Convicted minister continues

In 2005, music minister Bernie Johnson was accused of committing lewd sexual acts at a Southern Baptist church in Texas. He accepted a plea bargain for a conviction on indecent exposure. (It’s case number 250991, Bernard Brett Johnson.)

Johnson moved to a church about 10 miles down the road to become music minister at First Baptist Church of Winnie, Texas.

With his new congregation, Johnson led people to believe that the charges had to do with “an adult affair and not sexual acts perpetrated by him.” This explanation of his was reported in the local paper, The Examiner, and it’s also what a couple people in the community have recently related to me. It’s an explanation that is highly offensive to his victim, and the fact that no Baptist leader does anything about it makes it all the worse.

Because “indecent exposure” can cover a wide range of conduct, I want you to see exactly what was reported about Bernie Johnson and what was captured on videotape. That means this posting is going to be quite explicit. I’m sorry for any offense, but I think this is an occasion when it’s necessary. I want you to see the kind of man that Southern Baptist leaders allow to continue in a position of trust as a minister.

What follows is taken straight from the June 2005 article in The Examiner. Links to this article and two others are at the bottom of this posting.

“Bernie Johnson allegedly exposed himself, openly masturbated and fondled a co-worker on the church property during his tenure as a staff member of First Baptist Church of Hamshire. The co-worker at the Hamshire church, Charline Hargraves, initiated the charges…. Her charges were substantiated by the evidence caught on videotape of the minister committing sexual acts on the church property."

"Hargraves…has been an active member of the church for more than a decade and a full-time employee for more than five years. She is in charge of custodial matters…. Johnson, who has a wife and son, had been on the staff approximately two years when the first incident occurred. Johnson came to the church from a position at the East Texas Baptist Encampment located in Newton…. He also served as an evangelist… and is known as charismatic, engaging and extremely talented."

"Hargraves said in a formal affidavit… ‘Bernie began making sexual comments to me… He later got bolder and bolder… I began to be fearful of being in any place in the buildings alone.’ Hargraves testifies that on one occasion, Johnson… asked her to hold some computer wires to be fed through a hole in the corner bookcase. ‘He was on the floor under the bookcase and he reached up with his hand and grabbed me on the crotch.’"

"Hargraves remembers another incident that she said is indelibly printed on her mind. ‘I was wiping down tables in the fellowship hall and Bernie came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me with his body pressed up against my rear. He began to grind on my rear and said, ‘This is what you want, isn’t it?’ He also grabbed both of my breasts through my clothes.’ According to Hargraves, Johnson grabbed her breasts and attempted to fondle them on several other occasions."

"Hargraves felt she needed her job at the church and depended on it for financial support…. ‘I had no real marketable skills and here he was a staff member, a good musician and singer, excellent with people. He even told me that if I told anyone about what had happened, they would not believe me over him…. But the main reason I did not tell anyone…is that I did not want to have any part in hurting my church… I was so frightened.’"

"The affidavit states that Hargraves was in the church secretary’s office…when Johnson entered the room and sat down… He made a noise to get her attention and when she looked over at him, Johnson had unzipped his pants and his penis was erect and exposed. ‘Another time… he got my attention and when I looked, he was standing up with his erect penis out so that anyone could see it. He was so brazen with his acts.’"

"Hargraves swore that at other times…. ‘he would either be completely undressed or his pants would be down around his knees or ankles. He would ask me to come and touch his penis or to rub it. I said no and fled as best I could….’"

"Hargraves said in the last months of Johnson’s employment… he started masturbating in various parts of the building. ‘He would just ejaculate on the countertop and leave it to be cleaned up. Several times, he got a Styrofoam cup from the coffee stand and ejaculated into it. He would sit it down and tell me that he left it for me.’"

[When Charline Hargraves finally disclosed what was happening to the pastor at First Baptist of Hamshire, he called in a retired police officer, who installed a hidden video camera. Within one week’s time, here is what happened]:

“Bernie came back to the church from a funeral… In a few minutes, Bernie went to the bathroom and disrobed. His pants were completely off and as I walked by, he opened the door exposing his erect penis. He was playing with it and he begged me to ‘come and touch it.’ I said no. He then asked me to ‘come over and perform oral sex on him.’ I said no again. Bernie reached over and picked up a cup and ejaculated into it. The cup and its contents were given to [the police officer]. All of this is on the videotape that has now been turned over to the sheriff’s department.”

In light of this history, why is Bernie Johnson able to continue as a minister in a Southern Baptist church?

The woman who sent me the articles wrote that she had contacted the Baptist General Convention of Texas to get help with trying to get Johnson out of ministry. “But I think that’s going to be a useless tool,” she said. “They just keep a confidential file and nothing else. Big deal if they won’t make it public.”

The BGCT did indeed prove itself to be “a useless tool.” Apparently no one even bothered to tell this woman that the First Baptist Church of Winnie is actually affiliated with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, and not the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Couldn’t the BGCT have at least provided her with that tiny, basic bit of information?

Of course, there isn’t any reason to think it would have made any difference. The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention doesn’t have any effective policies and procedures for addressing clergy sex abuse either. Nor does it have any policies and procedures for informing people in the pews about abusive ministers.

Ditto for the national Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville.

So men like Bernie Johnson simply carry on as Southern Baptist ministers, and no one stops them.
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These articles from The Examiner have a separate pdf file for each page:
June 9-15, 2005, “Minister charged with repeated counts of indecent exposure," first page and second page
July 21-27, 2005, "Defiance of agreement led to exposure charge"
Dec. 30, 2005-Jan. 5, 2006, "Music minister charged with deviant acts in church," first page and second page
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Additional Note: A reader just sent me this. Here is Bernie Johnson's own website, "Rendered Heart."