- Nov 23, 2021
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A preacher’s dark secret: Sleepovers, porn and sex abuse allegations dating back decades
Joe Campbell says his calling is to share God’s love, but a group of women say he sexually abused them as girls. An NBC News investigation uncovered decades of missed warnings and failures to act.

“ . . The way the children’s pastor wrapped them in his arms. The terrifying stories he told about demons and the warmth in his voice as he promised to protect them. The chill of his hands on parts of their bodies where no grown man’s hands should be. . ”
“ . . the dark secret behind the public ministry of Joseph Lyle Campbell, a magnetic Pentecostal preacher who built a national following with fiery sermons on sin, salvation and America’s moral decline. As Campbell tells it, he was a teenager when God gave him a mission: to share his love of Jesus with children. In the decades since, as he evangelized from church to church across the South and Midwest, he has repeatedly faced accusations of child sexual abuse, an NBC News investigation found. . ”
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It’s not just that a minority abuse, but that the system is so lousy at responding to this. And that other adults lack skills, that’s forgivable. But that other adults look for excuses not to do anything about it, and that’s less forgivable.
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Yes, this same kind of thing can happen outside religion. For example, in a youth sports league.
But it seems worse in religion.
And the covering up seems worse