Denial and almost subtle blame-shifting

Denial: It ain't just a river is Christa Brown's gentle, detail by detail portrait of an unrepentant Southern Baptist sexual predator on his way to prison.

For 29 years Music minister at First Baptist of Benton, Arkansas, David Pierce was charged with 54 counts of sexual indecency with children and in a plea bargain pleaded guilty to four.

Pierce was as a result sentenced to two six-year terms to run concurrently and two four-year terms to run concurrently, followed by an additional term of two years’ suspended sentence. Upon his release from prison, he will be required to register as a sex offender and will be listed as an habitual offender

After sentencing, Pierce had his attorney read a sermonesque statement which said in part:

Our family has learned that forgiveness and reconciliation are the first steps to mending broken hearts. To that end, I express my most sincere apologies to every person affected by my actions. It was never my intention to hurt anyone.

The children he used to pleasure himself sexually over the decades are invisible. They are lost amid those "affected" by his actions, because he is seeking to exculpate himself. It is a classical pattern, also seen in an April letter to church officials in which Pierce asserted that he did not “engage in actual sexual contact.”

The almost subtle implication is that the victims are to blame. An implication reinforced by First Baptist pastor, the Rev. Rick Grant, who in a statement reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette said it was hard to see a friend, mentor and a colleague “end up in this kind of circumstance.”

Oh yes, and, “I’m also sad for the victims in this ordeal - young men and their families who trusted David as a teacher and leader.”

Also?

Contrast those statements with the concern for the victims of Prosecuting Attorney Ken Casady

In bringing this case to resolution, the things I considered were Mr. Pierce’s actions toward the victims, the long-term insidious nature of these actions, and the impact of those actions on the victims.

Read Brown's thorough and systematic analysis here.