XPost: or.politics, alt.politics.trump, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   From: Mikey.Smith@aol.com   
      
   Youth Pastor Charged With Nearly 200 Sex Crimes Going Back Decades   
   Billy Witz   
      
   Many of the victims were the West Virginia pastor's relatives, the police   
   said, including five nieces who filed a complaint against him in 2004.   
   The top of a church building, with a cross at its peak, against a partly   
   cloudy sky.   
   John W. Radcliff II has worked as a youth pastor for at least four churches in   
   West Virginia.Credit...Shelby Tauber for The New York Times   
      
   Nov. 27, 2024   
      
   The state police in West Virginia are continuing to investigate a longtime   
   youth pastor who has now been charged with nearly 200 counts of sexual abuse   
   crimes involving children, many of them his relatives, dating back more than   
   three decades.   
      
   The pastor, John W. Radcliff II, was arrested a second time last week after   
   officers investigating a complaint filed against him in September revisited a   
   case from 2004, when five of Mr. Radcliff's nieces told the police that he had   
   abused them.   
      
   "I have no idea what happened, but we never saw charges pressed," said one   
   niece, Carla Rinehart, whose mother is Mr. Radcliff's sister.   
      
   Ms. Rinehart, 38, said that growing up, she did not know that her relatives   
   had endured the same type of abuse that she says her uncle had committed   
   against her. But when Ms. Rinehart was hospitalized at 17 after a mental   
   breakdown, she began to share    
   her story with family members. Her sister recounted a similar experience at   
   the time, and then their cousins did the same.   
      
   A local TV station, citing court documents in Lewis County, W.Va., on the 2004   
   case, reported that Mr. Radcliff had forced the girls to perform sexual acts   
   on him from 1987 to 1996, and sexually assaulted them in other ways until they   
   were about 12. The    
   victims are all now adults, the news outlet reported.   
      
   Lewis is one of four counties where Mr. Radcliff has been charged with abuse.   
      
   Ms. Rinehart said she did not know who had filed the recent complaint against   
   Mr. Radcliff, in Nicholas County, alleging abuse between 2018 and 2019. But   
   she and her sister and cousins went to the police there after their uncle was   
   first arrested in    
   September and released on bond, she said, to show support for the victim.   
      
   "West Virginia is a small state; word gets around very quickly," said Ms.   
   Rinehart, who runs a child-care center. "We didn't want anyone to push her   
   statement aside like ours was. We were, ‘This happened to us. You have to   
   believe her.'"   
      
   Mr. Radcliff, 57, who has worked as a youth pastor for at least four churches   
   in the state, is in custody on bonds totaling $1.7 million. It's unclear if he   
   is still working as a pastor. His wife, Kathy Radcliff, who has been charged   
   with knowing that    
   the abuse took place, has been released on bond. The Radcliffs declared   
   bankruptcy last year, according to state records.   
      
   James Hawkins, a court-appointed lawyer for Mr. Radcliff, said almost all the   
   charges stemmed from accusations from 1987 to 1996 and were unrelated to his   
   work as a pastor. He said his client was facing a life sentence with more than   
   100 years.   
      
   "What I'm saying is there's nothing new - they're still uncorroborated   
   statements of the alleged victims," Mr. Hawkins said. "They were investigated   
   in 2004 and it was determined there was not enough evidence to proceed with a   
   criminal prosecution. We're    
   looking forward to our chance to answer these uncorroborated statements."   
      
   The case will be brought before a grand jury in either March or July, Mr.   
   Hawkins said.   
      
   Meanwhile, the investigation is ongoing and more victims are coming forward,   
   the state police said in a statement.   
      
   Kirsten Noyes contributed research.   
      
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