![]() The church’s letter reads "As youth director at Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, the investigation found Shiflet abused three more girls. "One whom I endorsed, with what I thought to be true, to be the head of their youth program. The church's letter states, "There was no evidence that any information about Shiflet's tenure at Denton Bible or reasons he did not get the high school position was sought by, or shared with, anyone at Fellowship Bible."īut that statement conflicts with Nelson’s explanation. In 2001, the letter says Denton Bible turned down Shiflet’s request to be promoted to the high school pastor position because of "his pattern of being alone with girls."īut Pastor Nelson did not share that information with a church in Little Rock, Arkansas, where Shiflet applied for a job as a youth pastor. The college intern concluded that she had not been believed. Again, leaders did not discipline Shiflet. The church's letter says a college intern reported her discomfort and red flags to the wife of a youth pastor. ![]() Nelson told Shiflet's supervisor that he should not spend time alone with girls, but no one disciplined Shiflet.Īnother warning came in 1999. The letter says two youth workers raised concerns directly to Nelson. ![]() Youth workers reported seeing Shiflet spending time alone with girls in his car, home and a hotel room. He isolated her from the group, sexually assaulted her and told her not to tell anyone.Īccording to the church's May 1 letter, Nelson's first clues about Shiflet came before Shiflet left Denton Bible Church to go to work for another church. In 1997, when the victim was 15 years old, Shiflet led an eighth-grade camping trip to the Buffalo National River in Arkansas. And if I said no, he would ice me out emotionally,"Īccording to federal prosecutors, one of the crimes the youth leader pleaded guilty to happened with a girl who was 14 at the time he met her at Denton Bible Church. And if I said yes, he would keep doing them. "And when he would do different things and touch me in ways that were inappropriate, he would ask me if it was okay. I knew that I felt uncomfortable.," she recalled. As a young teenager, I knew something didn't feel right. "He slowly treated me more like a girlfriend. The victim says she was 13 when she first met Shiftlet. "All of this happened in the late 1990s," Nelson said. Take care of the victims and report to police and CPS." I don't think you need a seminary degree to know what to do. "You know what frustrates me the most about this story? Is the number of times we’ve been told, ‘We did not know what to do,’" the victim said. "Does it feel like they were more focused on keeping it in the dark than helping prevent it from happening to someone else?" asked FOX 4 Reporter Lori Brown. The victim who spoke to FOX 4 says Pastor Nelson’s address to the congregation did not acknowledge what church leaders knew and when they knew it. It found many failures on the part of Denton Bible Church. And if I said no, he would ice me out emotionally."įor public release, the private investigation was summarized in the five-page update to the congregation. "When he would touch me in ways that were inappropriate, he would ask me if it was okay. I knew something didn't feel right," the victim said. ![]()
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