Police: Boy, 13, Tortured And Abused In Front Of Bible Study Group

Wednesday May 16, 2012

A 13-year-old boy was tortured multiple times in a church-run group home

Corona pastor Lonny L. Remmers’ alleged assault on a 13-year-old boy took place during a Bible study session as a circle of men watched, newly released court records say.

The Press-Enterprise reports

Remmers, head of the Heart of Worship Community Church, has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon and inflicting corporal injury on a minor. [Nicholas J.] Craig and [Darryll D.] Jeter have been charged with kidnapping and assaulting the boy, among other crimes. All three defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Police believe Remmers directed Craig and Jeter to “scare” the boy after his mother brought the boy to Remmers to be disciplined. Court documents allege that on March 18, Craig and Jeter took the unidentified boy to the desert, made him dig a grave, threw dirt on him and hit him with a belt before returning to the group home and assaulting him there.

Among the new allegations made in the affidavits is that either Craig or Jeter rubbed salt in the boy’s wounds. Larkey said that when the boy was showering after the desert trip, one of the men placed the salt into the cuts on the boy’s back. Larkey said he could hear the boy screaming.

Also, Larkey said, the next day he saw blood all over the shower. The boy told Voorhees that he had been stripped, bound to a chair and sprayed with Mace. His nose began to bleed, and because of the pain of the Mace on his face, he thrashed his face from side to side, causing the blood to spatter.

Later that day, March 19, the boy was brought to a men’s Bible study in the garage of Remmers’ Sloan Drive home, Larkey said. He said there were about 12 people there and that Remmers asked the boy to sit in the center of a group of men. Larkey said he heard Remmers say “Get me some pliers,” Voorhees wrote.

When the boy lifted his shirt, Larkey said, Remmers squeezed a nipple, causing the boy to cry out in pain. Voorhees later interviewed the boy, who Voorhees said reluctantly cooperated and denied crying out in pain or asking Remmers to stop.

Heart of Worship Community Church

Lonny Remmers heads the home-based Heart of Worship Community Church in Corona, California. The church, which is said to have 15-20 members, operates a group home that Nicholas Craig and Darryll Jeter are part of.

According to the Press-Enterprise, former Heart of Worship members refer to the organization as a cult, with Lemmers controlling what books you read, what Bible version to use, and which movies you can watch.

The former members said Remmers attempted to dictate church members’ activities through intimidation.

According to the paper

In a separate report the paper also says Remmers has been in legal trouble before

Remmers, 54, has left a trail of emotional, physical and financial pain behind him since the late 1980s, according to court records, news accounts and interviews with family members and associates. [....]

Remmers also is facing a civil complaint. Fifth Third Bank in Ohio is seeking $10 million from him, contending in a lawsuit that he swindled a developer by setting up phony companies and making false promises.

Remmers has been required to pay other civil judgments against him for thousands of dollars, has been called a bigamist in divorce papers and was served with a restraining order by a girlfriend who said he threw her against a wall, according to court records.

In addition, the paper notes, some people say his sermons are laced with profanities and that he physically attacked a congregant who failed to obey his directives.

In the same report the Press Enterprise explains

[Lonny Remmers'] profile on the business-networking website Linked In lists Remmers as owner-director of Fire Escape Ministries, which appears to be an umbrella organization over Heart of Worship, Trinity Resource Network, Re-Entry Ministries (with Remmers as president-director) and Ministry 2 Men, among other groups.

The profile says Fire Escape/Re-Entry offers a Christian Aftercare Program that acts as a conduit between prisons or community-based programs and churches to help people with reintegration into society.

The assistance includes 12 months of “strict Bible-based programming,” anger management, stress management, parenting, financial management training and counseling. Food, shelter, clothing, vocational training, job placement assistance, transportation and legal and medical help are also provided.

Remmers once held Heart of Worship services at the old Corona civic center. The church website listed a storefront address on Main Street that is now closed and advertised services and Bible studies at Remmers’ Sloan Drive home and at a house on Myers Street in Riverside. Neighbors of the Sloan residence have said they could hear Remmers cursing during services.
The websites for Fire Escape and Heart of Worship were taken down after Remmers’ child-abuse arrest.

A court date for Remmers, Craig and Jeter has been set for June 8.

A 13-year-old boy was tortured multiple times in a church-run group home, including being assaulted during a Bible study at his pastor’s Corona home, court documents show.

A witness reported in affidavits for search warrants several allegations involving Lonny L. Remmers, pastor of Heart of Worship Community Church, and two men who lived in one of Remmers’ group homes, Nicholas J. Craig and Darryll D. Jeter Jr.

The alleged incidents occurred in March and included Craig and Jeter driving the unidentified boy to a desert and forcing him to dig his own grave for more than an hour. They allegedly hit him with a belt and threw dirt on him before returning to the group home.

While the boy was showering, one of the men allegedly rubbed salt into the cuts on his back. Witness Steven Larkey, who lives in the group home, told investigators he could hear the boy screaming and saw blood all over the shower the next day.

The boy, who was later taken into protective custody, also told police he had been stripped, tied to a chair and sprayed with Mace. Because he was not allowed to wash or cool off with water for half an hour, his nose began to bleed, and his thrashing from the pain caused the blood to splatter.

Craig and Jeter were allegedly directed by Remmers to “scare” the boy, who told police his mother placed him in the all-male home because he was “being disciplined for his behavior and not accepting responsibility for his actions,” records show.

The boy’s mother and sister, who live in a home for women, are members of Remmers’ church.

The boy also was taken to a Bible study in Remmers’ home, where he was told to sit in the center of a circle of about a dozen men. Remmers then allegedly pinched the boy’s nipple with pliers, making him scream.

The Riverside Press-Enterprise recently obtained the court documents after asking a judge to make them public. Det. Brad Vorhees, a member of the California Sexual Assaults Investigators Assn., had asked that the documents be sealed because releasing them could jeopardize the investigation.

Defense attorneys said the release of the documents may affect the jury pool, jeopardizing fair trials for the defendants.

Remmers, charged with assault with a deadly weapon and inflicting corporal injury on a minor, and Craig and Jeter, charged with kidnapping and assaulting the boy, among other crimes, were arrested last month and pleaded not guilty, according to the Press-Enterprise.