Many of you are aware John Vandenberg (California worker) was removed from the work and meetings. The reason John was removed was due to allegations of child sex abuse against a young girl. We have received many calls and private messages regarding the allegations against John. As of late, we have been told by multiple people that it is breaking up families and causing division in The Truth. By not being transparent, this is what can happen when facts are not shared openly and honestly.
Rob Newman stated in his letter to the friends on April 25, 2023, “Recently we have received several credible allegations of unacceptable sexual behavior, including a complaint of inappropriate touching of a minor, which has been reported to the authorities.” This statement should have eliminated any questions as to why he was removed; however, for some reason there still seems to be confusion regarding John’s allegations.
To continue our efforts in honesty and transparency, we are sharing what we’ve learned to be true and what Sheri discovered prior to the Dean Bruer case becoming public. Hopefully this will clear up any confusion.
Back in January of 2023, Sheri Autrey was working on her case and was informed there had been child sex assault allegations against John. The allegations involved sex assault against a 14 year-old girl in Mexico in the early 2000’s. This information was given by a very credible source who was close to the situation at the time. Since January 2023, it has been brought to our attention that at least ten workers knew of this particular crime and participated in the cover up. Dale Shultz was instrumental in preventing the reporting of John Vandenberg’s crimes to law enforcement.
Sheri also learned that many years ago, one of the friends saw pictures of John with young children. This caused enough alarm that the friend personally mailed a letter to John to address her concerns after seeing the body language displayed just in pictures. We too have seen pictures of John with many children when he was in the Philippines this year for Convention. In light of the allegations against him, these photos are equally troubling.
We were recently informed that some of the friends reported John to CPS and Rob Newman is aware of that reporting as he stated in his letter.
For 17 years, multiple workers have known that John Vandenberg committed sex crimes against a child. They did not report it. They did not notify you. Therefore, countless children were offered as living sacrifices.
Sincerely,
Sheri VanDermyden Autrey, Cynthia Liles, and Lauren Rohs
Advocates for The Truth
WINGS Note:
See original notification Letter by Rob Newman, Overseer of California Re: Removal of John VanDenBerg from the work – April 2023
WINGS for Truth 
To the friends and workers,
After the Dean Bruer case at the end of March that leaked out on social media, a lot of CSA and SA cases have come to light that have been inappropriately handled in your fellowship.There has been many warnings regarding this from members as well as non members without much being done about it for decades. I am requesting that the victims of these crimes be financially compensated directly via funds from your fellowship. Other churches had to compensate for these atrocities commited and mishandled amongst them.
Sincerely
Louise.
Any suggestions on which bank account this should come from? Or property that should be seized for reparations? Just wondering how we’d go about this?
Hmm. Only crickets?
@rexhopkins58 – I understand there are many trusts held by congregants throughout the world, that were gifted when our elderly were leaving this earth.
But, I have also been made aware, that there are those in the ministry who are going around and FInancially exploiting our elderly, by asking them “Do you already have a will set up?” if they say yes, “Oh! I’m happy to have a look at it and help you, you DO want to leave it to the ministry, don’t you? I know how to help you to do that!” Which is also a crime.
Not sure how you would go about getting to those funds, as I have never known anyone to cough up that information. There’s been some talk of sueing the “convention grounds”, but those are people’s personal properties and don’t belong to a “corporation”, so I doubt anyone’s getting anything from them either…AND many of the farms (grounds) have recently been sold (to unsuspecting families). Ugh!
Barry Barckley recently told a victim, when asked for money to help with treatment, “go talk to the people at Advocates For The Truth”. This group didn’t create the problem – our ministry did almost single handedly! They carry 40+% of the abuse claims, the elders I think were at 20+%, and all the other categories lumped together were another 40%.
It is truly sickening.
Dear Sheri VanDermyden Autrey, Cynthia Liles, and Lauren Rohs,
Further clarification is required please:
1. This is a sloppy response. The beginning states allegations and as we progress it turns to a crime having been committed – which is it?
2. I am hugely disappointed that whilst accusing others of a cover up, Sheri was aware of the allegations and didn’t act until John departed on a trip to Asia. Blaming the workers is a convenience when you knew yourself Sheri and sat on it. What about the others involved? the parents knew and did nothing? Its 2023, crimes get reported to the police.
3. Please clarify the extent of abuse. There are different categories of abuse. An unwanted hug could be classed as abuse but this is a completely different to a category 1 assault. This is an important distinction because men need to know the changing boundaries. For example, in Europe a woman may come to you and hug you very closely and kiss you or a man. This is not deemed an assault.
4. If this took place in Mexico, was it deemed a crime there? Also, if I am not mistaken the age of consent is not always the same as America. In Indonesia a hearty 30 year old Christian pastor could marry a 14 year old girl and be seen as moral and not a criminal. If you are accusing people of committing a crime and covering up a crime – at least have the decency of stating the specific crime to give a fair trial.
5. I have seen the photos of John on Facebook, none are with young children. One is with a girl in her late teens with his arm on her shoulder (the girl has other photos with various friends with lots of touching). I am not saying it is wise, but it is not a crime. Please specify your allegations.
I appreciate the work being doing to bring to light these issues. I don’t appreciate the lack of transparency on the specifics and I don’t appreciate abuse being laid at the feet of “the workers”. I feel this is a very American thing, to go to the workers for everything. My family never took their issues to the workers. If its criminal it goes to the police, if its family or friends it goes direct to them.
As a side note, when I was younger I noticed somethings that made me uncomfortable with a worker. Nothing criminal, just becoming inappropriate. I confronted him and he left the work and the meetings. It seems to me, if I was in America I would have had to go to the workers and tell the workers? These things need to be dealt with swiftly, not left to fester resulting in the mess that we have now.
By Stander,
I’m a 4th generation professing person and I appreciate the work Sheri and others are doing to expose the rottenness festering within the church and the many coverups.
I see enough details in Sheri’s letter to determine if John’s action were spirit led or not. What you’re doing is discrediting Sheri and defending the workers in a passive aggressive way. Sheri clearly states she was informed of this particular offense earlier this year (January 2023). However this offense apparently was reported to the workers and known for 17 years with no actions to remove John and inform the friends. I agree it’s not the workers place to press charges but they can inform the friends and authorities and most importantly remove the cancer in their midst.
The fact is as is becoming clearer there are a number of workers and overseers that have known about allegations against other workers and overseers committing CSA and SA and have done nothing but cover it up. Is that the Godly thing to do? How many more victims could have been spared this horrible experience? How many lives/souls that have been derailed that could have been spared? Would Jesus have done that?
Reporting CSA is very difficult and can be even more traumatic for boys/men. I was a victim of CSA by a worker when I was 3 years old. I have had flash backs over the past few decades but did a great job compartmentalizing. I have been seeing a therapist for an over a year now and only over the past 6 months have I felt brave enough to admit to myself that I was also a victim and that it’s ok to talk about it. By the way the worker who abused me while they were eventually exposed and removed from the work it was never reported to the friends or authorities and he went on to marry and adopt young kids.
This is a traumatic period for most victims as it brings into focus how deep the rot is and also why this has and will continue to be a problem unless we all come together to take an unwavering stand against this evil.
Let me be clear. I do not support cover up at all. I have fought against it since the days I became aware of IH about 15 years ago at a time when hundreds online knew and did nothing.
Also, I am not attempting to discredit anyone it would be best to refrain from accusations like this, it is unhelpful. I am on your side on all of this. Like you, I am very glad this is being brought to light, when others have attempted to cover it up.
I am simply asking for clarity. I am only too aware of the impacts abuse can have on individuals and have seen it in people I am close too – my heart truly goes out to all. This goes for both CSA and SA, both of which can have a terrible impact.
My question regarding why it wasn’t dealt with by Sheri is because all to often I read about these abuse cases and I wonder why the parents or others haven’t taken responsibility? It really isn’t just the workers, that is the whole point of this – to say go to the authorities.
Honestly, it would be the last thing on my mind to “report to the workers”, I would instead report to the authorities. It is the workers responsibility to make sure we aren’t in danger – so firmly agreed if a man has accusations we should be informed. However, where does this stop? for example if a young brother worker is caught watching porn is that punishable? does everyone need to be informed? I am sure most men and women have watched or looked at porn at least at some point. Keep in mind: 10% of U.S. adults admit to having an addiction to internet pornography. 17% of all women struggle with porn addiction. 20% of men and 13% of women admit to accessing porn while at work. 70% of women admit to keeping their cyber activities secret. I think these things can get complicated and we are faced with many new challenges over the past 30 years.
All of this does not excuse sloppiness when it comes to allegations – this is a very serious matter for all. You can’t call it allegations and then state a crime has been committed without clarifying what the accusations are and the category. We are being led to believe that the workers have covered up an extremely severe cases of abuse against a 14 year old. Where is the clarity on this?
If we want people to take things to the law and have a prosecution this is the least we need. The legal system doesn’t rely on feelings or rumours. Also, stop attempting to silence my attempts at clarity by calling me passive aggressive. You know full well what I am trying to get at.
@Bystander – You are assuming many things. Sheri may have been aware of issues, but I know when she came forward she was told to be quiet and not tell anyone. Back in those days, people were threatened, with excommunication AND a first class trip to HELL if they “took a brother before a judge”.
The ONLY ones who NEED to know the specifics, are the lawyers and judge involved. If this were YOUR child, you’d surely appreciate someone not barfing all the details around the globe.
These ladies names/numbers got out pretty quickly, because they were the brave souls who God was able to use to stop Doyle from covering up Dean’s sexual abuse.
They are NOT tearing apart the Truth, or putting ANY false information out there…everything is vetted very well. They are also bound by the LAW to not share more than they are allowed. May not seem transparent to you, but be thankful ANY information has come out!! If Doyle and the many other overseers who were consulted had their way, this WHOLE mess would have been, once again, swept under the carpet, because they aren’t smart enough to figure out that THIS ministry plan is NOT scriptural, and actually the CAUSE of what we are seeing today.
Yes, I still go to meetings, and love the friends I meet with.
Thankyou SS, I will stand with you unwaveringly against this evil, and my expectation is most of us will. I am also 4th generation professing and have great hopes for the generations following behind us.
To those confused by this position, or wondering what is/ is not widely considered acceptable in this regard, please take the ministry safe training and join us in helping recognize and stop what can be subtle and very destructive behaviors surrounding CSA/SA.
Overseers with a history of cover-up, lacking vision, empathy or comfort with making necessary changes at this time given the terrible unprecedented scale of this tragedy, have no business in the overseer position from here forward and forever. If you are unfortunate enough to have an overseer like that where you live, please reach out to yours and surrounding overseers asking for necessary changes at this time.
@By Stander – I apologize if I offended and/or accused you falsely of discrediting that is not my intention I tend to call things as I see it but if I’m wrong I stand corrected.
Hey Dale Shultz, where is the public apology to your victims? You have so obviously mishandled at least two cases I’m aware of leading to more victims of CSA. You exported a CSA perp to our country. You sent another CSA perp to other countries. Your approach was never right. It couldn’t possibly have been spirit lead. Paul knew better 2000 years ago when he dealt with the 1Cor5-9 situations. There is no excuse or reason to handle these cases the way you did even in the good old days. Don’t darken my doorstep. The way I feel about it right now is that if I see you on the platform again, my family and I will walk out of that meeting when you speak. Too much legal jeopardy to apologize publicly? There’s a reason for that Dale – it’s because the way you handled it was against the law and you knew better. Your guidance after the Reuben Mata fiasco had all kinds of wiggle room for getting out of following the law and also lots of room for getting out of doing the right thing which you clearly put to use in the early 2000s. Your public apology is past due. Don’t dare even think about becoming overseer again anywhere Dale. New leadership is required. Don’t bother reaching out privately. Apologize publicly please. For that matter why are we hearing crickets from all these perpetrators? No repentance? The rest of us have found the time to write…are they too busy? Forgiveness starts with repentance Dale. I will consider forgiving you if I believe you’re serious about change, and understand what you did was very wrong and affected many people.
Dale Shultz is a disgrace. He has practiced criminal cover up of criminal acts more than any other overseer in modern times. All justified by religious pride in a faulty church system.
“Professing father” is right. You need to publicly apologize and step away far from ministry. Your actions have led to many damaged lives. Make sure funds are available to support your victims. Get this done before the law steps in and the church is damaged further.
Without question, Shultz is a disgrace. He had his hand in the sham application of Matt 18. Check out https://johnvandenberg-theworker.org/2023/05/16/mexico-incident-and-application-of-matt-18-and-implied-consent/
taptaptap….IS THIS MICROPHONE WORKING? Dale, what else are you hiding…something to do with Alberta during the very dark Willis Propp days? Why did Alberta become a dumping ground for CSA perpetrators during the time you were there? The investigators will find out Dale. Your coercive behavior and actions led some of my very best friends to keep your secrets. Imagine the level of courage it would take to stand up to your boss knowing you would probably lose your job, your life’s work, your calling, without a dime to your name. Where would you go? Who would help you? Now imagine being a child and having no one you felt would believe you, or stand up for you against such depravity. That’s why bosses who behave like you are reported and fired in short order out here in the real world.
Can someone please confirm Dale Schultz is aware of the investigators post on Wings and the request for his public apology?
Righteous anger is in order!!!!
Friends/ Parents,
Since I last wrote, I have learned enough about Dale Schultz to know that he will never step foot in our house. I will never trust him with my children, and I recommend you don’t either. It turns out Dale is thoroughly unfit for the work, and my intuition about him following ministry safe training was correct. If you happen to know where he is, or you also have information on his unusual actions or behavior, please contact the professional team at advocatesforTHEtruth.com. Even seemingly small things may be helpful to investigators – it will probably fit the pattern. If you happen to know that Dale is residing with a family which includes children in the home, I recommend you show Godly love for that family by reaching out to them directly, and letting them know of my concerns promptly. If you see Dale and feel comfortable confronting him with a couple witnesses present, I recommend you encourage him to turn himself in to authorities, or the team at advocatesforTHEtruth.com. Many criminals don’t really exhibit true remorse, and they require getting caught and confronted before they’ll sometimes admit to their wrongs. I did not know where Dale was, and did not have the opportunity to confront him personally. I would have gladly and confidently done so. This fact drove the need to reach him in this unusual way. I am aware there are risks with my approach, and all of us should be very careful with this approach. I did not do this lightly or in haste. I was very certain of the information I had gathered. I understood there may yet be consequences for having done this. I don’t care. It needed to be done.
As a professing person for 3 decades, a parent, and an elder, I feel the need to explain my unusual tactic to you, which likely made many of you uncomfortable. You should know I have never posted online until this very recent tragedy developed. I have never had an online profile on social media. I have never confronted someone in this way before, ever. I simply cannot sit quietly in this moment. I must help find the path forward. Sometimes being troubled about something is necessary and good. It can be harnessed to drive change.
I have been reading my Bible more than ever these days, but in a newer translation so the full meaning of the words is not lost. ICor5-9 has been meaningful to me in a new way by that method. For the first time I can remember, I did not take part Sunday morning during testimony because I felt I had brought the wrong spirit to meeting, and the things really on my mind these days are not spiritual. It was good just to be there, and hear others, to see good friends again. By the end of the meeting I knew I would not be hanging my salvation on Dale’s lack of decency or remorse. In other words I will forgive him, while also holding him accountable. Forgiving him doesn’t mean I will ever trust him around my children. Sunday morning, the things I really wanted to talk about, I would not have been able to get through while maintaining composure. Those things probably weren’t appropriate for testimony time anyway. I don’t know if you noticed just how quiet younger parents were at convention this year. I wonder if it was for this same reason. I don’t intend to make a habit of what happened Sunday, but it’s ok that I stayed quiet this time.
Anyway, it is important to hold people accountable for their actions when they are criminal. Dale has a pattern of criminal behavior, and he knowingly broke the law over decades and in at least 2-3 countries. Someone wrote “we confess our faults to one another, and bring our sins before God”. I believe that too. I also believe we bring criminal concerns to law enforcement (or investigators). You don’t need anyone’s permission to do that, and you should not bother asking for it. 1Cor 6 is about litigation matters, not criminal matters. In this tragedy, it may be necessary yet to hold people financially accountable regardless of 1Cor6. That is for others to decide, but I have followed the advice in this regard by reaching out to the investigators this morning. If you know where Dale is, or who his overseer is, please provide that to the advocates team.
Thanks
Wow. I, for one, am very appreciative to read your post. I am also very thankful that you turned the alleged criminal behaviors over to the proper authorities.
On this subject, I wish ALL in our fellowship would report any concerns relating to CSA, SA, or cover-ups. That is the most effective way to protect people and hold the perpetrators accountable.
I dare say, that with all that has been reported thus far, it makes me wonder if we have had a “pedophile ring” amongst the staff on the West Coast… Was it established and nurtured by Eldon Tenniswood?
Impunity breeds more criminality. Always.
DaleS is an integral part of that vicious cycle.
Thank you!
👍
Would you be willing to clarify what Dale Shultz has done exactly…. we just found out that he is going to be at our convention preps and possibly the convention. If there are serious accusations of him harming or abusing anyone then he needs to be reported! We sure don’t need to be put at risk!!
To Eyes Wide Open, I heard he is no longer attending those conventions or preps…are you in the southern states?
He has no complaints of abuse. The primary concern is that he is most likely the most prolific cover-up agents in North America. By covering up, he would not only be breaking the law, but he has endangered children with no regard for their safety.
It is more direct and serious IMO than prolific cover-up, which all by itself caused MANY more victimized children over 30 years. There are incidents of Dale’s direct actions that are well beyond the pale and criminal. Again, that is my read of it, but I am not a lawyer or a professional in this area. Talk to the investigator for further details if needed.
To “a professing father” – according to the official Canadian Workers Lists Fall of 2022 – Spring of 2023 Dale was in the Halifax area with a younger companion. The overseer was Ray Hoffman who has since come under some criticism and apparently been moved somewhere else. I believe Dale has now taken the oversight for the Atlantic provinces in Canada. He is probably hiding but his recent address and phone contact information is available.
Yes. Dale has been overseer of Saskatchewan (I believe for the Corfield cover up), overseer of California (Vandenberg cover up), overseer of Oregon, and then assigned to help clean up the PR problems in eastern Canada. Very much a senior overseer and can’t be removed easily……unless the cops track him down…..
He was almost certainly an overseer accounting for the disbandment of 3 principled workers in the 1990’s who were helping CSA victims and working with perps to get help. Shawn Buckley, Dale Ford and Judy Scheller. These were workers who had moral clarity on the issue but the overseers preferred to continue to cover up. They were shut down by a group of Western overseers and two of them sent to Asia, one as a fake student in China. DaleF passed away shortly after that.
Re: Dale S. BEWARE…
If there are valid allegations against this man, the matter needs to be taken to the authorities, not broadcast on this website.
After the proper authorities are made aware and proceed with an investigation into the alleged acts, it would be appropriate to then post that the accused is being investigated for this or that.
Otherwise comments could very well be deemed as inflammatory or slanderous.
General question BC worker. If someone covers up a perpetrator of child sexual abuse and allows the alleged perp to move among children at will, is that criminal or not?
Have you ever failed to report suspected child abuse?
BC worker, This would be a good time for you to sit down and try being a servant. You all took it upon yourselves to rule over the body of Christ and you have failed us. You don’t get to tell us what’s appropriate anymore.
After a year or two of unjust excommunications of many families who stood up for what is right against abuse, greed, lying, immoral behavior and CSA, [Prof. Numnutz] had this to say to the rest of us underlings in his letter dated April 12, 1999:
“We realize that the fact that we are servants of God, or even very responsible servants of God, doesn’t make us infallible. However, something that is very much a part of being a child of God is to respect those who are over us in the Lord, to pray for them, to obey them, to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Their judgement may not always be right, but it is always right for us to respect that judgement and to work with it in the best way that we possibly can … Whether the decision is right or wrong, the right thing for all of us is to respect it because of those who have made the judgement … because of where it has come from and to work with it no matter what our own thoughts might be on the subject.”
In other words, don’t think for yourself, just respect us because we are over you, even when we are wrong, immoral or even criminal.
http://www.tellingthetruth.info/history_divisions/alberta_acct.php
I couldn’t disagree more.
“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.” — Angela Davis
Wow. Just wow. I professed in approximately 1997 in a Southern California field. So I was not privy to his letter in April of 1999. Were some families in California excommunicated for confronting the aberrant behaviors? As the plot thickens, it also becomes a bit clearer everyday that some in leadership were covering up criminal behavior. 😳 Other than feeling abhorrent about any criminal behaviors that have been perpetrated, it just makes me feel more thankful than even to look to Jesus’ perfect example. What’s done in the dark comes to light eventually…
Thanks for asking, and for your courage. It is VERY important you follow up on this. I am disappointed and emotionally drained knowing Dale has not yet been removed from the work. He is an unsafe person. Please reach out to the investigators at advocatesforthetruth.com for further information if they are able to share it so you can understand first-hand why Dale does not belong in the work. I have made several posts about Dale on this thread, as well as on the Eric Nelson notification in the comments section. I’ve said about all I think I would be permitted to say without hindering the important work the professional team is doing. That team would also be interested to know who Dale’s overseer is, where he is located, or where he will be located on what dates. Please provide this information directly to them. They are easy to reach via advocatesforthetruth.com in writing, and they will contact you reasonably quickly. Thanks for your help!
I wonder if we are talking about the same person. DaleS is an overseer and the most senior overseer in western North America. It would take a group of overseers to remove him.
We received today the list of workers coming for Virginia and North Carolina Preps. Listed to be at one of this is
Dale Shultz (E. Can).
Maybe it is a different Dale?
Thanks – I have reached out to the investigator with this information. Taking Dale directly to authorities I think is a valid and faster approach. No reason we should wait for others to fix our problems. Thanks so much to all of you! Dale Schultz has moved around a lot, with a lot of responsibility over the years and been involved with many of the biggest issues. The earliest I’m aware of from the early 1990’s in Alberta with Willis Propp. Don’t get me wrong I’m sure he has helped many people, had many good intentions and done some good things too. His handling of CSA/SA issues are from the dark side of Dale. Thanks all! No more posts from me for today. Sorry for flooding your inboxes recently.
This is excellent that you reached out to the investigator. Thank you for the piece of mind and your efforts.
And how many KNEW of JVDB’s behavior? https://johnvandenberg-theworker.org/2023/05/16/mexico-incident-and-application-of-matt-18-and-implied-consent/
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