An excerpt from "Innocence Betrayed: A Dad's Story of Clergy Misconduct"

Chapter 1 – Meet the New Pastor

It was August of 1984, and Jim Sajek, a hard-hitting football player who earned the title of “class clown” in high school, was now the father of his third daughter. Growing up, he was always a husky child, with the broad shoulders of a football player, flame red hair, and a wide grin that would easily turn into a contagious laugh. He learned early in life that if he poked fun at himself when other kids teased him about his size, he could make friends and walk away with his head held high instead of crying. He did silly things to entertain his friends, like drink hot sauce on a dare. He’d hold his breath until he turned purple to make the girls in home room giggle.

Jim came from a blue-collared, sports-oriented Midwestern family, the second son of a family of three boys and two girls. After graduating from high school in 1969, he had to prove to Hillsdale College that he was serious about his schooling and pull a “B” average in summer-school classes before admittance in the fall. He pulled the grades. He honed his communications skills and learned about getting along with all types of people, the haves and the have-nots. Jim played football and learned about overcoming pressure and taking responsibility for his actions. At college he was taught to think independently and to ask questions in all areas of living and learning. He graduated in 1973 with a Bachelor’s Degree in health and physical education.

Jim enjoyed fatherhood. He reinforced his principals and determination with his children. He loved his wife, Dee, whom he met one summer at a mutual friend’s party before starting his first teaching job as a junior high school physical education instructor. She played volleyball and basketball in college, and now worked as a nutritionist at a nearby hospital. They married a couple years later. In June of 1980, their first daughter was born. Within the next four years, they had two more girls.

Jim was raised in the Catholic faith and attended parochial school through the 8 th grade. He went to Mass six days a week, had religion classes in school every day, and his parents sent him to weekly catechism classes. He was taught that priests had a direct connection with God and had the power to forgive sins. He learned respect for all clergy, Catholic or otherwise. It was an honor to have a priest come and share a meal with the family. When his parents invited their parish priest over for dinner, everyone was on his or her best behavior and raced around the house beforehand, making sure all was in order. Never did Jim see a story in the paper about clergy abuse, nor did he question the safety of the church. He believed that if there was a thunderstorm or a hurricane, God’s house was a safe place to go, and everyone there was protected from danger. He believed that there should be no fear where God lived, because He will keep you safe.

Dee also felt a strong connection with God, attending the Baptist church and several different churches as a child. Now she and Jim were parents, together deciding that they wanted some place different to practice their faith. Wanting to steer clear of a church with rigid rules and regulations, they needed to find a comfortable church with a pastor that gave good sermons.

Asking fellow teachers for recommendations to a church in 1985, Jim was told about a pastor preaching at the nearby United Methodist Church who was witty and captivating. Come on down, he makes people laugh. “Let’s go see this guy,” Jim said. “He sounds like me.”

Jim and Dee liked what they saw, and they joined the congregation, having the three girls baptized in the church at the same time. The United Methodist Church was the perfect fit for the Sajek family. The church was very kid-friendly, something they both loved. Children were cared for during services in either the nursery, Bible study classes or youth group.

A fourth daughter was born in 1988, and they named her Kate. She and her oldest sister, Laurie, had their dad’s blazing red hair and big brown eyes. All four were blessed with beautiful features, and they grew tall and lean like their mother. That year, the pastor that drew the family to the church left, and a new soft-spoken, mild-mannered pastor named Pastor Warren replaced him.

Family life was filled with sports, dance classes and church functions, where the girls were around others their age. They attended Bible study classes in the lower grades and youth group in the upper grades, while the adults enjoyed a peaceful Sunday church service . The girls grew up with a solid religious background. They sang in the youth choir, performed in church plays, attended week-long choir camp in the summer, and the older girls helped build homes for the poor. Church was the center of their family life. Outside of the church activities, the family loved to camp and got together often with extended family members for parties. Jim was content with life, but he left teaching when the babies came for a more profitable career in sales to support his growing family.

On Sunday morning in late September 1993, the family was about to meet another new pastor. Dee insisted that the family get there on time. Although a challenge, Jim felt it was worth the morning insanity.

Laurie, a tall and gangly 13-year old, ran from room to room looking for her hairbrush. Lisa was two years younger, with brilliant blue eyes and light-brown hair. She raced around the house looking for a top she wanted to wear that Laurie borrowed the week before. Molly, nine years old, pulled her blond hair into a ponytail on top of her head and put on a special dress to wear to meet the new pastor. Kate looked like a baby doll in frills and lace.

Dee stepped out of the bedroom dressed in a tailored navy blue pantsuit, her shoulder-length blond hair curled in a flip, and she ran through the house rounding up the family. “Hurry up, we have to go.”

Kate ran to her dad who held out her coat. She pushed each arm through the sleeves, and her dad pushed Kate’s thick hair into a bonnet, tying the strings in a bow. He picked her up, and Molly jumped from a kitchen chair onto his back for a piggyback ride. He got them to the van, buckled them into their seats, and started the engine. When they were all accounted for, the van took off for the ten-minute ride to church, everyone chatting in different conversations.

“How about a trip to the cider mill after church?” Jim asked.

“Yeah!” the girls yelled. “Can we, Mom?”

“Sure,” Dee said. “Right after coffee hour. I brought a casserole and a batch of brownies, but we won’t stay too long. It’ll be fun going for hot apple cider and doughnuts.”

As Jim drove his family to church, it never crossed his mind that he was delivering his little lambs into the fires of hell instead of the house of God.

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