Child molestation victims ask for apology and help
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, September 23, 2005
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A small group of Asian Americans, who say they were victims of molestation and sexual abuse by a now deceased Presbyterian minister, have asked the Presbyterian Church (USA) for an apology and financial assistance to help them cope with the aftereffects of the abuse.
The incidents date back to the late 1940s and continued into the 1970s, according to a task force of the Presbytery of San Francisco, which investigated the allegations and determined that they were legitimate.
Several of the “survivors,” as the task force report identified them, spoke during a meeting of the General Assembly Council’s Executive Committee this week.
“There are no more secrets,” the Rev. Bill “Willie” Ng, a retired Presbyterian minister, told the council. “The truth is out. I do want to hold us accountable because it hurts.”
The group presented a proposed budget calling for the denomination, the presbytery and the synod to provide $579,800 for ongoing therapy through 2009. The denomination had already paid for individual therapy sessions for victims, but the budget proposal calls for group retreats and workshops.
According to the report of the task force, the perpetrator of the abuse was the late Rev. F.S. “Dick” Wichman. There are estimates that Wichman may have abused 400 children over a 40-year period, but there was no public disclosure about the incidents until after the Presbyterian Church (USA) acknowledged complicity in similar incidents that occurred in a Presbyterian mission school in the Congo.
In 1987, 10 years after Wichman’s retirement, allegations against him surfaced and formal charges were drawn up for a church trial. But Wichman denied the charges and forfeited his ordination, leaving the Presbyterian judicial system no opportunity to formally judge whether he was innocent or guilty of the charges.
Wichman’s victims were not pleased that their allegations were not substantiated by the denomination. The publicity about the Congo abuse prompted Wichman’s victims to publicly urge the three tiers of governing bodies to own up to their responsibility.
In addition to seeking a letter of apology and funds for ongoing therapy and education, the presbytery task force requested the “preparation and distribution of resources to help prevent this kind of abuse from happening again.”
“Some may ask why ‘we’ as a presbytery are responsible for the actions of one person that took place some 30 to 50 years ago,” the task force said. “The One Body of Christ extends far and wide, not only geographically, but also over the ages. And we are responsible because the compassion of Christ compels it.”
Ng told the executive committee, “Some of us have waited a long time and we have not left the church. Many of us have walked humbly with our God. We have paid a heavy price. There are hundreds of others outside that have not come forward, and many have left the church.”
He told the council that the “church is a safe place for people to share their wounds” and that the stories of the victims should “give the church the strength and courage to prevent this from happening ever again.”
Another minister also spoke to the executive committee. “I was 16 years old when Wichman molested me,” said the Rev. Calvin Chinn, now an associate Presbyterian minister in Chinatown. “Seek justice, love, kindness and walk humbly with our God.”
Elaine Chan-Scherer, a psychotherapist, spoke angrily of the long delay in responding to the accusations. “It’s really outrageous,” she said. “I was a really active part of the church. My kids are now 10 and 15 and they’re not baptized. We need your help now.”