Youth Pastor Joshua Rosa Found Guilty on Murder Charges

Church Members in the News

It is a sad day in Pentecostal church history and even more sad for the family members of Stephen Tomlinson, as youth pastor Joshua Rosa is found guilty of first degree murder in Stephen Tomlinson's death on Monday morning. Joshua Rosa was charged after 13-year-old Stephen Tomlinson's body was found at Logan Gate Park in Hillsborough County, Florida, in December. Stephen Tomlinson was strangled to death in 2005, according to ABC Action News.

The medical examiner on the case against Joshua Rosa said of the allegations that Rosa had stated where false. Rosa had said he was trying to help young Stephen Tomlinson when he died and not trying to injure him. But the medical examiner's testimony proved otherwise, as reported by Tampa Bay.

There have been other churches in the news for doing crimes against others such as murder, molestation, rape and more.

On May 22, 2002, Rev. Troy Brown of the Greater Anointed Tabernacle Worship Center was found guilty on charges of 25 counts of molestation. The allegations against Rev. Troy Brown came after a 15-year-old male parishioner said Rev. Troy Brown had molested him, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

On March 13, 2008, Abominations posted information pertaining to the Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut, saying it agreed to pay nearly $600,000 to a former Bloomfield altar boy. The victim said he was sexually abused by Rev. Stephen Foley. A settlement was reached March 18, the day jury selection was to start in the trial. In 2002, Glen Sutherland had sued the church and Foley, stating he was sexually abused by the reverend in the early 1970s at the Christ the King Church. The Archdiocese has had to pay 12 men for sexual abuse claims against Foley.