A Wyoming resident was apprehended on charges of reportedly engaging in inappropriate conduct with a young girl while visiting Florida. The person held roles within the ministries of various local churches, overseeing worship services and, notably, a youth group. Legal actions have been initiated, with the individual facing first-degree felony charges related to lewd molestation.
Richard Shaw,69, was taken into custody by Riverton, Wyoming, police on January 4, and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office released a news release announcing their intention to extradite him from the state. When the guy visited Lakeland, Florida, in December 2023, he improperly handled a girl who was younger than 12 years old, both over and beneath her clothes.
When the girl’s mother later confronted him, he confessed to the conduct, and he also made a confession in an interview with the police. Shaw said that when he attacked the little girl, he gave in to desire. He also admitted to investigators that he had a pornography addiction.
Shaw was employed with “Under Command Ministries” in Wyoming’s Fremont County. Given his possible access to youngsters as a youth group leader, local authorities are presently looking into the possibility of finding any other victims there. Additionally, they are investigating potential incidents at other churches to which he belonged. Shaw acknowledged that it wasn’t safe for kids to be near him, according to Fox News.
Grady Judd, the Polk County Sheriff, stated at a recent press conference that Shaw should never be permitted to engage with children again because he is
deadly and malevolent.
Ministry Magazine acknowledges that incidents of sexual assault inside religious communities do happen occasionally, and it suggests that members be encouraged to come forward when perpetrators attack. Even Nevertheless, abuse may be more common than most parishioners would like to think.
A research published in Qualitative Criminology states that between 1987 and 2007, there were on average 260 reports of clergy members being accused of sexual assault. A other investigation discovered 326 incidents in the Protestant community alone between 1999 and 2014, while a third study revealed that over 700 victims of sexual assault occurred in churches during the previous 20 years.
