Murdaugh Murders Podcast - TSP #91 - The Coverup that Was Never Questioned: What Really Happened When Wayne Miller Was Accused Of Sexual Assault In The 1980s

Episode Date: March 13, 2025

This week, investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell — with the help of reporter and researcher Beth Braden — share Part One of the elusive 1989 WPDE investigative news report on the sexual allegations against JP Miller’s father (exclusively obtained by LunaShark Media through a whole lot of peskiness. Up until today this news segment hasn’t been available to the public … possibly since 1993 when it last aired in the Florence and Myrtle Beach areas. Today, we dive in deep on previously unknown information about alleged sex predator Wayne Miller and the cover-up that he and his colleagues appeared to take part in. Also on the show, Horry County Police Department reopens its (pathetic) investigation into the 2023 shooting death of North Carolina man Scott Spivey. On Wednesday — just one day after the resignation of Horry County assistant police chief Brandon Strickland — Horry County announced that there were unresolved questions in the closed case and it was being referred to the FBI. What’s weird is that Strickland appears to have been friends with at one of the shooters, North Myrtle Beach restaurant owner Weldon Boyd. And what’s even more strange is the case already underwent a review by SLED and South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson’s office. Does does this mean there’s a chance of Scott’s family seeing justice? Episode Resources Connect with Randy Hood: [e-mail] or 855-326-1091 Connect with Mark Tinsley: [e-mail] or 803-584-7676 2023 shooting death of North Carolina man Scott Spivey Jane Doe No. 1 & Jane Doe No. 2 Lawsuits against JP Miller and Wayne Miller “SC pastor’s father calls Mica Miller a ‘very, very sick woman,’ bashes claims son drove her to suicide: report” - NY Post, May 16, 2024 Premium Links Bowen Turner’s Arrest Warrant - Feb 11, 2025 Wayne Miller’s Arrest Warrant Affidavit - May 22, 2014 TSP 90 Stay Tuned, Stay Pesky and Stay in the Sunlight...☀️ If you are in crisis, please call, text or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. Premium Members also get access to ad-free listening, searchable case files, written articles with documents, case photos, episode videos and exclusive live experiences with our hosts on lunasharkmedia.com all in one place. CLICK HERE to learn more: https://bit.ly/3BdUtOE. Check out our LUNASHARK Merch 👕 What We're Buying... Chewy - chewy.com/mandy - Chewy has everything you need to keep your pet happy and healthy. Save $20 on your first order and get free shipping at chewy.com/mandy or visit our storefront here: https://www.shop.anchor.store/chewy/@trusunlightpod Here's a link to some of our favorite things: https://amzn.to/4cJ0eVn *** ALERT: If you ever notice audio errors in the pod, email [e-mail] and we'll send fun merch to the first listener that finds something that needs to be adjusted! *** For current & accurate updates: bsky.app/profile/mandy-matney.com | bsky.app/profile/elizfarrell.com TrueSunlight.com facebook.com/TrueSunlightPodcast/ Instagram.com/TrueSunlightPod Twitter.com/mandymatney Twitter.com/elizfarrell youtube.com/@LunaSharkMedia tiktok.com/@lunasharkmedia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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My name is Mandy Matney. My name is Liz Farrell. This is a special message for anyone who attended Cathedral Hall Academy, Grand Strand Academy, Cathedral Baptist Church, Solid Rock Ministries, or any other earlier version of Wayne Miller or J.P. Miller's churches. This message is also for anyone who worked at the schools or churches, and for anyone who witnessed any abuse that might have occurred there

or knows of any abuse that might have occurred, whether it be physical abuse, sexual abuse, mental abuse, or even financial abuse. We are those pesky investigative journalists known for busting the Ellic Murdoch case wide open and advocating for victim-centered storytelling throughout our podcast that has reached over 25 million people around the globe.

Throughout our reporting on the Murdoch story, we learned how to lean on the right people, including the good attorneys in South Carolina whose values aligned with ours and who we could trust to fight for victims in places we couldn't, like in the courtroom. Mark Tinsley is one of those good attorneys, and so is Randy Hood. We have been covering the Micah Francis case since May 2024, and we want every person who might have experienced abuse of any kind at the alleged hands of Wayne Miller or JP Miller to know that we are in your corner. To know that Mark and Randy are in your corner. In our pesky army of followers across the globe,

we are all in your corner. And we are rooting for you to do whatever is best for you right now. There's a lot of pressure coming from all directions right now, a lot of legitimate reasons to be fearful. It is not easy for anyone who has experienced abuse of any kind to see the alleged perpetrators in the headlines and all over social media every day.

It is traumatizing for victims of abuse to have old memories be forced to the forefront of their minds again because of this new, unwanted spotlight. And sometimes the terrain ahead is not only not smooth, there's not always a good roadmap for it. So for victims of sexual violence, we wanted to tell you that we support your journey in deciding whether to come forward.

And we support you if you decide not to. You get to call the shots in your life. You. For those of you who might be considering coming forward, we urge them not to call us, but rather to call Randy Hood at 855-326-10916 or email him at mark at goodingandgooding.com. That's M-A-R-K at G-O-O-D-I-N-G-A-N-D G-O-O-D-I-N-G dot com. And we don't say that lightly. We believe you will be in good protective hands. We believe in Mark and Randy.

We know that their mission is to fight for you so that you and future versions of you don't have to fight anymore. As for those of you who might have information to share with Randy or Mark about Wayne Miller, J.P. Miller, their associates, or any of the churches and schools they own and have owned, your information holds power no matter how small or insignificant you think it might be to the bigger picture. Randy and Mark have your backs. Lunashark Media has your backs.

Liz and I have your backs. And most importantly, our pesky army has your backs. This is True Sunlight, a podcast exposing crime and corruption previously known known as the Murdoch Murders Podcast. True Sunlight is a Luna Shark production written with journalist Liz Farrell. Before we get started, I wanna tell you about some breaking news that happened Wednesday afternoon

in good old Horry County, South Carolina, involving our least favorite police department. As y'all know, we have struggled to get Horry County Police Department to abide by FOIA laws and David and Mandy on behalf of Luna Shark have been working on a plan to take legal action. So we all found it really interesting when this press release got sent out by the police department on Wednesday. Quote, late last week, Horry County was made aware of continuing questions related to a shooting incident on Camp Swamp Road in September 2023.

The incident was investigated by SLED and reviewed by the South Carolina Attorney General's office. was investigated by Sled and reviewed by the South Carolina Attorney General's Office. The county takes such questions seriously. Out of an abundance of caution and in pursuit of ensuring the integrity of Horry County Police Department, Chief of Police Chris Leonhart has requested the case be reviewed once more by both Sled and the FBI. Due to the once more active and ongoing investigations by Sled and the FBI, no further information is available for release at this time. With respect to that investigation, Horry County remains committed to providing

transparent and proactive updates when and how possible. I mean, I don't even know where to begin with the hilarity there. Transparent? Yeah, okay. Horry County Police are known as one of the most corrupt agencies in the state. Anyway, the case they're reopening is related to the killing of a North Carolina man named Scott Spivey

in a so-called road rage incident involving a well-known North Myrtle Beach restaurant owner named Weldon Boyd and his friend Brandon Williams who was in the truck with him. According to news reports and a wrongful death lawsuit filed by attorney Mark Tinsley aka Zero Dark Tinsley aka Tiger Tinsley aka Randy Hood's co-counsel in the sexual abuse cases filed against JP Miller and his father. Mark is representing Scott Spivey's sister, Jennifer Spivey Foley,

who is personal representative of Scott's state. Weldon Boyd and Brandon Williams say that Spivey initiated the road rage incident, and the police wrote in their report at the time that Spivey initiated the road rage incident and the police wrote in their report at the time that Spivey was the suspect and Boyd and Williams were the victims. But something is so weird here. On Wednesday afternoon, Beth Braden contacted Mikhaila Moskov, the public information officer for the police, and asked her about a resignation that we had heard about that happened the day before. That resignation was of Assistant Police Chief Brandon Strickland.

McKayla confirmed that he was gone but wouldn't answer any other question we had for her, including whether this was connected to the reopening of the Spivey case. Now why would we think that they're connected? Well for one, it was rumored that Weldon had an inside guy at the police department at the time of the shooting. And two, I found pictures of Weldon Boyd hanging out with Brandon Strickland in the years before the shooting. So, it's a natural question.

Also, this is just so strange. So Sled and the South Carolina Attorney General's office reviewed the case after the police were done investigating. And in April 2024, announced that they were not going to pursue charges against Boyd or Williams. So why is the FBI involved now? Why now? We're going to be following this case moving forward because we are highly interested in what it might say about the operations of the Horry County Police Department, the same agency that has violated FOIA laws in the Micah Francis case and who, in our opinion, has blood on

their hands in her death because of all the times they ignored her and minimized her reports of JP stalking and harassing her. We have heard so many stories about how the police operated Horry County and I think we've heard enough. It's time for us to do some seriously pesky digging. So we have something really pesky to share with you today. One of the reasons we were called pesky all those years ago by a detective who was both bothered and amused by us was our refusal to take no for an answer.

He knew that when we asked for something from his agency, that his team had better look carefully under every rock before giving us the thumbs down because without that full effort, he knew we'd be back and that we would inevitably point to the one rock they did not search under and there the information we had requested would be. It's not just that we don't like hearing the word no when it comes to getting what we want, it's that we don't always believe people when they tell us no. Or more specifically, when they tell us that the information we want, the documents, the

records, the audio, the video, isn't available or doesn't exist. And we have really good reasons not to immediately believe them. More than half the time when we push or when we look for another way to get the information or another way to ask for it, we end up getting the thing we were told didn't exist. We know from experience that some people are just bad at database searches. We know that names get misspelled. We know that there is a profound lack of uniformity and attention to detail in all areas of government. We know that most people

just don't go the extra mile. We know that people leave things on their desks and don't put files back. And we know from experience that there's more than one way to get to information. Early on in the J.P. Miller story, we always knew that there would come a point where we would want that 1989 five-part investigative news report on WPDE about J.P.'s father, Wayne Miller, and the accusations of sexual abuse made against him. Now that two civil lawsuits have been filed against JP and his father and their churches and schools, accusing JP of raping a 15-year-old and sexually assaulting a 14-year-old. And now that it's clear that the WPDE news report on Wayne will likely be used as evidence in these cases, we figured that time was now.

Last week, we had researcher and reporter Beth Braden call the station to ask if they still had these particular news segments in their archives. The answer was no. That was annoying. But right off the bat, we had fuel for our fire and we did the thing we do. We immediately began looking for other routes. We looked into broadcast associations that were around in 1989 to see if WPDE had won anything in the dim hopes that they had kept old entries. We asked a TV reporter we're friends with if she had any ideas for us in terms of how

to ask for this information. We thought about who might have gotten the videos in Discovery in connection with lawsuits. Or who might have recorded it just for funsies. We looked up the defamation case Wayne had filed against the station to see if any lawyer names were listed. We watched news videos from 1989 on WPDE's YouTube channel and re-read old newspaper articles to get names of employees from that time. And then Beth set out to find those old employees. I don't want to go too deep into where Beth turned for the information because I don't want to give away sources, obviously, but this is all just to say we were told no, and yet there we were on Thursday night, last week, watching part one of the expose on Wayne

Miller in 1989. Now we'd love to show you the four minute segment or even play the audio for you, but that would cost us up to $16,000 or more, apparently. And that's some silly math. And really funny when you think about it, WPDE does not actually have the video in their possession but they still hold the copyright for it. And that's just how it goes. We do think we have a good case here to employ the Fair Use doctrine, which allows media companies like Luna Shark to use clips from the

copyrighted material, but in a limited way without the copyright holders permission to report on or offer commentary on. But that use cannot interfere with the copyright holders ability to earn money from their copyrighted product. And that's where things get sticky when it comes to YouTube views, TikTok, et cetera. So WPDE, if you are listening, please consider posting these videos so the public can see them.

I realize you don't have them to publish, so just give us a call. In the meantime, we're gonna tell this story in our own way. That said, last week was intense. Between the horrific details outlined in Jane Doe No. 1's and Jane Doe No. 2's lawsuits, and learning more about the accusations against Wayne in the 1980s, it was a lot to take in. We knew that there were allegations of evil things happening in the Miller world,

and we obviously believe that JP and Wayne are dangerous and dishonest people in our opinions, I don't think we were fully prepared to hear more about the alleged violence and anger and cover-ups there. And certainly not when we saw that play out in the first segment of the news expose, that same alleged violence and anger and cover-ups. Until we watched the video, we knew that Wayne was accused of sexual abuse, but that's basically it. The horror of what he was accused of doing was removed from that simple accusation, right? We know it's bad, we know it's evil, but until you hear the accusations on this video from the victims, you don't get that visceral feeling of seeing that this man, this alleged man of God, has lived most of his life dodging

accountability and blaming others and seems to have not one moment of hesitation when it comes to going back to the scenes of his alleged crimes. We want to once again remind people that we are going to be talking about the details of alleged sexual violence by a man in a position of power and trust. So please consider whether that's the best thing for you to listen to further. If you do listen further, please go easy on yourself for the rest of the day. So, as you all know, Wayne Miller and his family were run out of Florence, South Carolina in the aftermath of these news reports airing in late January and early February of 1989.

We say run out, but we also know they didn't leave Florence right away. We also have the thought that Wayne might have chosen Myrtle Beach very deliberately because of the free run out. But we also know they didn't leave Florence right away. We also have the thought that Wayne might have chosen Myrtle Beach very deliberately because of the free federal land that was about to be available to the public at the time. He wanted a big piece of it to use for his church, Bible college, and kindergarten through 12 school and daycare. And last week we told you how scorched earth he was willing to go to get what he wanted, including threatening the decision makers with payback from God.

Before we get into what was in the first part of the news segment, we want to give you some of the background because this is a pattern with the Miller boys. You start out with one set of facts from the aftermath of whatever it is they're denying doing and then you start to peel back the layers until you're smack dab in the middle of what they're denying that they did. And like we said, whoa. Right after the news segments began running in early 1989, the Florence Morning News ran a story about the segments

with the headline, Glory Lansmiller says he was cleared of earlier allegations. Wayne told the paper through a prepared statement delivered by his attorney, Chip Purvis, that the accusations were made by, quote, disgruntled associates of his in 1987. Wayne denied any acts of, quote, sexual immorality. Let's take a second to talk about Chip Purvis, shall we? Wayne's attorney at the time.

Remember how we told you about a lawyer named Kim Smith who worked with Corey Fleming at his firm? The one who sat next to Mandy and me at Corey's sentencing in Charleston who cried the whole time and how she was quietly sent from Corey's firm to the 14th Circuit Solicitor's Office while she was undergoing what appeared to be a very hush-hush investigation by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, meaning how she collected a public paycheck despite the accusations of unethical behavior and dishonesty hanging over her head, and how she was eventually disbarred in a 13-page decision the likes of which we had never seen before and the likes of which many attorneys in the 14th said might actually

be unprecedented both in length and content. Chip Purvis, Wayne's attorney, might have good old girl Kim beaten here, even though his disbarment order was only eight pages. In December 2001, Chip, whose real name is Olin L. Purvis III, because of course, was disbarred by the South Carolina Supreme Court on 16 counts of unethical behavior against 16 different clients. In comparison, good old girl Kim Smith had four murders in her disbarment decision. Chips is way too detailed to go into, so let's just summarize it by saying that he appears

to have a talent for taking money in exchange for work he said he would do, but didn't. Cool attorney, Wayne. Back to the news story, Wayne, through his amazing attorney, told the paper that in December 1988 he had sat in front of a three-person panel in Spartanburg, South Carolina with the National Leadership Conference, which the paper described as, quote, a loose affiliation of ministers, laypeople, and pastors that meets to consider mutual concerns. Here's David with what went down according to the Florence Morning News. The Reverend Jamie Buckingham of Melbourne, Florida said in December the leadership conference was

asked by those making allegations against Miller to resolve the matter. Buckingham said his group, interested in keeping the controversy quote, in-house, agreed to mediate and that Miller agreed to participate. Can you believe that this minister felt so protected by the world that he lived in back in the 1980s that he literally said to the paper that they tried to sweep accusations of sexual violence under the rug. I want you to never lose sight of why churches like this want to sweep serious and persistent allegations of criminal behavior under the rug.

Because they don't want to lose your business. They don't want to lose your business. They don't want to lose your trust and your money. They see the income as more important than anything else, including child victims of sexual violence. They choose to protect their reputation over children's safety time and time again. So here's the even more insulting thing about the National Leadership Conference back then. They had no connection to Gloryland. Wayne Miller was not affiliated with any religious governing body. He made the rules for himself and the church and mostly himself, right?

And in fact, around that time, he appears to have been trying to create his own domination of charismatic Christianity. Nevertheless, Wayne agreed to sit before the panel. Why? He says that he was threatened, or rather, chose to sit before the panel, quote, under a thinly veiled threat that the story would be leaked to the Christian media unless he appeared. Miller said quote, it is no coincidence that the station chose to promote this item and run their story on the first day of a new ratings period. He's basically saying that the leadership conference blackmailed him.

So how did the news end up at WPDE if Wayne did the thing that they asked of him, right? After Wayne sat for the panel, it was recommended that Wayne undergo at least six months of rehabilitation at Christian Retreat, both capitalized, in Bradenton, Florida, which we will talk about. The panel said that Wayne agreed to do it, but Wayne reportedly left before the six months were up. Obviously, because this story was written just five weeks into the new year and the panel decision was in the first week of January. By the way, we are not saying that the leadership conference leaked this news to WPDE.

I'm just telling you why Wayne might have thought that this was retribution, even though it sounds like it's something called accountability, a foreign concept to the Miller men. In that Florence news story, Wayne said that he had the full confidence of his board of trustees at Gloryland and

that in 1987, after hearing the allegations, he underwent a period of extreme emotional distress and sought counseling, whatever that means. Wayne also told the paper that he had an emotional breakdown in 1988 and he quote, voluntarily removed himself from church work. And he said that in October, 1988, a quote, credentials committee of the Apostolic Christian Church Incorporated had ruled that there was quote, no finding of sexual immorality on Wayne's part.

That's weird, right? We'll have more on those churchy business committees that allegedly cleared Wayne in a minute. With the FIZ loyalty program, you get rewarded just for having a mobile plan. You know, for texting and stuff. And if you're not getting rewards like extra data and dollars off with your mobile plan, you're not with FIZ. Switch today. Conditions apply. Details at fiz.ca.

So let's talk about those two entities, the National Leadership Conference and the so-called Credentials Committee of the Apostolic Christian Church, Inc. The National Leadership Conference seems to have been a loosey-goosey group of charismatic ministers. A news write-up in 1979 said that the NLC was started in Bradenton, Florida. Ah, the same place where Christian retreat was. Interesting. According to the report,

NLC was started by a quote, "'group of men united in the common interest in the workings of the Holy Spirit.' But it's not clear what their mission was beyond that or beyond keeping investigations into claims of sexual assaults by charismatic preachers, quote, in-house. And then we're kidding about that in-house part because we see a lot of the same names pop up between the National Leadership Conference, Gloryland,

and Christian Retreat. We're going to talk more about this in a bit, but I want you to remember the words we use to describe Wayne's and JP's churches. We call them churchy businesses for a reason. So did NLC exist in part anyway to keep a lid on any potential threat to their collective mission of raising money through donations? It's worth a thought, but hold onto that thought for when we talk more about Christian retreat,

the place that the NLC fake sentenced Wayne to in Bradenton. Now, for the really, really, really good part. After reading about this credentials committee of the Apostolic Christian Church Incorporated that cleared Wayne in October 1988, supposedly, we had Beth Braden do a little research into it and you are not going to believe what she found. In South Carolina there is only one entity that is registered with the South Carolina Secretary of State's office that uses those three words, Apostolic Christian Church in its name, and that's a business called the Apostolic Christian Churches International, Incorporated.

Now remember, Wayne says he first heard of these sexual assault accusations in 1987. That said, this organization was registered with the Secretary of State's office in February 1988, and its registered agent is listed as Headquarters, but it's spelled HDQRTRS. That's it. Just HDQRTRS. No name. Now get this. Headquarters, but it's spelled HD QR TRS. That's it, just HD QR TRS, no name.

Now get this, it's registered address is 206 North Dunbarton Drive in Florence, South Carolina. To some of you, that address might sound familiar, as it did for Beth. So she checked out our master spreadsheet where she's been tracking every address associated with every aspect of the Miller story. And there it was 206 North Dunbarton Drive in Florence, South Carolina, the very same address as Wayne Miller's Tabernacle

Baptist Church and Glory Land. I'll give you a second to give your brain a little shake because what? You see what we're seeing, right? It looks like in 1988, after finding out about these sexual assault allegations against him, someone started an organization called Apostolic Christian Churches International Inc. and registered it to Wayne's church address. And then, a year later, Wayne claimed in the newspaper that this apparently same organization, the one registered at the same address as his church, cleared them of the sexual assault charges. Did Wayne Miller or someone affiliated with him create a Christian business entity, a churchy business, if you will, amidst this very serious and potentially criminal situation to exonerate

him in the eyes of the public. Help us understand this. And what is a credentials committee? Who was getting credentialed through this organization? And is Wayne in essence saying that he is credentialed through this organization that was created in the middle of these allegations and registered to his church? If this is what it looks like, then that would be one of the most corrupt and diabolical things we've seen a good old boy do to escape accountability. This would be like Elick Murdoch registering a business in September 2021 called Flat Tires and Roadside Shootings in the Head, Incorporated, and then citing them as having cleared him of all allegations of faking it.

Quick question. I know 1989 was a much different landscape for news reporters in terms of access to information, but how about asking for a contact name and number for this alleged credentials committee of the Apostolic Christian Church, Incorporated. How about a call over to the Secretary of State's office? How about letting the reader know what you did and didn't do to verify Wayne's claims instead of just stating them as is? How about a phone call to the law enforcement agencies in whatever town or county these sexual attacks by Wayne are alleged to have occurred. Any plans to charge him here? Because this story isn't just misleading. The paper has blood on its hands. Maybe with just a little bit of legwork, Wayne's kingdom would have crumbled in a more permanent way in the late

1980s. Maybe he wouldn't have been able to re-establish his churchy business in a town an hour and a half away. One phone call. One fact check. And maybe the Jane Doe's would have been protected from these alleged predators. One fact check. Here, we'll prove it. Beth requested the incorporation documents for this apostolic Christian Church's organization from the Secretary of State's office on Tuesday afternoon, and we got them back Wednesday morning. And uh, well, it is pretty much exactly how it looks. According to the nonprofit charter for the Apostolic Christian Churches International Inc., the actual registered agent for this group is the Reverend Lonnie B. Curl Jr.,

a known associate of Wayne's, and yes, the address is the same as Gloryland and there is a board of trustees, which according to the group's charter is also known as the Credentials Committee. Remember what the story said? Wayne said he was cleared by the Credentials Committee of this group? It's right there, in black and white. Want to know who is on the Credentials Committee that appears to have exonerated Wayne? The first name that is listed on the Credentialing Committee is Dr. R. Wayne Miller of Florence.

Wayne F-ing Miller y'all on the committee that cleared Wayne F-ing Miller of all wrongdoing in the sexual assault allegations against him. The second name on the Credentials committee is the Reverend Lonnie B. Curl Jr. of Florence, the registered agent for the group. According to newspaper clippings, Lonnie is a graduate of Wayne's Tabernacle Bible School. In 1978, Susan Miller co-hosted a bridesmaid luncheon for Lonnie's soon-to-be wife. In 1989, hmm, huh, the same year of Wayne's public outing on WPDE, Lani started a church called Lamb's Chapel Christian Center in Florence where he remains the lead pastor.

We're told it's a popular church. Lani B. Curl Jr. is also a name that appears as a signature on several mortgages with Wayne Miller. Interesting. And the third name on the credentials committee. We're not going to say it here because it is the same name as the young pastor that Susan Miller says she caught Wayne Miller in bed with in the late 1980s,

right before the accusations against him became public. So the bed guy, Lonnie Cur Carl Jr., the mortgage signer, and Wayne Miller himself cleared Wayne Miller of, quote, sexual immorality. Might have been nice to know that sooner, right? Might have been nice if Lonnie Carl Jr. and the bed guy had said, no, Wayne, this isn't okay. So many reporters over the years who have covered Wayne Miller are completely guilty of overlooking his proven bad behavior and the accusations of even worse behavior,

including the New York Post, who published a story in May, 2024 with the headline, quote, Esee Pastor's father calls Micah Miller a very, very sick woman, and Bash's claims that son drove her to suicide. In this New York Post story written by Ronnie Reyes, where he was basically just rewriting a better story

by the Daily Mail, Ronnie left out some extremely important context about Micah Miller's pastor father-in-law. The story reads like Wayne is just your average father-in-law who should be believed when he says that Micah was crazy and suicidal just because his son is a pastor. And he also puts the word pastor in front of his name. Ronnie left out context, like the fact that for starters, Wayne Miller has no business saying that anyone

is sick in the head. And any person with eyes and a brain could reach that conclusion with just one scroll through his little Wayne Miller and Friends Facebook group. For starters, Ronnie left out the fact that Wayne is a convicted felon for essentially enslaving foreign workers at his Bible college in 2014. Oh, and Ronnie left out the fact that Wayne pleaded guilty to indecent exposure in 2006 for allegedly following an undercover police officer into a public bathhouse at Myrtle

Beach State Park and asking that undercover officer what he was into. I reread the only story that we could find on that incident at the time, and while we're on the topic of male reporters leaving out important context and giving good ol' boys a pass, I have to talk about this story in the Sun News, written by reporter David Wren in December 2006, which was literally just a couple months after Wayne Miller married one of his wives. The headline says, Pastor pre-trial program like Wayne Miller was doing some kind of good deed.

And the subhead says leader charged with prostitution and lewdness at park. I would think that those two things would be switched. In the 2006 story, David Wren gave entirely too much ink for Wayne Miller to confuse and subdue the story. He wrote that Wayne claimed that someone trying to screw with his sketchy land deal, you know, where the solid rock building is today, leaked the police report to the newspaper all to destroy him and his mission. But like, David wrote the story and he knows where

the police report came from. Why would he let Wayne take control of the narrative like that? And it doesn't matter who leaked the police report. What matters is what is in it. Again, it was stunning. A detective named Danny Furr was running a specific operation to crack down on the increasing problem

of male indecent exposure in Myrtle Beach parks. Yes, this was a thing, specifically in bathhouses and trails. And while undercover, Furr said that he was in a stall urinal when Miller walked up behind him with no pants on and tried to look at his genitals. The police report said Miller then walked into the changing station and nodded to join him while he wasn't wearing any pants.

All Winnie the Pooh style. So that's crazy, right? But the crazy thing is that David Wren of the Myrtle Beach Sun News let Wayne Miller explain himself in this story. And Miller's explanation was that Furr asked him what he liked to do in this bath house, and then Wayne asked if he was a police officer, and Furr said no, and Wayne got nervous and started to get dressed, and then Furr arrested him.

That's his big explanation. A good reporter would have emphasized the context that this explanation is absurd, because it does not explain why Wayne was walking around with no pants, like Winnie the Pooh, in a public bathroom that was known for these types of encounters. Also, in 2006, David Wren did not mention the WPDE series. Small tweaks in any of these stories would have made a huge difference. Tweaks like giving victims like Micah the benefit of the doubt that she deserved,

instead of treating undeserving men like Wayne Miller with kid gloves. There are not two sides of a story when one person has proven to be a liar. Details make a huge difference in these stories, and the few details from the WPDE story that exposed Wayne Miller deserve to come to light. Obviously, we can't go back in time and change things, and we don't need JP's dumb DeLorean to change the future. We all have the power to do that, always, and at any time, any one of us can make a decision to break cycles and not only stand up for

what's right, but to stand up against what is wrong." Okay, so after the WPDE expose on Wayne ran in 1989, he filed a $5 million defamation case against the station and its owner diversified communications according to a news story from the time. The Florence Morning News quoted Wayne's March 15, 1989 lawsuit as saying WPDE, quote, knew the story was untrue and making the publication, the defendant acted with malicious intent. The station manager told the paper, quote, we stand by the stories we broadcast

and we intend to defend them vigorously. Two months later, on May 26th, 1989, the Florence Morning News ran another story about the lawsuit with the headline, WPDE Lawsuit is Withdrawn. Here is David with what that story said. Calling it a victory for all responsible journalists and vindication for his station,

WPDE Vice President and General Manager Bill Christian, announced Thursday that Florence Minister Wayne Miller has withdrawn his $5 million liable suit against the television station. The law suit was, quote, voluntarily withdrawn Wednesday, according to Miller's attorney, because although the minister of Gloryland Tabernacle Baptist Church, quote, remained in the house, the lawsuit was not considered a lawsuit. The lawsuit was, quote, voluntarily withdrawn Wednesday,

according to Miller's attorney, because although the minister of Gloryland Tabernacle Baptist Church quote, remains convinced of the rightness of his position both legally and morally, he does not wish to put his family through additional financial or emotional strain. End quote. final strain." End quote. Sorry to interrupt, but I want to remind everyone what Wayne was putting his family through at the time by again sharing some relevant testimony from his ex-wife Susan to whom he

was still married at that time. In an affidavit from 2001, Susan said in the late 1980s she, Wayne, and their kids, just JP and his brother at the time, lived in a quote, beautiful two story home with four bedrooms, a library, a den, a playroom, and a Florida room. She said the yard was manicured and they were surrounded by a brick fence. It was there at that home that she found Wayne in one of the bedrooms with a quote, handsome young minister who had attended their Bible college a few years earlier.

I was shocked, Susan said. Shortly after that, two wives of Bible college students in their 30s told her that Wayne had tried to feel their husband's genitals, wrestle with them, or climb on top of them when they were at speaking engagements together. Susan said, my world began slowly crumbling. I was devastated and wondered just what kind of person I had married.'"

A few months later, after hearing more rumors about Wayne's alleged sexual violence, is when WPDE came out with five nights of Wayne news. Quote, "'I became fearful for my children and for me. I wondered if I could possibly get AIDS from Wayne. The families in our neighborhood began talking about us and the things they said embarrassed my children so much. My sons lost their friends and became lonely as no mothers would even let their children come to my house again. We tried everything to build a ministry again,

but we eventually had to move out of Florence. No one would forget the television report aired by WPDE. So we packed up and moved to Myrtle Beach. I helped him start a brand new ministry called Cathedral. We covered his mistakes up in Florence, hoping no one would ever find out. So Wayne wasn't wrong. His family had suffered. But let's face it, the way to defend a defamation case is with the truth. So the truth is very important there.

And boy, does the truth come out during defamation cases. What I'm saying is, Wayne's filing seems to be nothing but performative. The legal appendage gets put on the table and then gets immediately tucked back away when the rulers come out. It's yet another trait Wayne seems to have passed down to JP, in our opinion.

Back to the May 1989 news story. Here's David again. Quote, I hardly see it as vindication. I don't see anything responsible about their action. So I don't see it as a victory for responsible journalists," said Miller's attorney. Quote, Wayne just made a decision that he couldn't take anymore, end quote. Poor Wayne, right? Why is everyone so mean to him? Let's talk about what that WPD news report said in part one. Like we said, we're going to have David help us recreate it. To get you in the right headspace though, I want you to picture an old television,

like one of those big ones with wooden case around it and an antenna. Your parents have just gotten home from work and dinner is on the table. The news is blaring in the living room and you can see the news report from your dining room table. Picture a plain old news set with plants in the background and aggressively unrefined graphics, dull colors, and a feeling of shakiness, even though the cameras are still. I want you to picture big hair, big hair, and shoulder pads, an unapologetic red lipstick.

And I want you to picture a crisp Lego man haircut. Welcome to Florence, South Carolina, 1989. I'm going to start with the news anchor's lead in and then hand it off to David. She said, During the past year or so, sex scandals have surfaced involving some of evangelism's top men. Empires have literally crumbled. It now appears allegations of sexual misconduct by a leading evangelist have come to Florence.

This story involves the Florence Baptist Tabernacle Church, known as Gloryland. I've learned the pastor, Reverend Wayne Miller, one of South Carolina's most influential religious leaders, is the center of attention of a national leadership conference. We warn some of this material may not be suitable for young children. On the outside of the Gloryland ministry looks as peaceful and serene as any other church. But concerns of Reverend Miller's alleged sexual misconduct with some of his religious associates has sparked an investigation by his peers, the National Leadership Conference.

They've been looking into allegations of what some of his associates have claimed were homosexual advances. Miller was summoned by a letter to appear before the conference to answer undisclosed allegations. In a November 29 letter obtained by Action News, Miller was informed that a number of his former associates brought serious charges, which the board could not ignore. During this were shown a graphic that says, Fall from Grace, and then a foggy camera shot

of the outside of Gloryland with a graphic that says, Fall from Grace, and then a foggy camera shot of the outside of Gloryland with a sign that said, Home of Tabernacle Baptist Church, Gloryland Bible College, St. Paul's Academy, Gloryland Daycare and Kindergarten, a full gospel, charismatic ministry. Then we're shown the Miller family's church photo with the camera zoomed in only on Wayne, who has a full head of brown hair and a mustache.

And then we get to see the letter. Of course, we had to pause to see if we could decipher what it said. The letter had said National Leadership Conference on it with a list of presumable members along the side that wasn't discernable. But here's what we can make out of the letter. Dear Wayne, it is with deep concern for you, your family, and the body of Christ, that we write you and your local presbytery. Recently, a number of pastors previously associated with you, Glory Land, and the Apostolic Christian Charters International presented themselves to us. Christian Charters International presented themselves to us. They brought serious charges which we cannot ignore.

The members of our Board of Directors have allowed your ministry to display at our conferences and many of us have personally ministered side by side with you. We love you and feel a certain responsibility in your situation. We fully understand that we do not have ecclesiastical authority in this matter. However, the Board of Ministers unanimously have agreed to provide a forum for arbitration and reflection in this crisis. The men who appealed to us are requesting the National Leadership Conference Directors to fill that role and we are willing to abide by the findings. Therefore, for us to assume the authority necessary for resolution and restoration,

it would be necessary for you, your local presbytery, or other governing body, to invite our oversight. Such an invitation would include an agreement to abide by the findings arrived at by our representatives. These would be in the areas of a finding of guilt or innocence, a restoration process if necessary, and future ministry. After hearing the accusations, we are very mindful of Proverbs 18 17 and want to hear both sides of this situation. The board of directors approaches this with an open mind and an open heart.

Proverbs 18 17, by the way, says quote, the first to plead his case seems right until another comes and examines him. So this letter is a perfect example of why male-dominated organizations like churches have served as predators playgrounds for centuries. Their goal in this matter is ultimately self-preservation, at the expense of the safety of their own lower-ranking church members. Safety is not mentioned in this letter. Also, nothing specific is mentioned in this letter. It doesn't even say the word sexual.

It goes back to the point that we made last week on COJ, how blanketed, vague language only helps the abusers and hurts the victims. Nothing in this letter would threaten a man like Wayne Miller. It's not even a reprimand. The letter is a soft green light, telling Wayne, we know what you're doing, wink, wink. And instead of going to the police or taking this matter seriously, we know what you're doing, wink wink. And instead of going to the police, or taking this matter seriously, we are going to keep allowing for this to happen because we are more concerned about reputation than safety in this churchy business of ours. More on that in a minute.

We'll be right back. So, according to the WPDE broadcast, there were five participants in the Spartanburg meeting that the newspaper mentioned. But where the paper said that this meeting took place in December? Probably going off of Wayne as their source. Turns out, this meeting actually took place on January 4, 1989. Several men alleged that Wayne had made unwanted sexual advances on them. One of Wayne's former associates appeared on the broadcast to talk about the victim's testimony in

front of the panel. The station altered his voice and when we say altered, picture a man's voice trying to imitate sloth from the Goonies and then put that in a garbage disposal, make it more scary, then throw it in a murky babbling brook. Technology was weird back then, but luckily there were subtitles. Here is David reading what the former associate of Wayne Miller said about Wayne. He would ask them to go to a tanning booth

and then, you know, while they were there, while they were dressing, then he would more or less attack them, you know, and he stuck his hands in their pants and grabbed their testicles and said if they said anything, he'd squeeze harder, you know. These were some of the testimonies that were brought up. Then we were introduced to the voice of another man who was at the January 4th meeting, who we will call Reverend Vinson. According to the broadcast, Vinson was a teacher at Gloryland in the 1980s.

It's important to note that Vincent agreed to use his first and last name in the broadcast, but we're not going to use his full name here because this is a different time where the internet exists and while this man chose to tell his story in the 1980s, we know that that choice is different now. And Vincent, if you're out there, please give Mark or Randy a call. Here is David with what Vincent said about Wayne. "...he made a sexual advance at me.

He jumped on my bed and he started, you know, wrestling. And then he grabbed my private area, threw the on the sheets actually, and wouldn't let go. And it was kind of threatening. You know, what should I do? What should I do, you know, to the point where I actually had to talk him off. The report goes on to say that all of the participants that WPDE spoke with told them

that Wayne admitted to the board that he did make sexual advances, including some in hotel rooms. They told the station that Wayne agreed to seek help. In another letter that is illegible to us but included a subtitled excerpt, Wayne was told a week later by the National Leadership Conference to quote, relinquish immediately all spiritual

and legal authority at Gloryland for a minimum of six months. Next, WPDE interviewed a man wearing dark sunglasses who also chose to be named in the broadcast. But we will only call him by his first name, Reverend Dennis, who was reportedly also at Wayne's hearing on January 4, 1989. Dennis told WPDE that Wayne did go to the Christian retreat in Bradenton, Florida, but only stayed for two weeks, which is a timeline that seems to fit here because this story

ran just three and a half weeks after Wayne's meeting with the panel. What is Christian retreat in Bradenton, Florida? That is a great question because we all know the reporters covering the story of Wayne's alleged abuse in 1989 didn't seem to ask. Or maybe they thought everyone already knew, because maybe everyone in Florida, South Carolina already did. Needless to say, Christian Retreat wasn't a rehab center for accused sexual offenders. It was a resort, famous among the charismatic

born-again Christians set. A resort slash conference center slash mega church slash neighborhood slash place to live. And it was started in 1968 by a Sarasota minister named Gerald Durstine of Gospel Crusade Incorporated. It was the second iteration of Christian retreat. Durstine had another one in Minnesota. He described his Bradenton retreat as a place where Christians from around the world could gather, find peace from the modern world, and gain strength. Okay, so I'm going to talk about Christian retreat in the past tense, even though it still exists today and is still run by one of Gerald Durstyn's sons. I'm going to talk about it as it existed in 1989 when Wayne Miller was sentenced to six months of rehabilitation there.

At that time, Christian Retreat took up 110 acres on the upper Manatee River in Bradenton, so on the west coast of Florida, about an hour or so south of Tampa. It was a prime piece of real estate amid high-priced homes with owners who didn't always appreciate Christian Retreat's plans for mobile homes, camper hookups, condominiums, hotel rooms, and dormitory. One man told the county council that he'd rather live next to thousands of cows than Christian Retreat. There were also battles with the government over taxes. Christian Retreat maintained that all its buildings, including its restaurant and hotel, were tax-exempt because they were used for religious purposes. The county

wanted its resort tax income. In a 1987 profile of Christian Retreat in the Bradenton Herald, it was described as a special neighborhood. Actually, Christian Retreat in the Bradenton Herald, it was described as a special neighborhood. Actually Christian Retreat's receptionist at the time said that about it. With the look of a country club or resort and the feel of a college campus, by that time Christian Retreat had long past made a name for itself nationally. To keep the money coming in, Durstine was filming several TV segments a week asking for donations and promising viewers that, quote, God wants you to have more things,

more things to make you happy. Literally, he said things. He was also traveling and speaking to crowds across the country, soliciting donations and talking about how his followers leave luxury items to his church, like gold teeth fillings, Cadillacs, and mink coats. In 1978, the Tampa Tribune portrayed Christian retreat as a lucrative business, which offended a few readers. The paper wrote that for Gerald Durstine, God is a growth industry and one without the impediment of federal taxation. Which

brings us back to the National Leadership Conference, which appears to have some sort of association with Durstine and Christian Retreat. Was Wayne a fire that they needed to put out because of what was happening at this time in born-again Christian history? See, Christian Retreat attracted big names in the born-again Christian crowd.

Jim and Tammy Faye Bakers, PTL Network, filmed there every year. Old Jim Baker even built his own Christian retreat-inspired resort in Fort Mill, South Carolina, called Heritage USA. There was Jimmy Carter's sister Ruth Carter Stapleton, who came there as a speaker, and singer and anti-homosexuality activist Anita Bryant, who told a Christian retreat audience that homosexuality is an abomination, a decadence, who told a Christian Retreat audience that homosexuality is an abomination, a decadence, and mostly a choice. Pat Robertson and his controversial political views even paid several visits to Christian

Retreat. There were daily mandatory church services and an endless list of speakers, singers, concerts, programs, workshops, and even camps for kids, like I said. Christian retreat was a key tool in growing and keeping their economic base, their church customer, if you will. Now the late 1980s, exactly at the time when Wayne Miller started facing his accusations in 1987 and 1988, is also when certain hypocrisies in the charismatic Christian community started to become apparent, and it dealt a blow to the churchy businesses across the country. Jimmy Swaggart, Mr. Ha-ha-sind, was caught hiring sex workers.

Oral Roberts was facing criticism for his aggressive fundraising techniques and his lavish spending on himself. And obviously there were the accusations of Jim Baker's sexual misconduct with one of his church secretaries and the financial fraud that landed him in federal prison. There were growing questions about how all those donations had been used. In 1988, Christian retreat was also in crisis. Gospel Crusade Inc. was millions of dollars in debt, which Durstine attributed to the universal drop in donations that every charismatic

born-again Christian church was experiencing as a result of the televangelist's bad behavior getting found out. But his director of development begged to differ, telling the press that this debt was due to a quote, 10 year lack of fiscal responsibility and stewardship by the Durstine family. So yeah, great place to send Wayne Miller to, to atone for his sins. We read about 20 years worth of stories about Christian retreat, trying to figure out what the heck it was. And the closest we got to any logical and moral explanation as to why the National Leadership Conference might have thought sending Wayne Miller to a resort instead of a police station after the sexual assault allegations against him was this one quote from Phil Durstine,

the son of Gerald who took over the place. Quote, people come here so they can face God, which sure, we all know Wayne Miller needed to face God, but at a place that boasts exotic ducks and peacocks roaming around, and a petting zoo and tennis courts, canoeing, bird watching, fishing, hiking, boating, volleyball, tennis, and a big heated pool to swim in, with a recording studio and a set to film television shows, a funny story about Christian

retreat. In 1974, right after the movie The Exorcist came out, the Bradenton Herald had a front page story. Yes, front page. Featuring the Reverend Durstine, the founder of the retreat, who warned the public against attempting an exorcism on their own. This is a literal paragraph from the story. Quote, they run the risk of spirits entering their bodies, he said. The Reverend Durstine told the paper that he does about one exorcism a year. And he told a story about a girl who was addicted to heroin and came to him for help. He told the paper that he wasn't able to help her that night because she wouldn't come

close to him. Quote, I asked her if she was afraid of me and she kept saying yes, no, like she was fighting something in herself, he said. So he connected her with a group of ministers, he said, and he said they couldn't help her. So he recommended Christian retreat. At the camp, he said he observed her and waited for her to ask him for help, which I thought she already did, Gerald. Isn't that why she was there? He told the paper that the girl loved the darkness and had to enjoy the night and that she had a desire to kill.

He said that he had been warned that this girl had already thrown one man down a set of stairs. So one day when they were praying and she was getting agitated, presumably because of her demon, she started to become violent and he said he had to call for help. Quote, it took two strong men to wrench her hands from my throat. He says they fought for hours with her howling and screaming. And then the girl's first words to Durstine, according to Durstine, when the devil was expelled were, you're beautiful. So, was that what was supposed to happen to Wayne

during those six months? What's perversely funny about this whole thing is that Wayne only lasted a few weeks there. He was sent to a place that should have been heaven on earth for him, for a man of God, and a place he should have been thankful for because the alternative, in our opinion, should have been handcuffs.

So why did he leave? Was he resentful that National Leadership Conference ministers thought they could tell him what to do? Was he jealous at what he was seeing because Christian retreat seems to be everything he wanted for Gloryland? Was he worried about losing control of his own churchy business by being away from it? Or did he know that it didn't matter? That the National Leadership Conference couldn't do anything to him? That there would be no consequence to his alleged actions? Because guess what? In 1990, just a year after his six-month fake sentencing to Christian retreat,

and just a year after leaving within two weeks, Wayne had a commencement speaker at his Glory Land Bible College, the Reverend Gerald Durstine. I guess the sexual assault accusations against Wayne didn't bother Durstine too much, because that sure is validating for Wayne, huh? Having the man himself speak to his students, the same population that Wayne is accused of pulling from for

his alleged testicle grabbing. I wonder why Gerald Durstine—oh wait, here's David with excerpts from a 2010 blog post on a Minnesota lawyer's website. The leader of a northern Minnesota Christian retreat center took advantage of his grandfather-like role in a girl's life and inappropriately touched and pleaded in writing with the girl and her mother to call off authorities who were investigating him in 2009 for the alleged sexual abuse. Durstein has run Strawberry Lake Christian Retreat for more than 45 years. Where attorneys alleged he sexually abused thereat for more than 45 years. Where attorneys alleged he sexually abused the girl from August 2007 to July 2009 when she was

11 to 13. The girl's attorneys Patrick Nocher and Sarah Odegaard said Dirstestein groomed the girl, now 14, by giving her toys and candy. He called her into his office daily, where the abuse occurred, Odegaard said. One incident occurred in a motel room, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court. The girl had little contact with her father, so her family and Durstein agreed

that Durstein would mentor her. In a transcript of the phone call, Durstein allegedly said, quote, I tried to be a close friend to you, and that's what I was trying to do. And perhaps in the long run, I shouldn't have done that. And then the 14-year-old girl said, quote, um, tell me that it was okay that you touched my breast,

you know, when I was up in your office and Durstein cut her off. Yeah, he said, quote, the only reason I did that was because I was trying to encourage you, uh, to, to let you know that I'm recognizing that you're growing, that you're becoming an adult, and I wanted, um, as a father figure. I thought that was alright. The blog notes that Durstein denied the allegations, by the way, and the county police declined to file criminal charges. So yeah, Durstein appears to have been unbothered by the accusations against Wayne in the big middle finger Wayne appears to have given to Durstine's Christian retreat. The sexual assault accusations and attempted coverup might not have bothered

people like Durstine, but it bothers us and it should bother you. Because this so-called churchy business investigation into Wayne's alleged sexual acts was purely a mission to protect their common interest as quote unquote preachers. And I'm putting that word in quotation marks because we see Wayne and his Nepo baby son as nothing more than salesmen using the word of God to prey upon people's trust and their wallets to meet their personal financial goals. These types of cover-ups aren't just to spare embarrassment, they are to protect the source of income.

And there is a sacrifice being made. A deal with the devil, if you will. The money is more important than the future damage a man like Wayne Miller might do to other people, so contain the victims, silence them in exchange for a godly solution, and send Wayne off to a country club for half a year. Great plan.

So back to the WPDE broadcast. Here is David again reading from the transcript. Another person at that conference, Reverend Dennis Chavis, says Miller did go to the Christian retreat in Bradenton, Florida, but that after about two weeks, Miller returned to Gloryland, removed into a minister J.T. Lastinger, and resumed control over the ministry. Action News went to Gloryland in person in an attempt to give Reverend Miller an opportunity

to respond to the accusations and the conference's request. But he indicated to us that he did not wish to participate in an on-camera interview. The WPDE reporter is filmed walking into Gloryland and in the doorway of Wayne's apparent office where Wayne is shutting the door. On the door, there's a sign taped that says, quote, faith is living with invisible means of support.

The reporter then asked him, you still have no comment. I was going to give you an opportunity to comment. Then Wayne responds, no comment, not at all. Here is David again. In an earlier phone conversation with Miller, he not only denied making any advances to anyone, but he also insisted the leadership conference had

absolutely no authority over him or his church. No one member of the conference says he was disappointed that Miller refused to remain at the Florida retreat for a restoration period. He also noted the conference was planning to meet again to continue their discussions on the matter and what to do next. Decide what to do next?

Were they gonna invite a travel agent to the next meeting and allow Wayne to pick out his next resort destination? The allegations against Wayne weren't just serious in the layperson's world, where it is a literal crime to sexually assault someone. They were, it appears, the only accusations of homosexual sexual assault being made against a top evangelist at the time. And well, evangelists have some pretty strong opinions against gay people.

As Anita Bryant said to the Christian Retreat crowd back in the 1970s, they see homosexuality as an abomination, which, they say, is supported by the laws given to them by the Holy Bible. Imagine this group of national leadership conference men already dealing with the precipitous drop in donations happening at the time because of Jim and Tammy Faye Baker and Jimmy Swagger and Oral Roberts. It went from heterosexual dalliances with sex workers and financial fraud to Wayne Miller from Florence, South Carolina allegedly wrestling his colleagues in hotel beds and not letting go of their scrotum. The ministers found a 110-acre rug to sweep Wayne under, but it turns out it wasn't big

enough. And yet, we all know what Wayne's future after 1989 looked like. We all know what brought it to a screeching halt. That's Micah's death and the utter bravery of Jane Doe I and Jane Doe II to come forward. A bravery that the National Leadership Conference of Ministers didn't have a single drop of in 1989. Stay tuned, stay pesky, and stay in the sunlight.

True Sunlight is a Lunashark production created by me, Mandy Matney. Co-hosted and reported by journalist Liz Farrell. Research support provided by Beth Braden. Audio production support provided by Jamie Hoffman. Learn more about our mission and membership at lunasharkmedia.com. Interruptions provided by Luna and Joe Pesky.