“Make no mistake — it is terrible when a child has to live within range of a sexual predator.” Douglas Wilson

In March 2005, Pastor Douglas Wilson of Christ Church, Moscow, learned that twenty-year-old New Saint Andrews College student Steven Sitler had sexually molested several children of the Kirk. Sitler’s victims were spread far and wide — from Colville, Washington, to Mendota, Virginia, and back to Moscow, Idaho. Sheriff’s department records show that Sitler molested children of all ages — from newborn infants whom he snatched from their cribs to five-, six-, and seven-year olds — boys and girls, including incestuous molestations of close relatives.

We do not know the number of Sitler’s victims, but we do know that Sitler’s criminal defense attorney cites “the volume of Steven’s offenses over the years.” And we know that court records state,

The prosecuting attorney has been made aware by counsel for the defendant that the volume and extent of acts by the defendant are greater than the investigator’s documentation. The prosecuting attorney has also been made aware by counsel for the defendant that similar acts occurred in connection with minors now residing in other states.

Steven Sitler is a true serial pedophile in the worst and most comprehensive sense of the word. He rapes children ad seriatim, one after another.

Ground Zero
Christ Church, Moscow, operates a network of illegal boarding houses throughout the city to house students for New Saint Andrews College (NSA). From August 2003 to March 2005, Steven Sitler lived in one of these boarding houses. The family had six children, all younger than 10-years old. Sitler lived at ground zero.¹

Enabled From the Beginning
Pastor Wilson learned about the pedophile on a Thursday afternoon but did not meet with the parents of the victims until “after lunch” the next day. Further, sheriff’s department records show that after Wilson learned about the pedophile, he waited somewhere between 12 to 20 hours before he encouraged the victim families to notify the authorities. Public records also show that the victims waited 24 hours before they phoned in a criminal complaint, after which they went on a three-day vacation. After holiday, the father visited the sheriff’s department to file an official complaint. But by this time Steven Sitler had safely crossed state lines to live with his parents where he would remain unmolested by the law for six months.

Conflicts of Interest
Sitler’s parents retained an exceptional lawyer for their son’s criminal defense, the same attorney who served as legal counsel for New St. Andrews College. NSA was founded by Doug Wilson, who sits as a “permanent member” of the board of directors. Similarly, the family of the Moscow victims retained Doug Wilson’s personal attorney as their legal counsel. And Douglas Wilson acted as Steven Sitler’s chief counselor and sole confessor for the next six months.

Confessions
We know that Sitler began confessing the names of his victims to someone but public records do not identify that person. We also know that he did not confess these names to the legal authorities because the sheriff’s department spokesperson said, “Sitler was not interviewed by local law enforcement authorities (local=any law enforcement agency in Latah County). . . . Again, Sitler was not interviewed by local law enforcement. There are no reports from other agencies in the case file.”

Stonewall
As Sitler dripped names of his victims to his intermediary, this person forwarded the information to the sheriff’s department, who then notified the victim families of Sitler’s predations. However, the Latah County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson said, “There are no reports from other agencies in the case file.” This means no other victim family filed a criminal complaint against Sitler. One official said, “I have never seen this before where no one returned our phone calls.” Even this family refused to prosecute Sitler. This stonewall of silence created a firewall around Sitler that shielded him from arrest in Washington for six months.

Only one family filed a criminal complaint against Sitler and at times their cooperation with the investigation appeared half-hearted. During an interview at the sheriff’s department, the detective asked the victim father he would make a consensual call to Steven Sitler (Idaho code allows prosecutors to use information obtained by consensual calls). The father refused. The father also misled the detective by saying that Steven Sitler attended the University of Idaho when he knew Sitler lived in Moscow to attend New St. Andrews College as a full-time student. One can only guess why he would do this.

Pastor Douglas Wilson
Pastor Doug Wilson of Christ Church, Moscow, has a well-documented record as a theonomist. He affirms the Mosaic code and believes the state should execute rapists and pedophiles. Steven Sitler is both. He rapes children. After counseling Sitler “about half a dozen times,” Mr. Wilson felt satisfied that Sitler had overcome his lifetime of pedophilia because he told the judge, “I have a good hope that Steven has genuinely repented, and that he will continue to deal with this² to become a productive and contributing member of society.” Mr. Wilson’s hope for Sitler moved him to “urge” the judge for a “limited” penalty, all measures aside. The warm glow of Mr. Wilson’s letter to the judge stands in sharp contrast to this blog post where he stated, “I believe that if Steven is returned to our community, he should be welcomed as a criminal and serial pedophile and a dangerous man. . .”

A Single Count
Steven Sitler’s attorney negotiated a plea bargain on behalf of his client. The prosecution agreed to charge Sitler with a single count of Lewd Conduct With A Minor Under Sixteen Years Of Age in exchange for Sitler’s complete disclosure of the names of all his victims. Judge Stegner took the deal. He sentenced Sitler to life in prison but released him on probation after 20 months. After Sitler’s first probation violation, the judge told Sitler, “We are trying to see whether you can make it on probation, and you are as closely monitored as anyone I know on probation.”

Kirk-Arranged Dinner & Marriage
In late summer 2010 a Christ Church elder arranged a dinner introduction between Steven Sitler and a student of New Saint Andrews College. Her name was Katie Travis and in her own words she trusted this elder like a grandparent. This elder invited Katie to dinner at his home to meet Steven Sitler and he had romance in mind. Then after two probation-department-approved dates, Sitler and the young girl engaged to marry each other. The happy couple uploaded a prenuptial blog called june11eleven.com, which Team Truth captured and reposted in this archive. They tell their story better than anyone else — but in those cheerful days the words “child molester,” “pedophile,” or “dangerous man” never appear.

The state could not legally prohibit the marriage, but the Idaho Department of Correction, the Department of Probation & Parole (P&P), and the Latah County prosecutor strenuously objected to it because state mental-health experts in Idaho and Washington declared Sitler a “high risk” to reoffend and Steven Sitler had declared his intention to have children. Sitler prevailed. Judge Stegner approved the marriage and Pastor Doug Wilson of Christ Church, Moscow, officiated the wedding on June 11, 2011. He posted his wedding exhortation to the young couple on his blog, which Team Truth reposted here. And the good folks at Romans Road Media uploaded a video of the wedding to the web, which we reposted here.

In March 2015, Katie Sitler gave birth to the pedophile’s son.

In December 2014, Steven Sitler began failing polygraph questions about pornography. And in July 2015 he snapped the needle, failing multiple lie-detector questions. But polygraphs are not admissible in court and cannot be cause of action to revoke probation. Therefore, in July 2015 the judge put a “line of sight” restriction on Sitler, requiring one of his state-approved chaperones to be in the “line of sight” of Steven Sitler whenever he’s near his child. Sitler’s two chaperones were his mother and his wife.

However, in the last two weeks P&P revoked “chaperone” status from both women because they failed to notify P&P that Sitler advised them of some of his perversions. Consequently, Sitler does not live at his home until more chaperones can be found. Court meets again tomorrow (Tuesday, September 7, 2015).

In the epigraph, Doug Wilson wrote, “Make no mistake — it is terrible when a child has to live within range of a sexual predator.” And today we know — without mistake — that he created the environment where a child would have to live in range of a sexual predator. He wed a naïve New St. Andrews student to a serial pedophile and somehow the word “terrible” just doesn’t cut it.

¹ Another serial rapist also lived in a Christ Church illegal boarding house during that time, but that story must wait for now.
² The “this” refers to serial pedophilia.