Robert Stine, 61, a former high ranking Baptist pastor in Madison, Wisconsin, has been found not guilty of sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl at a children’s day camp.
Robert Stine
Local news outlet WISC-TV reports a jury deliberated four hours before arriving at the not guilty verdict for two felony charges of first-degree child sexual assault of a person under the age of 13.
Stine’s attorney, Christopher Van Wagner, said in a statement to local media, “We are grateful the jury looked closely at the evidence and reached the right decision. My client thanks all those whose prayers lifted him up during this case.”
Stine, who resigned last year from Midvale Baptist Church and is a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention, also faced an accusation of inappropriately touching a child at Devil’s Lake State Park in 2021. That accusation did not lead to criminal charges but did contribute to the revoking of his license to run Kid’s Best, a childcare program hosted by his church.
As Ministry Watch previously reported, Stine’s resignation was not immediate. He continued to preach and lead church business meetings until June of 2023, despite losing his childcare license and being formally charged.
After mounting pressure pushed Stine from the pulpit, his attorney insisted his resignation was not an admission of guilt but rather a move to spare the church from undue stress.
The July 17 verdict applied only to three previous assaults alleged to have taken place in 2018 and 2019 at the Kid’s Best day camp. WISC-TV noted it was unclear whether the alleged victim was the same who witnesses reported seeing Stine touch at the pool, and indicated that court records were vague on the total number of victims.
The day camp incidents came to light in April 2021, after the girl took a sex education class at school and learned about inappropriate sexual touching. She then told social workers and her mother that she realized the pastor had abused her. She also told a friend, who allegedly reported a similar experience with Stine.
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The alleged abuses included massaging and touching her in a sexual manner while having an erection, and making her sit on his lap and molesting her while the children played a game called “Murder in the Dark.”
The trial, however, amounted to a case of he-said-she-said as Stine’s attorney questioned the reliability of the testimony of the girl, now 15.
“Test the truth of the vague, blurry claims that were remembered after a period of years. Did you hear the witness change some things on the stand?” Van Wagner said.
The prosecution countered, “Through the clarity of her testimony, the state has established each and every element of the offenses charge that the judge went through with you.”
In the end, the evidence was not enough to convince the jury beyond a reasonable doubt to convict Stine, who maintained his complete innocence and claimed to only vaguely remember the girl.
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