A minister and two elders of a Southern Baptist church in New Hampshire have been convicted on misdemeanor charges of failing to report suspected sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl.
Tim Dillmuth, 34, a pastor at Valley Christian Church, Conway, N.H., was one of four church leaders arrested in February on a charge of violating a state law requiring the report of child abuse to authorities.
Dillmuth and elders Richard Eland, 62, and Robert Gagnon, 70, will be sentenced Dec. 21. They face up to one year in jail and a $2,000 fine.
A fourth man, Michael Wedge, 32, cooperated with the investigation. His case was placed on file without finding for one year.
According to North Conway radio station WMWV, Dillmuth met in September 2009 with parents who told him their daughter had been sexually abused by a man who was a deacon in the church.
Court documents said the parents asked Dillmuth not to report the incident. The pastor told church elders about it but not the police. Legal authorities finally learned of the allegations Feb. 1, 2010, after a church member who knew about the case insisted that it be reported.
The three men argued in court that they acted in good faith by urging the parents to report the alleged abuse. However, District Court of Northern Carroll County Judge Pamela Albee ruled Nov. 15 the leaders “deliberately attempted” to keep the matter within the church while discussing it at meetings of the congregation’s board of elders.
New Hampshire’s Child Protection Act includes ministers in a list of occupations requiring persons with “reason to suspect that a child has been abused or neglected” to report the information to authorities. (ABP)
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