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Posted: 11:06 PM May 12, 2008
Machesney Park Pastor Charged With Sexual Assault
Members of a Machesney Park church are reeling after learning their pastor has been charged with sexually assaulting an underage girl.
Reporter: Alice Barr |
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7 Comments 
Members of New Hope Baptist Church file in the doors Monday night to pray for guidance. Their pastor 40-year old Jonathon Powell is charged with two counts of criminal sexual assault against one girl who is between 13 and 17 years old.
The Winnebago County Sheriff's Department says they're investigating allegations from a second victim as well, but Powell has not been charged in that case.
"Last week, Wednesday night, after our evening service, detectives showed up and from there an investigation ensued," says New Hope Assistant Pastor Josh Rivers. "It's unbelievable. It's like the kind of situation where you just wish it was a dream, that you'd wake up and it would all go away."
Powell is being held in the Winnebago County jail on 250 thousand dollars bond and Rivers has stepped in as interim pastor until the 50-member congregation decides what to do next.
"They've taken it pretty hard. A lot of shock, a lot of disbelief," says Rivers.
New Hope includes a preschool through 12th grade school, that ten students attend, half of whom are Powell's children. His five kids range in age from 10 to 17.
Rivers says he never saw any warning signs when he watched Powell interact with the kids.
"I never really had any inkling that anything like this could have happened. I never noticed anything really inappropriate. At least not in my presence," Rivers says.
Meanwhile parents in the neighborhood say it's unsettling to have these kinds of allegations we hear about across the country hit so close to home. Now they're keeping an even more watchful eye on their children.
"I'm completely shocked. I would have never imagined it being this close," says neighbor Liz Scott.
Church members tell 23 News Pastor Powell means a great deal to them and has done a lot for them. At this point they say all they can do is pray for him.
However, I also spoke with a man who formerly attended the church as a visitor. He says Pastor Powell was very controlling and didn't always like to follow the rules of the church. He also says several people left the church soon after Powell became pastor.
There's no word from the county yet on when Powell will be in court.
Rivers says he's heard rumors of who the alleged victim is, but he declined to tell us.
Latest Comments
I personally know John Powell and his family, I have been friends with them for many years. I would have never expected anything like this to ever happen. John truely was a man of God. I'm not sure why or how this has happened. I'm not taking light of what has happened, He is human just like me and you. Any one of us can fall, we are no match for the devil. I will be praying for his children, his wife, and the church. Whom I dearly love. Just like Joel said, Don’t allow the foolishness of one man to hinder your relationship with God and His Word. Don’t blame God or Christianity. We will all stand before God one day and be accountable for what we have done.
If you visit the Stop Baptist Predators website, you will discover that a charge of "bitterness" is often laid at the feet of those who track these abusive pastors. These sexual abusers of children are authoritarian, charming, high-energy men who make a church feel important and pivotal to the cause of Christ. But as others have noted here, they achieve this by devices of the flesh: story telling and self serving soliloquys in place of sermons that methodically teach the text of Scripture and exalt Jesus Christ. And the Fundamental Baptist denomination has dozens of criminally abusive pastors--the ones we know about. You can go visit www.stopbaptistpredators.org or go check out the book SCHIZOPHRENIC CHRISTIANITY or do a Google search for the "Fundamentalist Role Call of Shame." All of these resources will tell you that John Powell is part of a dangerous trend that continues to go unchecked in the porous structure of Baptist churches. Nobody tracks these men; nobody expels them.
a man falling is not the issue here its one thing to cheat on his wife, but for a pastor to not only cheat on his wife ,but to do it with an under age girl and 4 counts mind you 2 different girls im sorry that is more than a mistake that is down right unacceptable its above and beyond a man simply failing in the face of temptation ,but committing serious offences against young girls that are sheltered and incapable of protecting them selves.
