make it all better," Jones said.
Jones, also a survivor of childhood sex abuse, says she doesn't want that first incident to occur, and that's why she's going public with her concerns.
Parents also question the relationship between the district and Sonrise because the church donates up to $5,000 a year to the schools.
They also want state laws to change to outlaw these types of offender meetings and treatment centers near schools.
Thom Jensen found out about this story through a news tip. If you have a story for any of the “On Your Side” investigators, email them at investigators@katu.com.
This is taken from the second piece Thom J and KATU did the other day...
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Lawrence has handled literally hundreds of sex offender cases both as an attorney and as a prosecutor. And while she believes the church should ethically tell neighbors exactly who is attending Sonrise's Light My Way service, she knows the law is not on her side. "(It's) not required by the statute. It's really pretty discretionary and permissive with regard to the state parole board â even if you're a predatory sex offender," she said.
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 @Kresee Maybe you're talking about the pastor jerry mettee?
@For Kids @Kresee Â
http://www.network54.com/Forum/344524/message/1114183646/Gaston+pastor+sentenced.
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http://portlandtribune.com/fgnt/36-news/22041-a-new-sonrise-in-town?tmpl=component&print=1&page=.
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http://www.zoominfo.com/#!search/profile/person?personId=699879144&targetid=profile.
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http://www.manta.com/g/mmnmf21/jerry-mettee.
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@bvorh We have in writing, this "holy and honorable" man saying things inconsistent with or contrary to what he now states on camera to Thom Jensen and KATU. We have first hand experience and evidence, and don't have to rely on the words of others.
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Integrity is what you do when no one is looking. Unfortunately, Gleason is the opposite of that. Â
@James Farley - you are correct placing a service of 120 sex offenders next to a school would be idiotic....so tell me WHERE one like that is and I'll 100% agree with you! (I'm understanding more and more there is a difference in people reading something and comprehending something....) I applaud the work you have done, it's admirable and I'm sure emotionally draining. I don't question that, or your intentions at all when it comes to your concerns. But I absolutely 100% question your ability to learn, grasp and seek out facts rather than post an emotional response from a flawed (at best) journalist claiming something that is completely and absolutely untrue. Defaming someone is NOT something that needs to happen in court....that is simply the "legal outcome" of defamation. Defamation happens PRIOR to court and could lead to legal action (not saying this will, or it should....but it doesn't obsolve you of the act just because someone doesn't bring the charge against you).Â
@G_L_11 Funny you should ask. For more than a decade, I've volunteered or worked, in the U.S. and overseas, to help children and victims of domestic violence, the homeless, refugees and asylum seekers, the impoverished, and the marginalized. I've helped opened a homeless shelter, volunteered at numerous shelters and food banks, saved lives by gaining refugee status for those who would have been maimed and tortured should they be forced to return to their countries of origin, etc.
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But, I don't advertise my work for all the world to see what a "good" person I am. What I do is between me, the people I help, and God. Likewise, my failings are between those I've failed, me, and God.Â
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But, on the other hand, God, Gleason and hundreds of people, over the course of years, know the utterances, half-truths and outright lies that came out of that "holy" man. Defamation must be proven in court, not be blind followers, and through that process, many more will see and hear what we saw and heard.
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For the purposes of this thread, though, most importantly and for good reasons, I DON'T ADVOCATE THE PLACEMENT OF A SERVICE FOR 120 CONVICTED SEX OFFENDERS NEXT TO SCHOOLS AND NEAR CHILDREN. That'd be idiotic.Â
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"The serial killer has the same personality characteristics as the sex offender against children" -Dr. Mace Knapp, Nevada State Prison Psychologist. http://yellodyno.com/Statistics/statistics_child_molester.html.
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The average child molester will molest fifty girls before being caught and convicted. http://www.registeredoffenderslist.org/blog/sex-offenders/child-molestation-statistics/. Â
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A child molester that seeks out boys will molest 150 boys before being caught and convicted and he will commit at least 280 sexual crimes in his lifetime. http://www.registeredoffenderslist.org/blog/sex-offenders/child-molestation-statistics/.Â
@James Farley - Then I would strongly encourage you to produce evidence, a link, etc. that states that Pastor Gleason is the "opposite" of that. Otherwise, yes...it is slander.
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And while you're busy throwing out the first stone....be sure you live a perfect life yourself and aren't breaking the law along the way. Ever go 5 mph over the speed limit? Care to have your taxes audited by the IRS? How about talking and/or txtng while driving in your vehicle?Â
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Remember - "Integrity is what you do when no one is looking".....
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P.S. Let me know when the last time it was you went to Mexico to build a home in a poverty stricken town, reach out a hand to hungry families in the area, provide clothing/shelter during harsh weather, etc. NO ONE is perfect, not you, Pastor Gleason, myself or even the Dahli Lama. The difference is, people like Pastor Gleason readily admit to their short comings and they are sinners in God's eyes vs. standing up on top of a hill shaking their finger at someone such as what you are doing. I'd challenge you James Farley and Kresee to become people of integrity yourself.
 @bvorh Yeah, slander is something that is said that is untrue. @Kresee if you say something like that you might want to produce some kind of link to those records. Most of the people who are concerned about this that I know aren't interested in hurting the pastor there, but just want the community to be notified and if not the gathering places moved.
 @bvorh bvorh, that might be the way that you perceive your pastor and that is wonderful. We all have experiences with people that are different. For THIS person and many others it seems, this was their experience.
 @bvorh Do you know for sure that he doesn't have a "record?" I think when the pastor posts here that he doesn't then you could say that but... he could in fact have one that you don't know about and the other person does. Just saying...
Local people that live near the Sunrise church, this was a good post over on the other story Katu did last night in case you didn't see it yet. Share this with your own neighbor groups .
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ORENCO AND QUATAMA AREA COMMUNITY FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS:
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This is an email that was sent out by a lawyer who works with sex abuse victims. I'm not sure if it's from the woman who was interviewed last night on this piece, and I don't want to post her name here, but I will share the content, and I think it's very encouraging and vaildating of the efforts of so many selfless people who have really tried to do what's best for the kids in the community.Â
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Hi All, Please find attached a story about a Hillsboro school that has been holding treatment meetings for registered sex offenders while a school is next door with another only a couple blocks away. Parents of some of the school children contacted Thom Jensen with KATU News (Channel 2) whom followed-up on the story. KATU started covering the story last Thursday. Based upon public outrage, the Pastor just yesterday advised that they are now going explore moving the weekly sex offender meetings to a new location.  This is the quintessential example of how raising public awareness through the media actually can make a difference in our fight to protect our children against abusers. The recidivism rates for sex offenders are extremely high indicative of their strongly held pathology. Placing sex offenders near our children is just too dangerous and unreasonable. As a community we need to weight the benefits of protecting our children against our interest in rehabilitation for abusers. Treatment is important; however, the protection of our children from a high risk of harm is more important. The simple solution in this case is to simply move the treatment meetings. Hats off to Thom Jensen with KATU News, because the Church is likely to move its program to a location where children are not next door, based upon public outrage. Great job Thom J  Here is the link to the story: http://www.katu.com/news/investigators/Sonrise-Church-Pastor-says-hell-consider-moving-sex-offender-service-away-from-school-180277901.html If you have any questions please let me know.
 @For Kids I know I'm running the risk of getting insulted, but I gotta do this:
The recidivism rate for sex offenders is not extremely high. That is, at best, a mistaken belief on the part of the writer and, at worst, a lie. See your own state website for information that is more helpful and correct:
http://oregonsatf.org/about-2/satf-membership/offender-management-committee/myths-and-misconceptions-about-sex-offenders/
 @Shelly Stow  @For Kids This makes me thing you are not even from this state...what is your stake in our situation?
 @Shelly Stow  @Concerned Parent In addition, I have found in my that treatment further reduces the risk of recidivism by about half. The church that provides such space for treatment is doing the whole community a very great service. Now, if we could only allow people to get the treatment without becoming felons in order to do so, we might make some headway in preventing further abuse.
@Concerned Parent
No, I am not. I made that clear and explained my position several hundred comments ago.
In addition to reading stories about churches with community outreach and service programs, due to my own church being in the infancy stage of those types of programs, I have a vested interest in the topic of sexual abuse and sexual offenders. My daughter and, longer ago, my sister, were childhood victims of sexual abuse by family members--different ones, different sides of the family. When I found out, years after the fact, about them both, and after I got over the shock, I started researching in order to discover more about what I thought was a rare occurrence. This is what I learned.
I discovered that well over 90% of molested children are abused by relatives and close family acquaintances. I discovered that virtually none of these people are on the sex offender registry nor likely to ever be. I discovered that the public registry and all the laws and restrictions are the result of a very, very few high profile cases in which a known sex offender kidnapped, molested, and/or murdered a child, and therefore they are designed to deal with that kind of offense. I learned that those kinds of offenses make up a tiny, tiny fraction of the registry, but the laws are used to deal with all offenders, very few of whom are truly dangerous, and that the laws and the registry do absolutely nothing to stop the sexual abuse of America's children. But the most horrible thing I learned was that no one seemed to care about all those children. All they care about is that anyone labeled a sex offender be kept as far as possible from "normal people," and it is those "normal people" who are sexually abusing children. I learned to look below the surface and to withhold judgment until I had as many facts as possible.
Other than correcting blatantly erroneous information about the risk to children for sexual molestation or statistics relating to the subject, I have not âinterfered,â I donât think, in the church- community debate, but when someone asked me direct questions, as they did, about something I said, I answered. I have been ever mindful of being an outsider and have referred to it a couple of times. I see points on both sides of the issue and pray a solution can be reached without any more offense being given or taken and without what appears to be valuable community services being compromised or sacrificed.
Without a doubt more than you wanted to know. Happy Thanksgiving and God bless.
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 @For Kids "This is the quintessential example of how raising public awareness through the media actually can make a difference in our fight to protect our children against abusers." While I do not disagree with this statement, we have never thought that our church building was the best place to hold these services. We have looked for other churches to step in and help us and so far none have done so. We have said over and over again that we would move the service if we could find another/better place. The "public awareness" had no affect on our stance of moving the service.
Wow, Gleason, you must have that Ground Hogs Day syndrome where you must relive something over and over until you get it right! Poor thing.Â
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All these years, you've repeatedly told different groups of parents that Sonrise was here first; therefore, you'll never relocate the convicted sex offender program away from the children. In fact, wasn't that Sonrise's message when KATU first interviewed church "leaders"?Â
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Do the right thing. It isn't hard. Stop making excuses and blaming other people. If you'd really wanted to find a place for it, you can figure it out. If you really want to notify neighbors, do it.Â
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Don't play that victim card. You're not the victim here. The victims are those whose lives have been damaged by those convicted sex offenders you've repeatedly invited next to two elementary schools. They can never push the reset button and get a fresh start on their lives without the pain and agony caused by these convicted sex offenders. Let them cry you a river, but DON'T YOU EVER JEOPARDIZE THE LIFFE OF ANOTHER INNOCENT CHILD FOR THE SAKE OF THEIR CONVENIENCE ... OR YOURS.
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@James Farley - apparently (as you toss out your garbage insults to someone) you struggle with reading and/or comprehending. 100% of the people on here absoutely agree with the fact that we would never put a child at risk. I'm not going to re-hammer out all the info. that's already been posted on here, but wow Mr. Farley.....you're really off base with a lot of assumptions you are plugging in vs knowing any of the facts; yet you are quite liberal with your personal attacks on Pastor Gleason. Learn the facts and then post in a civil manner like most other adults on here are doing - no matter which perspective they are posting from.Â
 @JamesGleason  @For Kids Can I ask why then you hosted it here if you thought, "We have never thought that our church building was the best place to hold these services." ? This just doesn't make sense to me.Â
 @JamesGleason  @For Kids I can sympathize with finding another place Pastor as I am sure most churches don't want to invite this type of situation into their community. I think it is safe to say most neighborhoods would rather see this is an area that is not near families and children. Today, I was thinking of the area by Out of This World Pizza - that frontage road is mostly businesses from what I can recall but, of course, not off the Max, like we are.Â
Here's a list i copied and pasted from the new story about this and what parents can do.
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ORENCO AND QUATAMA ARE COMMUNITY FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS:
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A growing number of neighbors in my own sub division are working towards coming together as a group to consider next steps and just follow through on their concerns about the location of these gatherings. Many are asking what they can do at this point. Here are a couple of suggestions I have, and that community members can certainly add to. They're just immediate things that can be done.
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1. Directly beneath the story article above is a tab that says the word, "Recommend". Please click your mouse on this word to simply show support to KATU channel 2 news for covering this story that is important to us. They really helped in getting the word out to the neighbors around the church, whom it sounds like tried and tried to get the church to do, but for some reason it wasn't getting done. KATU did what the concerned parents didn't have the time or resources to do. Thank you, KATU.
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2. If you have a Twitter account, please share this piece that way, and ask your friends to retweet it.
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3. If you have a Facebook account, please click "Recommend" and share this story on your Facebook page and ask your Facebook friends to share it, too. This is not an attempt to discredit either the church or the local schools, but to simply get the word out to many parents in the community who still do not know about these gatherings in their neighborhoods.
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4. Please leave a CIVIL comment on this thread. Many people involved in a community network of concerned parents are not computer savy and are not vocal here, but are signed up for email updates about this. The community concerns and comments are shared with that growing communication network.
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5. Please remember to be kind and appreciative to the church and the school for all the good they do in the community, because it's unquestionable that they do. At it's base, this is about GOOD PARENTS giving their precious time, emotion, and energy to not only the safety and well being of their own kids, but YOURS, too. They get NOTHING FOR THIS, but the satisfcation of knowing that they have tried to do the right thing on behalf of the many children in this general location.
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Please continue to follow this story and support this effort in ways that are civil, respectful and supportive of the community at large.
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Thank you.
Remember Jesus, "when you receive the least of these my brethren you receive me and what you do to the least of these my brethren you do unto me." Who is more least than a registered sex offender?Like · · Unfollow Post · November 14 at 11:47
@Luman Jesus also said this to people:
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Luke 17:1-3
King James Version (KJV)
17 Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!
2 It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
Pastor Gleason, as a member of the mediation, I think it important to set the record straight. Â If you will recall, everyone was asked to sign a confidentiality agreement, but we refused. Â The reason was that only a few of us were allowed to attend (to keep the numbers manageable), and we articulated we were the voice of many and needed to be able to share the information with others. Â Everyone, including you, agreed with that reasoning and the confidentiality agreement was NOT signed. Â As proof, you might recall that because while you were not opposed to communicating to the neighborhoods, you did not know how it could be done, we attempted to communicate with the parents through our parent newsletter. Â
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It is news to me that you communicate with the folks on your perimeter--thank you! Â Can you share that information? Â I for one, am happy to help share that information with my neighborhood and others. Â
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Thank you.
@Orenco community member Thank you for posting this because I've been wondering about these comments about a mediation or more than one mediations. I want to ask some questions about that please.
1. What was the mediation about?Â
2. Who did it involve?
3. Was the school involved in it?
4. What made it so confidential that it required a confidentiality agreement? Was the pastors asking that to happen or some kind of outside mediator?
5. Did the mediation group or groups ask the church to send out a fliar to the surrounding community about the gatherings of ex convicts at the church? If they did, what did the pastor tell them?
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Thank you I know it's a lot of questions. I'm copying these questions and answers and sharing them with my neighbors and I live near Orenco too.
 @For Kids  @Orenco @JamesGleasonÂ
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To answer your questions:
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1. The mediation was in lieu of a town hall meeting (which was not granted), to meet and discuss our concerns with the church. Â We initiated the escalated dialogue to help get assistance with talking to the church since we had no luck going directly to the church.
2. Â I can't remember all the parties involved, but the parents were obviously present (although limited in numbers), the church leaders were present, and a few other law and homeless advocate agencies were represented. Â We realized early on, however, that the other parties all had a relationship with the church, which affected the dialogue. Â
3. Â The school was not involved.
4. Â As Pastor Gleason mentioned, the confidentiality agreement was brought up as is typical in mediation, but as I stated above, it was NOT signed by the parents.
5. Â The parent group came to the table with several solutions, and even though we asked that the church also come with solutions to be community partners, they did not. Â We were able to get a few things adjusted as mentioned below. Â The church agreed to change the release times of the shelter to not overlap with school kids coming to school. Â They were also going to implement a formal intake program for the shelter, but perhaps Pastor Gleason can comment on how that has changed things. Â We do not know if it is effect, but it was mentioned by one of the program leaders that that individual would NOT turn anyone away, which would negate the purpose of the intake measures. Â We did come up with several solutions to move the light my way service, and request information go out--none of which got any traction.
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We did request flyers go out to the nearby neighborhoods and businesses about the programs, and suggested ways of doing that, but were met with resistance. Â The church did not think it was logistically possible. Â Honestly, we were willing to help or do it ourselves, but we ran into the issue of getting accurate information to publish and concern over retaliation (as you might see evidence in these comments). Â
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I hope that helps. Â At the end of the day, while our ultimate desire would be to see these programs moved to a more suitable location (with additional resources for these folks in need), our intent is simply to get communication to residents so we can join the effort to keep our kids safe, and parents can make educated decisions. Â Â
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Jerry Mettee, the pastor in charge of Sonrise's program for convicted sex offenders told the Portland Tribune, "Through Light My Way, 120 men and women whose parole and probation restrictions prevent them from attending regular church services get together on Sunday afternoons to 'talk about life' and faith." http://portlandtribune.com/fgnt/36-news/22041-a-new-sonrise-in-town?tmpl=component&print=1&page=. According to Sonrise's website and others, Mettee is the man in charge of the program; thus, he would know the data. http://www.zoominfo.com/#!search/profile/person?personId=699879144&targetid=profile.Â
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So, the pastor in charge of the program said 120 people whose parole and probation restrictions prevent them from going to usual service. Sounds like 120 convicts to me.Â
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Then, another pastor, when talking to the media and others critical of the program, plays down the numbers and throws out different numbers ("5 or less", a dozen, 10, etc.).
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Who can you believe?!!!! Â At this point, it just seems they are fishy.
 @Orenco community member  @mightymike  @For Kids  @JamesGleason My concern here Orenco Community Member is that if they are continuing to actively invite more and more to this service, the numbers will continue to change, more than likely go up.
 @JamesGleason  @mightymike  @For KidsÂ
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Thank you Pastor Gleason! Â How and what do you communicate to your perimeter folks? Â Do you have any problem with the above information being posted in the neighborhoods?
 @Orenco community member  @mightymike  @For Kids We DID in fact include information about all of our programs. I had a list of email threads this summer that repeated the same information I am sharing now about numbers. Nothing has changed. I have a list of emails to prove it. I have stated it again and again on this board. One last time: We do, in fact, have approx 120 people at the Light My Way service that runs from 3-5pm on Sunday afternoons. Of that 120 people approx 30+ are volunteers from our regular services that run the service (program people, food people, security people, etc.), The other 80+ are made up of men and women who come from the downtown Restitution Center (our largest group), those who are still on parole restrictions (this does not mean they are sexual, PO's oversee all who come out of prison. When a person comes out of prison they are on parole for a set period of time. This is what this means.) We do have people that are off "paper" (parole) and are free to come to any service, but choose Light My Way so they can give back to this community. AND we have, on average, up to 10% of the group who are labeled "sex offenders." This past weekend I spotted 3 or 4 that I knew. Their PO notifies us of their attendance and they are required to follow all of the Department of Corrections rules for community reengagement.Â
I hope that helps. These are the numbers that I have repeated again and again. You will find them on everything we have sent out. Some people only read the "120" and immediately think that is the number of sex offenders. That is NOT the case. Some people hear the term "sex offender" and immediately think "child molester." That is not the case. Sexual Offense is a category of crime that is committed by a person when they engage in any sexual manner that violates the law. This does not mean they offended agains a minor/child.
I am not the thought police and I can't correct everyone's misconceptions about the truth, nor can I police everyone who writes about our service. We were the first such service for ex-prisoners in the US (according to Prison Fellowship). The Department of Corrections tells us again and again that this kind of service is the best way to keep these folks on the straight and narrow. If they were to live in isolation they would be so much more likely to reoffend (their words).
I am glad to answer any and all questions, but I can no longer make sense of this thread because there are so many topics to discuss!
 @mightymike  @Orenco community member  @For Kids We haven't mailed posters in years and we have been prohibited from putting invitations on door steps (actually, it was door hangers). We just hand out invitations to our members to hand to their friends.
 @Orenco community member  @For Kids  @JamesGleason there's a lot of dodging of questions going on. why didn't the neighbors get notified. why not? the parents at quatama tried to get the word out and were shut down. this was an intentional attempt to keep the community in the dark.
 @mightymike  @For Kids  @JamesGleasonÂ
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Mightymike--yes, one suggestion was to include information about the programs with other communication we occasionally receive from the church. Â I'm not sure why that was not seen as a solution by the church, but it was not. Â
Pastor Gleason, from the above thread, it appears you said to Thom that you have provided numbers to the parent group several times and we did not believe you. Â That is not at all my recollection. Â We were told several times that the information we had was not correct, but were not given any specifics to share and were referred to the website which was incomplete and itself changed. Â It seems there is an easy solution here. Â Would you be willing to provide those numbers now in writing so there can be no misinterpretation? Â I am happy to help with getting the word out.....
 @Orenco community member  @For Kids  @JamesGleason Every year around Easter and sometimes Christmas we get a postcard either mailed to us or put on our front door step inviting us to a new church or one in existence, inviting us to their service. I wonder why the church can't do something like that? Is it that they can't or they won't?Â
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I can't even believe the Hillsboro School District stays neutral on this. Are they so concerned with a possible law suit? Seems like they should be concerned about a child getting hurt and a lawsuit following. Unbeliveable stuff going on.
 @For Kids  @Orenco I was a person who was involved but could not go to the mediation, I will give you the answers as I believe them to be true but it was about 3 years ago now so hard to remember everything.
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1. Mediation was about the sex offender services and possibly, the homeless shelter (asked that no single men be permitted, women/children/families ok).
2. Mediation was between a handful of church administrators and a few parents.
3. School not involved. Quatama and district were/are neutral.Â
4. I think the mediator called for the agreement so there would be an honest, open discussion. It is confirmed, above, that neither party signed the agreement (so not sure why Pastor even brought this up)! To make us look dishonest?
5. I believe the parents asked for flyers to be distributed to surrounding areas but they said no, it was up to us.Â
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I'm providing this information as the parents keep getting called liars. We have no reason to lie. We keep trying to do the right thing and tried to resolve this before resorting to the interview. The church did some fixes (change release time of homeless, instituted screening overnight guests and perhaps one other (smaller) thing I cannot recall). All GOOD things but the fact remains that they are still bringing out suspect individuals for a service or overnight stay but then these people are free to loiter around the area as they wish. The church asks them to step off of their premises until next time... .
James Gleason, you are a pastor for a multimillion dollar church that owns or operates at least three churches in Hillsboro, Beaverton and Forest Grove, and you can't figure out how to notify the surrounding neigborhoods about the dangers of the 120 convicted sex offenders you bring into their midst weekly? How sad!Â
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Or, is the truth that you've repeatedly and continually shifted the burden of protecting the local children and citizenry onto the shoulders of local parents who only want to protect their children and families, and shirk your own responsibilities for endangering the lives of the local children and families? How disgusting!
 @JamesGleason  @sophie I don't mean to be rude at all, but it seems like the church members are very excited about outreach and ministry to the community. How hard would it be to arrange a massive church outreach going door to door in the community to bring a flier about not only the light my way services, but info about the church in general?Â
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How were y ou prohibited from going door to door or leaving fliers? I get them all the time from numerous churches, Jehovah's Witnesses, and local lawn care businesses, etc.Â
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It's great that you guys wanted to work with concerned parents, but as i read through all these comments it almost sounds like the burden was placed on them.
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Is it really so much that there isn't a way to get the word out to the community, or that the church leaders don't feel that it's really all that necessary. It really could and should be done, and the burden for it shouldn't be placed on the parents in the community. Maybe they'd be willing to help, heck I even would join an effort and bring all my friends to help.Â
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I really do think since it sounds like the hillsboro school district has a good relationship with the church (they said they did) than these two groups could work together on a plan to notify the families they both serve.
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Just some thoughts.
 @JamesGleason  @sophie Over the years, did you ever have a discussion with the school principal about sending a note out to parents at least from the quatama elementary? The school could easily provide information for you to their parents. Has this ever been discussed between you and their principal? I can see how communication to the entire community could be difficult but the parents of the children most close to the school seems like a simple solution for the school to send out information.
 @For Kids  @sophie Unfortunately, that is not correct. Thom asked me about our responsibility and I told him about what was asked of us and that we supplied what was asked (information about all of our programs). I told him that we did, in fact, do this and that when the mediation closed the parents agreed that we did everything in the mediation (minus moving the service). The mediation was closed because we complied will all of the written requests. I then told him that we have offered on several occasions to host a neighborhood gathering (the last time I spoke with a Orenco neighbor was in August and reiterated the same invitation). We even said we would host a child safety seminar (as we have done in the past). I told Thom that our problem with communication is that when a person steps forward and acts on behalf of the community and we try our best to answer questions it never seems to get back to the group at large. We have no idea of people's email addresses that represent an official group. I told Thom that they could notify them on our behalf, but we don't know how to do so.
So...there is no reason to be "appalled" or "disgusted." I personally told the parents in the mediation that if they could help me come up with a way to communicate this information that we would be willing to pay the cost of it. I have received no communication back on how to do this. What do we do? Fly a blimp over the neighborhood? We have been prohibited from putting flyers on doors or going door to door in our past publications so all we do is hand out postcard sized flyers to our people when events such as Christams and Easter come up. I don't have a magic way to communicate. Again, the facts are far less dramatic than the accusations.
@sophie
Thank you so much for this. This didn't show on the second piece yesterday, but Thom Jensen with KATU news said that he spoke to the pastor and asked some more questions about what steps the parents took. Thom said that the pastor said that he kept giving the parents the numbers about the attendance and they just didn't want to believe it. Thom said that he then asked the pastor if he planned on notifying the surrounding child-rich community about the services being held at the church, and he claims the pastor said to him in response, "If they want them notified, let THEM notify them."
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I'm really appalled. Why is it the job of these parents to notify the community? Apparently it's because he doesn't think there's any need to. It just seems like the church keeps trying to put everything off and onto the parents in the community for something THEY are doing through their church. We didn't get to vote on this, so why are we being given these assignments? Because we are voicing concerns and trying to advocate for kids in the community? Not his problem, apparently....it's our problem. Wow. That says so much.
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The more I find out the more disgusted I am. Up until this point, I had some sympathy for them but to say, "let the parents notify the public", is horrible. I'm surprised the regular church people aren't asking questions. Well maybe they are. I hope they are.
I hope that KATU an Thom Jensen continue to monitor this to make sure the service is really moved and it isn't just lip service to get the media off their backs.Â
I don't know how many are still reading here now that the later article is out, but I have to say something. Over 1000 comments and responses are here, and some are pretty heated, and a few got a little nasty, but I have read probably every one, and I don't remember seeing any that are of the vigilante mentality. Most of those critical are really concerned about children; I feel that concern is of too high a degree in the circumstances, but then I don't live there so I don't really know the circumstances. There are a few who I believe don't care as much about children and safety as they do appearances and property value--the NIMBYS; I've learned a new acronym! But I don't remember seeing a single comment that is of the "sex offenders are scum; shoot 'em all; they don't deserve being treated like human beings" mentality. That is remarkable for this subject and for this many people.
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Alas, some with that mentality have found the new article. They tend to be very rude and abrasive with no ability whatsoever to read a research report or even consider the possibility of another point of view. They are sad.
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Whether you approve of the special service in this church or not, having a ministry there that is actually helping people who have no place else to turn is remarkable and something of which to be proud and give thank for. I hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving with family and friends and love.Â
@Shelly Stow Thank you, Shelly. Thank you, thank you, thank you.Â
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Beautiful job, Thom Jensen and KATU news. Thank you for this good follow up. It feels like our voices have been heard.Â
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Great story tonight. I wasn't surprised to see the female anchor put "2 and 2 together" and jump to the issue of child safety. That is what is on all of our hearts. I, myself, have three boys and work hard to protect them from such danger. This issue is close to my heart as a family member was molested by a family member and it took years to return to a "somewhat normal" life (as much as that is possible). HOWEVER, just because a person is a sex offender doesn't mean the crime was committed to a child. Of the four friends I have who are sex offenders only one was with children (still one too many). He did it to his own children. 89% of those who abuse children are close friends or family members. Still too many. I appreciate all of the comments and want all Sonrise people to act in a way that is fitting for a follower of Jesus Christ. We are never to slander or be harsh with others.
@JamesGleason Why don't you practice what you preach, preacher? For speaking out on behalf of our children, you've branded us bulies, liars, etc. Shame on you!
 @JamesGleason Hey pastor Gleason why didn't you just notify the neighbors about what you guys were doing? I keep reading on here that they asked you to over and over. Why not? What was the big deal about it?
 @mightymike We did what the group asked for. We gave them notification of all of our activities and they sent it out to their group. Read the threads and you will see that.
 @JamesGleason I have no faith in you that you will move this service to another location. You have once again brought about your diversion tactics.Â
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Thom Jensen, please keep an eye on this one. He likes to give a lot of lip service and never follow through.
 @believer in Him Very unkind. This is not based upon facts. I'm sorry you feel this way.
Thank you James---
 @JamesGleason Thank you for sharing that your family has walked through this painful situation. I have a dear friend who was a youth offender. She's one of the most beautiful people I know. I have another friend who also has a sex offense against a former girlfriend. This friend is one of the most gracious, honest, and humble people I know. People can change, and often times brokennes and moral failure can be transformed into some amazing character.
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The main concern that I have had is that the child rich communities that surround the church have the an opportunity to be informed about the gathering in their neighborhood so that they can make the best decisions possible for their kids, just as the Sonrise parents are able to.Â
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You may have answered this question below, but did you say to Thom Gleason today that if the parents want the community to be notified, they'd have to notify them themselves?Â
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Some anti-sex offender registry people (I don't think they're church members OR community members) as well as some church members and Light My Way attendees have challenged concerned parents about "overestimating the risk", overreacting, being fear mongers, etc. I understand the statistics, but does it not increase the risk of danger and the risk of an occurence in the community if large numbers of ex-convicts (including some with priors for sex offenses and other violent crimes, whether perpetrated against children or women, etc.) when there are larger numbers gathering in one place?Â
 @Concerned Parent "You may have answered this question below, but did you say to Thom Gleason today that if the parents want the community to be notified, they'd have to notify them themselves?" No. I did say that we didn't have a way to do this other than their communication streams. We don't know everyone's email addresses or phone numbers. I have invited these leaders to come in for a neighborhood meeting (as late as August), but have not heard a reply. We are inviting, as good neighbors do, but no one has taken us up on this offer. We are not the thought police and we are no magically able to communicate with everyone. I have the emails of most everyone who attend Sonrise and use this to communicate to them on a bi-weekly basis. Even our people don't read everything that goes out! We get a 20-30 "open rate" on our emails (although the KATU response got a 40% open rate). Email is only effective if people read it. Sorry, just ranting there on the perceived ability to communicate with everyone. I wish I knew the answer to this one. I would love to be able to communicate to 100%.