A reader wrote to remind me of a 2018 federal investigation into a website that was used by adult men seeking to sexually exploit minor teenage and preteen girls. Twenty men were charged in the wake of that investigation, including Pastor Jackie (Jack) Woodburn from the Colonial Woods Church in Port Huron, Michigan. He was charged with coercing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct (while he was posing as a 15-year-old online) and with producing child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

In a Detroit News article dated May 9, 2018, Woodburn was described as a married father of three and Air Force veteran who was among only 60 people worldwide selected for a counseling enrichment program at Focus on the Family in 1991. Focus on the Family. Good one. Woodburn’s attorney described his client at that time as “a very good person who took care of everyone else’s needs but his own.”

By the time the plea deal rolled around, it was quite clear the pastor had been taking care of his “needs.”

https://www.fox47news.com/news/local-news/ex-michigan-pastor-enters-plea-deal-in-child-porn-case

In January 2020, this man of god was sentenced in federal court to 17 years.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmi/pr/former-pastor-and-counselor-sentenced-17-years-prison-sexually-exploiting-children

https://www.thetimesherald.com/story/news/2020/01/15/former-port-huron-pastor-sentenced-federal-child-porn-case/4475834002

Nine months later, in the wake of COVID-19, a court denied his motion for compassionate release, which he filed based on his obesity.

https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-woodburn-2

The court swiftly dispatched his arguments and denied the motion:

“The Court DENIES Defendant’s motion for compassionate release for this very serious child pornography crime where Defendant has served but a very minor period of incarceration, because to do so would not provide just punishment for this deplorable offense, would not promote respect for the law, would not deter  similar conduct by others, and would not guarantee the public protection from future crimes by Defendant Jackie Douglas Woodburn.”

Unclear what happened with the other 19 people arrested after the 2018 investigation that swept up Woodburn, or if other clergy were involved.

Another dangerous Port Huron parish:

Port Huron always gets my attention. It was the home of pedophile, CSAM producer and monster Gerald S. Richards, who was masquerading as a gym teacher, magician, father and active community member/model citizen. He had a “clinic” in Port Huron, where sex crimes against children and perhaps even murder occurred.

Richards was arrested in the summer of 1976 for sex crimes against a 10-year-old boy, who told police he was assaulted by both Richards and Ann Arbor resident and owner of N. Fox Island, Frank Shelden. Ann Arbor is in Washtenaw County; Port Huron is in St. Clair County. Prosecutors in both counties dropped the ball in the case of Frank Shelden and he left the country while these two prosecutors waited for the other to issue an arrest warrant for the great and powerful pedophile/pornographer, Family Money Shelden.

A FOIA document dated September 27, 1976, states that “[t]he St. Clair Prosecutor was contacted for warrant for [Dyer] Grossman [“partner” of Shelden] for sex crime last summer. He has not authorized as yet due to work load.” In 1975 and 1976 the prosecutor in St. Clair County was too busy to bother with sex crimes against kids. So against this backdrop, sex crimes against kids in Port Huron catch my attention. Child predators have had a long run there. Now they are getting busted and it’s about time. (Thanks to the feds.)

Even if this jackboot is talking about his stash of breathalyzer straws on the body cam, the treatment of this man is outrageous and inexcusable. And how about watching your messed up social media posts, Officer Friendly?! I bet neither trooper gets even a warning from superiors in this case. That’s why people end up having to file a lawsuit–not for a payday but so agencies get their shit together. It’s a long shot, but it’s good to get some insight into how the MSP is doing business on the roads.

https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/man-files-10m-lawsuit-against-michigan-state-police-alleged-drug-planting-conspiracy

This is the season finale of Open Investigation, Advocacy and Call to Action:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/advocacy-and-call-to-action/id1757196345?i=1000674830485

I can’t say it or wrap it up any better than these folks did. I will only highlight the following.

What happens when your community doesn’t want to hear the truth? They are organizational structures that often don’t want to deal with the ugly truth of the epidemic of child sexual abuse and the trafficking and murder of children. It’s too dark and ugly. These communities are in the same category of those silent bystanders who look the other way. It somehow insults them rather than moving people to stand up, talk about and handle this. [28.01]

In the beginning the story about child predators in Massachusetts (and, frankly everywhere) in the late 1970s would all seem too incredible to be true, but hopefully with all of the evidence Melanie Perkins McLaughlin presented in her podcast, you recognize it is true. [44.01]. It is impossible not to.

“We tried so hard to get people and organizations to pick up this podcast and help us get it distributed. As of this writing, no one has. We decided to publish independently and you all showed up to listen. We can’t thank you enough. At the suggestion of others, we wrote press releases to over 30 local media outlets and remarkably, to this day, not one has reached out for more information. I’m not sure why or what it all means, but I know you stuck with this podcast and listened throughout and I know it sure as hell wasn’t easy. But I’d like to think you did it for the survivors. The kids. Because you care. But honestly, what good is caring and telling these stories if nothing changes?” [44.18]

And this is a phenomenal podcast by an established documentarian, who won a 2008 Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism. So many communities do not want to hear the truth or assist in its dissemination.

I feel this every day in the OCCK case. The horror surrounding my brother’s abduction, captivity and murder means no one wants to go near it. It is the ultimate irony–the most horrifying serial murders of four kids is too awful to warrant the close examination that could solve the cases. The passage of time is a very convenient excuse for the Michigan state lab. No one seems to want answers and they are laden with every excuse in the cold case book.

Guarded By Jackals (https://www.amazon.com/Guarded-Jackals-Predators-Officials-Resolution/dp/B0D9WFQV85/ref=sr_1_1?crid=LUQ0LDCSQ7GA&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.AkeCS0c5djkiIniEQvFigdko56Tx8BAei1kTsfmd_ug.alrm59JXWwozS_gMts-am4MaPSIYOjIcMdL954ne6i8&dib_tag=se&keywords=guarded+by+jackals&qid=1730242823&sprefix=guarded+by+jack,aps,290&sr=8-1 ) was likewise self-published and not one press contact has picked up on it. GBJ tells a story that seems at first impossible, about how prosecutors can tilt the scales of justice and betray child victims and entire communities. And it also provides the meticulous documenting of the truth of this assertion. You wish it was impossible. But it’s true. I dare you to look away.