[Prosecutor] Eazer drilled Lindblad [ARBCA Pastor Don Lindblad, a witness for the defendant, Tom Chantry] on a statement he had made in a deposition with her where he said, “We (ARBCA) believe the charges were not true.” Eazer asked Lindblad if ARBCA would take that position today. Lindblad said “yes.”
-Note from day 9 of the first trial of Thomas Chantry – Source
On February 25, 2021 the Arizona Court of Appeals reversed the conviction of Thomas Chantry on four counts of molestation of a child and remanded the case for a new trial.
In the words of Brent Detwiler, a fellow blogger and an observer at the two trials of Thomas Chantry, the Arizona Court of Appeals did not rule on the innocence of Thomas Chantry; rather, “they ruled on the admissibility of evidence at the trial. In fact they affirmed the evidence, Their ruling did not exonerate him of crimes.”
Cheryl Watson is a former member of an ARBCA church. She has a website where she has done an excellent job of documenting ARBCA’s coverup of the Thomas Chantry sexual abuse scandal and the resulting demise of ARBCA. You can view her website here: Ephesians 5:11.
Cheryl’s most recent blog entry, AZ Court of Appeals Reversed Thomas Chantry’s Convictions of Four Counts of Molestation and Remanded the Case for a New Trial, includes the following information along with a link to the complete Court of Appeals decision. I would encourage you to read the complete document. Cheryl wrote:
The AZ Court of Appeals reversed Thomas Chantry’s convictions and sentences for four counts of child molestation and remanded the matter for a new trial because the convictions were obtained with the use of impermissible “other act” evidence. Please note that this does not reverse the convictions from Thomas Chantry’s first trial.
Here are two of the most relevant quotes, but I encourage you to read the entire document:
“¶1 Thomas Jonathan Chantry appeals his convictions and sentences for four counts of child molestation. Because Chantry’s convictions were obtained with the use of impermissible ‘other act’ evidence, we reverse and remand the matter for a new trial.”
“¶27 We agree with Chantry that the superior court abused its discretion by admitting, under Rule 404(b), evidence of Chantry’s excessive, sometimes bare bottomed, spankings of J.W., W.W., and D.L. After prohibiting the State from offering the other-act evidence to show Chantry had an aberrant sexual propensity to commit the charged crimes, the court should not have permitted the State “to raise this same inference under the rubric of ‘intent.’” State v. Ives, 187 Ariz. 102, 110 (1996).”
The Decision of the Court can be read here: https://law.justia.com/cases/arizona/court-of-appeals-division-one-unpublished/2021/1-ca-cr-19-0427.html When I have obtained a copy from the court, I will add it to Scribd and embed it.
The Arizona Court of Appeals decision is undeniably a big victory for Chantry. He knew he was fighting a court battle where the odds were not in his favor and he admitted as much in a phone conversation with Dabney Olguin.
Below is a chart that shows nation-wide statistics for criminal appellate decisions in 2010. Obviously, the numbers would not be exactly the same for 2020, but I will assume they are close to the same. In 2010, 63 percent of appeals filed were actually reviewed on their merits. Of these 43,952 cases, 35,726 were affirmed and 8,226 were reversed/remanded/modified. That works out to 18.7 percent of appeals that were reviewed were successful. If one considers all cases filed, the successful appeal rate was only 11.8 percent.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for fans of Thomas Chantry to crawl out from the rocks they were under and start in with their ridiculous (and for the most part, anonymous) comments. Here is a sampling of what I have seen from an individual who just started an anonymous account, calling himself “In the Know.”
“In the Know” has demonstrated that he actually doesn’t know much. The ruling by the Arizona Court of Appeals was not “as big a slap down of a corrupt court as has ever happened.” As shown above, cases are reversed, remanded, or modified in nearly twenty percent of the cases that are heard on merit. This doesn’t mean the lower case is corrupt, nor is it a slap down. Legal matters are complicated and it takes years of schooling and experience to properly interpret case law. While I am not thrilled that Chantry will have a third trial, in the bigger picture of things we should be happy that our legal system is weighted in favor of the defendant.
Innocence has not been confirmed by the ruling of the Arizona Court of Appeals. They simply said that evidence that was allowed into the trial should not have been allowed in under Rule 404(b).
I am no legal expert, but it appears to me that the Judges who heard the appeal were doing their job. The appeal system is in place to ensure the defendant receives a fair trial. In Chantry’s case, they ruled he did not receive a fair trial, therefore Chantry is allowed another trial. Simple as that. It is my understanding that the State also has the option of appealing the decision of the Arizona Court of Appeals to the State Supreme Court. We will wait and see what happens.
I found “In the Know’s” comments about fake evidence and fake victims to be repulsive. I have sat through two trials and listened to all the evidence. I have heard the victims tell their painful stories. I have listened to the tortured parents of victims relate the tragic details of their family’s lives torn apart by the actions of a man who was a “fake” pastor. Anyone who labels these people “fake” victims is, in my opinion, a heartless, cold bastard that is a sad excuse for a human being.
Remember that Thomas Chantry was convicted by a jury of his peers in his first trial of two counts of a Class 6 felony of Aggravated Assault against a child under 15 years of age. These are two of the “fake victims” that “In the Know” maliciously slanders.
If we review the two trials Thomas Chantry has now been through, 23 of the 24 jurors have voted to convict him of molestation of a child. The lone juror who did not vote for conviction was charged with perjury and caused a mistrial.
Sears – Did you ever molest [Victim 1]?
Source
The members of the Informal Council believe that Thomas Chantry was remorseful to a degree for the events which led to his resignation. However, Thomas Chantry could not satisfactorily explain to the members of this Informal Council reasons for resuming a pattern of tutoring and punishment after it had been discovered and had ended with XXX in November of 1995. Tom Chantry did admit to inappropriate spanking of all four children. Some of the spankings involved the use of one or more paddles which Thomas Chantry obtained for his use during the tutorial sessions with these children.
This Informal Council firmly believes that Thomas Chantry used physical punishment as a regular part of the tutoring process with each of the children. The inability of Thomas Chantry to provide any details of willful misconduct by any of the children does raise serious concerns with this Informal Council. It should be noted that all of the parties agreed that none of the four children had any previous serious experiences with misbehavior in their respective schools, or in their homes, or at the Miller Valley Baptist Church. The Informal Council members consider this pattern of behavior to be very serious. Taken in its entirety, the question must be raised, did Thomas Chantry use this method of punishment for his own pleasure?
“ARBCA 2000 Confidential/Sealed Report”
I could present pages of information on why I believe what I do concerning Chantry, but let me end this article with a damning letter written by Tedd Tripp in 2002 to Earl Blackburn. Tripp was one of three men on the Informal Council charged with looking into Chantry’s actions while the pastor at the Miller Valley Baptist Church in Prescott, AZ. Blackburn was Chairman of the ARBCA Administrative Council.
“There were many other issues that surfaced in our interviews with members of the congregation which the informal council was unable to explore…These issues included strong evidence of some authoritarianism and angry humiliation by (Defendant) of some members of his flock while serving as the Pastor of MVBC…(t)he Elders who assume oversight of (Defendant) should consider the possibility that on some level he punished children for his own pleasure.”
“The claim, that we were unfair to Tom Chantry is an essential part of his ‘smoke and mirrors’ strategy to avoid acceptance responsibility for his actions. Accordingly, he has turned himself into a victim and we, the informal council, who acted in good faith, and with much mercy, into bad guys… Sadly, you [Earl Blackburn], Don [Don Lindblad] and Walt [Walt Chantry] have fallen for it and thus fallen into Tom Chantry’s clever attempt to make himself the aggrieved party.
Since you, Don Lindblad and Tom Chantry all thought that matters had not been properly handled, you should have called for a formal council. It is my belief that had that been done, Tom Chantry would have been found guilty and formal legal charges would have been filed by the parents of some of the abused children. There is no doubt in my mind that Tom Chantry would have been found guilty in a legal proceeding and may even be in jail today.”
-Tedd Tripp, “Letter From Tripp to Blackburn 2002-8-26”
Thank you Todd for getting out an article with the facts so people are not deceived by Chantry, his lawyers or his trolls. Here is the fuller record of my interaction with Will Harris and InTheKnow.
Will Harris
@WillHar64279769
Replying to @BrentDetwiler @reachjulieroys and @Phil_Johnson_
Did Chantry win an appeal and get his conviction overturned? I heard that this morning but haven’t seen any media that supports the claim.
9:27 AM · Feb 26, 2021
InTheKnow
@InTheKn70350119
Replying to @WillHar64279769 @BrentDetwiler and 2 others [Julie Roys, Phil Johnson]
Yes he did!
4:26 PM · Feb 26, 2021
InTheKnow
@InTheKn70350119
Replying to @InTheKn70350119 @WillHar64279769 and 3 others [Brent Detwiler, Julie Roys, Phil Johnson]
“For the reasons set forth above, we reverse Chantry’s convictions” Appeal from the Superior Court in Yavapai County No. P1300CR201600966 REVERSED AND REMANDED
3:44 AM · Feb 27, 2021
InTheKnow
@InTheKn70350119
Replying to @InTheKn70350119 @WillHar64279769 and 3 others
oh yeah, UNANIMOUS — not one dissent
3:51 AM · Feb 27, 2021
Will Harris
@WillHar64279769
Replying to @InTheKn70350119 @BrentDetwiler and 2 others [Julie Roys, Phil Johnson]
I’m not overly familiar with his case. I know he’s maintained his innocence and there are pastors and men I respect who have done the same.
8:53 AM · Feb 27, 2021
InTheKnow
@InTheKn70350119
Replying to @WillHar64279769 @BrentDetwiler and 2 others
appellate court just affirmed what a sham trial this has been — innocence maintained is now innocence confirmed!
1:34 PM · Feb 27, 2021
Will Harris
@WillHar64279769
Replying to @InTheKn70350119 @BrentDetwiler and 2 others
InTheKnow, do you personally know Tom Chantry? If so did you feel like the charges and trial were a sham from day one? Just curious.
2:12 PM · Feb 27, 2021
Brent Detwiler
@BrentDetwiler
Replying to @WillHar64279769 @InTheKn70350119 and 2 others
Don’t believe @InTheKnow for a minute. He is a liar & deceiver. Read the court ruling & you will see the court didn’t rule on his innocence. They ruled on the admissibility of evidence at the trial. In fact they affirmed the evidence. Their ruling did not exonerate him of crimes.
2:33 PM · Feb 27, 2021
But he stays the “guest” of the state of Arizona on the first conviction, right?
One comment by IDK troll not allowed. I believe that Chantry is guilty and the world is safer with him locked away.
Judas Maccabeus,
No, the first case was 2 counts of aggravated assault. He received no prison time for those felonies, only probation. I am just speculating here, but I believe he will probably get out of the State Department of Corrections but held in Yavapai County jail until his trial.
Judas Maccabeus,
His first two felony convictions were with parole. He would still be a felon.
True.
Also true:
“The powerful prey on & pass around boys & girls like popcorn while ‘Good Folks’* in the theater [church] silently view the film screen. In the same room. Popcorn consumption going on.
“’Isn’t me,’ complicit Good [church] Folks* say, ‘I never touch a minor.’
#GoonsGraftGrift #ChurchToo
Tom Chantry supporters, and their comments, further demonstrate how depraved the whole group is…. attempting to divert, like they are, is classic..
The moral of the story is “Parents NEVER let your children get out of sight at church (any church!).” And forget church camps, retreats, etc. unless you go with your kids. Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. This ain’t your grandma’s church (heck, grandma probably wasn’t safe either).
Well “Total Depravity” is at the top of their TULIP list.
This will irritate the trolss who have been on my case since I first started covering Chantry.
I believe with my whole heart that Tom Chantry is guilty and that ARBCA knew about his activities. That is why ARBCA is a dying denomination.
One other point i want to make is this.
How many of you believe that OJ Simpson and Casey Anthony are guilty? ….Yet they are walking around free.
And for those of you who don’t know what creeps these trolls are, let me remind you. BTW, it backfired on them. These people are supposed Christians who lied, pretended they are someone else and falsely accused me.
I believe this was over the Chantry case due to the information in that poorly written letter. Did these people actually get an education?
How a Letter Meant to Hurt Dee in Her Church and Community Gave Her a Precious Gift Instead
http://thewartburgwatch.com/2017/08/16/how-a-letter-meant-to-hurt-dee-in-her-church-and-community-gave-her-a-precious-gift-instead/
dee,
Who thinks spanking naked kids bottoms os OK? Especially when they are not your own kids?
The worst part, IMO, is Chantry’s victims having to go through another trial, when they thought it was over and settled. I feel so bad for them.
readingalong,
Exactly….
But, apparently in the Chantry and his supporter minds, the victims are just “ making this up”? Or, what did happen was not a crime?
And “More Totally Depraved Than Thou” are their bragging rights.
All Fake News.
Librul Media Lies straight from the Pit of HELL.
“PERSECUTION!!!!!”
“My NSDAP Membership and association with the SS was Strictly Non-Political.”
I think they’re just liars.
But, I mean, look at the kind of people he has for friends. They are all liars and bullies online and their churches are just as bad or worse. Grace has repeatedly tried to hide sexual abuse scandals, not to mention all their nepotism and financial scandals. They even lied about taking a PPP loan when that information is publicly available. Why believe any of them?
… as well as more points than anyone else. Piper is a 7-Point Calvinist; that’s at least 2 more points than anyone else! He’s The Man; he’ll sit at the right hand of Calvin in eternity (wherever that is).
Satan.
Uhmm…my mom? With a metal mesh flyswatter?
For the record, all that did was make me into a better liar. My mom, unlike many parents, could be swayed by a good argument or a well-told lie.
That said, I would remind people that my mother was (is) a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic starting when I was eight years old. Sometimes she didn’t live in the same universe as the rest of us. I’ve forgotten most of this. For example, I only remember one incident involving knives where I was shoving my younger siblings into a bedroom and then barring the door. But my brother remembers several incidents, all because mom was having a psychotic episode and she’d started waving knives around. (Where was my dad? you ask. Working at a new job we’d moved 2000 miles so he could take it.)
So, yeah, getting hit on a bare bottom was in some ways nothing compared to the other stuff going on. My mom is quite old now, the atypical antipsychotics do a pretty good job of removing the paranoia and tamping down on the hallucinations and voices. I am currently going over every day to check on some unhealed spots on her skin, as she won’t let my brother do it.
I’ve always said that the best thing churches can do is to adopt rigorous vetting and background checks for all ‘volunteers’ before they can get anywhere near kids and teens.
“Chantry Appeal Successful”
There’s a higher court awaiting him in eternity.
Agreed … AND don’t ordain just any old preacher-wannabe.
“Do not hurry to lay hands on anyone, ordaining and approving someone for ministry or an office in the church, or in reinstating expelled offenders, and thereby share in their sins” (1 Timothy 5:22-24).
Too often, things are not what they seem with church leaders. TWW reports on the rascals every day.
Muff Potter,
They won’t do it Muff, cuz’ they wanna keep livin’ in their own bubble-wrap world where ‘godly’ men don’t do those kinds of things, and only ‘godly’ men take an interest in kids and teens, right?
But like I keep sayin’, sooner or later, if they don’t take steps to protect kids and teens, and if they don’t quit tryin’ to cover it up when it happens, the gavel’s gonna’ come down hard and heavy.
And anyone who utters any blasphemy against such ‘godly’ men is a Bitter Liar straight from the Pit of Hell whose LORD and Master is SATAN himself.
“TOUCH NOT MINE ANOINTED!”
“In the Sweet Bye and Bye(TM)”?
These guys need to be exposed here and now – by other Christians – or we’re just sitting quietly with folded hands mouthing Pious Platitudes in fluent Christianese.
Eagle has written many times that it’s almost always Outsiders – the Atheists – who expose these guys. Outsiders who because they’re Outsiders automatically have NO credibility with the Faithful. Makes it REAL easy for them to Play the PERSECUTION Card, Circle the Wagons, and Double/Triple Down.
And remember that will flag ONLY the ones who previously Got Caught.
Some will still slip through the check and get inside.
But that’s Not the ARBCA Official Story/Party Line.
Like politics today, it all comes down to “WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?????”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XKMwWZVpPE
Such ability to Reverse Blame and become the Poor Poor Innocent Victim ia characteristic of successful Sociopaths who get caught. And because of previous grooming and great manipulation skills, everyone except the victims WILL believe it. Nobody is as Innocent and Sincere as a Sociopath Manipulator – until the instant you outlive your usefulness.
The lawsuit is back on: https://julieroys.com/sex-abuse-lawsuit-pressler/
*raises hand*
She was an impressionable, overwhelmed, desperate mother of four young children with a checked-out husband. She was PK with a guilt complex and a complicated relationship with her own mother. She’d read or heard the method somewhere from some “Christian” resource.
She desperately loved her children and thought this was the right way to “train them up in the Lord.” But at some level she must have known there was something wrong with it, because she called them “consequences” instead of “spankings.” I only found out about the bare bottoms part because the second oldest laughingly told me what would happen when her brother got sent to his room for an act of open defiance.
I so wish that I’d had the vocabulary then that I have now to express the problems with this to her. Unfortunately, I got ghosted when we left that abusive church and made the mistake of telling her why.
Wild Honey,
I feel compelled to add that in many ways she was a product of her environment. I met her sister once; we had kids around the same age, so conversation naturally turned there. The sister mentioned flicking her infant (somewhere between 6-9 months old) on the hand to teach her not to squirm “in rebellion” during diaper changes. To which I replied, “Funny, I always thought it was just because they were trying to communicate that a cold wipe on a bare bottom is uncomfortable.”
On a separate occasion, a mom friend from our church told a group of us that one of her husband’s main take-aways from the church’s recent conference on “biblical” parenting was the same flicking of infants’ or toddlers’ hands when they were disobedient, and she thought this was a great idea.
The pastors’ wives at that church highly recommended the parenting book written by Tedd Tripp. Yes, the same Tedd Tripp mentioned in this post.
Yes, abusive parents bear (no pun intended) responsibility for the actions they choose to take. But so do the pastors and so-called “Christian,” so-called parenting “experts” who espouse and disseminate these toxic teachings. And parents (and subsequently their children) are most benefited by being shown a better way, not simply shamed when they (sometimes) know no better.
Agreed! Too often, those who should be calling church leaders to account sit idly by while abuse continues … “touch not mine anointed” is way overworked in church.
I would be careful of this selection being represented as Scripture rather than apparently an amplified version with additions. For one thing, some could take this as indicating that one shouldn’t be in a hurry to “in reinstating expelled offenders“ — none of which is in the Greek — but could get around to it at some point (like after enough people have had a “vision“ about restoration etc.).
Jeffrey Chalmers,
My parents did. Vigorously. But no matter how much I despised it, I started out the same abusive as my parents, I guess by lack of better examples. I am not proud of what I have done as a parent, especially to my oldest child. It took me lots of (psycho) therapy to get over my traumas and also to learn to raise my children differently. Thankfully I married a wonderful man who wasn’t from this kind of background and who supported me throughout. But the fact that my oldest child is a healthy teenager I certainly don’t attribute to myself, having done the things I have. Thanks be to God and my husband and all the other people that supported us.
Agreed. As I have often stated on TWW, I don’t believe a pastor who abuses those entrusted to him should ever be restored to ministry. Forgive them if they genuinely repent? Certainly! Restore them to the sacred office of pastor? NO! They have permanently disqualified themselves from ministry.
Cp,
Fortunately, I had children after I was 35, and already been dealing with issues in my life, including fundamentalist, and related, “conservative political”, dogma…
Wife and I took a child rearing class and one of the biggest take home for was the separation of the concept “disciple” vs “punishment”, and there is plenty of “disciple and punishment” that does not include violence. AND the data shows physical punishment less effective than non-physical…..
In other words, it is not the simple “ if you don’t paddle/whip/beat them”, they we end up liberal, godless, hippies…
Jeffrey Chalmers,
Good for you for taking the class 🙂
I agree with you, I already believed this before I got children, so I was very much intended on not repeating my own childrearing, nevertheless I started doing just that. If there is one thing I would now tell other parents to be, it is: don’t wait until these traumatic issues become a big hindrance in your childrearing, but deal with them before you need to rear a child.
Thankfully there is grace. And competent people.
Also noted: fundamental, god-freaking, autocratic fascists are not an improvement.
Chantry is guilty and should serve as much as our legal system can impose on him. When he stands before our Lord on judgement day, he will answer greatly, something I would not wish on any human. I sat in the courtroom and I heard, saw and felt the testimony from young adults and the pain he caused them. We were speechless! I wonder if Chantry’s supporters witnessed and heard what we did in that courtroom, would they still prop him up? Matthew 18: 6-7
From my in-depth research into abuse (victims, survivors, abusers, legal systems, racist systems, the medical systems, etc.), I would guess that most (if not all) of Chantry’s supporters would continue to prop him up.
As a survivor of abuse from many different sources, I would not want to be put in the position of having to re-tell my story (which often happens when court cases get caught up in technicalities and / or legalities).
(It’s painful enough “re-telling” my story through memories and flashbacks.)
This really speaks to me. Several of us in the family were emotionally and sometimes physically abused as children. Our abuser also gaslighted us into believing that the abuser was the true victim, in danger from the other children. To varying degrees we fell for this. One child became an expert in discrediting other children’s recollections.
Fortunately we all got away from this scene as adults, but the habit of discrediting continued for decades: “You’re the only one who was there, so why should I believe you?” or “It never happened to me, so it didn’t happen.”
Finally, one day when reminiscing gave way to an unpleasant challenge, I stopped explaining and blew my stack. I said… okay, I shouted at the top of my lungs, “You are NOT the revisionist historian of my childhood.”
This was about the only adult argument I ever had with this close relative. It helped. They probably still don’t believe my stories, but they listen better, and the challenges have never been repeated.
Dave Turner,
Hey, I recognize you! Thanks for the comment Dave, and thanks for attending the trial of Chantry.
Cult.
Of [evil] personality.
Caught & entangled.
In the grip of.
At the cost of their very souls.
“Heil Strongman!”
Has Chantry committed the unpardonable sin?
Is there hope for his soul?
Should we pray for him?
Honest questions
Bill Brown,
I;m surprised that you need to ask these questions.
1. I don’t know if he has created the unpardonable sin. God does. You don’t.
2. There is hope for his soul if he is truly repentant.
3. He must apologize to the children he molested. You don’t get to forgive him, they do.
4 He has forfeited any right to be a pastor.
5. If he has repented and asked for forgiveness from those he molested, he may attend a church and be a member of the congregation.
6. he should be treated as a molester. You must assume he could harm again and he should never, ever be near kids in a church or elsewhere again.
That sums it up. Try to tell me unbiblical.
dee,
Thank you for your response
dee,
I actually believe your comments were very biblical and I agree with them.
Thanks again