CBC News - British Columbia, Canada March 6, 2009
Man sentenced for sexually assaulting teen daughter
A man who pleaded guilty last year to sexually assaulting his daughter while she was a teenager was sentenced to jail Friday afternoon in Abbotsford, B.C.
Kenneth Duncalfe was handed a nine-month jail sentence, along with two years' probation, for his role in repeatedly molesting his daughter, Susan Duncalfe, 43, while she was between 14 and 22 years old.
He pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault against his daughter last September.
At the time of Susan’s abuse, her entire family held memberships in the Mennonite Church of God in Christ in Abbotsford.
Susan said the church knew about the abuse, which took place in the 1970s and 1980s, but never took action to deal with it.
“My father was excommunicated from the church and then reaccepted a couple weeks later, and it was never talked about.”
Daughter left church
Susan left the church when she was in her early 20s and came forward with her allegations of abuse seven years ago.
Judge John Lenaghan blasted church leaders for inaction in his reasons for judgment Friday.
“They have known about the sexual abuse of this young woman for 18 years and did nothing about it,” Lenaghan said.
The judge also admonished Duncalfe for failing to show remorse towards his daughter.
This article was found at:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/03/06/bc-abbotsford-molesting-duncalfe.html
RELATED ARTICLES:
Posts
I get so sad reading things like this! I was raised in the mennonite church and was sexually abused by several family members and was raped by an uncle, starting at the age of 4.
ReplyDeleteTo this day, I am blamed. I am told that I should've walked away. I've been threatened that if I tell, I will be shunned by my family.
I've gotten no compassion from my family which has deeply wounded me Life has been a struggle. I've worked hard trying to get through it all but it's difficult since those who wounded me refuse to accept responsibility.
I will keep Susan in my prayers.
I think there is debris like this in almost every walk of life. One of the most hurtful things is when it occurs in a church that is supposed to be for our protection. Also, when a family member is involved our complete world of trust is turned upside down. It becomes a test...perhaps almost a lifetime of tests in trying to regain or establish confidence, become open, find a place of forgiveness, and so on. Been there with our son.
ReplyDeleteI too was raised in the "church of God in Christ" and I was also sexually abused by an uncle when I was three. It was my fault. That is what I was made to believe. He was my elder and I was required by god to respect and obey him. The sad truth is that although that was fifty years ago, there are, even to this day deacons in the Holdeman church who rape young girls aged between three and twenty three in the name of their god. Just today I heard of one case. The deacon was expelled for a time. That is all. No criminal investigation ever took place because this church believes it is capable of dealing with such things itself. The criminal code says otherwise and charges must be laid against rapists and child molesters. That is the least we can do for the vulnerable people who fall victim to these monsters.
ReplyDeleteJj
Civil authorities must charge the leaders that know but don't contact police. If you have first hand knowledge, please contact the police and encourage them to investigate.
DeleteJust another male dominated pseudo religious of pedophiles hiding behind the Bible and destroying the lives of young women. These churches are the last bastion of tyrannical male perversion that always seem to escape from the grasp of the law whilst the "Elders" look after things for themselves. The trauma experienced by the victims carries on for generations as does the loss of belief and confidence in the Criminal Justice system. This will only end when the elders are held criminally and financially responsible for the dereliction of duty and the church is sued for every penny it has. The code and conspiracy
ReplyDeleteof silence, once it breaks, will have long line-ups of victims courageously coming forward to claim their lives and their souls back again.
Parents sexually abusing their children are soul murderers and the penalty should fit the crime. As long as the Criminal Justice system remains hands-off the victims will remain silent
and we are all accomplices in this heinous crime.
SW
Do not judge a group on one or 2 fellowships. every church out there has it's faults but I do not judge a group based on the down fall of one or 2 fellowships. There is a church of GOD in Christ mennonite church were I live and there some of the nicest people you would ever meet
ReplyDeleteI am a member of the Church of God in Christ Mennonite, and I know several members of this Duncalfe family. I also have observed lately that there has been an increase in the awareness of abuse. Just like anywhere else, abuse was kept silent because it was shameful, lately there has been teaching on it and a warning that it will not be tolerated. And I'm so sorry for those who have been abused, I have prayed for them nearly every time I have thought of them.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in public school in a small town in the 70's, a teacher who was a leader of an Exclusive Brethren Mennonite sect targeted me and it has had a devastating effect on my life. This man should have lost his teachers license and I should have been able to get a restraining order against him. But, that did not happen. It was all about domination, control and destruction of family relationships. This is a cult, not with one or two abusive members, but a cult mentality and a cult belief system. They follow a version of the Bible that was altered in the 1800's by freemason John Darby Nelson and when you examine the sections of the Bible that he changed, it gives one a better understanding of the sense of entitlement these men have when it comes to women and children. The way they destroy families is diabolical.
ReplyDeleteI'm a exmember of the EB's. John Nelson Darby was not a Freemason as far as I know. He was a Latin and Greek scholar who used Vatican texts for translation. His foot notes cover all the bases. EB's are similar to Mennonites but believe in infant babtism(as in the parents are doing it in faith). My brother moved his family to a locality that has a molester in there midist. If he ever touches my niece's....he will be in my cross hairs. What town are you from? Usually these people cross a line and are exposed.
DeleteThe one post above says "Do not judge a group on one or 2 fellowships. every church out there has it's faults but I do not judge a group based on the down fall of one or 2 fellowships. There is a church of GOD in Christ mennonite church were I live and there some of the nicest people you would ever meet"
ReplyDeleteI was raised in this so called church.... I can say that I will not judge the individual people as the Bible says that God is the only one to judge another person. However I will say that I will judge the group. This is not just 1 or 2. This is a group as a whole that covers up the abuse and allows it to continue. The group is very good at putting on a front and making everyone think they are such wonderful people, but until you have first hand experience to the horrors that go on, you will never know their true way of life.
I know this first hand and I know that it continues to go on. As long as the pedophiles; as well as the leaders; that continue to cover up and condone this behavior are not held accountable; it will continue. The leaders and the cult as a whole are just as much at fault as each individual who commits the heinous crimes against the most innocent victims; our children.
The only comfort in all of this is knowing that although they hide it as well as cover up the abuse; from the legal em; they can not hide it from God.
you are so right, they always walk around with a smile on there face, I often wonder what's behind it.
DeleteWe have the Mennonites here where I live and I have been to that church and can say I personally don't believe that crap mentioned above!! Every religious group has problems especially when we are talking a big group. The smiles on there face is peace in there hearts! God will judge the hitious crimes of the individual who commits such..I do agree that any such crime must definitely be reported to the law..
DeleteSo you dont beleive it do you think people believe you??? Probably not!!
DeleteDo not judge a group on one or 2 fellowships.
ReplyDeleteWho ever you are that posted the above comment must not really know or are hiding what you know about the H mennonites. The number of abused kids are more than you can count, sexual, physical emotional and spiritual. Im a surviver as well. Yes there are some real "nice" people in there. My question is: What are these "so nice" people doing to protect, defend and love the victims? They show their love by expelling us and shunning us. WOW how great a love! -And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.- READ YOUR BIBLES!
I know this mennonite crap all too well, I'm a male and rape and sodomy, sexual abuse, mental abuse, occured to me from mennonite family members over years of my youth.
ReplyDeletealways told that i could never do anything and who will believe me, and it my fault etc.
My mother's uncle molested and raped me, her cousin's both male and female partook in varying actions as well.
It took a long time, years, slowly, precisely, for me to get all recorded evidence of them taunting me, fully admitting their actions, to begin proscecution on them, however finally things are in place to do so.
even have the 911 calls i made and police response to the uncle's residence with my voice on them, yelling for help, the police were wooed by my mother's uncle to leave.
and me still inside the house.
one of the cousin's is a pastor now and his wife, both of whom partook in sexual molestation of me.
he's a pastor at abbotsford christian assembly now, and ironically the children's minister..... hmmm perfect place for a partaker child molester to hide in cloak and veil, and more-over this this god of their's,....funny.
easy enough for anyone to look up whom he and wife are.
I'm not going to add more, as the matter's are going to prosecution against 5 remaining of that family, where justice, not just-us as the
mennonites believe and think, will be served.
so- there is hope for people to come forward, and expose their tormentors, anyone else out there, its not your fault, be strong, and stand up, no matter whom they are....
my wife was an ex holeman in Rosenort who claimed to be abused as a child for as long as she can remember she recently left me and returned to her family with our two month old Baby i am afraid for the safety of my child after seing a link thag i could not open on holeman child sacrifices
DeleteHi - I would be very interested in communicating with you regarding your life now that you are not solely involved in the church. If you are interested in further discussion with me - please indicate on here for communication options.
DeleteI am a Holdeman Mennonite and I too experienced years of abuse as a child. It was reported to the authorities and handled very well. The man went to jail and I felt such loving support among my Church people. No one ever expressed disbelief about what happened. We report these things. It maybe didn't used to be that way but by the late 80s, same as other denominations and people, these things have not been kept hidden. Perhaps that is why I am able to have a happy home now with little repercussions of the past. It's open and forgiven and I'm able to move on. I agree with the person who said not to judge a whole group by one or two offenders. As parents we teach our children how very wrong such things are and they are not ignorant of the results of such behaviour.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry for you who speak of bad experiences. I can only testify that a loving God and a loving Church helped me in my darkest hours when I was pulled out of my childhood home.
Good for you on post above they were caught . Was the opposite for me.still suffering from much forced oral sex from the seventies.the holdys are covering again.i was 11-12.
ReplyDeleteI am xholdeman still suffering from the seventies.am shuned by elders and family .i exposed ig and found out the perptrsto has other victims. Leaders of holdys said there was a lot of this crime pushed under rug to proud to admit it i think it still needs to be dealt with . The elders told me to keep it quiet i dont understand lost all my confidence in this holdeman group .Help me if you can . I was forced to have oral at11-12 with a 19 yeAr old multiple times staff said it was boys playind . Preacher delbert enns said it was ok cause i was to young obviously he is washed up teting to cover up whats new.
ReplyDeleteI'm a holdeman Mennonite and I just luv it.. I just got reaccepted and the group means a lot to me.. I luv God and believe it's where I'm supposed to be..
ReplyDeleteThat's a good one, anonymous. Why were you expelled? "The group"? If it comes down to a choice between GOD and "The Church" ,which it will,if you are being truthful, Which will You choose?
DeleteSeems like you are the judge of the people you claim are judging. The victims of chsa whose lives were ruin by this horrible crime are trying to get help and are rejected by their own people??? . Doesnt justice need to be done to a crime?
ReplyDeleteI survived an abusive childhood as well because the church supported and believed me. I had to decide myself to forgive my dad for the abuse as well as realize that as an adult if I let it run my life I was giving him the power over me. No way was he that important. Seems to me if we hash and rehash how bad everyone treated us then we are handing them the power to ruin our lives. We're not forgiving and moving on. If there's something to report then report it! No point going over and over it!
ReplyDeleteBrian Thiessen15 December 2015 at 19:05
DeleteYou say not to go over and over yet you did and still are it sounds like . If i understand you just went over again what happen to you.you need to consider the victims that are struggling with a horrible crime that wrecked their life cuz they couldnt get themselves to expose it and when they did they got chewed out like you just did from holdemans trying to hide chsa.im just guessing your a holdeman cuz your trying to tell victims to shut up . Im sure your deal went public and i think each victim has the right to go over and over til justice is done for the crime.explain yourself the bad everyone has done to people .victims are talking of one perpatrator that wrecked their life !!!
What do you mean dont go over and over why did you just go over your crime again i thought you said it was done but sounds like your still going over it and telling others not to. Explain yourself. I think thats called a hypocrit. Justice was done to your crime and you still go over it so maybe the victims whose crimes are not settled have a reason to go over it to find release and expose the crime !!!!!!!!!! You scared to post your I.D???
ReplyDeleteBrian, when you are replying to another commenter use the reply button on their comment so that your comment will show as a reply to theirs.
DeleteI am a Holdeman mennonite and personally I was astounded at the abuse that was gotten away with... probably occurring right under our noses and we didn't even know about it. We believe in non-resistance but for the most part, you will find that most of us feel it is our community duty to report crime. I was never abused... However, if I had been, I would have reported my dad but I wouldn't have pressed charges as we are non resistant. I would have left that up to whatever the judge and jury decided. Please don't judge us by what some of our people are doing.... we don't judge our whole town when one has killed an innocent person while driving under the influence.
ReplyDeleteWhat evidence do you have to say you dont beleive it you looser im a victim of serious assault that they still hide. But the town does not try to COVER UP if the whole town tried to cover up they would all be guilty?
DeleteYou would judge the whole town if they were trying to COVER UP and hide this crime
DeleteAsk Delbert Enns from bow island he says itchild sex assault is all good so lets go for it
ReplyDeleteSounds like u got alot of stuff to work thru brian ill try to pray for you whenever you learn that life aint all roses mennonite or non mennonite the better off youll be...js
Delete