Documentary record Bound by Fear
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Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Other or denomination not established Marion County, Oregon, USA · 2022

Oregon: home-church pastor's convictions for abusing a congregant he counseled, plus a family victim, affirmed

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

pastor of a church he ran out of his home

Organization

No organization assigned

Spiritual nexus

Putnam was the pastor of a church he ran from his home; one of the two victims was counseled by him specifically through that pastoral role, not as a family member, and the abuse occurred in the context of that counseling relationship.

  • Pastoral or clerical authority

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. Date in cited record · jury verdict

    Marion County Circuit Court, Oregon. A jury convicted Bradley Putnam on 12 counts of sexual offenses against two victims: one victim was counseled by Putnam through his home-based church, and the other was his own daughter.

  2. 2025-04-23 · direct appeal

    Court of Appeals of Oregon. Affirmed. The court rejected challenges to prosecutorial statements at closing and the denial of a continuance.

Appellate history

  1. Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed all 12 counts of conviction on April 23, 2025.

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • pastoral counseling relationship with a congregant
  • position as pastor of a home-based church

Primary record

Sources

official court judgment appellate judgment State v. Putnam, 340 Or App 61 (Or. Ct. App. Apr. 23, 2025).

Appellate opinion affirming Putnam's convictions on 12 counts of sexual offenses against two victims, one of whom was counseled by Putnam through the church he ran from his home.

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