Tragic Trends: Sexual Predators seem to be everywhere
By Elizabeth Prata
I’m on Twitter a lot (now called X). I get the headlines and weather in just a few lines. I commune with Christian friends, both virtual and in real life that I know personally. I see nice photos of different areas of the country. It’s a good social media for me.
I’ve also seen a lot of headlines lately about public education teachers arrested for lewd or sexual acts with their minor students. Enough to make me investigate whether there has been a noticeable uptick in reported incidents over the past few months. It seems to me there has been, which could suggest increased media coverage—or simply more incidents coming to light. From CA to CT to Delaware to NYC, and sadly, many in Texas, have been in the news just this past month.
Even worse, there has been momentous and tragic news of this sort in Christian circles, too. The news that Steve Lawson had been engaged for five years in an adulterous affair with a young woman in her twenties and thirty+ years his junior came to light a few months ago and was a severe shock to many.
But even this week, Robert Preston Morris, formerly pastor at mega-Gateway Church in Texas, was indicted on charges he had engaged in sexual misconduct with a 12-year-old girl in the 1980s. In March 2025, he was indicted on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child. A warrant has been issued for Morris’ arrest. What happened was, Morris was a pastor invited to a friend’s home and over repeated visits, molested their host’s 12 year old child. This is an unconscionable evil and betrayal of the worst kind.
This same week, International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOP KC) founder pastor Mike Bickle is found in a released report which alleges 17 cases of abuse. The report states “The allegations range from spiritual abuse to rape.” Two of the women at the time of the alleged molestation/rape were minors. Another unconscionable evil.
Can you think of anything worse than USING the name of Jesus as a cover and His church hunting ground in order to prey on children?
We know that Jesus was tender about children and toward children. He considers children, and widows, a most vulnerable demographic. Always at risk, children have been misused in every culture and period in history. In ancient Rome a father could kill his child without penalty. They were seen as property. In Hawaii, China, and Japan, many female and disabled children were killed to maintain a strong race without overpopulation. Girl children were not as preferred as male children. Child sacrifice was rampant. (Molech, among other cultures). Child labor was routine.
Sexual predators have always been around. But even lately it seems to be growing worse in every level of society. We read about abductions of children who are trafficked and put up for sale to sexual predator and porn rings.
God puts a high value in children. Almost the first command God gave to the man and the woman was to be fruitful and multiply. “The Bible emphasizes the significance of children from the opening chapters of Genesis, where God makes the earth and every living thing on it to be fruitful—including the man and woman (Gen 1:27–28). Humanity can only fulfill God’s mandate of fruitfulness by bearing and raising children…” The Lexham Bible Dictionary.
Children were to honor their parents, and were expected to work with the family, especially in that agrarian culture. In return, children, especially boys, were educated in the scriptures, liturgies, and expected to attend the festivals. They were full participants in daily life of the family and the community.
In the New Testament, “Thompson notes that 50 percent of children in the ancient Roman world died before age 10, and Graeco-Roman society valued girls less than boys. Infants born with disabilities or unwanted female infants were commonly left exposed to the elements. As Christianity grew more influential in the Roman Empire, the Jewish and Christian value for human life increasingly pervaded Roman society. Christian emperors of Rome outlawed infant exposure in AD 374“. The Lexham Bible Dictionary.
Jesus valued children.
We are perhaps most familiar with the verse from Matthew 19:13-15, “Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.”
Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 18:10).
The Gospels record that Jesus healed several children and even brought at least one child back from the dead. For example:
• He raised Jairus’ daughter from death (Matt 9:18–26; Mark 5:22–43; Luke 8:41–56).
• He healed the Gentile Syrophoenician woman’s daughter of a demon (Matt 15:21–28; Mark 7:24–30).
• He healed the demon-possessed son of a common man (Matt 17:14–19; Mark 9:14–28; Luke 9:37–42).
• He healed a royal official’s son (John 4:46–54).
By healing such a variety of children—both boys and girls, Jews and Gentiles, poor and wealthy—Jesus showed that He valued all children, for their own sake as well as for their families and communities.
The Gospels further portray Jesus ascribing value to children by welcoming them and inviting them to come near to Him even over the objections of His disciples (Matt 19:13–15; Mark 10:13–16; Luke 18:15–17). Jesus also identifies qualities in children that He wants His disciples to emulate. For example, He uses the humility of a child as a leadership model for His disciples (Matt 18:1–5; Mark 9:35–37; Luke 9:46–48). In Mark 10, Jesus states, “Anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” The Lexham Bible Dictionary.
As sin increases, we know that the warnings from Paul to Timothy are true: “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…” The last days have been since Jesus ascended, but with sin, it always gets worse. As time goes on, our sin-soaked world will eventually reach the state where it’s Genesis 6:5 again, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually.”
Child abuse, molestation, neglect etc. are heinous crimes against little ones who are defenseless and rely upon their adults to nurture and protect them. I will be glad for the day when there is no more sin, no more predation, and no more evil against our precious little ones.
Further Reading
Challies: Why my family doesn’t do sleepovers
