PARA ESPAÑOL, HAZ CLIC AQUI
Before explaining further, it is important I elaborate on the context of my own disclosure of this report of abuse and the evolution of my own thinking on the larger issues surrounding Steve’s alleged behavior.
In 2023, an article from the Washington Missourian was published. I was quoted in a way that made it seem like I believed Steve may have sexually abused children, which was the opposite of my original intention.
My original intention was to make clear I did not think Steve had sexually abused children.
Indeed, I was so concerned about this potential misconstrual that I issued a correction on this blog November 21st, 2023. This was over a year and a half before I received the disclosure about the alleged misconduct.
My own slow dawning about the reality of abuse at Niños came first with an explicit claim of abuse and omission that opened my eyes to other things I had seen or been told. In the same way, the disclosure from this individual put into context other pieces of information stretching from 2018 to 2025.
Important Pieces of Information
P1. In 2018, while in Mexico during my internship at a Niños church, two adults told me about an occasion they witnessed years prior while present in Steve’s apartment at Genesis in San Vicente. It was evening time, and as they were getting ready to depart, some minor males from the Bethel house in Texcoco came into Steve’s apartment. It was decided in front of these witnesses that the minor males would stay the night in Steve’s apartment rather than depart for their home in Texcoco. These adults recalled to me how they looked at each other in shock at the inappropriateness of the decision and how it caused them to wonder if “Hermano Steve” was also an abuser. They stated that Steve's wife was not present.
P2. This year (2025), I was informed by a former auxiliary houseparent who recalled how she had been a witness to Steve giving a gift to one of the minor males at Ninos many years ago (c. 2013-2014). After Steve had left, one of the other minor males commented that his peer had received the gift in exchange for a sexual favor that the young man had performed on Steve. This auxiliary houseparent did not recall which minor male was given the gift, but she did say the comment was “engraved in her mind,” and she gave me the name of the commenter. She also independently recounted to me the previous incident of the minor males staying the night in Steve’s apartment, which had been recounted to her by the same adults who told me.
P3. In 2023, a former staff member of Niños de Mexico recounted to me how years prior she had witnessed Steve grab the buttocks of one of the minor males in the institution while at the Genesis compound. She recalled being stunned at what she had seen. She stated in later questioning that they were not a sports event, that Steve was not a coach, and the minor male was not a player, emphasizing further that there was no sense in which the touch could be considered appropriate by the director of a children’s home towards a child.
P4. In the GRACE report, it was reported that Steve had at least on one occasion taken minor males from the institution on a camping trip in which he was the sole adult chaperone (Report 196).
P5. In the GRACE report, Steve mentions that the authorities in Mexico thought he had sexually assaulted a minor male who was critically injured while in Steve’s care (196) and who eventually died fro his injuries, but never explains why the authorities had come to that conclusion. The latent answer is physical evidence of the minor's apparent prior abuse, such as "pre-existing rectal scars" (202). However, as the GRACE report notes "...these details could be used to deflect blame" (202).
In addition to these five points, multiple individuals, including myself, a former staff member, a former volunteer, and a former had all noted Steve’s apparent preference and favoritism towards the male residents over the female residents. Below is a screenshot of a conversation I had early last year, in which a former female resident asked me for money, citing that she had asked Steve, but that he had not responded. She concluded that her not being male had something to do with his unwillingness to help. The issue is not whether that conclusion is true or not. The issue is that Steve's favoritism or preference for the male residents of Niños was something seen and felt by a diversity of people, including this former resident.
Furthermore, I spoke with a former supporter of Ninos who had relayed to me his insistent desire to talk to GRACE about his concerns about Steve’s behavior seen over the years and how it reminded him of a family member who was a child abuser. He admitted had not seen anything inappropriate, but a pattern of behavior that made him seem uneasy to such an extent that he felt the need to talk to investigators.
Statement from the alleged victim
What this alleged victim told me was that he had been touched by Steve while on a camping trip. He was sharing a tent with Steve and, in the night, the individual awoke to find Steve's hand on his private parts, with Steve apparently feigning sleep.
This story makes sense in light of Steve's apparent willingness to be alone with minor males from Niños overnight in intimate settings (P1), including his own admission to camping alone with minor males at the institution in the early years of his tenure at Niños (P4). This also makes sense in light of P3 and the witness of inappropriate contact/touching.
The veracity of this story would also make sense of a great deal of other factors, such as Steve's preferential treatment and favoritism toward the boys, as well as his years of covering up, concealing, and lying about abuses and handlings thereof in the institution, as evidenced in the GRACE report. It would also make sense of P5.
Answers to a Few Questions:
Why did you not say anything before now? I had a policy that I would not speak about an incident or abuse report publicly unless a victim or witness had spoken to me personally. So while I had given the information I had to GRACE, it was not until the alleged victim contacted me and I was able to question him, that I felt satisfied there was enough reasonable doubt to go forward in public. I had hoped the alleged victim would speak to GRACE, but he elected not to.
What are you claiming in brief? Multiple independent attestations from a diversity of backgrounds have evidenced a pattern of disturbing behavior by Steve towards minor males at the institution that could include abuse.
Why are you saying this? What do you want to happen on the basis of this information?
- The Mexican government should launch an immediate and impartial investigation/inquiry into this information, including the suspicious 1998 death of the minor male referenced in the GRACE report.
- The American government, whether Homeland Security or the FBI, should launch an immediate and impartial investigation/inquiry into this information, including the suspicious 1998 death of the minor male referenced in the GRACE report.
- The Board of Directors of Niños should commission an independent and impartial investigation/inquiry into this information, including the suspicious 1998 death of the minor male referenced in the GRACE report.
- I hope that any other potential victims will read this and have the courage to make their stories known to the relevant authorities.
Final Thoughts
I did not want to write this. I do not want to write this. Not only do I feel sick at this information, but I also have no desire to once again put myself in the cross-hairs of controversy after a brutal three years of having my faith, integrity, and character maligned and called into question. However, this information is too important and too serious to let go.
I am not declaring Steve guilty of wrongdoing.
I am urging the authorities in Mexico and the United States, in light of the recent revelations of the GRACE report, to do their due diligence and investigate.
If no crime is found to have been committed, Steve's name will be cleared. If a crime is found to have been committed, the victim(s) will receive the justice they deserve.
Regardless, the stronghold of secrecy and silence must not be allowed to have the final say.
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