Bischop Accountability had an article about this pastor, and his charges of domestic violence among other things. Some of the quotes just really stuck me as odd!
But Ron told Nunnally that Darlene threw the first punch - though he admits that she was indeed resisting his sexual advances. He said he thought her reluctance was just part of a game until she hit him.
"That's when I realized this is crazy, what are we doing?" he told Nunnally. "I thought maybe I could make her do it รข€- but she didn't want to, so it just got physical from there."
He acknowledges that they fought and that he twice punched her, but he maintains that Darlene was the aggressor, that he never choked her or kept her from calling for help.
The article also speaks about how this had happened in the past, and how his wife didn't wish to risk his reputation as pastor. She didn't return the calls from the interview, but they spoke to others that had seen her bruised up before.
According the Magic Valley this isn't the first time he has been placed in this position of facing domestic violence charges.
Until Thursday, he had been charged with domestic battery, attempted strangulation, rape and sexual penetration with a foreign object - all felonies. Matheney was also charged with a misdemeanor, alleging he destroyed the phone line while she tried to call authorities.
In 1992, he received a withheld judgment in Florida on a domestic violence case and another charge was dismissed against the pastor in New Jersey.
In Thursday's plea-bargain, Matheney made an Alford plea, meaning he does not admit to committing the crime but he agrees that a jury may find him guilty.
In another article by Magic Valley during the trial he asked the court:
"My church is the victim ... I'm asking this court to help my church and help me and this community to heal."
His soon to be X wife stated:
Darlene Matheney said she was victimized by the reverend and still suffers physically and emotionally. She said she didn't want him to go to jail, but requested he receive psychological help. "I feel in myself a loss," she told the courtroom packed with parishioners. "I'm here because I loved him."
Jerome County Prosecutor Paul Krueger told the court Matheney has a prior record of spousal abuse and requested the two-year probation term.
I'm sure he feels he is innocent of the prior issue also right?
Of course his lawyer had to say something about Darlene:
Matheney's lawyer, Lisa Barini-Garcia, called Darlene Matheney "untruthful" and "deceitful" and asked for no probation and a withheld judgment.
Fifth District Court Judge Randy Stoker warned the courtroom against attacking Darlene Matheney's character. "We're not here to try Mrs. Matheney," he said, calling the case against Matheney "serious."
At the end he didn't walk away, but the church's reaction bothered me also:
A high ranking Presbyterian Church official was critical of the newspaper's coverage of Matheney's case. In a letter submitted to Judge Stoker., the Rev. Dale Carlson, general presbyter of Kendall for the U.S.A Presbyterian Church, said Jerome prosecutors tried to "coerce" Matheney into pleading guilty to a felony charge, according to June 26 letter. He called the criminal case an "overreaction" against Matheney.
Matheney continued to preach and work as a counselor as his criminal matter progressed through court, according to a letter to Stoker from church representatives in Jerome. "With our limited knowledge of the law we feel this case should have been formally dismissed, and we consider the results of the plea bargain to be a dismissal by another name," the letter states. "We see no reason why we should seek to change our relationship with him or why he should not remain our pastor."
This man had a prior conviction, they had hospital records, they had other people besides Darlene that had seen bruises beforehand....but all this is an overreaction! YIKES! I pray that this man does indeed get the help and healing he needs. They are truly enabling him, and NOT doing him any favors!
What does this man get as a reward after all this?
According to the MagicValley, and also reported on mountain goat report he is handed a new position at a private school!
The pastor, who maintains his innocence, is leaving his position, although in anything but disgrace. He will become a chaplain at a private school in Utah, the Wasatch Academy prep school in Mount Pleasant, who the Times reports, seem to be "excited for him starting."
Really? Is this how we still feel about domestic violence in 2008? The wife is essentially victimized twice, once by her abuser and a second time by the court. Meanwhile, the abuser continues to preach—what—love? Not exactly the way to encourage domestic violence victims to come forward, already a daunting enough task.
I would question if I would wish my children to attend the school myself. Chaplian twice convicted of domestic violence showing my children what? Its okay to do these things if you friends and supporters are willing to say in denial of your issues?
Its okay to say I hit my wife twice, but she hit me first? She was refusing my advantages, but I thought it was just a game until she hit me? She has medical reports showing things, and he admits things got crazy after he tried FORCE her to do it anyway...BUT remember she hit FIRST! As he mentioned his advantages that were unwelcome, and then the fact he decided that he could force her AFTER she hit him was justified also! I mean WHO think like that? A pastor that was charged with battery, and took the plead bargin because he knew he could be found quilty THAT's WHO!
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