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Victim's courage may lead tojusticeMonitor staff

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

By going public with her story, Tina Anderson, who says that she was raped twice at age 15 by an

adult member of her church, may give other rape victims the courage to break the silence that allowed

their abusers to go free. The FBI estimates that only 37 percent of all rapes are reported to the police.

Victims decline out of shame, fear of reprisal, fear that they won't be believed, or to protect a husband,

boyfriend or relative. Every time they do come forward, as Anderson chose to do after visiting a

website that aids victims of abuse, the stigma that society still attaches to rape victims is diminished.

It was at Anderson's request that the Monitor broke with its policy of not naming victims of sexual

abuse.

Anderson and her mother were members of Concord's Trinity Baptist Church where Ernest Willis,

now 51, was a prominent member. The girl was close to Willis's family and worked as a babysitter for

his children. He is accused of raping her twice, once while teaching her how to drive and once at her

home. He is due to be arraigned on June 16 but meanwhile is free on $100,000 personal recognizance

bail.

It is not the alleged rapes that have made Tina Anderson's allegations national news. It is her

treatment, both alleged and in some cases corroborated, by church officials. When she learned she

was pregnant, Anderson confided in her mother, who in turn confided in the then-minister of Trinity

Baptist, Chuck Phelps.

Anderson, Phelps and former church members agree that Anderson appeared before the

congregation as Phelps read a letter written for her as an apology for putting herself in a

compromising position by not distancing herself from Willis. Anderson describes the experience as

having to ask for forgiveness for getting pregnant. Phelps said the public apology was not a shaming

but an opportunity for church members to reach out to Anderson.

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Willis, who Phelps says he believed would be arrested shortly, was asked to apologize to the

congregation for being unfaithful to his wife. The Concord police have released little information about

the alleged rapes and the department's response to them. Phelps, now a minister in Indiana, says he

promptly reported Anderson's allegations to the police and to the state's Division for Children Youth

and Families, but nothing was done.

What's known is that Anderson stayed at Phelps's home and, in the pastor's version of events, in the

homes of church members during the day. Then, some weeks later, she was sent to live with a

Colorado family Phelps knew from his days as a minister there. Anderson and her mother did not talk

to the police about the alleged rapes. Anderson claims that church officials used their influence over

her to convince her not to do so. Phelps vehemently denies that and says Anderson was sent to

Colorado at her mother's request, not in an attempt to cover up the alleged crimes.

The Concord police say they investigated the case but couldn't proceed because they couldn't locate

Anderson. Like the church's policies and actions, that claim needs elaboration and explanation. Even

though she was home-schooled by the Colorado couple, Anderson couldn't have been hard to find.

Anderson is now a 28-year-old mother of four: three children with her husband and one put up for

adoption who was allegedly fathered by Willis. Much more will come out about her allegations in

months to come. The pursuit of justice will require that she disrupt her life and that of her family and

relive painful pieces of her past. We applaud her courage.Correction (June 3, 2010)

The original version of this editorial erred in saying Tina Anderson was allegedly raped by Ernest Willis

in a car and in his home. The second alleged rape occurred in her home.

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