LIMA — When allegations that several former Teens for Christ leaders and at least one volunteer engaged in a pattern of sexual misconduct, emotional abuse and mishandling of those allegations went viral on social media last July, the TFC board promised to thoroughly investigate and communicate its findings.
“We want to be transparent and responsive to your questions and concerns,” the board wrote in an open letter, which was published on the ministry’s Facebook page last July.
Five months later, the board has yet to publicly release those findings, despite a notice to supporters last week that it had terminated two employees who were previously on administrative leave, and its open letter is no longer available on Facebook.
Instead, the board has communicated primarily through newsletters to donors.
A November newsletter, for example, announced that TFC may restart its local ministry by the fall of 2023, but made no mention of the allegations that led the board to suspend the local chapters in the first place.
The board has not identified the two employees it terminated in December either.
“The statement that the board released is exactly what they wanted to say at this time,” interim Executive Director Rich Rakay told The Lima News via email when asked to confirm the identities of the terminated employees.
Rakay directed The Lima News to the board’s attorney, Alan Smith, who also declined to identify the employees or comment on the situation.
“I don’t want to be rude, but we really don’t have anything to talk about,” Smith told The Lima News. “I apologize. Have a good day.”
Rakay did not immediately return a subsequent email from The Lima News asking whether the board intended to release the findings of its investigation.
Still, the allegations prompted the Allen County Sheriff’s Office to open its own investigation. The findings were turned over to the FBI in November, as many of the alleged incidents occurred out of state, but no charges were filed at the time.
