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-   -   Church searched, Pastor investigated in death (https://www.apostolicfriendsforum.com/showthread.php?t=23670)

n david 04-08-2009 08:24 AM
Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
Doesn't sound very good at all ....

A girl, 8 years old, was found dead submerged in a pond. Apparently evidence led investigators to the Clover Road Baptist Church, though they deny the Pastor is a suspect.

A couple alarming issues...

1. The Pastor was questioned for 3 hours
2. The church was searched by warrant
3. The Pastors computer, phone and other items were seized by Police

Those seem to be more than just what the Pastors wife explained ... questioned because their granddaughter played with the victim.

Quote:
Sgt. Tony Sheneman said other warrants in the case are sealed and that he would not answer questions about them in a press conference Tuesday evening. He also denied media reports that the church's pastor, Lane Lawless, was a suspect in the girl's death. Police have not named any suspects in the case.

Pastor Lawless was stopped by reporters Tuesday as he drove by Clover Road Baptist Church with his wife, Connie.

He said he was questioned by police for three hours Monday night.

Connie Lawless said they were being interviewed because they live down the street from the victim, Sandra Cantu, and their great granddaughter played with her.

Connie Lawless said they were fully cooperating with police, and that investigators took phones and a computer, among other items, from their home.
Source

TJJJ 04-08-2009 09:43 AM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
I thought the same thing when I read the article. Not good!

Sister Alvear 04-08-2009 09:45 AM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
very sad and I do hope they discover who did it...very scary.

tstew 04-08-2009 10:19 AM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
Has there been a dramatic increase in crimes like these against children recently or do we just hear more about them on a national scale these days? It seems like every week there's another story like this. So sad and a bit frightening.

n david 04-08-2009 10:29 AM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
The church's website guestbook has been slammed with tons of comments. Some very angry, few supportive, a couple interesting.

One interesting comment regarded a quote from the Pastor's wife in which she questioned who could possibly abduct, abuse and kill this little girl. Interesting because no one has mentioned the girl being abused....

Another interested comment regarded the Pastor's grandson and not the Pastor as the person of interest...

Very sad.

coadie 04-08-2009 10:54 AM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tstew (Post 733331)
Has there been a dramatic increase in crimes like these against children recently or do we just hear more about them on a national scale these days? It seems like every week there's another story like this. So sad and a bit frightening.
The leftist ACLU is fighting bibles in schools and is defending

Quote:
The American Civil Liberties Union has asked a judge to dismiss what it calls an "unconstitutional" lawsuit against a national pedophile organization being sued in a wrongful death case after two of the group's members brutally raped and murdered a 10-year-old boy.
The $200 million civil lawsuit, which charges the North American Man-Boy Love Association with wrongful death, was originally filed in Massachusetts Federal District Court on May 16.
Our Mr Barry just appouinted a porn defender.


Quote:
CHICAGO, February 4, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - President Obama has made a major mistake and put America's families at risk by selecting David Ogden to become Deputy Attorney General, says Fidelis, a pro-family organization.

"David Ogden is a hired gun from Playboy and ACLU. He can't run from his long record of opposing common sense laws protecting families, women, and children. The United States Senate has a responsibility to the American people to insure that Mr. Ogden's full record is fully reviewed before any vote on his nomination" said Brian Burch, President of Fidelis
.

We now also have the Pres insist sex ed begins in Kindergarten. Remember a "society" is a reflection of it's leadership. The non Christians want abortion and got their man as a leader.


Quote:
Although homosexuals account for less than two percent of the population. they constitute about a third of child molesters.6 (6. K. Freund and R.I. Watson, "The Proportions of Heterosexual and Homosexual Pedophiles Among Sex Offenders Against Children: An Exploratory Study," Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy 18 (Spring 1992): 3443, cited in "The Problem of Pedophilia," op. cit. Also, K. Freund and R.I. Watson, "Pedophilia and Heterosexuality vs. Homosexuality," Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy 10 (Fall 1984): 197, cited in NARTH Fact Sheet. ) Further, as noted by the Encino, Calif.-based National Association for research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), "since homosexual pedophiles victimize far more children than do heterosexual pedophiles, it is estimated that approximately 80 percent or pedophile victims are boys who have been molested by adultmales.7 (7. Thomas Schmidt, Straight and Narrow? Compassion and Clarity in the Homosexuality Debate (Downers Grove, IU.: Intervarsity Press), p. 114, cited in "The Problem of Pedophilia, op. cit., p. 2. )
Liberals push the gay agenda which has the most extremely high incidence of child molestation and pedophilia.

Child molestation, child abuse and pedophilia are connected.

tstew 04-08-2009 10:59 AM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by coadie (Post 733345)
The leftist ACLU is fighting bibles in schools and is defending



Our Mr Barry just appouinted a porn defender.


.

We now also have the Pres insist sex ed begins in Kindergarten. Remember a "society" is a reflection of it's leadership. The non Christians want abortion and got their man as a leader.




Liberals push the gay agenda which has the most extremely high incidence of child molestation and pedophilia.

Child molestation, child abuse and pedophilia are connected.
...except that what I'm talking about predates "our Mr. Barry" by quite a bit.

Has there been a dramatic increase in these events recently or just a dramatic increase in information and how these cases are no longer covered locally and regionally but nationally?

coadie 04-08-2009 11:24 AM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tstew (Post 733347)
...except that what I'm talking about predates "our Mr. Barry" by quite a bit.

Has there been a dramatic increase in these events recently or just a dramatic increase in information and how these cases are no longer covered locally and regionally but nationally?
People are in a hurry to get clergy in trouble. Also many media outlets are hurting for money and their own investigative reporting. They were purchased for millions too much and so they share stories and download stories and have less reporters on the street. The report of Obama assination attempt traveled quickly this week. It was posted and found false. It was an e-mail from the US and it sure shook turkey.

Every innocent child is a big deal. This church was near the trailor park and it was covered by some search warrents.

Quote:
The church is just a short walk away from the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park on West Clover Road where Sandra lived and where a security tape — the last image of the girl — captured footage of her skipping down a sidewalk Friday afternoon almost two weeks ago

Pragmatist 04-08-2009 11:54 AM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tstew (Post 733347)
...except that what I'm talking about predates "our Mr. Barry" by quite a bit.

Has there been a dramatic increase in these events recently or just a dramatic increase in information and how these cases are no longer covered locally and regionally but nationally?
I think some of it is more media coverage, but as Newman, I believe, pointed out, pornography, which causes a lot of this, is more easily accessible now.

n david 04-08-2009 12:28 PM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
Just been google'ing news for more info on this case ... doesn't get any better ...

Quote:
Connie Lawless said they had nothing to do with the girl's abduction.

"She was the sweetest little thing. It breaks it our hearts to think that anyone would take such a tiny little thing and abuse her and murder her," she said.
This is the quote from the Pastors wife that some are questioning ... since investigators haven't stated anything about abuse of this child.

Source

Quote:
The investigation has touched on everyone who lives in the complex, including a pastor who became a focus Tuesday. Investigators cordoned off Pastor Lane Lawless' home and Clover Road Baptist Church for a search after questioning him for three hours the night before.

The Clover Road Baptist Church was cordoned off Tuesday afternoon as agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation combed over the property, hauling out items and bagging items found.

CBS13 cameras rolled as an agent from the FBI's Evidence Response Team crawled into an underground space and emerged with what appeared to be a pair of work gloves. The FBI has not commented on what they are searching for.

Officers searched the Lawless' home again Tuesday morning, along with four other homes in the complex, according to a maintenance worker who witnessed it.

Police point out that, contrary to some media reports, that Lawless has not been arrested, only questioned, "like hundreds of people," said Sgt. Sheneman. Officials stressed that they are not focusing on any one person in the investigation, but say the case is shaping up to head in a particular direction.

That direction, Sheneman said, is confidential. "To comment on that would compromise the investigation and I cannot do that," he said.

Despite officials' downplaying the significance of searching the pastor's home and church, retired FBI profiler Candace DeLong says authorities are legally obligated to justify their interest.

"They will have to have sworn before a magistrate they had reason to search that property," DeLong said. "They're not releasing that information now, but there has to be a reason he's a person of interest and they got a search warrant."
Source

*AQuietPlace* 04-08-2009 12:56 PM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
Connie Lawless said they had nothing to do with the girl's abduction.

"She was the sweetest little thing. It breaks it our hearts to think that anyone would take such a tiny little thing and abuse her and murder her," she said.


I wouldn't find her suspicious because of this quote alone. I think most of us naturally assume that in cases like this, abuse happened also.

pelathais 04-08-2009 03:21 PM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by n david (Post 733375)
Just been google'ing news for more info on this case ... doesn't get any better ...


This is the quote from the Pastors wife that some are questioning ... since investigators haven't stated anything about abuse of this child.

Source

Source
I don't see that as an incriminating statement. Even if the old man is a killer, I'd doubt that his wife was in on it.

The presumption of "abuse" is always out there in a case like this. That's what sickens you the most while the search is still on - that the child is suffering and no one can stop it.

The sheriff said that "everyone" his department has interviewed is a "person of interest..." They also assured the community that they were "getting closer" to resolving the case. Frustrating as it is, we must extend a presumption of innocence while law enforcement does its job.

You can lynch your Baptists later.

Jermyn Davidson 04-08-2009 03:45 PM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
I would be really shocked if those Baptist folks had anything to do with this sad situation.


I think it is their Grandson, or someone close to them that may be connected to this heinous crime. Just my gut feeling on this.

coadie 04-11-2009 07:26 AM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
Photo of eight-year-old Sandra Cantu. Cantu was last seen March 27, 2009. After days of searching, Cantu's body was found April 6, 2009 in a suitcase. (Tracy Police Department) TRACY, Calif. (AP) - A Sunday school teacher has been arrested and charged with kidnapping and killing a California girl whose body was found in a suitcase.

Tracy Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman says 28-year-old Melissa Huckaby was arrested late Friday night after voluntarily going to police for questioning about the death of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu.

Sandra's body was found inside a suitcase in an irrigation pond on April 6.

Huckaby previously told a local newspaper that Sandra visited her home March 27, the day she disappeared. Huckaby also said she had left her suitcase in the driveway that day, and that it was missing.

Sherri 04-11-2009 07:29 AM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by coadie (Post 734881)
Photo of eight-year-old Sandra Cantu. Cantu was last seen March 27, 2009. After days of searching, Cantu's body was found April 6, 2009 in a suitcase. (Tracy Police Department) TRACY, Calif. (AP) - A Sunday school teacher has been arrested and charged with kidnapping and killing a California girl whose body was found in a suitcase.

Tracy Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman says 28-year-old Melissa Huckaby was arrested late Friday night after voluntarily going to police for questioning about the death of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu.

Sandra's body was found inside a suitcase in an irrigation pond on April 6.

Huckaby previously told a local newspaper that Sandra visited her home March 27, the day she disappeared. Huckaby also said she had left her suitcase in the driveway that day, and that it was missing.
This gal is a granddaughter to the pastor, if I understood right.

GraceAmazing 04-11-2009 07:42 AM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
Yes, she is...I guess she lived with her grandparents in the same mobile home park where Sandra lived.

How sad!!!

JamDat 04-11-2009 08:12 AM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
An arrest has been made in the case.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,514435,00.html

CC1 04-11-2009 12:16 PM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
I think the press is doing its typical Christian bashing by constantly referring to this woman as a "Sunday School teacher".

I am sure she is many things other than a Sunday School teacher but of course that is the most sensational way they can describe someone accused of such a horrible murder and they want to sell the story.

Sister Alvear 04-11-2009 12:38 PM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
very sad...

n david 04-11-2009 03:06 PM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
This is very sad ... but from the beginning I had a bad feeling about it.

The question now is ...

Since the grand-daughter lived with the Pastor and wife:

What did they know about their grand-daughters role in the murder?
Were they in any involved in either the murder or with helping the grand-daughter dispose of the body?

I would not at all be surprised if either the Pastor or wife knew about the murder and helped dispose of the body.

pelathais 04-11-2009 03:21 PM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by CC1 (Post 734997)
I think the press is doing its typical Christian bashing by constantly referring to this woman as a "Sunday School teacher".

I am sure she is many things other than a Sunday School teacher but of course that is the most sensational way they can describe someone accused of such a horrible murder and they want to sell the story.
Of course. When the famous atheist Madelyn Murray O'Hare's body was found in several barrels on a ranch there was no orgy of "atheist bashing" because, we were assured, the case was "more complicated than that..."

What we really see in this case out in CA today is that a local Baptist church, it's pastor and other members were horribly victimized by the madness of a one criminal.

The only correct generalizations to be made might be to invoke the Baptist doctrine of "Total Depravity." Nothing else seems to be making any sense, even with law enforcement.

Maybe we can remember this case though. Remember how the pastor was questioned and his home and church searched? Of course, "everyone" knew the pastor must be guilty. Turns out that it was someone the pastor had trusted was to blame. The police were searching the pastor's records to build a case against that "someone else," and the poor preacher could NOT go to the media and explain his innocence because that might harm the investigation. So he had to sit there and take it on the chin for a few days. That must have taken some real faith.

Next time (and sadly, there will be a "next time") let's not all start bashing the first witness questioned in the case.

TJJJ 04-11-2009 05:18 PM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by pelathais (Post 735061)
Of course. When the famous atheist Madelyn Murray O'Hare's body was found in several barrels on a ranch there was no orgy of "atheist bashing" because, we were assured, the case was "more complicated than that..."

What we really see in this case out in CA today is that a local Baptist church, it's pastor and other members were horribly victimized by the madness of a one criminal.

The only correct generalizations to be made might be to invoke the Baptist doctrine of "Total Depravity." Nothing else seems to be making any sense, even with law enforcement.

Maybe we can remember this case though. Remember how the pastor was questioned and his home and church searched? Of course, "everyone" knew the pastor must be guilty. Turns out that it was someone the pastor had trusted was to blame. The police were searching the pastor's records to build a case against that "someone else," and the poor preacher could NOT go to the media and explain his innocence because that might harm the investigation. So he had to sit there and take it on the chin for a few days. That must have taken some real faith.

Next time (and sadly, there will be a "next time") let's not all start bashing the first witness questioned in the case.
Good point Pel. I do agree that there is going to be some church bashing from the liberal press over this.

n david 04-14-2009 07:34 AM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
And just when you thought it was bad enough ... the poor girl was raped before being murdered.

Source

Cindy 04-14-2009 10:22 AM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
Yes, I think that is what she must have alluded to in her interview that made her the suspect.

Esther 04-14-2009 03:39 PM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
I will be very surprised if they do not find that she also has been abusing her own daughter.

GraceAmazing 04-15-2009 07:53 AM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
My husband wondered if she was covering for her grandfather perhaps...either way, this story makes me sick...and I agree Esther, I too will be surprised if they don't find abuse in her own home.

Cindy 04-15-2009 09:34 AM
Re: Church searched, Pastor investigated in death
 
She was probably abused growing up. And the cycle continues, how sad.


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