The public relations damage control has begun for the church on this sex abuse case. The only damage is the damage upon this innocent child. This sounds like a major cover-up and police need to investigate to see if more children were sexually abused. The only statement the church and Pastor Lennon should be making is out of concern for this child and other children, not Mr. Evans' "squeaky clean qualifications." Disgusting. Somebody knew something. Sounds like a major cover-up.

This is so disturbing. I pray for that little girl and her family.

This makes me sick. What kind of fluff piece is this Elmhurst Patch? The guy admitted it and you want to prop up his "awesome" record? Shame on you.

I am pretty sure I read he has 3 teenage daughters. Please dear God forgive me if I am wrong ....but I think those girls need to see a person who specializes in therapy for this because this may have been going on for a long time under his own roof. Not to suggest false allegations but ...this seems so odd. Child molestation is not something you wake up one day and decide to do. Sick sick sick

He, has two sons. And one daughter.

Shame on those who are jumping to conclusions. There is no need to make what is clearly a bad situation even worse by conjecturing. Reporting is almost if not always biased and incomplete, and I have no doubt that this is a clear example of that. Please remember that real people are involved here.

If you read the artical again, The Senior paster was stating he received good reviews. Not that he is giving a good review. The reporter is the one stating all his other affiliations. And it also says the police are investigating.

Ok my correction 3 teenage children. And @glass half full. I wish I could not Jump to conclusions (read my comment fully as I asked GOD to forgive me if I am wrong- HIS judgement is the only one I rely on). But I am a firm believer where there is smoke there is fire. His children will need help. I am sure the girl being under aged and him being married and admitting to involvement in this are all biased and incomplete. Yeah you're right. Probably nothing to worry about. Hey everyone we are all overreacting!

They are uncommon but there are cases where the action is isolated. I won't write off the sincere things he did because of a horrendous act, if people did that to me what relationships would I even have left? I hope the selfish things I have done do not completely negate the good I strive to do.

Fundamentally its not my, yours or anyone elses job to cancel out peoples actions by your own judgements. This involves real human beings, not a spreadsheet of equations to deem worth.

people who do very bad things are still capable of good.

"A letter of confession from a former associate pastor—a letter that described a sexual relationship with an underage girl"...and as I so eloquently pointed out....let's all forget about any "good" because the "good" was based on an agenda.

I wonder if everyone on this forum who is roundly condemning this individual (who, admittedly, committed a very grave sin) is perfect and sinless and beyond reproach whatsoever. I wonder how many of those people here stand ready, willing and able to open wide the book of their lives for us and the rest of the world to see. No takers? I didn't think so. WINK WINK

I'm sure everyone here has skeletons in their closet.....most aren't statutory rape though. What do I know? I'm just a godless heathen who isn't a child molester. If god forgives these kind of people, I'll pass.

Now all of you that are calling this rape are sick people. This was a girl in her late teens who was fully aware of the situation, you have no idea who Pastor Darin is.

Say, Joe, just for your information and edification, even though you say you're not a child molester, Scripture is very clear that "a man who looks upon a woman lusting after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Hmmm. I'll betcha you never did that, did you? Of course not! WINK WINK Ah, but Joe, keep talking; eventually your sins will find you out, as the Good Book also says. You can't escape, Joe, no way! Nice try, but we gotcha! LOL!

Yeah, and maybe the big bad wolf will come and huff and puff and blow my house down. The "good book" you live by is a book of fables. I'm not here to convince you of it, that's just my opinion. Just like you're opinion is that one day I'll pay for my sins by some supreme diety. I'll find out in time, we all will. At least if God is real, I can tell him I wasn't a rapist.

Interesting timing of the release of this story as Darins Evans' name was being thrown around when discussing Benedict's successor.

Google "mia maxima culpa " .

If you dont know facts why assume things? Lets let the police take care of it before we prosecute. Innocent till proven guilty and the man hasent even been arrested. If there were a cover up he wouldnt have gotten booted from the church till he got arrested. Instead the head paster kicked forced his resignation immediately.

@wadjusay thats a different religion

Chillin, I don't know what you're babbling about. Do YOU know what you're babbling about?

This is such a difficult time for all of us and the last thing we should be doing is arguing over facts, who's right and who's wrong. God knows the true and it shall be relieved in time. My heart and prayers goes out to this girl and everyone affected.

The age of consent in Illinois is 17. For people 18 or over, it is illegal for them to commit acts of a sexual nature on persons who are under the age of 18 if they are in a position of authority or trust over the victim. This effectively raises the age of consent for older people in positions of authority or trust to 18 years old.

I would humbly ask those in the Elmhurst faith community to pray for all concerned in this matter. First and foremost for the victim, and then for our church and for our former pastor and his family. It is a heartbreaking situation. Sin is like a cancer, it eats up everything in its path. And although there is forgiveness for any sin in Christ that does not mean that there are not consequences that can be quite dire. The police will do their job and despite the terrible nature of what has occured the matter has been handled with integrity and transparency by our church leaders. We are all crushed and hurting, disappointed, but looking to our Lord and savior to sustain us and carry us through. Please pray for all affected.

I really think If you dont personally know all the details of this case you shouldnt be commenting. Of course any man that engages in sexual activity with a minor is 100% wrong but as a teenager you still know right from wrong. We should not only be praying for her but for his innocent family as well. Two families and hundreds of other people have been affected by this, instead of throwing more accusations and speaking as if we know all the details we should all sit back and let the police figure out the details and pray for everyone affected.

I understand the significance of this in the community but honestly don't you all have anything better to do than sit online and comment over and over again on something that you have no control over? Yes, this matter is huge and should be addressed accordingly but it IS being addressed and as of now it is in the hands of the police. All anyone can do is pray for the families involved and let the investigation take it from here. Nothing good is going to come from everyone's comments. Especially since no one except for the people involved know the whole truth of the situation. I think y'all just need to calm down and step away from your computers.

Agreed!

Excuse me, Mr. Gustafson? "Clerical collar???" "Father Evans???" Are you sure you haven't confused the individual in question with a Roman Catholic priest?

Please don't misunderstand me. What was done was a dastardly deed, there is no getting away from the seriousness of the situation. However, I also think that words are very important, and if Mr. Gustafson is going to go off hither and yon with words that have no meaning at this particular time, then he is a perfect candidate for applying to FOX News as one of their talking heads. Kapeesh?

Hither and Yon? No I do not understand, you cra-cra!

That's okay, Cronan, don't fret. Some of us have a good vocabulary, others barely get by.

"Good" is too big a word for you, Wade? I'm sorry about that; I'll watch it in the future. Thanks for the heads up! ROFLOL!!!

"I see," said the blind man.

To those who are still reading this article and the comments stated here I would like to throw my opinion into the ring. The article has not stated what the victim's age is at the current age but since you all keep throwing the age of 16 into the mix here is what I have to say: if the child is 16 years old she is considered a minor in the state of Illinois. In addition, according to the confession of Mr. Evans, the relationship went on for years. Mr. Evans moved away almost a year ago, to Ohio. So, you do the math, statutory rape justifiers, bet she was 13 when it first started. If that is the case, was she asking for it then? I am disgusted that you have justified your opinions based off what you think you know of a sexual predator. This man says in his statement that there were no other victims, but I personally don't believe liars. This man lied to his wife, his children, his congregation, his God, the community, Younglife... By not telling someone that he had a relationship with an underaged child FOR YEARS, he became a liar. The people here who are defending him based off of what you know about him, he lied to you too. This man has a mental illness, and he needs help and should be arrested for his pilfering of innocence. Slut shaming is totally unacceptable.

Anon, where did you obtain your MISinformation? How can you have posted so much and said so little? Mr. Evans moved to Ohio just two months ago, not "amost a year ago." Based on that enormous error alone, can you blame a reader for taking the rest of your post with a grain of salt?

There is a world of difference between a year ago and two months ago. Facts are very important; if one just tosses out inaccurate information, then one cannot blame a reader for not looking upon the posts of that person as being reliable. The word "bashing" has become a very trite word as of late. It seems that so-and-so is bashing so-and-so, or so-and-so is bashing so-and-so. It is not only a trite word, it has become meaningless. When a poster posts an opinion that another poster doesn't agree with, then the latter poster automatically calls it "bashing." After a while this kind of thing becomes tiresome. I am not going to repeat what I have already posted pertaining to this situation. I believe I have made myself abundantly clear. If you still do not comprehend what i am saying, then I am sorry that I am unable to help you any further.

Hi Cronan: I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. I am correct one hundred percent. I'm done here. I will leave the rest of the space to you for your informative and edifying comments. Carry on. ROFLOL!!!!!!!!!!

He turned himself into the police voluntarily yesterday, coming from Ohio to dupage county. When the lead pastor and investigators confronted him last month, he immediately admitted to it. She was 16 when this started in 2004, which makes him 33 when it started. a

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/elmhurst/chi-elmhurst-youth-minister-accused-of-sex-with-teen-20130319,0,3692802.story

http://elmhurst.patch.com/articles/former-associate-pastor-of-west-suburban-community-church-arrested-for-sexual-assault