Minister or Monster?

When considering the life history and legacy of LR Davis, it is relatively straightforward to agree that he was at least guilty of the crimes he was convicted of (15 counts of criminal sexual assault and criminal sexual abuse involving two boys, 14 & 16 years old).  In fact, even the Christian Fellowship leadership will acknowledge, in private at least, that Davis was a sexual predator and was justly convicted.

As such, we are then faced with a dilemma: Was LR Davis a “man of God”, who founded and led a ministry for 25 years, and just “made some mistakes” along the way, or was he a serial rapist who built a machine that relied upon distorted spiritual authority to provide a steady supply of victims and feed his out-of-control sexual appetite for sex with boys and men? 

In the words of Judge Starck, the trial judge who decided LR’s fate, "The burning question is whether this man is a minister or monster, a pastor or pedophile?"  And, I agree with the Judge’s implicit message: he was either one or the other, but not both. 

Over the past couple of months, I have been poring over as much information as I could gather on this matter.  That has involved reading over 80 newspaper articles (all of which are available in the Media section) on Davis and CFCMI, reviewing interview notes and police reports gathered by an award-winning investigative journalist, combing over court documents, depositions, and sworn testimony, having discussions with several of LR Davis’s sexual victims, and deeply reflecting on my own sixteen years in the organization (1985-2001).  I’ve even touched on the topic in discussions with the recently retired former General Pastor of CFCMI, Peter Paine.  Having sifted through all of this information, I have arrived at the following conclusions:

-  Sexual Predator: LR Davis’s was an active sexual predator for at least 30 years, from 1963-1992.

o   Documentation of his rapes is steady and consistent over these three decades, with each passing decade showing a higher level of activity than the previous.

-  Pedophile: There is supporting documentation that LR Davis raped at least 13 boys (I was able to identify that as a minimum number for distinct under-age victims).

-  Serial Rapist: LR Davis is very likely to have raped at least 30 adult men (and counting, as further accounts are reviewed), with another 17 that he had sex with where the question of rape could be contested (i.e., possibly consensual).

o   Thus, available documentation, incomplete as it is, suggests a minimum of 43 rape victims (including over a dozen minors) and approximately 60 boys or men that LR Davis had sex with overall.

-  True numbers may be 2-5 times greater than the above estimates (i.e., 100+ rape victims, including 2-3 dozen minors, and 200+ partners), given how few incidents actually reach the level of being documented.

-  Numerous victims reported being raped or having sex multiple times with LR Davis, as well as several accounts of group sex.

o   One fourteen year old boy said it was “as if I was his spouse” for two years, suggesting dozens of rapes, if not over 100.

o   Another minor reported being raped “15-20 times”.

o   Still another minor reported being raped at least 10 times.

o   One former adult victim reported having unwelcomed sex (rape) at least 20 times with LR Davis.

o   Some long-time victims have reported unwelcomed sex with LR Davis over a hundred times, with one estimating over 500 times.

o   Several accounts state there were 4-8 people participating in group sex at one time; some accounts go higher.

-  Assuming a conservative average of 10 rapes per victim, LR Davis likely committed rape at least 600 times, not counting the victim who estimated 500 times for themself alone.

-  The frequency and number of rapes appear to have increased steadily in the late 1970’s and throughout the 1980’s (he went to prison in 1992).  This is because, as Christian Fellowship grew in size, the structural design of the teachings, facilities, and practices LR Davis put in place supplied him with a steady stream of new victims, as well as numerous “captive” victims or partners to rape or have consensual sex with at his command.

-  Based upon available evidence, it is very reasonable to suggest LR Davis committed rape well over 1,000 times during the 30+ years he was known to be active as a serial rapist, pedophile, and sexual predator.

So, on the “minister or monster” question, I have to land on the side of monster. The evidence confirms that LR Davis was a lifelong homosexual and serial rapist who seemed to crave sex with boys and men at almost all costs, to the point of building an organization that would give him enough spiritual and psychological authority over people to do so almost at will.

Of course, this is a topic Christian Fellowship leadership rarely comments upon.  When they do, they continue to revere LR Davis as their founding pastor and describe him as a man of God who “made some mistakes and paid the price for those mistakes.”  In other words, they land on the side of him as a minister, albeit with some isolated examples of moral failure, just like all of us.

This position, of course, is deeply offensive to Davis’s victims over the decades, whose lived experiences prove that characterization to be false.  More than offensive, it communicates to dozens and dozens of victims, and their families, that, despite Davis dying in prison for raping two boys, their voices have not been heard and their experiences, even their existence, count for nothing.

One final point.  I know there will be the most ardent of Davis supporters out there who would argue that despite the information laid out above, LR Davis was still a “man of God”, who founded Christian Fellowship completely in alignment with God’s will.  To that I say that it is not feasible to consider that his insatiable desire for sex, which he pursued relentlessly no matter whom he victimized, was something that (a) God somehow overlooked and blessed him in spite of, and (b) did not find its way into how he organized the policies, teaching, and practices of CFCMI. 

No, a serial rapist is NOT a “man of God”, by definition, and LR Davis was a serial rapist.