Over the past five weeks, Tom Chantry, the son of Walter Chantry, has been on trial for five counts of sexual molestation and three counts of aggravated assault.
He was found guilty on two counts of aggravated assault. He was found not guilty on one count of sexual molestation and one count of aggravated assault.
The jury was hung on the remaining four counts of sexual molestation. 11 jurors thought he was guilty. One juror thought he was not guilty.
Trevor Christian Johnson is a missionary supported by ARBCA churches. He posted this godly comment on his Facebook page
Trevor Christian Johnson
August 23 at 11:57 PM ·
ANNOUNCEMENT: I will no longer be visiting or accepting missionary support from any church associated with ARBCA (The Association of Reformed Baptist Churches in America). Last week a trial concluded of an ARBCA pastor who abused kids, and it seems pretty clear that ARBCA leadership covered up the info and allowed the guilty man to not only take another church to pastor but teach in a school as well, allowing more children to be hurt.
The abuse happened about 20 years ago, and NOBODY that knew of it reported it to the police, despite mandatory reporting laws, but rather kept the info sealed and away from the churches.
This announcement actually comes at a time when I need MORE missionary support, not less. But when Judge Astrowsky stated during the trial of this man, “If this were a trial of ARBCA, they’d be convicted,” I had to sit up and take notice.
To quote one of the church members,
“This man…whom County Prosecutor Susan Eazer called a “sick, twisted, pedophile,” ran from the church [Miller Valley Baptist Church] he pastored in Prescott, AZ, to my congregation [Providence Reformed Baptist Church with Tom Lyon in Tacoma, WA] where I attended for thirty years. There, not knowing his charges, he was welcomed, sat among us and our children, preached, and was sent on with blessings to work in an elementary school [Christian Liberty Academy, Arlington Heights, IL] and eventually pastor another church [Christ Reformed Baptist Church, Hales Ford] in Wisconsin.”
I want no part of any group which fails to protect children.
I don’t even want your money. Chantry will be retried.
In the context of this discussion on Facebook, the following comment was made since I’ve written about Chantry and ARBCA on several occasions in the past. [I have removed the name of the person who made this comment because he asked my forgiveness in private.]
[Name removed] Yeah I don’t trust Brent Detwiler.... From my experience he’s just a nitpicker nitpicking people out of ministry.... But maybe I’m wrong on that one.
I thought the comment warranted a brief response.
Brent Detwiler Hey [named removed]. I think Paul the apostle was the original nitpicker. Read 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9. “Now the overseer must be above reproach…” “An elder must be blameless…” These passages are rarely applied in our day to the great harm of the gospel and church of Jesus Christ.
For example, Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM) conspired to cover up the sexual abuse of children and sexual assault of young men for 30 years. It is all carefully documented. That is not being “nitpicky.” There are scores of victims and witnesses who have brought charges against them.
Perhaps you should read the stories of some victims found in the lawsuit they filed against C.J. Mahaney, SGM and others. It will tear your heart out. And maybe you should read the nitpicky articles by Washingtonian magazine, Mark Galli of Christianity Today, Rachael Denhollander, et al.
Oh, and if you have time, you can read some of my coverage including the use of an illegal hush fund set up to prevent a victim from joining the class action lawsuit. Or read about the conspiracy not to report abuse at Covenant Life Church by Mahaney, Joshua Harris, et al. in Gaithersburg, MD which was the flagship of SGM. The former church of 4,300 has all but dissolved because of God’s opposition.
And yet all of this has been covered up with the help of the most powerful men in evangelicalism including Al Mohler, Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, Kevin DeYoung, Don Carson, and Justin Taylor. They have all defended Mahaney as guiltless in the conspiracy not to report suspected and known child abusers. You can search my blog for articles about their inexcusable conduct.
I think leaders should act with integrity and be called to account when they do not. That is why I wrote about R.C. Sproul Jr. and Phil Johnson who is the Executive Director for John MacArthur. These men are not accountable. And that is why I exposed ARBCA. Search Sproul, Johnson, or Chantry on my blog.
And less I forget (a little sarcasm intended), whether victims in SGM, or outside of SGM, I care deeply about them and their families. Pastors who disparaged them like those in SGM and ARBCA should be put out of ministry. That is definitely not being nitpicky.
I was at the Chantry trial the last three weeks. Approximately 15 witnesses testified against him. But in his damnable deceit, Chantry claimed he was the only one telling the truth. He categorically dismissed every charge brought against him by all the victims and collaborating witnesses. It was a demoniac display of lying like nothing I’ve ever seen. And all the while; his wife, Karen; his sister, Judy Rodgers; and ARBCA pastors like Al Huber (his father-in-law), Don Lindblad, and David Dykstra were in the courtroom cheering on his devilish deception.
The ARBCA Administrative Council wrote in April 2017 that all laws were followed in 2000 when Tedd Tripp, Mike McKnight, and Rich Jensen did their investigation at Miller Valley Baptist Church. That too is a lie. Those men, along with Bob Selph, were mandatory reporters and they knew it. They suspected his criminal sadism and wrote about it in a highly confidential document but did not report it. That caused 18 years of suffering for the victims and added difficulties in making the case today. These men need to publicly confess their sin and return to the victims to ask forgiveness and make restitution. They may also need to face criminal charges.
Had Tripp, McKnight, Jensen, Selph, and his father, Walter Chantry, reported the aggravated assaults to law enforcement in 2000, the sexual molestations would surely have been discovered by law enforcement professionals trained to draw out victims. That would have led to a successful prosecution on multiple counts of assault and molestation in 2000. Chantry would have gone to prison for a long time, if not for life.
All these years, Walt Chantry and ARBCA officials have been covering up for Tom Chantry and hiding the evidence while allowing him to teach in a Christian school where he continued to beat children (a police report was filed) and then allowed him into pastoral ministry without ever telling Christ Reformed Baptist Church in Hales Ford, WI about his wretched past. As Susan Eazer, the prosecutor put it, he has a “pedophilic disorder.” He is a wolf in shepherd’s clothing.
ARBCA even allowed Chantry’s church to become a member of the association in the spring of 2016 even though they knew he was under criminal investigation for sexual molestation. Is anything more reckless? Even hideous? A few months later he was arrested.
The godly people and pastors in ARBCA must call for an accounting. And some are like Trevor! You have my deepest respect. I will be writing at length about this whole situation in the future. Please pardon me if I do not respond to questions now.
The State is determined to retry Tom Chantry. This story is far from over!