Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Seventh Day Adventist Pastor Charged with Six Sexual Offense

Marlon Holder, Former SDA Pastor
A former Pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church yesterday appeared before Scarborough Magistrate Nannette Forde-John. Charged is former Pastor Marlon Holder on six  counts of sexual assault involving a minor. Holder was not called upon to plead as the charges were laid indictably.

He faced three charges of indecent sexual assault and three charges of having sex with a female, between the age of 14-16 years. He was charged by Acting Corporal Cavelle Walters. Holder was picked up at his rented apartment in Sou Sou Lands, shortly before midnight on Monday.

The court heard the incidents occured between July 1 and 31, 2011, and January 1 and December 31, 2011. The acts were committed at his former home in Betty’s Hope and at another house located at Patience Hill.

Reports indicates that the former pastor was engaged in an illicit sexual relationship with a young female church member over the period.  Holder who is married was placed on $100, 000 bail  with surety clerk of the peace approval. 

Secretary/Treasurer of the Tobago SDA Mission Pastor Clyde Lewis pointed out that the church had already taken action to deal with the matter. “The pastor in question has resigned from the ministry effective June 30, 2013.,” confirmed Pastor Lewis.  He also indicated that the church have  arranged several counselling sessions with him in the hope that he would mend his ways. 

Holder would reappear in court on the 20th August 2013.  

23 comments:

  1. am i over-reacting here, cause i'm am SDA and im pissed as hell. this man was put in a place of trust and he violated this trust. not to mention the sheer "wot-less-ness" of the act. and this man could only say that they have arrange counselling for this scum! what about the little girl who wasnt given a chance to enjoy youth, or the others who are afraid to come forward. its time to purge to society and if it has to being in the SDA church , then SO BE IT! persecute to the FULL extent of the law! weed out the "WOTLESS" good for nothing men. let him go court and tell d judge "a man is just a man" Shame on you Marlon Holder , SHAME. embarrassing your family, church, community

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. good day to all i am the mother of this child all the negeative cooments i hab been reading is so shame this pastor came to me home asking me for forgivness i told him it is already in the ploice hands no one from the sda came to look for my family there are only intersting anout the defender wat about my child was she not hurt bu this man his wife and himself was in counseling she knew he told her and the rest of the ppl my life is in a mess my family we are depress in a

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    3. bago eastender, does your comment make you any better than Holder? I would like to know, was she raped?

      I AM IN NO WY SUPPORTING HOLDER'S ACTIONS. THE THING IS, SOME OF THE COMMENTS MAKE ME HAPPY THAT I DON'T HAVE TO DEPEND ON A HUMAN'S WORD TO GET TO HEAVEN BECAUSE THEY WAY THE CONDEMN... THEIR LIVES MUST BE PERFECT. HOLDER AND GOD WILL DEAL WITH IT. I KNOW ONCE HE ASKS GOD FOR FORGIVENESS, HE WILL BE... BE CAREFUL OF CONDEMNING. WE ARE ALL SINNERS; EXPOSED OR NOT.

      AGAIN, I AM NOT SUPPORTING HOLDER'S ACTIONS; THE LAW WILL TAKE ITS COURSE; GOD HAS THE FINAL SAY.

      Delete
    4. I dont agree with what Marlon did but my question too is did this young girl get rape?
      Does she have anything to do with this.... meaning willfully giving in to both their desires. Let Jesus judge

      Delete
    5. I am surprise with your questions. Even if the child had consented to have sex with her Pastor, you should know that it is not right and he should have known better. She is a minor. How would you have felt if this was done to your child. Think about the trauma this child has to live with.

      He is a representative of God and should be working to make people's lives better not worse. He is married and should stay in his wife's bed. He has allowed the evil one to control him and now he has caused his entire family pain just because he wanted pleasure.

      My heart goes out to his family.

      I hope that the administrators of his conference are assisting this minor and her family since they all need therapy. It is an unfortunate situation by I hope that it is a lesson for us all.

      Delete
    6. As a spiritual leader he is supposed to be a leader, and someone our young people looks up to. It is very disturbing that he ABUSED the trust these young ladies had on him. I hope he get the help that he need to help himself. This is a Disgrace to his Church Family and his Family at home. May God Have Mercy On Him. He has a lot of SOUL SEARCHING ahead of him. He needs all the Prayer he can get at this time as he prepare for what is ahead of him.

      Delete
  2. Marlon will always remain very dear o my heart. An excellent preacher... Why? But God is in control as a fellow SDA I will rally with you untill the end. I pray for you and your family. I pray for the young lady and her family. May God guide our every thoughts and actions. in him we must put our trust... God is a forgiving God. And i forgive you and the young lady... now it's time to heal.... Brace yourself My Child...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Are you a true SDA rooted in the doctrine and principles? Please your comment is tasteless... justice must be served but a forgiving heart overthrows everything.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The leaders of the church are responsible for these young men's actions.
    They have fallen repeatedly themselves and no one is following the counsel to rebuke the elders who sin openly , where there are credible witnesses. Poor child , poor wife. The leaders will hound the family to not pursue justice ,just to protect their 'good name'.No justice in the church. They deal with it only when they know it will be exposed.Shame! God is not like this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The leader's of the church cannot control their actions... do not blame the institution for the actions of one man.... men like this are not only found in the SDA church lest we forget the numerous catholic priests who have had sexual relations with both young girls and boys... It is distasteful that the leader's have not reached out to the child and her family. to me that should be the first step.. it creates distrust in the church for that young lady her family and her friends... the bible tells us that the wheat and tears must grow together... the same evil people that are outside the church are also inside they are sheep in wolf's clothing... please do not judge the entire institute of the SDA because of what this one man has done.... I know that when something similar happened in my church it was the victim that received support from the church... and they assisted the police with their case against the church member who committed the atrocious act.... not every church will react the way this one did.......

      Delete
    2. Excellent post. I agree with you and I hope that the administrators would reach out to the victim and her family soon. They need more support.

      Delete
    3. I couldn't have said it better, the Leaders of these institutions Needs to Create a Monitoring Group to do an occasional check on the activities of some of these our Spiritual Leaders RANDOMLY. My Heart goes to the Families of these Abused Young Ladies.

      Delete
  5. This is indeed a shameful act, however, God will do His thing in righteousness,,, one question though;;;;;; Is this crime only perpetuated in the Seventh Day Adventist Church? get real people,, just look around you in the place where you worship, work or even live and you'll find the answer. Let he that is without sin cast the first stone. Pray for all involved and learn to forgive 70x7= 490 per person per sin.

    ReplyDelete
  6. what has the world come to, God is coming soon... and those who were put in charge to lead his people will have to give an account.

    ReplyDelete
  7. i wonder if any of us ever pray the Lord's prayer? when we repeat that prayer, Matthew 6:9-13 especially verse 12, we are actually asking God to treat us the same way we treat others...are we ready for that? "Romans 12:19-21 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good." the law has to take it's course,but "he that is without sin cast the first stone." we live in a sinful world and the devil gets to all of us in some form or fashion, be it drugs, alcohol, stealing, pornography, whatever our pet sins are.take it from someone who lost their brother to a drunk driver and i could find it in my heart to forgive him.

    ReplyDelete
  8. lORD HAVE MERCY ON OUR SOULS,ARE YOU IN SHOCK ,mANY CHURCH LEADERS ARE VICIOUS ,HAVING THE BELIEVE THAT THEY CAN COMMIT SIN AND THEY WILL BE FORGIVEN ,OH NO SIR god IS A GOOD god IS A GOOD GOD ,GOD KNOWS ALL THINGS,THIS WORLD WAS ALWAYS AS IT IS,OUR RESPONSIBILITY IS DOING WHAT IS PLEASING TO THE LORD CHURCH FOLKE ARE SUPERSTITIOUS KNOWING THEY SINS ANT BELIEVING THAT GOD WILL FORGIVE THEM YOUR SINS WERE YOUR INTENTIONS YOU CAN,,T GET PASS GOD WITH YOUR HIDDEN SINS

    ReplyDelete
  9. there are many persons going to church which ever denomination who are not yet converted....they even have high offices....some are swindling the members' money to live big and drive fancy cars...some are telling lies to get ahead..some paying bribes for worldly gain...after all are not those all sins? think about it some people go to church to find a spouse, some go to get financial help, some for a place to be buried when they die..some just to be called by the name...which ever it is they are not all converted Christians...can we stop the shouting and just start looking in our lives. are you doing everything right? are you walking uprightly so that if night should turn to day you could stand with your head held high

    ReplyDelete
  10. Isn't all involved especially the 14 -16 yr old know about right and wrong, the birds and the bees? Doesn't the SDA church teach sunday school? Are these 14 - 16 yr. old brains are so under developed that they did not know what they were doing or getting into and if exposed what commotion it will cause? We have a tendency to cry out about innocence when it comes to who we perceive as children when it involve male /female relationship or vise verse. For this reason some cultures marry as early as 16 yrs. old because the understand human nature and life. I am not condoning what the Pastor did but he is not the only one to be blamed here. These girls / young ladies should have made a complaint the first time they were approached by the pastor to some one, if not the elder/s of the church, their parent/s. I could continue but I'll rest here. Who is without sin cast the first stone .

    ReplyDelete
  11. Born and bred as a SDA this is statuary rape pastor or not. Sex with a 14 yr old is against the law in that country. Adhere to the law of the land

    ReplyDelete
  12. Are sure it was indeed abuse?

    ReplyDelete
  13. i for one not blaming becanuse these young girls now a days looking for there trouble ,is two of them to blame .yes she could have said something but who knows ,she maybe like what she was getting ,and yes he could have stop an realize but as they say a standing" PENIS HAS NO CONSCIOUS" i was in shock but if they judge him alone hmm only GOD will know AND make it WORSE IF SHE LYING she better no to tell the TRUTH ........AS i say BOTH OF THEM TO BLAME.......not becuze he was a leader




    When these young girls dressing in there piece a top to show off there BREAST and there Piece a skirt or tight skirt to show off WAT GOD gave themm LOOK NAR he's a good man so is the girl young ALTHOUGH I DONT KNOW HER but they just cant make him pay for this alone

    ReplyDelete
  14. You are soooooooooooooooooooooooooo right!!!

    ReplyDelete

Disqus for TobagoDaily

Trinidad and Tobago Newsday