Minister charged with battery after he beats welts onto the body of sexually abused child he accused of lying
By Nathaniel Zimmer
staff writer
ELGIN — Police on Wednesday charged the pastor of a near west-side church with battery, alleging that he repeatedly spanked a 12-year-old McHenry County girl with a 3-foot-long, 2-inch-wide piece of "wood-type molding."
Daryl P. Bujak, 30, the pastor of First Missionary Baptist Church, spanked the girl weekly between March and May of last year, according to police, who said the girl's mother brought her to the pastor after she accused a man of sexually abusing her.
Bujak told the mother that the girl was lying and needed to be disciplined, according to police. He instructed the woman to bring her daughter to church for spankings before each Wednesday night service, which she did, the mother told The Courier News on Thursday.
But authorities and the mother now say they believe the girl was telling the truth.
On Monday, Richmond police arrested Matthew Resh, 33, of Ingleside. He was charged with five counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child. The alleged incidents occurred between September 2003 and November 2005, according to Nichole Owens, chief of the McHenry County State's Attorney's Office Criminal Division.
Resh posted $20,000 bond and was released Thursday. The mandatory minimum sentence if he is convicted of all five counts is 30 years, and the maximum is 60 years, Owens said.
Pastor turns himself in
Bujak turned himself in about 5:50 p.m. Wednesday. He declined to speak to police on the advice of his attorney, posted $500 bond and was released, according to Elgin police Lt. Mike Turner. Battery is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine, Turner said.
On Thursday afternoon, after pulling up in the rain in front of First Missionary, 385 Silver St., in a white van with tinted windows, Bujak said he would not comment on the allegations against him. Police said the spankings left the girl with bruises and welts on her buttocks and legs.
"The truth is going to come out," said Bujak, a medium-height, heavyset man with a neatly trimmed beard, a deep voice and a firm handshake. "This isn't going to get tried in the press and it shouldn't be."
Bujak reportedly lives with his wife in a home attached to First Missionary, whose Web site features a photo of Bujak and describes the church as unaffiliated and fundamentalist in outlook.
"As Christians, we have an absolute standard for our beliefs, our duties and our whole conduct. It is the Bible," the Web site states. "The Bible is the written record of God's revelation to man. It is not man's concept of God but rather a record that God himself authored through inspiration. Therefore it is pure, perfect, inerrant and infallible."
The Courier is not identifying the mother of the alleged victim in order to protect her daughter's identity.
The church has a congregation of perhaps 30 or 40, according to the woman, who said Bujak's arrival about four years ago precipitated a split that sent some members to other churches, leaving behind a devoted group of believers.
Didn't believe victim
In the beginning, she said, she was enthusiastic about what she described as Bujak's conservative beliefs, which she said included a strong emphasis on traditional gender roles, a ban on "drinking, partying, dancing" and advice to avoid television and movies.
Bujak, she said, is something of a "good old boy" who could be "very charismatic, very funny, very witty."
"I was real into it at one point," she said.
The woman said she did not believe her daughter's sexual-abuse allegations at first because they were vague. So when the pastor suggested the spankings, she went along with the idea. Bujak determined the girl was lying after talking to her for two hours, at the end of which she recanted, according to the mother.
"I thought, if it helps, maybe it will help," she said.
[...]
staff writer
ELGIN — Police on Wednesday charged the pastor of a near west-side church with battery, alleging that he repeatedly spanked a 12-year-old McHenry County girl with a 3-foot-long, 2-inch-wide piece of "wood-type molding."
Daryl P. Bujak, 30, the pastor of First Missionary Baptist Church, spanked the girl weekly between March and May of last year, according to police, who said the girl's mother brought her to the pastor after she accused a man of sexually abusing her.
Bujak told the mother that the girl was lying and needed to be disciplined, according to police. He instructed the woman to bring her daughter to church for spankings before each Wednesday night service, which she did, the mother told The Courier News on Thursday.
But authorities and the mother now say they believe the girl was telling the truth.
On Monday, Richmond police arrested Matthew Resh, 33, of Ingleside. He was charged with five counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child. The alleged incidents occurred between September 2003 and November 2005, according to Nichole Owens, chief of the McHenry County State's Attorney's Office Criminal Division.
Resh posted $20,000 bond and was released Thursday. The mandatory minimum sentence if he is convicted of all five counts is 30 years, and the maximum is 60 years, Owens said.
Pastor turns himself in
Bujak turned himself in about 5:50 p.m. Wednesday. He declined to speak to police on the advice of his attorney, posted $500 bond and was released, according to Elgin police Lt. Mike Turner. Battery is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine, Turner said.
On Thursday afternoon, after pulling up in the rain in front of First Missionary, 385 Silver St., in a white van with tinted windows, Bujak said he would not comment on the allegations against him. Police said the spankings left the girl with bruises and welts on her buttocks and legs.
"The truth is going to come out," said Bujak, a medium-height, heavyset man with a neatly trimmed beard, a deep voice and a firm handshake. "This isn't going to get tried in the press and it shouldn't be."
Bujak reportedly lives with his wife in a home attached to First Missionary, whose Web site features a photo of Bujak and describes the church as unaffiliated and fundamentalist in outlook.
"As Christians, we have an absolute standard for our beliefs, our duties and our whole conduct. It is the Bible," the Web site states. "The Bible is the written record of God's revelation to man. It is not man's concept of God but rather a record that God himself authored through inspiration. Therefore it is pure, perfect, inerrant and infallible."
The Courier is not identifying the mother of the alleged victim in order to protect her daughter's identity.
The church has a congregation of perhaps 30 or 40, according to the woman, who said Bujak's arrival about four years ago precipitated a split that sent some members to other churches, leaving behind a devoted group of believers.
Didn't believe victim
In the beginning, she said, she was enthusiastic about what she described as Bujak's conservative beliefs, which she said included a strong emphasis on traditional gender roles, a ban on "drinking, partying, dancing" and advice to avoid television and movies.
Bujak, she said, is something of a "good old boy" who could be "very charismatic, very funny, very witty."
"I was real into it at one point," she said.
The woman said she did not believe her daughter's sexual-abuse allegations at first because they were vague. So when the pastor suggested the spankings, she went along with the idea. Bujak determined the girl was lying after talking to her for two hours, at the end of which she recanted, according to the mother.
"I thought, if it helps, maybe it will help," she said.
[...]
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