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I know there have been a lot of threads and disclosures this week, about John Ortberg Jnrâs cover-up of his sonâs pedophilia aided by Beth Seabolt and the elders of Menlo Church, and his family. Iâve put everything together here.
In particular, Iâm focusing here on the lies and misleading statements (four of the former, three of the latter) put out by the Ortbergs and Menlo Church. The diff is that the former can be falsified directly; in respect of the latter it is possible to show intent to mislead.
Iâm aware, as I write this, that accusing someone of lying is actionable, as I said a couple of days ago. Our defense, here as always, is that everything we have written is (1) true in fact, and (2) possible to prove. If the Ortbergs wish to sue, bring it on.
LIE ONE: âI did not encourage a volunteer to seek to treat their condition by seeking unsupervised access with minors.â John Ortberg, Menlo Town Hall 2 (March 8th 2020). https://ruthhutchins.com/post/town-hall-2/ This lie has two salient parts: ENCOURAGE and TREAT.
John Ortberg, along with the rest of the family, is seen here in August 2019 ENCOURAGING his son in his work coaching the Gunn High School Ultimate Frisbee team. He had known for over a year at this point.
Why would he do this? In his conversation with with Danny and me, he mentioned that it was an effective TREATMENT for Johnnyâs condition. He also gave that impression to Nicole Cliffe, a close friend of the Ortbergs who broke with them over this.
LIE TWO: John Ortberg: âI asked this person a series of uncomfortable questions. [...] So I asked all the questions and all of the answers that came back made it clear there would be no grounds for mandatory reporting.â John Ortberg, March 1st, 2020 https://ruthhutchins.com/post/menlo-church-town-hall/
The reality is that John had not done anything like the basic information gathering necessary for making this determination. He did not know, for example, whether the volunteer still took regular overnight trips with children as part of his frisbee work.
LIE THREE: âThe safety and integrity of our community is of paramount importance at Menlo Church, and we hold all members of our community, especially Menlo Church staff, to the highest ethical standards.â Beth Seabolt, Jan 21st, 2020.
This remark is belied by Seaboltâs own statement. The âinvestigationâ comprised âinterviews with supervising staff across Studentâs and Childrenâs ministries, and a review of detailed volunteer records.â They did not interview anyone ABOUT staff conduct, just staff themselves.
In at least two other senses, the report was hopelesslyâindeed, suspiciouslyâincomplete. Fred Alvarez, the independent investigator, is advertises his services as an expert in âdefending employers in trial.â
He did not interview me, which meant that John Ortberg could (falsely) contradict Dannyâs account of their phone call on November 15th, without accountability. https://twitter.com/graceelavery/status/1277397026255310848?s=21
Lastly, thereâs evidence that the Ortberg family protected certain children from being alone with John III. Laura Ortberg Turnerâs testimony in particularâs contradictory on this point. None of the relevant witnesses were asked about it: Nicole Cliffe and Alexis Coe, to name two.
LIE FOUR: âthe statement [Danny] shared [om 28th June 2020] was full of half-truths, lies, and exaggerations.â Laura Ortberg Turner, Monday 29th June.
![LIE FOUR: âthe statement [Danny] shared [om 28th June 2020] was full of half-truths, lies, and exaggerations.â Laura Ortberg Turner, Monday 29th June.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eb8zRPLXgAI7Z8y.jpg "LIE FOUR: âthe statement [Danny] shared [om 28th June 2020] was full of half-truths, lies, and exaggerations.â Laura Ortberg Turner, Monday 29th June.")
Laura did not stipulate what exactly she was disputing. Every word of Dannyâs statement has been proven, and any expressions of opinion (of which there were few) were carefully marked. This was an actionable slur by Laura Turner.
MISLEADING STATEMENT ONE: âWhat you see here is Danny lashing out. And Danny is breaking away, and Danny is starting Dannyâs own life.â Beth Seabolt, March 1st, 2020.
John Ortberg DID NOT REPORT the conduct he now accepts was risky, and HAS NOT APOLOGIZED to Danny for attempting to suppress his report. First he did so through cajoling, and second by threatening Johnnyâs suicide. https://twitter.com/graceelavery/status/1277394076711649280?s=2
MISLEADING STATEMENT 2: âI made a ministry decision about a volunteerâs participation.â John Ortberg, March 1st, 2020. https://ruthhutchins.com/post/menlo-church-town-hall/
Ortberg and Seabolt, in other words, attempted to portray their cover-up for Ortbergâs own son as a decision made about a random parishioner. Itâs self-evidently a total misrepresentation of what happened. Ruth Hutchins, a former Menlo parishioner, wrote: https://ruthhutchins.com/post/menlo-church-john-ortberg-timeline/
MISLEADING STATEMENT THREE: The Ortbergs have many times attempted to downplay John Ortberg IIIâs sexual compulsions towards children as merely romantic, rather than sexual.
First, this would be absolutely unacceptable even if true. Romantic relationships between adults and children, especially when the adults are in positions of authority, can be profoundly damaging.
Second, it does not appear to be true. John III saw no difference between the romantic and sexual dimensions of his relationship with children in his care, whether at Menlo, Gunn, or elsewhere. https://twitter.com/daniel_m_lavery/status/1277386078417190913?s=21
Moreover, John IIIâs actions actions suggest that he was guilty of some sexual misconduct. He reported his pedophilia to his parents only after he had lost his laptop and feared it being found by police... https://twitter.com/graceelavery/status/1278436013715656704?s=21
AND he even feared speaking with a therapist out of a fear that the therapist would be mandated to report him. Which, he well knew, would only be the case if he had committed or planned to commit sexual assault against children.
We propose the following remedy as a matter of urgency:
(1) The Ortbergs, Beth Seabolt, and all who participated in this cover-up must be removed from position at Menlo Church.
(1) The Ortbergs, Beth Seabolt, and all who participated in this cover-up must be removed from position at Menlo Church.
(2) GRACE must impanel an independent body to establish accountability in the Ortberg case, and improve safeguarding at Menlo Church.
(3) Their investigation must cover the Menlo Missions to Baja, the Youth Groups, and all other child-facing aspects of the institution, at all Menlo campuses.
(4) Daniel Lavery to receive a written apology as the pinned tweet for the Menlo Church account.
GRACE the organization; not me!!
