State calls Christian counseling ‘harassment’

The head of Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice has doubled down on his agency’s decision to dismiss a pastor who had been a longtime volunteer counselor to troubled youth, describing Christian counseling as “harassment.”

 

The state, according to the letter from Bob Hayter, commissioner of the state agency, pursues “a zero-tolerance policy against any form of sexual abuse or harassment by staff, volunteers or contractors.”

 

That argument justifies, he suggested, the dismissal of ordained Christian minister David Wells, who had provided voluntary spiritual counseling and mentorship to juvenile inmates under the control of the Department of Juvenile Justice for years.

 

The issue of the pastor’s status had been raised by officials with Liberty Counsel, who had written Hayter earlier demanding that Wells be reinstated.

 

Hayter’s letter did not mention Wells, but simply stated his position: that the agency “seeks to protect the rights of all youth in its care and custody regardless of sexual orientation or committing offense.”

 

Read More: State calls Christian counseling ‘harassment’.