* * *
Pastor rebuts statements by victim of child abuse
Staff report
Christ Church was not involved in the sentencing of a pastor-in-training about 10 years ago for felony injury to a child, Doug Wilson, senior pastor of Christ Church in Moscow, wrote Monday in an email to the Daily News.
He was responding to a story, “Survivors: ‘Listen to me,’” on Page One of the April 15 edition.
The victim in the case, Natalie Greenfield, who spoke April 14 at the University of Idaho, detailed her seduction as a 13-year-old by the man who was 10 years older. She was quoted as saying that “Christ Church fought for him tooth and nail.”
“The Greenfields could have insisted on going to trial, and they were the ones who decided not to,” Wilson wrote. “My understanding is that the reason they decided not to is because Jamin (Wight) had journals in his possession, written by Natalie, that he could have used in his defense in open court.”
She alleges the church told her parents not to go to trial, and church members wrote to the court on her abuser’s behalf and brought her own character into question.
“A plea deal was settled, which Christ Church had nothing to do with,” Wilson wrote. “The reason Jamin ‘got off light’ was entirely due to the arrangement the Greenfields made with the state of Idaho.”
Wilson wrote, “Jamin deserved the punishment he received, and I happen to believe that he could have received a stricter punishment without any injustice.
“So if you want to blame someone for the sentence, then you need to limit your candidates to the state of Idaho and the Greenfields,” he wrote.
He wrote that Natalie’s father might object to that account of things.
Wilson went on: “He is (literally, not just figuratively) a flat-earther. And the reason for bringing this up is NOT because flat-earthers deserve to have their daughters abused, but rather because flat-earthers ought not to be trusted when it comes to what constitutes reasonable evidence.”
The Greenfields were members of Christ Church. Wight, of Potlatch, stayed at their house in Moscow’s Fort Russell neighborhood, but he attended Trinity Reformed Church, headed at the time by Peter J. Leithart, a faculty member at New Saint Andrews College.
Leithart wrote of that time in a Facebook posting in September.
Of Jamin Wight, he wrote, “I allowed him to manipulate me. A number of the things I said about Jamin to the congregation and court at the time his abuse was uncovered were spun in Jamin’s favor.
“I trusted his account of the circumstances more readily and longer than I should have, and conversely I disbelieved the victim’s parents,” Leithart wrote. “I didn’t appreciate how much damage Jamin did, and I was naive about the effect that the abuse had on the victim’s family.”
* * *
One could say a lot of things about this latest nonsense, but I think the standout to me (besides falsehoods and misdirection) is that Doug fundamentally misunderstands apologies and admission of fault. Leithart’s apology is THE reason he has not been at the center of this scandal right alongside Doug, but Doug cites it as if it somehow exonerates HIM. Doug will never admit fault because he does not understand either repentance or forgiveness.
Correction: I guess I misread the last portion of the article. Let’s stick with falsehood and misdirection then. The claim that the journals could have been used in court to prove what I presume Wilson would call a “consensual” relationship is patently false
The alleged journals written by an underage child have nothing whatsoever to do with Jamin Wight’s guilt or innocence. In truth, I found the entire article by “Pastor” Wilson to be a weak, feeble, thoroughly unimpressive example of his supposed wonderfulness as a wordsmith. A very shaky, and very predictable stringing together of words, “Pastor” Wilson. And further proof that you are a complete, total jerk who is a walking mockery of Christianity. And you’re still a heart attack waiting to happen, by the way.
Thanks for quickly reporting on this. I have commented on the Daily News site and linked to this site. It is important to compare and contrast Doug’s self-serving falsehoods with the documented proof offered here.
Rose Huskey
Every time I read a response by Doug Wilson to the Jamin Wight child sex abuse, I become more angry. If he would just shut up and at least act like he cares about the abused and their families, it would do a world of good for all concerned. But he just has to keep opening up old wounds by arrogantly responding to Natalie’s story. It’s her life and her story – not his. Doug Wilson should act like a man and fade into the background instead of being an attention seeker. I pray he will please let Natalie tell her story without having to try to steal the limelight. I also think the CREC should consider defrocking him at this point. He’s an embarrassment to all.
Doug Wilson is committed to giving convicted sex offenders normal lifestyles within the Moscow community. Therefore he cannot tolerate any information that contradicts his narrative because it interferes with his agenda of giving sex offenders normal lifestyles.
Only if the sex offenders are males because only they can head a household in the eyes of his god called Doug.