police investigation into a Corpus Christi, Texas area Baptist group has uncovered allegations of child abuse, and a curious relationship with Texas Gov. George W. Bush. The incident also involves questions about Bush's call for a "faith partnership" between religious groups and government to administer social welfare services, and the history of a controversial evangelist -- Lester Roloff -- who locked horns with Texas state authorities over his operation of numerous "Bible discipline" homes for youngsters, alcoholics and drug addicts.
Last week, county sheriff's deputies conducted a search of the People's Baptist Church youth homes looking for evidence which according to the Corpus Christi Times Caller newspaper, could corroborate reports of abusive behavior at the 600-acre facility. Eighteen-year-old Justin Simons told officials that a church employee punched him in the chest, and punished him and another young by tying their wrists together and forcing them to run through the woods and even dig a 15-foot-deep pit.
"Simons told deputies he was not allowed to take a break unless he jumped across the pit," reported the Caller. "When he tried to jump the pit, he fell and sprained both ankles." The youngster's mother removed the boy from the church-operated home on Friday, and had him treated at a local hospital.
On Saturday, deputies arrested the superintendent of the People's Baptist Church, Allen Smith, and charged him with abusing the two teens. Church pastor Wiley Cameron Sr. was also arrested when he refused to turn over records that were included in a warrant executed by the Nueces County Sheriff's Office. After a brief time in the local jail, Cameron ordered the information to be turned over, and was soon freed.
More arrests could follow, according to local media reports.
The People's Baptist Church operates the Rebekah Home for Girls and the Anchor Home for Boys, and carries on a ministry founded by the controversial evangelist Lester Roloff. Raised in a strict Baptist atmosphere, Roloff took his pet Jersey cow with him when he enrolled in Baylor University in the 1930s and sold milk to pay for his tuition. After college he pastored at a number of hard-shell Baptist churches, and in 1949 launched a "Family Altar" radio program. Roloff soon became known for his strident attacks on smoking, consuming alcohol and other vices, and as a proponent of "Bible discipline" for youngsters. He was soon branded as "controversial" by other Baptist ministers, especially after he opposed Baylor University's decision to grant President Harry S. Truman an honorary degree because of the latter's use of explicit language and lack of adherence to certain Bible standards.