-Caveat Lector- from: http://www.sptimes.com/TampaBay/122398/DeMolay_had_warned_ac.html <A HREF="http://www.sptimes.com/TampaBay/122398/DeMolay_had_warned_ac.html">Tampa bay: DeMolay had warned accused man before</A> ----- Courtesy of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thanks Om K ----- DeMolay had warned accused man before The organization investigated youth leader John Shirley last year for photographing teens mooning the camera. By LEANORA MINAI © St. Petersburg Times, published December 23, 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ eaders of DeMolay, a worldwide boys organization, knew a year ago about questionable behavior involving St. Petersburg youth group leader John Shirley, but they allowed him to keep working with teenagers. Concerns about Shirley surfaced last year when fellow DeMolay leaders and Masons -- the fraternal group that sponsors DeMolay -- were told that Shirley took photographs of his St. Petersburg youth group "mooning" his camera at a Masonic camp. But instead of removing Shirley from his voluntary position as a DeMolay Chapter Dad, national and state DeMolay officials said Tuesday they investigated the complaints and concluded Shirley used "bad judgment." "We warned him that's completely inappropriate," said Jeff Speaker, executive director of DeMolay, which is based in Kansas City, Mo. In the last week, at least 11 boys in Shirley's youth group have told police Shirley gave them alcohol and drugs, fondled them or had sex with them, and watched them masturbate in his St. Petersburg apartment. He was arrested Dec. 16. Most of the sex-related activities happened over three years, including this year, according to arrest reports. DeMolay, an organization that includes among its members John Wayne and Walter Cronkite, fired Shirley last month, after St. Petersburg police began a criminal investigation. Shirley, a Mason in Lodge 139, faces 26 sex-related charges involving juveniles. He was booked in the Pinellas County Jail and is being held on $690,000 bail. "There's a very good chance that there are more victims from out of state," Bill Doniel, St. Petersburg police spokesman, said after Shirley's arrest. Shirley, 47, has denied the charges. The charges against Shirley are not the first time DeMolay workers have been scrutinized. In 1993, Eric Sims, a DeMolay chapter leader from Kansas, received a 75-year prison sentence for sex-related crimes involving boys. DeMolay settled lawsuits filed by the parents of six boys, ages 12 to 16. Bryan W. Smith, the lawyer in Topeka who represented the boys, said Tuesday that DeMolay leaders were told Sims was sexually abusing boys, but DeMolay did nothing. "The allegation was that at a statewide convention, a DeMolay member observed this leader with some of these kids who were running around in their underwear and that was reported to the governing body of DeMolay," Smith said. "They talked to him and said this is not appropriate and don't be doing it anymore," Smith said. "They just kind of dropped it." Smith said he could not disclose the terms of the settlement with DeMolay because he signed a confidentiality agreement. DeMolay, founded in 1919, is similar to groups like Boy Scouts. The 700 chapters across the country are led by "Chapter Dads" and other leaders who chaperone activities and teach teen boys from all socioeconomic backgrounds about morals and growing up. As a Chapter Dad, Shirley led a group of teens during an outing last year to the Masonic Park and Youth Camp on the Little Manatee River in Hillsborough County. Bill Marti, who is in charge of DeMolay in Florida, said he was told last year about alcohol and mooning during that camp outing. "There was a couple of photos of some mooning some kids were doing," Marti said. Leaders at DeMolay headquarters in Kansas City were told about the pictures, which were passed around at a lodge, some Masons said. Speaker, the DeMolay executive director in Kansas City, said he received complaints about that camp outing and investigated last year. "It was poor judgment maybe on his part, and there was nothing else there," Speaker said. The mooning picture, he said, was "in with the pictures of sitting around the campfire and kids boating." Speaker said after Shirley was warned, Shirley told the organization: "It won't happen anymore." But the latest sex charges have shocked the DeMolay and Masonic communities. Some say nothing was done because people just didn't want to believe rumors. "To me, it's the same old thing," said 72-year-old Jim Lockwood, a 51-year Mason and St. Petersburg resident. "No, it couldn't be here. No. No. We're reading things in that aren't there." DeMolay also did not perform a criminal background check on Shirley. Generally, the organization asks people about their criminal histories, but it does not check with law enforcement agencies. Had they looked into Shirley's background when he became a Chapter Dad in St. Petersburg in 1995, DeMolay leaders would have learned he pleaded no contest to charges of sale and possession of cocaine and dispensing of a controlled substance in 1981. On Tuesday, the St. Petersburg Times requested the names of DeMolay Chapter Dads and other DeMolay youth leaders in Florida for the purpose of checking their criminal backgrounds. DeMolay executive director Jeff Speaker declined to provide the names. "Those are for our use," he said. "We try to protect the privacy of all people. That's our policy." -- Times researchers Cathy Wos and John Martin contributed to this report. © Copyright 1998 St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved. ----- DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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