Public message # 1711 CULT_WATCH ECHO Entered 10:17 Friday 18-Jan-91
From: Ammond Shadowcraft on 1:128/50
To: Chris Anderson
Re: Pastor Robs Banks to Pay for Sex!!
Chris seems fond of claiming that I am obsessed by sex I'll
let this Usenet posting to Clarion News answer his somewhat
skewed claim. [Jeez, Chris it's kinda' hard _not_ to notice
this stuff as it comes across the nets. B^) It is another
addition of my numerous supported claims that the Christian
religious scheme is *inherently*sexually* unhealthy.]
Xref: pa.dec.com clari.news.interest.quirks:1528 clari.news.religion
Path: pa.dec.com!decwrl!uunet!lll-winken!looking!clarinews
From: clarinews@clarinet.com
Newsgroups: clari.news.interest.quirks,clari.news.religion
Subject: Minister accused of robbing banks
Keywords: quirks, human interest, organized religion, religion,
criminal proceedings, legal
Message-ID:
Date: 11 Jan 91 13:36:46 GMT
Lines: 53
Approved: clarinews@clarinet.com
ACategory: usa
Slugword: minister-bankrob
Priority: daily
Format: daily
ANPA: Wc: 523; Id: a0513; Sel: na--a; Adate: 1-11-840aes
Codes: ynhodxx., ynrodxx., ynladxx.
DETROIT (UPI) -- A minister at a church in the affluent
Detroit suburb of Beverly Hills is charged of committing a string of
bank robberies, reportedly so he could pay prostitutes and call girls
for sex.
The Rev. Roy Alan Yanke, pastor of Covenant Alliance Church,
was arraigned Thursday in U.S. District Court on two counts of unarmed
bank robbery. Each of the charges carries a maximum of 20 years in
prison and a $250,000 fine.
FBI agents said Yanke, 37, of Berkley, robbed two banks
Wednesday -- the Huntington Bank in Warren of $1,050 and the
Manufacturers National Bank in Bloomfield Township of $1,350.
According to an FBI affidavit, Yanke confessed to having
robbed 14 banks in Oakland, Washtenaw, Macomb and Wayne counties,
including the Sept. 13, 1989, stickup of a Comerica Bank branch just a
few blocks from his church.
Investigators at two Detroit-area law enforcement agencies
said Yanke, under questioning, told them that sex was the motive for
the robberies, according to a report in Friday's Detroit News.
The minister told police he used the money -- about $50,000
taken in all the robberies -- to satisfy his ``tremendous appetite for
sex,'' the newspaper reported.
``I wish I could say he spent it to save his church, but after
he was arrested, he said he spent it all on sex -- from Eight Mile
(Road) hookers to high-class call girls,'' said one police official,
who asked that his name not be used.
FBI Special Agent John Anthony said while Yanke was charged in
only two bank robberies, authorities suspect he is the man police
dubbed the ``bearded robber'' in 12 other holdups.
``His picture was taken in several robberies and his
(procedure) and the description of him and his car is the same in the
others,'' Anthony said.
Yanke was released on $50,000 unsecured bond after his
arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Virginia Morgan pending a Jan. 30
preliminary examination in federal court. His wife, Deborah, said she
would be responsible for his behavior.
Yanke was arrested after FBI agents and police from four
suburban communities converged on his church shortly after the holdup
at the Manufacturers Bank branch in nearby Bloomfield Township.
Police said the suspect walked up to a teller about 1:30 p.m.
Wednesday and calmly opened a manila folder he was carrying. Inside
was a note demanding money.
He showed no weapon, police said, but held a hand in his
pocket as if he had a pistol. The frightened teller gave the suspect a
handful of cash and the man quickly strode out the door.
The teller set off an alarm alerting police. When officers
arrived, several witnesses provided them with the license plate number
of the getaway car. Officers said they traced the car to a Royal Oak
car rental agency, and they found the car in the church parking lot.
Church members expressed shock at the charges against their
minister. Yanke's church has about 100 members.
Officials at Alliance Church headquarters in Colorado Springs,
Colo., had no comment on the arrest. The denomination has about
266,000 members.
Public message # 2765 CULT_WATCH ECHO Entered 12:14 Saturday 19-Jan-91
From: Chris Anderson on 1:104/114.1
To: Ammond Shadowcraft
Re: Pastor Robs Banks to Pay for Sex!!
> Chris seems fond of claiming that I am obsessed by sex I'll
> let this Usenet posting to Clarion News answer his somewhat
> skewed claim. [Jeez, Chris it's kinda' hard _not_ to notice
> this stuff as it comes across the nets. B^) It is another
> addition of my numerous supported claims that the Christian
> religious scheme is *inherently*sexually* unhealthy.]
Well, we now know there are least two individuals with obsessions
along these lines. Has this proved anything else?
If this fellow hadn't been the so-called pastor of a church, it
would have been reported as "Bank Robber Caught", and no one
would have known one way or another what his religious affiliations
were. Were it not for the apparant "irony" of the situation, it
would never have reported thus.
You've gone out of your way to establish a statistically useless
collection of anecdotal information that wouldn't withstand the
scrutiny of evaluation. What you have collected doesn't support
or refute your basic contention.
What was, again, inherently wrong with what occurred was this
fellow's understanding and application of the Gospel. It'd be
easy to see where he'd run amok after a brief interview, and
I'm sure it would have little if anything to do with his religious
beliefs.
Given the statistical likelihood of someone claiming to be a
Christian in this society (whether they actually believe or attempt
to apply its teachings), I suppose we might as well say that the
Christian faith breeds every manner of evil more than any other
faith in the country. Of course, this is an invalid application
of a sampling method, and you're at it again... but I'm sure
you'll not be dissuaded from it in the future. Meanwhile, work
on your own obsession for a while. My sexual life is perfectly
happy, as are those of many other Christians, and therefore, your
contention is proven invalid by more cases than are necessary to
make the point. There is nothing *inherently* problematic about
sexuality and Christianity in the mix unless one doesn't make
any attempt to put them together in a consistent system of belief
and practice. Obviously, this guy hadn't. I can almost predict
what manner of "Christian upbringing" this fellow had, and where
it strayed from the Gospel. No, he isn't unique - and you'll no
doubt continue to receive fodder for your misguided list of
incidents. I'm long past trying to ask you to take an honest
approach to the topic.
