Documentary record Bound by Fear
← Explore all cases
Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Other or denomination not established Newbury, Rowley and Salisbury, Massachusetts, USA · 2023

United States: licensed United Methodist youth minister Russell Woodman Davis pleads guilty to raping three boys over nearly two decades

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

Licensed youth minister, United Methodist Church

Organization

United Methodist Church

Spiritual nexus

Davis was given his role and title by the United Methodist Church specifically to work with youth; he used that church-conferred pastoral standing to befriend and gain access to vulnerable boys over nearly two decades.

  • Pastoral or clerical authority

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. 2023-02-23 · guilty plea and sentence

    Essex County, Massachusetts. Davis, a church-licensed youth minister (not ordained) at a rural United Methodist church, pleaded guilty to raping and attempting to rape three boys he met through the church between 1988 and 2006, victims aged 12 to 16. He was sentenced to three to four years in state prison followed by three years' probation, ordered to register as a sex offender, and barred from contact with minors and the victims.

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • pastoral authority over vulnerable youth met through church youth ministry

Primary record

Sources

institutional reporting news report 'Former Methodist youth minister pleads guilty to child rape, Essex DA says', The Boston Globe, 23 February 2023.

Report on Davis's guilty plea, sentence, and the church youth-ministry context of his access to victims.

official report prosecutor statement 'Former youth minister pleads guilty to child rape', Massachusetts Attorney General / Essex DA press release.

Official prosecutorial press release confirming charges, plea and sentence.

Related record

Related cases · Christian institutions & contexts

← Explore all cases