Scott Porter’s letter:
Dear all,
Most of you probably don’t know that in 2021 I was made aware of and involved in a child sexual abuse case. There are some who are calling for me to step down from the work because of my involvement in it. For the sake of transparency, honesty, and vulnerability I will share with you what happened according to the notes I took at that time and from the best of my ability to remember. I would like to do what is best for all involved, and if for any reason it seems I should actually step down, I am willing to do so.
My coworker and I were staying in a jungle/countryside community. These are very small communities where most people are, in some way, related to each other. They are isolated, everyone is connected to each other, there are no secrets amongst them, there are no local police, etc. These places need to be experienced to be understood. Life is raw in these places.
I got up early one morning in a certain home, in a certain one of these countryside places and was heading to the kitchen to get some coffee and met the lady of the home on the way. She was very distraught and told me in one big rush that she had discovered through one of her daughters that some of her granddaughters had been “disrespected by her husband.” She didn’t tell me names but told me that first, many years ago, some of her daughters had been abused by him, and she had just found out that some of her granddaughters had suffered the same. Some were still underage, but from what she could understand, the abuse had taken place 8 or more years in the past (I don’t share this as an excuse, it’s just a part of the story).
I can’t remember if I got my coffee or not, but I immediately spoke to my coworker and we decided that we needed to travel right away with our friend to the city where her daughters and their families live, a 3-4 hour multi-bus commute. Thus began my involvement and attempts to guide what happened.
I was the spokesperson, but I did not make any decision alone. Rather, I tried to guide and support the adult victims in this group process. I never had any contact with the victims who were still minors, but they were in communication with their mothers. It would be impossible to convey in words the emotions, tears, distress, and spirit of our time together. It remains one of the most impactful events of my life. We met for lunch with the mothers, some whom were themselves victims and, in this visit, I discovered that their husbands didn’t know anything about any of it. I strongly encouraged everyone that the next step would be to visit all together with their husbands and tell them what had happened and what was happening. They were very nervous about doing this but decided to do so.
So that evening at dinner we visited with them. I was so impressed with the courage of these victims and also by their husbands’ response, support, and help. During these visits I felt it would be good to have a sister worker join us and they chose a sister worker that they knew well and trusted who then traveled all night to join us. Together, we decided that the next step would be to all travel together and confront the abuser.
I had asked them if we needed to alert the authorities and they repeatedly said no, and asked us not to. (A side note: The people of this country do not trust the authorities of the country. All are easily bribed. Even judges are known to wait to see who will give the largest bribe before making their decision. Again, I don’t say this as an excuse, it is simply a fact of life in this particular country).
We spent a total of four nights in the city and on the fifth day we traveled back into the countryside where we confronted the abuser. There were tears and emotions indescribable, group visits and individual visits, and a lot of prayer and thinking. I never once asked the victims to forgive him. That was not the purpose. I will never ask them to forgive, and if they come to the place of doing so, that is their personal journey.
The abuser was calm and quiet, and appeared humble, yet I never felt he truly repented. It was during this time that I agonizingly tried to figure out how to guide us as a group. They did not want to get any authorities involved and so I seriously considered asking the abuser to leave his community. I think he would have. Just go, leave, and don’t come back. Then it dawned on me that he would go to a different city where more of his family live although he hadn’t been there for many years. He has a large handful of great nieces living there who are just at the age that all of these women and girls were at the time of their abuse. I quickly abandoned that thought and although I had mentioned it to my coworker, I didn’t mention it to anyone else.
Our number one goal in all of this was the present safety of those directly involved. I had no experience that allowed me to even consider the affect that our decision could and would have on other uninvolved victims. This abuser was the elder and we made it clear that he could no longer be the elder.
Most of those in the meeting had no means of transportation to travel to a meeting at a different location, so we asked another man who lives a good distance away (but does have a vehicle) to come to this man’s house and lead the meeting. In this community there was no other place for the meeting. I seriously considered asking this man to no longer attend the meeting. However, from a safety standpoint and considering the unique elements of this particular situation I didn’t feel like this would actually make anything safer. He was not in meeting with any of his victims. However, there were other children, in differing degrees related to him, who did attend the meeting. Their parents were very aware of the situation. I felt that there was far more interaction and potential opportunities for harm outside the meeting than in the meeting itself.
Due to the nature of how these communities work, everyone knew that he had abused, everyone was on alert, and I didn’t believe that taking him out of the meeting would cause the situation to be less dangerous. We spoke incredibly directly and strongly to the abuser both as a group and in individual visits. We told him that we would never trust him again and that he should be in jail, and that we absolutely condemned what he did.
He did still partake in testimony and emblems, which I was uncomfortable with. It seemed like the general consensus was to not remove him from involvement in the meetings, and as I didn’t see how it would affect the safety of the situation, I didn’t insist on that outcome.
Since that time, I have learned that many victims feel revictimized upon hearing that perpetrators have not been removed altogether from the meetings. I finally understand that reaction, and for that reason I am very sorry to not have removed him completely. I sincerely wish I would have tried to lead the group to make that decision.
After four nights we all returned to the city and remained there for another four days. Then, my coworker and I returned to the countryside and visited with all the friends in this community and a nearby one, reiterating to those who knew, and telling those who didn’t, that this man was a predator. We did not reveal the names of any victims.
Throughout this whole experience, the presence, comfort, advice, and help of the sister worker involved was immense. I would never want to go through such a situation without a sister worker(s) involved.
I have maintained a good relationship with the victims and their families to this day. I continue to support them. At the time, I offered to help find professional counseling and I let them know that somehow, we would arrange the finances for it. I’ve recently (entirely unrelated to this) found some good resources and would like to re-suggest and reoffer professional help. They also know I would support them if they ever wanted to press charges.
Sometime later, a person who was not originally involved in the situation became involved. That is another long and ongoing story, in and of itself. Due to their involvement, the abuser was excluded from all fellowship. I am glad, for that needed to happen, and like I said, I am sorry for any hurt and further harm that has come from leaving him in fellowship. I do not doubt this persons’ motives in becoming involved, unfortunately in an eagerness to help, this person widely shared the victims’ names and I am also very sorry for that.
I don’t know what more to say. I’m willing to step down if it would help reestablish trust and be an action of apology to all victims worldwide. I value my place in the ministry, but it cannot come at the cost of suffering, abused and silenced people within or without our fellowship. I am sorry for the mistakes I have made. I would also encourage all workers worldwide to share their stories honestly and vulnerably, and be willing for anything that would help us all heal and mend. For that is the purpose of it all.
Sincerely,
Scott Porter
Richard Harbur’s communication in regards to Ecuador:
To those who have read Charlie and Judy Habner’s letters about CSA in Ecuador…
Charlie made it clear that he had asked Lealand 8 years ago to have Leroy Lerwick removed because Leroy was preaching false doctrine. The doctrine that Charlie is referring to is divorce and remarriage. Ecuador is the only country in South America that allows people that have been divorced and remarried to have full fellowship.
Because of this, Charlie and Judy have been against the ministry in Ecuador long before they knew of this specific case of CSA. I would hope that everyone would understand that Ecuador is a different country than the USA with different laws. Charlie makes a big deal that Leroy and Max didn’t take the case to the authorities 20 years ago when they came to know of what had happened 10 years before.
Ecuador didn’t have laws concerning CSA until 2018. Just to give you an idea of the government there – in 2021 the government put it up for a popular vote as to whether there would be any penalties (fines or prison time) for CSA and abuse against women. Fortunately there are penalties. But as you can see there was no one for Leroy and Max to take the matter to authorities to deal with it. The laws of a country don’t decide what is right and wrong in the eyes of God, but they do limit one’s options.
Obviously we are much more aware today than in that day, that people like (T) are likely to continue offending. Also there are differences in the laws – in Ecuador if an allegation is brought to the authorities the first thing they do is go to the victims and the first question is: We have an allegation that you were abused, do you want us to investigate? If the answer is no, that is the end of the case as far as the government is concerned. That includes a minor victim.
So as Scott wrote in his account the victims and their families didn’t want anyone to take it to the authorities from the beginning when we first found out about it.
When Judy found out about it, she kept pushing until one of the workers did go to the authorities. The authorities then went to the victims and their families. Of course victims continued to say no, so the case is closed as far as the authorities are concerned.
Some might be wondering why (B) wrote a letter about the abuse so that Judy could read it to the church.. (B) says, “That Judy manipulated me.” She realized as soon as Judy left with the letter that it was a mistake and communicated with Judy, pleading that she wouldn’t read the letter, but that she would destroy it. Judy tried to convince her that it had to be done and don’t be afraid, but B insisted that the letter be destroyed and not read. So Judy agreed that she wouldn’t read the letter. That communication was by Whatsapp and there is a copy. (Several lawyers have said that the family could sue Judy for reading that letter and sharing it publicly. They say the only place that letter should have ever been read is by the authorities. The family has no desire to sue, they just want to be left in peace).
So one can understand why the family feels betrayed when Judy went ahead and read the letter and has continued to share it. It was at that time that the victims were exposed to the church. Although Judy told us Saturday that she had the workers’ approval to disband the meeting entirely, we had been given no indication from anyone that she actually had that approval. The same Saturday Scott had pleaded with her to wait a couple of days until we could get to the area to work together concerning the situation. The next day Judy read the letter in the Sunday morning meeting and exposed the victims (who were not in attendance) to those who already knew (T) was a perpetrator.
Scott and I arrived a couple of days later and the following Saturday Judy demanded that we tell the 2 churches in the area that she had acted with the authority of the workers. We didn’t feel that we could say that she was acting on our behalf. So after the Sunday morning meetings we met with her and another couple involved and I stated our reasons why we could not in good conscience tell everyone that the way she read the letter and disbanded the meeting had any part of our approval. As I was talking she continually tried to interrupt me and I raised my voice. I never screamed at her. She immediately stood up and confronted me, saying I couldn’t “raise my voice” at her, I apologized and she accepted it. The visit continued for some time.
The next day she told the couple that she was going to put a restraining order against me. Which she did that day. At the first hearing I was as surprised as Judy to see several of the friends there. My lawyer wanted (J) and (D) there as witnesses because it took place at their house and they were part of the conversation. They were the only ones that I expected. Afterwards I found out that several were quite concerned about what the judge might do with me, a foreigner, because of the corruption there. Interestingly enough, it was supposed to be an open hearing but he wouldn’t let them come in and he didn’t want to hear from the couple that were witnesses to the conversation.
At the second hearing my lawyer said that (J) and (D) should be there and also a character witness. I made sure that no one else came. I went into the hearing not knowing if Judy was going to drop the restraining order or not…. Because she was emailing me (of course I could not reply because of the restraining order). The last email I had she demanded that unless I tell (L) to stop lying about what happened in the first hearing to (E) she wouldn’t drop the restraining order. I had no idea what it was about, but called (E) and he said I haven’t talked to (L) since before the first hearing. (L) told me the same. So I didn’t know what Judy had in mind??? She did drop the restraining order at that hearing.
It was during that time that the elder (JP) asked her not to come to his meeting in Guayaquil. My lawyer made it clear to me that if I was involved in any such thing I could go to jail, so I had nothing to do with it. It also had nothing to do with (T). But it was because the victims and their families felt betrayed, used, abused, hurt and afraid of Judy that he felt it was necessary to give them space from her, as several meet in his home. They still feel that way and don’t want anything to do with her and Charlie. Judy got so upset with (JP) that she started looking for any skeletons in his extended family and going after them. So (JP)’s father who is the elder of the other meeting in Guayaquil said she wasn’t welcome there either.
It wasn’t until what has happened here in the USA this spring and summer that I became aware of how offensive it is to some victims that the perpetrators would be in meetings. The victims and their families very much want (T) to repent and be saved, so they weren’t opposed to him being in meetings 3 hours away from them. But I see now that we should have handled that differently because of other victims.
There is almost no phone signal where he lives so on-line listening isn’t an option for (T). From the beginning our concern has been for the victims and how to support them as Scott mentioned in his account. It was never about trying to cover up for (T).
It has become clear that Judy wasn’t listening, but projecting her feelings and desires on the victims and their families. It has caused lots of harm, suffering and hurt to the victims and their families. Like we have been hearing a lot the last while, each victim is unique and their journey to healing and being whole is unique. I need to listen.
Richard Harbur
WINGS for Truth 