At the same time, since his conviction, in accordance with the decision of the court and in accordance with an additional and separate determination by the session of Christ Church, Steven has never been to our worship service unaccompanied by a trained chaperone. He usually comes in shortly before the service, sits quietly, and leaves shortly after the service. Our ministry to Steven, in other words, has not been conducted at the expense of any children in our church community, or in a way that puts any of them at risk. Douglas Wilson

In this excerpt from “An Open Letter from Christ Church on Steven Sitler,” Pastor Douglas Wilson of Christ Church, Moscow, extends comfort and assurance to anyone who may feel distress at the thought of a serial pedophile roaming to and fro in the Kirk. But as is often the case with Mr. Wilson’s statements, he does not tell the complete truth. He only tells half — the half that makes him and the Kirk appear responsible.

For example, while it may be true that Steven Sitler “has never been to [the Kirk’s] worship service unaccompanied by a trained chaperone,” it is also true that the Department of Probation & Parole (P&P) had just stripped Sitler’s three primary chaperones of their “chaperone” status because they failed to report Sitler to P&P. Those chaperones were Sitler’s parents and his wife.

The prosecutor informed the court:

. . . . it is my understanding based on the disclosures known to the Department today that they are revoking the chaperone status of Mr. Sitler’s parents, because as pointed out, as disclosed in the most recent polygraph interview, there were historic events that apparently were shared with one or both of Mr. Sitler’s parents of Mr. Sitler becoming sexually aroused observing a young female on a vacation trip — none of that was reported although the chaperone agreements require them to report that.

Likewise, P&P notified the court that Sitler’s wife failed to report other instances of apparent arousal, presumably while he contacted his son. The Moscow-Pullman Daily News reported these facts three days before Mr. Wilson released his Open Letter, but he invoked the safety of chaperones anyway.

Conflicts of Interest
Steven Sitler’s chaperones have placed themselves in hopeless positions. For example, if Katie Sitler reports her husband to P&P, she knows the possibility exists that he may be sent to prison for the remainder of his life. She would lose her husband forever.

The same applies to Sitler’s parents. They apparently made peace with the devil years ago. They know their son molested close relations, yet they fight for him to remain with his own son. They have spent thousands of dollars — likely hundreds of thousands of dollars — to keep their son out of prison. Attorney’s fees, court fees, polygraph fees, professional counseling fees for not one therapist but two sex-offender psychotherapists — to ensure that Steven Sitler remains free on probation. They have committed themselves to keeping Sitler out of prison regardless of cost. Consequently, reporting him to P&P undermines every effort they’ve made for the past 10 ½ years. The prosecutor describes their dilemma:

The last thing that they want is for him to get into trouble. It is the natural reaction of a wife or a parent to want to protect their child or their husband from getting in trouble. And by virtue of having to come before Your Honor into this courtroom, they know Mr. Sitler’s in trouble. Their incentive is not to report. I am not questioning that they are good people; they are good people. But they are people; they are human. And we see the reality as we stand here before you, Judge.

Compromises notwithstanding, it’s true that at one time Steven Sitler had state-approved chaperones. But by the time Pastor Doug Wilson of Christ Church, Moscow, published his Open Letter on September 5, it was not true. And he knew it.