In 2001, 24-year old Jamin Wight moved into Gary and Pat Greenfield’s mansion in Moscow to board with them while he remodeled their basement and trained at Greyfriars Hall to become a pastor (For those unfamiliar with the Moscow Christ Church-supported schools, New Saint Andrews and Greyfriars both encourage single students to board with local church families). He also spent the year and a half that he lived there sexually abusing the Greenfields’ young teenaged daughter, Natalie. He had begun paying close attention to her several months before moving in while she was 13 and he was 23, and he began sexual abuse shortly after he moved into the house. The abuse lasted for about eighteen months.

Shortly before she turned 18, Natalie told her parents what had happened. Her father contacted a lawyer, who recommended getting a written confession from Mr. Wight and then taking that to the police. Mr. Wight did write out a confession, which Gary brought to Natalie. When she denied its accuracy, Mr. Wight revised it to reflect what actually happened. This was brought to Mr. Wilson and Peter Leithart, then pastor of Trinity Reformed Church, and then to the police. Mr. Wilson confirms the existence of both letters and Mr. Wight’s admission of the accuracy of the second confession letter. No one disputes the level of sexual activity involved.

Mr. Wight was initially charged in August 2005 (five months after Mr. Sitler was discovered to have been molesting Christ Church children) with two counts of Lewd Conduct With a Child Under 16 (18-1508, the toughest charge you can get for sexually abusing a child without being charged under the actual Rape law) and one count of Sexual Abuse of a Child Under 16 (18-1506 and the next step down, which is also the lowest one you can be charged under while still retaining the sexual component of the crime). Lewd Conduct was the same crime that Mr. Sitler was charged with, and it carries many overlapping characteristics with and the same maximum penalty as Rape.

Despite his confession, Mr. Wight pled Not Guilty to all charges at the arraignment, and the case went into mediation while preparations were underway for a possible trial. By March 2006 an agreement had been reached between Wight and the Greenfields: Wight would plead guilty to one count of Sexual Abuse of a Child (the lower charge), which would mean a small amount of jail time and sex offender registration for him and which would mean Natalie would not have to endure the public exposure of a full trial.

Despite the signed Rule 11 Plea Agreement that both parties approved, Judge Bradbury vacated the plea agreement and insisted upon a new agreement that would allow Mr. Wight to plead guilty to one count of Injury to a Child, which carries no sexual component whatsoever and no sex offender registration. If this agreement was not approved of, the case would go to full trial (Bill Thompson and Judge Bradbury both told me this). The Greenfields accepted the deal, not because it was the most accurate, but because they did not want to put Natalie through a trial.

Mr. Wight spent four months in the North Idaho Correctional Institution in Cottonwood and was on probation for just under three years before requesting and receiving an early release. He was subsequently convicted of perjury for lying under oath at his probation release hearing by claiming that he had never violated the terms of his probation despite the fact that he began regularly breaking the alcohol prohibition term since shortly after his release from prison. Concurrent with the perjury case, Mr. Wight was also in court for and convicted of battering his wife , who subsequently divorced him. (Full battery and perjury affidavits in reference section; together they paint quite the picture of a man with utter disregard for both everyone around him and for the law).

…A. Mr. Wight’s abusive behavior towards Natalie was not parent-approved, nor was it part of or a result of a broader relationship, nor did her parents do anything implying that it was ok to rape their daughter. Everything Mr. Wight did was outside of Natalie’s parents’ approval.

B. Wight was never charged with statutory rape. That’s a stronger charge than either of the ones he was arraigned under and miles stronger than the one he actually pled guilty to.

C. There was no trial, so nothing was shown in court.

…Idaho Law is clear that any sexual activity between an adult and a child under age 16 is illegal. There are no exceptions for consent of a third party (like her parents) or even consent of the minor child. There are no exceptions at all. Here are the two laws Mr. Wight was charged with breaking:

A. 18-1506. SEXUAL ABUSE OF A CHILD UNDER THE AGE OF SIXTEEN YEARS

(1) It is a felony for any person eighteen (18) years of age or older, with the intent to gratify the lust, passions, or sexual desire of the actor, minor child or third party, to:

(a) Solicit a minor child under the age of sixteen (16) years to participate in a sexual act;

(b) Cause or have sexual contact with such minor child, not amounting to lewd conduct as defined in section 18-1508, Idaho Code;

B. 18-1508. LEWD CONDUCT WITH MINOR CHILD UNDER SIXTEEN.

Any person who shall commit any lewd or lascivious act or acts upon or with the body or any part or member thereof of a minor child under the age of sixteen (16) years, including but not limited to, genital-genital contact, oral-genital contact, anal-genital contact, oral-anal contact, manual-anal contact, or manual-genital contact, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex, or who shall involve such minor child in any act of bestiality or sado-masochism as defined in section 18-1507, Idaho Code, when any of such acts are done with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust or passions or sexual desires of such person, such minor child, or third party, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be imprisoned in the state prison for a term of not more than life. Read more»

Rachel Shubin | “Analyzing Douglas Wilson’s Handling of the Steven Sitler and Jamin Wight Cases,” pp. 30–37.

RESOURCES

• It Can Be Difficult But We Need To Open Our Eyes And Pay Attention To The Facts
• Subscribe To The Heidelblog!
• Download the HeidelApp on Apple App Store or Google Play
• The Heidelblog Resource Page
• Heidelmedia Resources
• The Ecumenical Creeds
• The Reformed Confessions
• The Heidelberg Catechism
• Recovering the Reformed Confession (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2008)
• Why I Am A Christian
• What Must A Christian Believe?
• Heidelblog Contributors
• Support Heidelmedia: use the donate button or send a check to

Heidelberg Reformation Association
1637 E. Valley Parkway #391
Escondido CA 92027
USA
The HRA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

Post authored by:

• Heidelblog

  

  The Heidelblog has been in publication since 2007. It is devoted to recovering the Reformed confession and to helping others discover Reformed theology, piety, and practice.

  More by Heidelblog ›