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AdvocatesForTheTruth.com ~ Giving voice, protection and justice to child and adult sexual abuse survivors; exposure and accountability of perpetrators associated with the Two by Two Sect/Church.

WINGSforTruth.info ~ Working to INform Guide and Support Those Who Have Been Sexually Abused Within the Fellowship of Friends and Workers

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2023 Notifications:

Overseers' Notifications re Dean Bruer, March 2023

Overseers' Notifications re Mark Huddle, April 2023

Earlier Notifications:

Bill Denk - 2013 Notification of conviction of Bill Denk and Jerome Frandle for failure to report Darren Briggs for CSA

Jerome Frandle - 2011 Notification of CSA conviction of Daren Briggs and Peter Mousseau

Jerome Frandle - 2008 Notification of CSA to Michigan friends re Peter Mousseau

Ray Hoffman - 2008 Letter Notification of CSA to Texas Friends re Ira Hobbs and Americo Quispe

Lyle Schober  - 2007 Letter Notification of CSA to Minnesota Friends re Tim Severud

Dale Shultz - 2006 (2) Notification Letters to California Workers for CSA re Ruben Mata

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Notification of conviction of Bill Denk re Jerome Frandle (Overseer of Michigan) for failure to report CSA re Darren Briggs
July 28, 2013

Dear friends and workers:

I have some rather unpleasant news to share.

My co-worker [Darren Briggs] in 2006 molested a boy. He was immediately dismissed from the work, as per the parents request. Morally and ethically we thought we did the right thing, it wasn't until much later that we found out that we, as ministers were mandated reporters.

In March of 2009, I was called into the state police post for an interview concerning the situation. I went in and spoke freely without any fear, again thinking I was doing the right thing. Nothing was said concerning my obligations as a reporter and I wasn't arrested on the spot.

In July of 2012, our overseer, Jerome Frandle was arrested and charged with failure to report. It was later dismissed due to lack of evidence. The case was opened again this year and in May, Jerome pleaded no contest and was sentenced with 100 hours of community service, a $200 fine, and 4 days in jail. However, instead of jail he was able to apply for the weekend alternative program. That means he would go out and work with the inmates in the community, instead of sitting in jail.

On July 22, I [Bill Denk] was convicted on the same charges. I also pleaded no contest and was given the same sentence. I have completed 20 hours of my community service. Today was also my second day out with the inmates. To make matters worse, I hurt my right arm this morning, trying to lift too much. Tomorrow I will be seeing another Doctor and will find out how that will all play our.I'll keep you posted.

All for now.

Bill [Denk]
[Michigan Brother Worker]

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Notification by Jerome Frandle to Michigan friends, February 2008, re Peter Mousseau

Dear Friends,

I deeply regret having to write this later to you. A former brother worker who labored in the work of the ministry here in Michigan, who you loved and trusted and frequented your homes is under investigation for child molestation and abuse.

We are asking those of you who have children who have been in contact with him or with anyone who you have had some suspicions regarding their behavior as being unbecoming, or inappropriate, after questioning the children thoroughly contact the nearest Michigan State Police Post with a written report and let me know so I can turn over the information to assist the authorities involved in this investigation. PLEASE NOTE. This letter suggested that children should be questioned thoroughly BEFORE contacting the police The Michigan state police subsequently advised Mr Frandle that the CORRECT way to deal with suspected child abuse is to immediately report it to the nearest law enforcement agency (not to question the children thoroughly) so that trained investigators can question the child. Therefore a line has been drawn through the erroneous phrase.

It is important that such children involved give an account of the actions of such people so they can be lawfully dealt with and the children can be counseled to help remedy their fears, feelings of guilt or any adverse emotional problems they may presently have or have in the future resulting from the experiences they suffered.

If there have been in the past or future any other such indecent or immoral action by anyone, friend, worker, relative, neighbor etc we suggest you contact the local law enforcement authorities. We are in full cooperation with them. Being in the presence of Department of Human Service and Child Protection Service officials, judges, children defense lawyers on occasions, we have observed that they are people of integrity and wisdom and have a deep concern and care for the welfare of children, upholding the laws of the land to protect them. We are very thankful that such people are in the places of responsibility.

No wonder Paul the apostle in his writings in the New Testament encouraged the people on several occasions to have respect toward our leaders and to prey 'For kings and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.' I Timothy 2:1-3 also in Romans 13:1-4 -Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers'…'for he is a minister of God to thee for good.'

Sincerely your brother in Christ,

Jerome Frandle
[Overseer of Michigan]

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Notification by Ray Hoffman, Overseer of Texas, re Ira Hobbs and Americo Quispe

May 30, 2008

Dear Friends,

I deeply regret writing the type of letter to you, many of whom I haven't met yet but it seems necessary to do so considering the serious nature of what I am about to write.

There has been an investigation by the authorities into what is termed child sexual abuse on the part of Americo Quispe when he was laboring here in Texas. This is a crime punishable by imprisonment if the perpetrator is found guilty. We are complying with the law in asking you to report to the local authorities any suspicious activity on the part of Americo or for that matter any worker, friend, family member or anyone that may have had contact with children in your care. I would also ask you to contact me that I could help in assisting them in the investigation.

Americo had spent time in many homes that had children and these alleged crimes could have taken place doing what may have seemed to be innocent play to a child. If your child was molested he or she may be confused and often are made to feel it is their fault and are embarrassed to talk about it. It is very important upon receiving this letter that you have a conversation with your child to determine if inappropriate sexual conduct took place How you approach your child will have a great affect on them. Please be gentle and patient and accepting to what they tell you, and do not show anger or make them feel guilty as it is not their fault.

This response we are asking you to make is very important not only that justice could be served by the law but that also victims could receive professional counseling because this kind of abuse often leaves emotional, mental, and spiritual scars that can plague the victims for many years to come.

Americo has been dismissed from his place in the work. We feel for all involved and hope reconciliation can occur that will restore peace and help heal those wounded by his actions,

Another matter needs to be discussed now. Many would know that Ira Hobbs is resting at his brother's place in VA. The following is to give a brief explanation to end the speculation and rumors as to why he is there and no longer to be active in the work. Recently there has been a case of child abuse in another state and Ira's name was among those that were accused. Though the investigation is ongoing and Ira's guilt is in question, the officer investigating the case has made an open inquiry on a website concerning Ira and asked any to come forward with any allegations against him and several have responded. Most all these cases are concerning incidents of some time ago. And while we are not wanting to bring up a man's past, we are disturbed because it is an unresolved past. He has not admitted to any of the allegations except one and that only in part. There are too many allegations to be dismissed or disbelieved. He is being urged to seek psychiatric care for this so that he could come to recognize what took place so often and hurt so many who for the most part are still hurting because of his lack of admission of guilt.

We very much appreciate Ira's guidance and help in every way the past 10 years in Texas. He has sought the Lord diligently and faithfully for your care. I have appreciated his help this year in getting me adjusted to the responsibilities here in Texas. The things that we have felt needful to discuss here is in no way to take away from all the good that Ira has done, nor of Americo. But it is an attempt to be open and honest with these things that are so painful to talk about yet have become needful just the same. May we learn to pray for these men that there could be restoration and as we mentioned, that there could be healing for all that were hurt and for the many still hurting

The Lord is on the throne and will bring the hidden things to light so He can cleanse His Kingdom. Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well that "the water I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." This well is translated as a spring and it has an eternal source, and because it is a spring it will be forever cleansing us that His Kingdom will be pure. Malachi 3:3 also speaks of a cleansing the Lord will do to His ministry for His Kingdom "and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver…"

Romans 13:1 "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers....Whosoever resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God….For rulers are not a terror to good works but to the evil….For he is the minister of God to thee for good…" These words were not written to strangers but to God's people letting them know we are not exempt from the law and we must comply.

Feel free to contact me.
Your brother in Christ,

Ray Hoffmann

PS. There is an enclosed page giving some information on pedophile,

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Notification by Jerome Frandle, Overseer of Michigan, re Darren Briggs and Peter Mousseau
Overseer of Michigan

September 16, 2011

Dear Friends and Fellow Workers,

The purpose of this letter is to clarify facts regarding the criminal acts of two of our former Michigan workers, so there will be no confusion regarding their innocence or guilt. I would have greatly preferred the need for the letter to have never arisen.

At the Mecosta County Court [Michigan], April of 2010 Peter Mousseau pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct with a 11 year old girl in Fork Township while staying in the home of her parents in 1993. On Monday June 21, 2010 Peter was sentenced to five years on probation in Mecosta County's 49th Circuit Court and ordered to register as a sex offender as well as being prohibited from having contact with children. Now word has come to us that on Thursday August 25, 2011, Peter was sentenced from two to ten years in prison for sexually assaulting a girl between the age 8 and 13 while in the ministry in Chippewa County in 1997.

On Monday February 8, 2010, we went to the Huron County Circuit Court where Darren Briggs was sentenced to 180 days in the Huron County jail with 9 months probation and court fines and fees for a fourth-degree criminal charge stemming from an incident with a young boy in November 2006. When learning that Darren was under investigation, a letter was sent to our people in Michigan stating this fact and encouraging them to contact the nearest police post if they had any suspicion regarding the behavior of anyone.

Excerpts from my letter written February 1, 2008: We are asking those of you who have children who have been in contact with him or anyone who you have had some suspicions regarding their behavior as being unbecoming or inappropriate, contact the nearest Michigan State Police Post with a written report and let me know so I can turn over the information to assist the authorities involved in this investigation.  If there has been in the past, future or any other such indecent or immoral action by anyone, friend, worker relative, neighbor… we suggest you contact the local law enforcement authorities. We are in full co-operation with them.

We are saddened, to say the least, by these shameful acts among us, in the homes of our dear friends who have trusted us and cared for us. Our heart goes out to these victims and families involved. We pray that their faith in God will be preserved and they will continue to know the comfort and healing of heart and mind that He alone can give. Needless to say, it is a hindrance to the Gospel effort and can negatively affect confidence in those who are true in upholding the standard of holiness and purity the Lord Jesus lived and taught.

We also feel for these men who have fallen to such depths of immorality. We know their soul is important to God. We pray there may be mercy shown to them and restoration regarding their standing with God, when there is complete acknowledgement of their wrong with repentance.

We are continuing to put forth effort to prohibit such horrible indecencies from occurring amongst us or among anyone we know. All the ministers of our faith in Michigan have had online Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Training with Ministry Safe based at Fort Worth, Texas. This is a Texas state approved training for staff members and volunteers of various churches, charities and ministries. Also we are continually warning our people of inappropriate behavior with children and with adults.

We admire the courage of those who come forward and stand up and speak against those who have committed such shameful indecencies against them and others. This experience has moved us to be more alert and to have greater feelings for others in this world who have also gone through trauma of child molestation or abuse.

Sincerely your brother in Christ,

[Signed: Jerome Frandle]
[Overseer of Michigan]

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Notification by Lyle Schober, Overseer of Minnesota, re Tim Severud
August 28, 2007

Dear Friends;

We have come to the conclusion that it would be wise to inform you of recent developments of one of the Minnesota workers. We are sending this letter to every home on our Minnesota list of friends. Many of you would not have children in your care but may be grandparents or otherwise have special concerns. We have become aware that there is information circulating so we want to end the speculation and give you the facts as we know them.

On July 27, Tim Severud was arrested and jailed for multiple counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct in the Second Degree with a child under age of 13. Criminal Sexual Assault against a child is categorized as First, Second, Third, Fourth or Fifth Degree, with First Degree being the most serious.

According to the Criminal Complaint, Tim was caught in the act of molesting a 10-year old girl, with another child in the room. The children in the case were female, age ten and under. Tim is currently in jail under the custody of the Douglas County Sheriff's department. Legal proceedings will continue, and the process of the law will determine innocence or guilt in this case. Because of the dangerous nature of these charges, we feel that it is our responsibility to alert you to this situation at this time.

This letter serves to inform all parents and other caregivers that you should immediately have a conversation with any child in your care who could have been alone with Tim at any time to determine if inappropriate sexual behavior took place. Molestation can have serious emotional, psychological and spiritual effects on a child, and this issue should be taken very seriously. We also urge you to forward a copy of this letter to the parents or caregivers of any child who may have spent time alone with Tim.

Tim spent a lot of time in the homes of families and was well liked and trusted by parents and children. Some of the alleged crimes that Tim was arrested for took place during what could seem like innocent play to a child. If your child has been molested, he or she may be confused about what happened. It's common in these situations for the child to feel that anything inappropriate that happened was somehow their own fault. A pedophile will frequently tell the child that what he does with them is a secret and they should not tell anyone about it.

If you are aware or learn of any inappropriate sexual behavior, you should immediately call the law enforcement authorities in the area it occurred.

In regards to Tim; our concern is the welfare of his soul. He will no longer be in the work here in Minnesota or elsewhere. Tim will not be attending any of our meetings until the legal process and ensuing treatment be completed and only then with the approval of those who he may be meeting with.

The enclosed page has some general information about pedophiles.

Sincerely, your brothers in Christ,

[Signed: Craig Winquist and Lyle Schober]

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Notification by Dale Shultz, Overseer of California re Ruben Mata
July 6, 2006

Dear Staff,
Included in this envelope, you will find the letter intended for the use of our staff concerning Ruben Mata and also the guidelines document which we hope can be of some assistance when future reports involving the molestation of minors are brought to us. A number of you have contributed to the content and wording of both the letter and the guidelines document and I want to thank each of you who have helped in the developing of both of these papers to their present form.

You will find enclosed one letter concerning Ruben for each field. The workers in the field will use the letter according to their own discretion. The letter can be shown to any of our friends who are questioning or are troubled concerning events which have involved Ruben or anything pertaining to the handling of his case in the past or present. The friends should read the letter in the presence of the workers in the field. We would rather that the letter not be left with friends over any period of time. It is hard to say who all might read the letter if that was done. If it is read in the presence of the workers, there can be further discussion and further questions can be asked. There may be rare cases in which it may be useful to show the letter to someone who is not professing – possibly to a victim. It may be well to check with us before using it in this way.

Of course, the guidelines just mentioned which apply to showing the letter to our friends would also apply if it was shown to someone who is not professing. We will ask you not to make any copies of this letter. To have one letter available in each field is certainly adequate. If we are not particularly careful with letters such as this, they can end up on an internet site for all the world to read. Also, to show this letter to people who do not need to see it may arouse concerns that they had not previously entertained. The purpose of the letter is to help those who have concerns, not to advertise a kingdom problem to those who either do not know about it or are not having a problem with it

There is a copy of the “guidelines” for each worker. It will be useful for all of you to have a copy for reference now and in the future. Over time, there may be changes to the suggestions that are made in this document. That is because legislation does change from time to time and also the available agencies to which reports can be made and the resources available to help victims and violators may also alter over time. It is good to remember that the legal framework in these guidelines is in the context of California law and that there may be variations to what is outlined here in other states and countries.
We have made a significant effort to ensure that the information provided both in the letter and the guidelines document is accurate and current. We hope that you will find both useful.

Yours in Him

Dale Shultz

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June 29, 2006

To Whom It May Concern:

Based on the information that we now have, we know that Ruben Mata sexually molested young boys during a period of at least 20 years prior to 2000. Ruben was in the work during this time. We have been informed of a half dozen cases for which Ruben is responsible and we wouldn’t know how many other cases there might be of which we have no knowledge. He inflicted this damage without his companions being aware of what was happening. One case came to the attention of a brother worker through a third party as early as 1996. This worker was inexperienced in handling this kind of problem and didn’t fully realize its seriousness and magnitude. No follow up action took place.

Word of another case was conveyed to sister workers but, again, they didn’t follow through with any definite action that would have brought the problem out into the open. A third case came to the attention of another sister worker, apparently in November or December of 1999. During preps, in April of 2000, this sister told a brother worker about the report that had come to her. This brother passed the information on to Dick Middleton and Ruben was faced up with his problem at convention time. Ruben voluntarily relinquished his place in the ministry at Buttonwillow convention in May of 2000.

In June of 2000, Steve Peirson and Ray Bullick accompanied Ruben to the District Attorney’s Office in Tulare County where Ruben admitted to the offences that had come to light up until that time. The Assistant District Attorney interviewed Ruben. Dick Middleton asked Ray Bullick to help Ruben find professional help for his problem. A little start was made with counseling in June of 2000, but Ruben withdrew from any treatment program after a few months. Ruben was restricted initially to attending only designated meetings and was asked not to attend any meetings of our people sometime in 2002. Ruben was given to understand that he would need to further pursue a treatment program in order to facilitate any consideration of him attending meetings of our people in the future.

Another case surfaced within the past few months (this abuse occurred in 1999) which resulted in Ruben’s behavior again being reported to the authorities. This time, the authorities chose to investigate further and Ruben was arrested on Thursday, May 18. He is being held without bail. At a hearing in mid-June, an attorney was appointed to handle Ruben’s defense. We understand that his “guilty” or “not guilty” plea will be submitted at the next hearing which may take place sometime in July. Following this, the date of the actual trial will be set.

We feel very sorry that one of our fellow servants has caused so much harm to so many with its ensuing suffering, confusion and pain. This type of inappropriate behavior represents a very serious betrayal of trust and we feel keenly for the victims and their families who have experienced this betrayal first hand. We are also sorry that the ministry’s response to the problem was not as quick, definite and adequate as it should have been – especially with respect to what happened and didn’t happen prior to May of 2000. This was not due to deliberate irresponsibility on anyone’s part but can be attributed largely to the fact that those involved did not comprehend the seriousness and magnitude of what was taking place at the time and were inexperienced and uninformed regarding procedure. Nevertheless, we do wish to express our regret and offer our apology that such incidents ever happened and that the ministry’s response was not as quick, definite and adequate as we know it should have been as we look back over the situation now.

We have discussed this issue in our staff meeting at Mountain Ranch on Monday, May 22. We also discussed the appropriate course of action if any case involving the sexual molestation of a minor (17 years of age or younger) comes to the attention of a worker in the future.

A copy of this letter will be in the hands of each pair of active workers on the California workers list. It is to be used by the workers in their fields at their own discretion but primarily to help any who may have questions or are disturbed regarding this matter. We don’t want any further copies of this letter made and we want the initial copies to remain in the hands of the workers in their fields.

Yours Respectfully,

Dale Shultz

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