Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Suspect in latest Kanakuk sex crime being held in Alabama jail

Oanow.com in Auburn, Ala. reports that former Kanakuk staff member Lee Bradberry, charged last Friday with sex felony sex crimes involving underage boys, has been arrested and is being held while awaiting extradition:
Bradberry was taken into custody without incident at 3:43 p.m. at an Auburn residence, Auburn Police Division Capt. Tom Stofer said. Stofer declined to disclose the residence’s location.





 


Stofer said Auburn police were contacted Monday by the Taney County Sheriff’s Office (Mo.) officials who gave them a local address where he was arrested. Stofer confirmed that Bradberry is an Auburn University student.

Bradberry is charged with two counts of first degree statutory sodomy, two counts of child molestation, sexual misconduct, and first degree attempted statutory sodomy. The children involved were 9, 10, and 12, and the events took place at the camp in June 2011, according to online Taney County Circuit Court records.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

The newspaper quoted (oanow.com) is not in auburn, al. It is in Opelika, Al. Just an error. auburn is a suburb located next to Opelika, Al, the Lee County seat.

Anonymous said...

how does this not make national news?...a second very serious "situation" at Kanakuk !!

I imagine that if Brad is from Auburn (not just a student) that he was in Pete Newman's youth group. If he was in Pete's youth group then... God bless HIm.

It is all so sad.

Anonymous said...

While he was not in the youth group at the same time that Pete worked there, it was the same youth group. He was under the leadership of college students who had been in a discipleship group led by Pete Newman. Also, Lee knew Pete well as he would come and visit the church and participate in youth group activities. I know for a fact that they spent time together.

Anonymous said...

Funny, he looks a lot like Pete's victims.

Ross the punching bag said...

I don't have any sympathy for this guy, even if he was a victim of Pete's. There are plenty of victims of childhood abuse that DON'T turn into pedophiles. I've represented a couple in my practice. It's not fair to suggest that anyone who is the victim of abuse should be disqualified from working with kids.

There should be no consideration given to Lee's past - if he had attraction to young boys, it is his responsibility to 1) remove himself from any job where there might be young boys and 2) get professional help. He didn't do that. So using past abuse as an excuse is akin to a drunk driver who kills people saying "I'm an alcoholic." It simply doesn't matter.

Anonymous said...

@ Ross-

Question.

Using your logic. Joe White has been going to the victims parents and victims for the last 3 years with a personal testimony of how he was molested as a young person, and he knew that Pete was, and was trying to do what God wanted him to do... Ahem.

So, this Bradberry kid should fry, but Joe White should not be held accountable?

Do you get what some of us were trying to tell you a couple of years ago? We know more about this story, and while you've been defending Kanakuk and Joe White, some of this is downright disgusting.

You're not a punching bag. You're just like every other Kanakuk supporter who just "got it."

Anonymous said...

I don't think anyone was suggesting that he should be excused...just that it seems that the awfulness has far reaching effects.

Ross said...

I really don't consider myself a Kanakuk supporter. At all. And I can't speak to what Joe's been telling the families of victims. If Joe is making this about Joe, it's terrible. And if Joe White knew that Pete was a risk to kids Joe will and should be held accountable. I do think that Collin Sparks' e-mail to parents this weekend was much more forthcoming and much less self-serving than Joe's revelation regarding Pete (which rightfully upset everyone).

Anonymous said...

I knew both of these guys, and I just have to say, I am shocked. I am from Auburn. Pete would come here and recruit for Kanakuk all the time. He would eat lunch with the high school guys, and they fell in love with him. He would speak at churches recruiting for Kanakuk, and most everyone wanted to interview for a position as soon as he was done speaking. I spoke with him many times, and he seemed like one of the most God-seeking men I knew.

Lee was a few years younger then me, but we also knew each other fairly well. He was respected by everyone in his graduating class. He was very prayerful, and mentioned his love for the Lord in everything he did. He was a very vocal leader in his youth group. He was the absolute last person in his class that ANYONE would have thought to do something like this. I have spoken with several of his friends since this has all come about, and they are devastated. There is a mixture of extreme anger, sadness, and sympathy for him.

All this to say, when I first found out who Pete really was, I was absolutely shocked. I couldn't believe it. And now that this has all come about with Lee, I don't even know what to think. I hope, for their sake, that they weren't complete hypocrits and liars. I hope a small part of them actually "believed" in what they "preached". I hope that while they are in prison for life, they can bring some of their fellow prisoners to Christ.

However, I thank God they will be locked up, away from society, for the rest of their life.

Anonymous said...

@12:01PM

Would you share with us Joe White's testimony of his childhold molestion? Joe has had to tell a lot of families this story, so it can not be considered a private matter. I would prefer to have this information now and not after my child has been hurt. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

The real question is who was Lee's mentor/leader? And then who was that guy's mentor/leader)? If you know or figure this out then the question of: Could this have been prevented if the the correct actions were taken when prior events happened? Just a question that anyone outside of Auburn has NO knowledge of. But should be questioned.

Anonymous said...

FYI...Mr. Bradberry is in Taney County now.

Anonymous said...

lee is not in taney county he is still in auburn al and does not have to go back to taney county until sep 1