Update on News Story about Sequim (Washington) Adventist School

April 19, 2016: Douglas Allison, the church school teacher in the State of Washington charged with four counts of first-degree child rape and eight counts of child molestation, has been terminated from employment by the denomination’s Washington Conference, according to the Peninsula Daily News. His wife was the other teacher at the two-room, eight-grade school and she has taken a leave of absence for the rest of the current school year.
Adventist Today has previously reported on this story. Among new developments, Allison has entered a plea of not guilty and a trial is scheduled to being May 9 with a pre-trial hearing set for April 22. It is common practice in criminal proceedings for trial dates to be changed as the attorneys involved work with the judge on scheduling.
Allison is 55 years of age and if convicted of all 12 counts with which he has been charged, he faces the possibility of life in prison. He was principal and teacher for the upper grades at Sequim Christian School in a small town at the north end of the Olympic Peninsula across the sound from Canada.
Angie Campanello has been hired to teach the rest of the school year. She is an experienced Adventist educator who has taught all subjects in grades one through eight. She has a master’s degree and was currently teaching university-level classes to prepare students to become teachers, according to information that the newspaper quoted from a statement from the denomination’s Washington Conference.
The newspaper also reported that a workshop for parents was held at the school by family counselors and individual counseling sessions have been offered to the families. Not all of the students have returned to the school, the newspaper quoted the statement from the Washington Conference; “We respect the right of our school families to determine the proper timing if/when their children are to come back.”
“was currently” improper writing and editing. There is no way this is even possible. Please correct this error forthwith.
Arrogancy is a greater sin than improper English expression. Bite your tongue.
lol.
Sexual offenders are everywhere and our church schools are no exception. There are members of the current church group with a school, that are listed on the sexual offenders list for the town I reside in. We live in a very sick society!
I would also like to share a very personal note. I was harassed sexually when I attended church school in the 60’s and never came forward because I was fearful that I would not be believed. The man was married with children and a member of the church in good standing.
As a precautionary measure I decided to Homeschool my children.
We do not know those sexual offenders walk with God either. They made a mistake granted, but how is their life now?
Reg, as a licensed mental health professional I can assure you that no one can change the stimuli that sexually attract them. Neither can a child molester. Once a person is identified as one that is sexually attracted to children they can Never Again be trusted alone with any child in his preferred age group. If he has children of his own they must be protected from him, too. For the rest of his life he is at great risk of molesting again. Your statement that “They made a mistake granted, but how is their life now?” is not a valid question. Prior to being exposed most perpetrators have been molesting children for years before they are caught, frequently threatening to kill the child and/or family members if they tell anyone. People do not change their sexual preferences. It is innate. Those so-called “change ministries” have been debunked time and again. It just does not work. Note: The AT website will not allow me to proof read the first part of this post. I hope I haven’t left anything out.
Do we know what ‘secret sin’ is? If I have sin in my heart and do not confess my sin and ask for forgiveness, then I will not enjoy eternal life. If my secret sin becomes known then I have to pay for it in what society dishes out to me. If I have hurt someone and truly repent then I need to make it right to all of society as much as possible. Through it all the Lord will forgive me and then when I am placed in an environment where I can use my skills to assist someone in improving their life, I can
have a second chance to serve Him.
We in Sequim have restarted our school with about one half of the students remaining and are rebuilding for next year.