Steve Stutzman

INTRODUCTION:
Over the years, people have told me about a person who identifies as “Grace” on MennoNet, who has strong opinions about me. Today I was sent screenshots. When I mentioned to a friend that someone will be sending me screenshots of communication on MennoNet, saying “someone wrote something really nasty,” they immediately responded that it will be Grace, someone who constantly nitpicks about me. So I expected some horribly vile writing. Instead, what arrived is a fascinating mix of assumptions and lies. While I do not generally bother responding, I decided to awaken my blog, to respond to Grace, because methodical analysis with images throughout is not possible on FB. I will provide evidence (again) to back up allegations brought forward regarding Michael Beiler.

I will also analyze Grace’s post, because it is a perfect case study of how abuse is minimized, and perpetrators protected. Once you see it, it gets easier and easier to spot. There are countless double standards. Things that they do that they, in that same breath or text (falsely) condemn me for. I don’t take the words to heart. But I will certainly use them to teach others what to watch for when looking for truth/fact versus speculation and deception. I don’t know Grace. For all I know, it could be a man using ‘Grace’ — as in the grace we receive from God — to give the perception that they are female. In any case, this is not personal.

AN IMPORTANT DETAIL:
• Michael Beiler would NOT pass a Pennsylvania background check if one was required of him.
• He and his wife Darlene lost their foster license after allegations were brought against him in 2020
• One of the allegations against him has an indicated status (others I won’t speak to for good reason)
• He wrote a letter of apology to one of his young victims: Steve King, a WOJ pastor saw and can attest to this letter

I will post various screenshots, and reference areas I have highlighted in colour, to make it easier to follow.

ON PROTECTING WOMEN AND CHILDREN:
Let’s start with the preface that Grace believes women and children should be protected from abuse, including sexual abuse in paragraph one, highlighted in pink. To look more closely at how that plays out, jump to the tiny pink spot in paragraph 4, to substantiate what I am going to say next. Grace calls sex crimes from 20 to 30 years ago ‘mistakes’. How to keep women and children safe when simultaneously calling sex crimes against minors (or anyone, for that matter) a ‘mistake’? I would be very interested in hearing about that. Grace then goes on to say, in relation to sex crimes from 20-30: “and repented of.”

This communicates two things:
1. Crimes from the past can be ignored, simply because time has passed. Meanwhile, the victim carries scars for life . How does that protect the victims?
2. Crimes from the past can be ignored, simply because the person claims to have repented. Let’s use the Leroy R. Miller case as the example here. Yes, it was 20 to 30 years ago. Twenty-one, to be precise. Leroy professes to have ‘repented’ of the crimes he committed, but then proceeded to lie throughout years of ministry, stating things like “I had no victims” (The Word and Spirit Podcast: Life Story of Pastor Leroy Miller; 21 minutes to 23 minutes).

In under two minutes, in the video linked in previous paragraph, and later here, Leroy makes six statements claiming he did not have victims or that he was not harming/involving others, from between 21 minutes in and 23 minutes in. He uses the statement “I told myself…” But then he also states, present tense, at 21 minutes, 46 seconds, that “Like that’s one of the things that I look at NOW and I’m like I’m so grateful that I don’t have victims out there that I did things to or you know Yeah. and and I I’m so incredibly grateful for that.”

A victim is someone we harm. Leroy knew that he had called his victims over to his car. He knew that there were traumatized young girls because they had reported to the law! Note that the transcript from the official documentation, which can be viewed here, states girls… not women, and it states plural. This is supported by his own admission to law enforcement: “...that he had followed and asked to give rides to young Amish girls on four or five occasions […] he did ask them if they wanted a ride and that he did not have any pants on.”

Laying aside the fact that victims have the right to tell their stories, and the public does have the right to know when someone has committed crimes against children — or anyone, for that matter — let’s talk about repentance. What does that look like? Repentance looks like sorrow for sin and the harm we have caused. Not like ‘thank God I have no victims”. Not like blatant lies, even 21 years later. It does not look like spiritualizing the horrific things we have done that others have to bear the consequences for, for the rest of their lives. It looks like humility and brokenness for the harm caused to others.

MY ADVOCACY AGAINST CONSERVATIVE MENNONITE MEN:
(Red underlined, in par. 2) Grace is close, but not accurate. I was in advocacy. I left that some years ago. But it was not against conservative Mennonite men. Yes, most of the cases that came to me were male perpetrators. Most that went public were CA men. But CA men was not my focus or that of our organization. By the time the case against Alice Lehman (Rockingham County, VA: CR23001101-00) happened, I was no longer working.

Prior to that, I had one case involving an adult female, which the victims did not want disclosed, and which I did not personally work beyond accompanying Steve Stutzman to one meeting, in which he confronted the perpetrator). I did cooperate with Federal Law Enforcement in one case where there was hard evidence that false allegations were made by a female. I assisted Federal law enforcement in clearing the accused. I never spoke publicly because I was advised not to. So that claim is blatantly false. My past advocacy was against all abuse, and for truth. If victims bring forward only or mostly male perpetrators, that is not something I can control.

VENDETTA AGAINST STEVE STUTZMAN
Paragraph three, in peach, Grace alleges I have a vendetta against Steve. In 2018 when I called Steve out, I had first spent from January to May communicating behind the scenes. This includes involving a pastor as a mediator. The purpose of that communication was related to DD (a perpetrator I will not name) who admitted — both in writing and a legally obtained audio, made in the presence and home of the mediator — to sexually assaulting a young woman. Steve blatantly sided with the perpetrator of harm, and had not so much as reached out to the victim to ask if she was ok, in spite of the fact that DD used Steve’s ministry, Land of Promise, to access this victim, and others. (I reached out to the victim in recent weeks for permission to revisit these events). Only after I challenged Steve, months after the sexual assault, did he reach out to the victim’s one mentor to ask about her wellbeing.

This played out again when Steve defended Michael Kauffman as innocent. Here again, Steve sided with the abuser and declared his innocence. Behind the scenes, I was the one hearing their cries and trauma. Law enforcement already had him on record admitting to some of the sexual assaults, on a phone call, and Steve was still defending him and declaring him innocent. Michael Kauffman, who was eventually charged with 31 counts of sexual assault, including two types of rape.

This latest case, in which children named Michael Beiler as having violently sexually assaulted them, Steve is again siding with the alleged perpetrator. A man who had numerous previous allegations against him — of which I informed Steve. I made him aware that (at least some staff at) Way of Jesus Academy/Ministry, a Lancaster inner city mission has knowledge of other credible allegations, and believe the current allegations against Beiler. I urged him to revisit and reconsider his position in defence of Beiler, and speak to law enforcement on behalf of the victims in the current case.

Besides the details in the link at the beginning of the previous paragraph, Beiler wrote a letter of apology (post 2020 allegations) to one of his victims. This letter was confirmed, and seen by Steve King, the pastor at WOJ at the time of Beiler’s alleged crimes. By the time a letter of apology is written to a child (not to mention delivered by a child!) it would seem appropriate to remove the word ‘alleged’ but nonetheless, there it is. The especially critical detail here is that Beiler’s previous crimes were not disclosed to the parents, which allowed the crimes to continue. Those are simple facts. I have personally spoken with the individual who informed the mother of these two children of the previous crimes after her children’s allegations came forward. After learning of the allegations, the mother immediately moved her children out of the home.

When he heard of the allegations, by his own admission, Steve reached out to the accused. He never reached out to the victim or her children. After meeting with the accused, Steve determined him to be innocent and gathered 10 people to seek the Holy Spirit and discern whether Beiler is innocent or guilty. The 10 determined that the accused is innocent, and the outcome was assigned to Holy Spirit. This, in spite of numerous prior allegations. In spite of a letter of apology to one young victim. In spite of Beiler molesting a child not yet a teenager, and claiming to have mistaken her for his wife who is considerably more full figured than a pre-teen. Still, in spite of all this, Steve defends Beiler.

If calling that corruption out is a vendetta, then so be it. But it is not personal between me and Steve. Every single case I have called him out on has involved victims of sexual violence being neglected or blatantly worked against. Name it whatever you need to, but these children deserve to have someone fighting for them.

I stand to gain nothing but hatred. Which I will gladly do for the children.

ON BELIEVING THE ALLEGED VICTIM NO MATTER WHAT:
Paragraph three, also in peach. As for the “…the alleged victim is to be believed, no matter what…” Grace makes a bold and blatantly false statement here. Grace has never asked me about this. While I believe that everyone who makes allegations should be heard and offered help, I also believe that when allegations are provably false, it does a great disservice to every true victim of sexual violence to not address that. Here, I refer back to the case of false allegations in which I helped Federal law enforcement bring a person to justice for provably false allegations. (Grace, if you happen to read this, feel free to reach out. I will gladly connect you with Federal officers — and their ___(dot)____@usdoj.gov email address — who can attest to my claims. They can also inform you that they have reached out for my help in another case earlier this year, related to a sex predator on the run, due to my investigative skills. That doesn’t happen by not looking at evidence).

Where there is no evidence for or against, the alleged perpetrator should still be reported and the alleged victim should be supported as they work through their trauma. Evidence in cases involving children is rare. Witnesses are more rare.

REGARDING STEVE STUTZMAN NOT BELIEVING THERE IS ENOUGH EVIDENCE:
That’s an interesting statement. I have screenshots of Steve saying that he believes the children were sexually abused. I also have a screenshot of Steve saying “I am very sure it wasn’t Beiler.” And, finally, I have a screenshot of Steve saying that his information regarding the case comes from Beiler himself.

Tell me, a man who can’t tell a pre-teen child from his mature, curvy wife… How reliable is his information? A man with previous allegations that were not known to the individuals in the current allegations? A man who took little children to a cabin through deception and without other adults? What motivates anyone to believe him? Not to mention that Steve is not an investigator, or even a counselor, and has no formal training at all on the matter, to my awareness. Based on the accused’s version of events, and 10 people praying for divine revelation, he clears the accused and countless people rise up to defend them both?

ON CAREFULLY CHOSEN WORDS:
Paragraph 4, green underline. My carefully chosen words? Yes. Absolutely. To the public I withhold graphic information. Sexual assault is commonly used, rather than rape, because it protects the vulnerable. Medical documentation in such cases tell the story to the court and the jury. Carefully choosing words beyond that is necessary. No apology there. The case of Gerald Champ did not land him in prison for life because the victims’ testimonies were not strong. Or because my evidence was not good. There is a reason the state of Texas paid several grand to get me into that courtroom. There is also a reason the defence lawyer did his darnedest to keep me off the stand.

And there is a reason Champ’s lawyer appealed the case, specific to three matters, one of which was related to my rebuttal and evidence I presented to the court. The appeal was overturned.

I am anal about evidence and documentation.

POSTS LOOKING LIKE THEY ARE NOT BASED ON REALITY OR FACT:
I highlighted this in green, in paragraph four… and now that I’m here to speak to it, I find myself with nothing to say. What even is that? Do we need photos? Medical records? In a case of violence against children, what do you look for to convince you?

ANY PERSON OR ORGANIZATION I CAN LINK TO ABUSE… (I WILL?… REALLY?)
Paragraph 5, yellow. I have known for many years that Rene Rivera has done vile things to women, including in USA and in Guatemala. So much so, that a Pilgrim bishop asked me several years ago to expose him publicly. I warned several churches — including a bishop and his wife, semi-locally — that bishop has warned others. And guess who is still preaching across Canada and USA? Guess how many churches I have not exposed publicly or linked to sexual abuse? All of those.

My advice is not to speak on that which you do not know.

At most, I have put public between 100 to 200 cases in 15 years, if that. I have thousands of emails, texts and FB messages…. stories of trauma and victimization. If my agenda is as Grace states, then I have thousands of stories to start telling, from Honduras, to Bolivia, to Haiti, to Paraguay and Mexico, Guatemala, USA and Canada. I have perpetrators to expose in Christian Aid Ministries — at least one of whom travelled to Haiti to investigate allegations there related to Jeriah Mast. Yes, you read that right. A grown man who molested a child (already a grown man then) traveled to Haiti to help determine if allegation against Jeriah Mast were founded. Have I ever written about that before? No? Have I given you enough information to find that person? With the right connections, maybe.

If my goal was what Grace states, I would already have named that perpetrator, named his church, and told the story. I haven’t. And I’m still not going to.

Grace goes on to name organizations.

ON LINKING WAY OF JESUS ACADEMY, LANCASTER CHILDREN’S CHURCH & BETHESDA TO ABUSE:
Paragraph five, in lavender. Let me break this down. In no way have I ‘linked’ these churches or organizations to abuse. Any link that exists was created by the perpetrator. Beyond that, I have a few thoughts.

1. Way of Jesus Academy: I have stated very little publicly, beyond: Michael was on their board; they removed him from said board in January 2021 due to the first allegations (and I commended them for this); and after a commenter *who had a family member at WOJ* respectfully stated that WOJ made a mistake in not notifying parents, I agreed. It was not my focus. Michael Beiler linked them to sexual abuse of minors. I commended them for removing him. They are not linked to abuse. They are linked to ridding their church of a predator. Kudos and hats off to them.

I also stated that I wish their leaders would do the right thing, even now, and speak to law enforcement on behalf of the abused children. I stand by that. It is an appeal. (I haven’t even named the leaders yet, or the amazing people who have helped with the case!)

(Grace, you are welcome to reach out and ask me questions before posting assumptions in the future, if truth is what you are interested in. I mean that most sincerely).

2. Lancaster Children’s Church: I have never before heard of them.

3. Bethesda: The leader and accused, Leroy Miller, was pastor at Bethesda. He did not commit his crimes there; he committed those in Indiana. He linked the church to his crimes by not disclosing the whole truth, stating blatant deceptions — at one point in the previously included testimony, declaring he did not involve anyone else. When, in reality, he followed women and children in his car, while wearing only a shirt, terrorizing them. In his testimony he states he has no victims and involved no one. On record at time of crimes he admitted to 4-5 counts of luring them into his car by offering rides. If I was at Bethesda, I would be grateful someone called such dishonesty into question.

The second link to Bethesda was created by Steve Sutzman, overseer at Bethesda. Possibly also Leroy, if he knew the allegations against Michael Beiler. Both allowed him to attend (if Leroy knew), in spite of an indicated status against him, in spite of not passing a state of Pennsylvania background check. And they did so without warning the congregation of Bethesda. Young parents messaged to say they had no idea of the allegations, and Beiler was part of the kitchen team even in recent weeks.

That link to Bethesda lands directly on the shoulders of three men; Steve Stutzman who knew, Leroy Miller who knew or should have known, and Michael Beiler. I accept no credit for that.

STEREOTYPE OF ALL LEADERS:
For interest sake, I subjected my husband to me audibly listing, off the tip of my tongue, the names of every conservative Anabaptist (CA) pastor I could think of in short order. I included only those I personally know or have met. Without much thought I had a list of 60. Of those, there are 3 certain offenders of sex crimes *in adult life* — either through admission after confrontation or actual charges. A handful of others are credibly accused, but victims are afraid to speak and have forbidden disclosing their stories and/or statute of limitations is up and the victims came forward with no interest in going public.

I know many more CA pastors than the few on that short list. And I’ve heard of countless more. Of those I do not know, I often hear about them because of poor handling of abuse or allegations of abuse. But I don’t go looking for leaders to accuse.

That all said, allegations are surfacing as a result of the recent exposures, including everything from leaders (board members, pastors etc) involved in strip clubs, severe incest, massage parlours involving minors, and more. Therefore, I am willing to keep an open mind, and consider that the rates of sexual predation are extremely high where birds of a feather flock together.

FAREWELL & FURTHER COMMUNCATION:
I am contemplating another blog in response to one of the replies to this post, which is also has interesting statements. This one has gotten too long. And I am fresh out of energy. We will see….

Grace, if ever you are free for coffee, I would welcome sitting with you, while you question me. And that goes for any reader. I am not afraid to be questioned. Question me about my childhood, my teen years, my sins or those committed against me. My faith… whatever you have questions about. I am very approachable.

I have stopped responding to too many FB DMs because of ongoing vision issues and difficulty reading. However, I do welcome conversations and questions, in person.

As always…
Love,
~ T ~