Lester Roloff
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| “ | Christian families are under attack in America! The Communists, Masons, Atheists, Humanists, Evolutionists, and other Godless sickos want to destroy the family. Parents beware; the government wants your child! | „ |
| ~ Lester Roloff |
Lester Leo Roloff (June 28, 1914 – November 2, 1982) was a fundamentalist Christian preacher and radio presenter who founded and maintained the Roloff teen homes from 1954 until his death. The Roloff homes existed in many states across the USA, but were eventually shut down in 2001. Multiple cases of child abuse at the homes were consistently and repeatedly documented, to the point that Governor Mark Wells White of Texas vowed to shut down the homes if he were elected.
During his lifetime, Roloff was a well-known figure in the Independent Baptist movement. The main focuses of his sermons included homosexuality, communism, atheism and the media, all of which he claimed were Satanic forces aiming to "destroy the family". He was also an outspoken opponent of the separation of church and state. Roloff eventually died in a plane crash in 1982, along with four others.
Child abuse scandal edit
The Roloff homes were opened in Texas, Georgia and Oklahoma to minister to teenagers suffering from addiction, homelessness or other problems. The most infamous of these, the Rebekah Home for Girls, was opened in the 1960s to help young women who were addicted to drugs, involved in prostitution, serving jail time, kicked out of their homes, or in need of refuge.
What many parents who sent their children to the homes were unaware of, however, was the conditions in the Roloff homes. The only book allowed was the King James Bible, and no television was permitted. Those living in the homes were only allowed to listen to one hour of radio every day, and the only broadcast they could hear was Lester Roloff's show. Roloff himself referred to his charges as “parent-hating, Satan-worshiping, dope-taking immoral boys and girls” and proclaimed that his homes were directly influenced by scripture. At the Rebekah Home, a verse from Proverbs was used as a basis for discipline: “Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.” Punishments included locking the girls in isolation cells or beating them with paddles, often for offences like not remembering a Bible verse or looking at boys in church. One punishment was being forced to kneel for up to five hours with pencils wedged under each knee and a Bible in each hand. The Roloff homes were eventually investigated in 1973, when parents visiting the Rebekah Home saw staff members whipping a girl with a belt. Welfare workers tried to enter the building, but Roloff refused them entry. Attorney General John Hill promptly filed suit against Roloff Evangelistic Enterprises, introducing affidavits from sixteen Rebekah girls who reported being put in solitary confinement, beaten, whipped and handcuffed to drainpipes.
In 1973, the Texas Legislature convened an inquiry into the treatment of children at the Rebekah Home. Children testified that they had been beaten for trivial things like smoking or singing songs other than hymns. Meanwhile, Roloff himself was found guilty of contempt of court and sentenced to five days in jail for refusing to comply with the State. The Legislature introduced and passed the Child Care Licensing Act, which required all child-care facilities to be licensed by the state. Roloff claimed that it conflicted with his free exercise of religion and refused to obey. “I have no right to go by the Welfare Department’s little brown book,” he quipped, “so long as I have the big black Book.”
Despite a court injunction ordering him to close the homes, Roloff constantly appealed the ruling to try and keep them open. After a series of defeats, Roloff was finally ordered to obtain licences for his homes. He refused. This led to the Christian Alamo: Roloff and his followers linked arms to prevent state officials from entering the Rebekah Home. The standoff ended three days later, when Roloff finally agreed to send the children to different homes and close the Rebekah Home. In reality, Roloff had no intention of obeying the state: he restructured his ministry, placing his youth homes under the auspices of his People’s Baptist Church rather than Roloff Evangelistic Enterprises—a device that allowed his homes to reopen that fall. However, the abuses taking place at the newly-opened homes remained the same, so he made no attempt to obtain licenses and was again prosecuted. The court of first instance supported Rollof, but every other court (the appellate court, the Texas Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of the United States) all sided with the state. The Rebekah Home was once again forced to license or shut down.
Even after Roloff's untimely death, the legal battle continued. It was only in 1985 that time finally ran out for the Roloff homes. On New Year's Eve, a judge gave the company one day to obtain a license or shut down the homes. Roloff's successor, Wiley Cameron, took the children to Missouri where a state license was not required. After many years of legal wrangling, including an intervention by George W. Bush, in 2001 the homes were shut down for good.