“Those who slanderously diagnose our pastoral competence from afar (without bothering to check their facts) do not know anything about how we have taught him, prayed with him, admonished him, rebuked him, checked on his stories, and held him accountable.” Douglas Wilson
Fact Check
Facts matter. Let’s review just a few of them.
- Pastor Douglas Wilson of Christ Church, Moscow, responded to the Sitler crisis by scheduling an appointment to see the victims’ parents the next day “after lunch.” Then, after at least 15 hours had passed, he encouraged the victims’ parents to report Sitler to the authorities.1 This fact, which is documented in the public record, contradicts Mr. Wilson’s repeated claim that he “immediately encouraged the person who had discovered [Sitler’s crimes] to go to the authorities immediately.” This fact demonstrates that Mr. Wilson wants people to believe that he acted immediately, when he knows he did not. This fact makes people wonder what kind of pastor makes two devastated parents wait until the next day, “after lunch,” before he sees them.
- Mr. Wilson denied that Steven Sitler is a child rapist, writing, “The twittermob has been circulating numerous untruths, among them that Steven Sitler is a child rapist.” This denial, however, contradicts his own definition of the word “rape”:
“Okay. I would define rape as having any kind of sexual relationship with someone apart from or against her or his consent.” (“Tall Tree and a Short Rope”)
Sitler committed abominations on children that meet this definition and he did much worse. Therefore, if we hold Mr. Wilson to his written definition, we may conclude that he does not grasp this particular fact.
- Mr. Wilson assured his readers that Sitler “has never been to our worship service unaccompanied by a trained chaperone.” However, this statement creates a false impression because by the time he wrote it, the Department of Probation & Parole had stripped Sitler’s three primary chaperones of their “chaperone” status. They failed to report Sitler’s deviant thoughts as required by their agreement with the state. They enabled him. Given this, which fact is more relevant — that Sitler never attended worship service without a trained chaperone, or that Sitler’s trained chaperones failed to comply with their agreed-upon responsibilities? What good is the training if the chaperones ignore it?
These three examples demonstrate that Pastor Doug Wilson of Christ Church, Moscow, has adopted a course of deceit, misrepresentation, and obfuscation with regard to the facts surrounding Steven Sitler. Mr. Wilson knows the facts, but he has shaped them a little more to his liking. And this fact — and it is a fact — takes the question of “pastoral competence” off the table.
1 This is possibly the most puzzling and damaging part of the timeline. If anyone has information about what Mr. Wilson did that night, please use the contact form.
Just seeking clarification on the chaperone issue: Were the chaperones who escorted Sitler on church grounds the same chaperones who were assigned to baby-interaction duty? Sounds like these are two separate situations.
Also,if they were different, while the baby chaperones had to be trained, were the church escorts trained or otherwise qualified? Or were they selected by church staff? Or were they Sitler’s buddies (who may have been unmotivated to report just like the baby chaperones)?
Good questions. If you google Idaho sex-offender chaperones, you’ll see that there’s only one form that appears to cover everything. Nothing in the paperwork suggests that there may be various levels of training or chaperones.
P&P is not permitted to identify the chaperones, which is really strange because it removes a potential layer of accountability. For example, let’s say someone sees Sitler holding his son while talking with Joe Kirker on a Sunday morning. That person has no idea if Joe Kirker is a chaperone of if the freak show just got worse.
That said, we know that Stevens County identified three of Sitler’s chaperones by name — Katie and his parents. We also know that Idaho approved these same three persons because the prosecutor identified them as the persons who violated their chaperone agreement. We also know that when P&P disqualified these three, they banned Sitler from his property. Judge Stegner affirmed this ban until qualified chaperones were approved. And we know that during the spring and summer, two chaperones were required to be in the home when Sitler was present, one to cover daytime hours and the other to watch at nighttime. (Stop and think about that. He has to have 2 chaperones in the home until the baby grows up, to ensure 24-hour protection.)
Therefore, from these limited facts, we reason that Sitler had only 3 chaperones. It’s possible that he had more but . . . how would you like to volunteer to babysit Steven Sitler for the rest of his life?