The Worthy Adversary

Category: Child safety

  • No red herrings, please. Let’s talk about the REAL scandal in St. Paul

    Mike Stechschulte. He likes fish, especially red herring
    Mike Stechschulte. He likes fish, especially red herring

    The Red Herring Award of the month is a doozey:

    Earlier this week, this op-ed appeared in the Port Huron MI Times Herald. The author, Mike Stechschulte, says that the media and the public need “perspective” about the clergy abuse crisis. He cites “huge improvements in policies,” low numbers of recent clergy sex abuse cases, and a recent problematic abuse allegation made against St. Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt (currently being investigated) as proof that we need to focus our attentions elsewhere.

    But a single allegation against the Archbishop is NOT why there is a scandal in St. Paul. It’s a big, fat red herring and Stechschulte hopes that low-information citizens will fall in step.

    Stechschulte is wrong. There is a huge scandal in St. Paul, and the media and public must maintain razor sharp focus. It’s not about a recent allegation; it’s about the COVER-UP.

    Here’s what Stechschulte “forgot” to tell the folks in Port Huron:

    – The fact that just this month, the Archdiocese was forced by the courts to make public the names of credibly accused priests. When church officials “suddenly” decided to review their own files on these men, two priests were put on leave. Why didn’t the Archbishop put them on leave when the credible accusations were made and verified? Why didn’t church leaders warn parishioners and protect kids? THAT’S a scandal.

    – Stechschulte neglected to include that the former Vicar for Clergy (and brother of Obama’s chief of staff) is refusing to cooperate with police and hired a personal attorney. THAT’S a scandal.

    – He “forgot” to mention the Curtis Wehmeyer case, the child porn cache in the Archdiocese basement, and the whistleblower who blew the lid off of the cover-up just this past autumn. Yeah, you got it: THAT’S a scandal.

    – Oh wait, there’s something else: Stechschulte and the editors of the Times Herald also didn’t mention the fact that the fact that Stechschulte is currently managing editor at The Michigan Catholic, the official paper of the Archdiocese of Detroit. C’mon. That’s lame. By not coming clean about Stechschulte’s job and bias, the editors risked their credibility in ALL aspects of the paper. Scandalous? Yeah.

    Stechschulte can keep his red herrings. The rest of us will wait for justice and accountability.

     

  • Should Public Arts Organizations Give $ To Convicted Sex Offenders?

    I don’t know the answer to this myself, but it has been bothering me since learning about Tucson conductor/convicted child sex offender Eric Holtan.

    Holtan was convicted in 2000 of first- and third-degree sexual assault against two of his former students while he was a teacher in Duluth, MN.

    According to the Duluth News Tribune:

    Holtan, who was convicted of first-degree and third-degree criminal sexual conduct, was ordered at his 2000 sentencing to serve two years at the Northeast Regional Corrections Center, register as a sex offender and meet the conditions of his probation for 15 years. Any violation of that probation could result in him being sent back to prison for more than 16 years.

    He is currently the music minister at a Lutheran Church, an obvious problem. But there is another issue:

    Holtan is the conductor and the executive director of the Tucson Chamber Artists, a classical music group that performs throughout the area. The TCA is comprised of all adults, although they do perform in churches and their audiences do not know that he is a sex offender.

    TCA receives grant money from the Tucson Pima Arts Council and the Arizona Commission of the Arts, among others.

    Hence my question: Should public grant organizations give money to groups led by convicted sex offenders (who, according to news reports, may be in violation of their parole)? Should grant organizations have an “ethics clause” for leaders of organizations that receive money?

    I am interested in hearing from anyone from grant organizations on the subject.

  • Holtan makes headlines

    Oops! I forgot to register as a sex offender. For 14 years ...
    Oopsie! I forgot to register as a sex offender. For 14 years.

    Eric Holtan is slowly getting exposed. From The Duluth News:

    Holtan, who was convicted of first-degree and third-degree criminal sexual conduct, was ordered at his 2000 sentencing to serve two years at the Northeast Regional Corrections Center, register as a sex offender and meet the conditions of his probation for 15 years. Any violation of that probation could result in him being sent back to prison for more than 16 years.

    Hmmm … well, we already know he is NOT registered as a sex offender.

     

     

  • Convicted molester works at Tucson church

    holtan2012closeup-300x190
    Eric Holtan, Triple Threat—Conductor, Music Minister, Convicted Child Sex Offender

    Convicted molester works at Tucson church

    Child sex offender is music minister

    Man pled guilty in 2000 to molesting girls

    He did prison time and is still on probation

    Now, musician heads group that performs in churches

    SNAP fears he may have hurt or may be hurting AZ kids

    What:

    Holding childhood photos, child sex abuse victims and their supporters will pass out leaflets at a Tucson church where a convicted sex offender now works. The leaflets will warn church members about the music minister, who pled guilty in 2000 to two counts of child molestation, and urge them to

    –demand his immediate removal, and

    –talk to their kids about the sex offender.

    When:

    Sunday, November 10 at 11:15 a.m.

    Where:

    Outside of Dove of Peace Lutheran Church, 665 W. Roller Coaster Rd (at Oracle) in Tucson

    Who:

    Members and supporters of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, the nation’s largest support network for men and women abused in religious and institutional settings, including a California woman who is the group’s volunteer Western Regional Director

    Why:

    This week, members of SNAP learned that Eric Holtan, a music minister at Dove of Peace Lutheran Church in Tucsonchurch plead guilty in 2000 to two counts of child sexual abuse involving two girls in Duluth, Minnesota. Holtan served two years in prison and is still on probation. As a part of his probation, he is supposed to have no unsupervised contact with underage females.

    He is also the executive director and conductor of the Tucson Chamber Artists.

    At the time of his crimes, Holtan was the choir director at Duluth East High School. The girls were his students.

    Because Holtan is a child sex offender still on probation, SNAP believes his employment is a clear violation of thechild protection policies of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA). The group also fears for children at many of the churches where the Tucson Chamber Artists perform and that donors and the state may have been “duped” about Holtan’s past.

    The Dove of Peace website shows photos of children engaged in music performance. As “minister of music, art and ministry” at the church, SNAP fears that he is working directly with these children.

    In addition, Tucson Chamber Artists receives money from the Arizona Commission on the Arts and the Tucson Pima Arts Council, among other groups and individuals. SNAP believes the groups have no idea that Holtan is a convicted sex offender.

    “How did Eric Holtan pass a background check?” said Joelle Casteix, SNAP Volunteer Western Regional Director. “We don’t know how Holtan got his job or what he told his donors. We do know that he must be in violation of his probation, is breaking the policies of the ELCA, and is definitely duping the people of Tucson about the serious danger he poses. He apparently is a charismatic guy, which is a common trait of sex offenders. The public needs to know the facts:  he molested girls, he pled guilty, and now he is in possible violation of his probation. What else is he lying about?”

    Holtan’s case history can be viewed and downloaded here. For instructions on how to access the information on the Minnesota Judicial Branch website, click here.

  • Eric Holtan information

     

    To review or download the case history of Eric Holtan’s guilty plea to child sexual abuse, click here.

     

    To access the information on the Minnesota Courts website, do the following:

    Click on the court’s website here.

    1. Click on Find a Court Case (one of the tabs at the top of the page)

    2. Click on Access Trial Court Cases (an underlined link near the top of the page)

    3. Read through, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click on I Accept

    4. Click on the first underlined link Criminal/Traffic/Petty Case Records

    5. Enter the anti-spambot characters that they show

    6. Now, you can search by case, with this case number: 69-K4-99-601112, or you can search by defendant, with first and last name (Eric Howard Holtan)