West Lafayette pastor at center of IndyStar investigation placed on leave by denomination
Jared Olivetti, the West Lafayette pastor accused of mishandling the response to sexual abuse involving minors in his congregation, has been placed on leave effective immediately, pending the results of an ecclesiastical trial.
Olivetti and the 2020 elder board of the Immanuel Reformed Presbyterian Church were the subject of a December IndyStar investigation, which found they failed to act with urgency in responding to inappropriate behavior and sexual offenses by a boy at the church.
The boy is a relative of Olivetti. Rather than immediately recuse himself, IndyStar found Olivetti took advantage of his position as a leader to interfere with the church’s response.
IndyStar is not indicating the relationship between Olivetti and the boy to avoid directly identifying him. The Star does not identify juvenile offenders unless they are charged as adults.
Read IndyStar's investigation: A boy sexually abused up to 15 kids. His pastor relative protected him.
Olivetti’s leave was announced to the denomination Thursday afternoon in a letter from the Synod Judicial Commission, a copy of which was obtained by IndyStar. The Synod, which is the national governing body in the Reformed Presbyterian denomination, is currently overseeing the investigation into Olivetti and his fellow elders.
The religious charges against Olivetti were accepted by the commission late last year, but the decision to place him on leave wasn't announced until Thursday. As of Jan. 2, Olivetti was still preaching at Immanuel.
In accordance with the denomination’s Book of Discipline, Olivetti is required to “refrain from the exercise of office of teaching elder until the judicial process is complete,” the commission announced Thursday.
“By imposing this requirement,” the letter says, “the SJC in no way pre-judges the case, but acknowledges the gravity of the accusations against Mr. Olivetti.”
IndyStar has reached out to Olivetti and Immanuel’s current moderator for comment.
Also facing ecclesiastical charges are elders Keith Magill, Ben Larson and David Carr. Charges have been dropped against former Immanuel elders Nate Pfeiffer and Zachary Blackwood, who resigned their posts following an investigation at the Presbytery level last year.
Church records indicate the sexual abuse — which involved eight children from multiple families within the congregation — occurred on and off church property between spring 2019 and March 2020. Parents told IndyStar the children reported over- and under-clothes touching, oral-genital contact and penetration.
In addition to Olivetti's clear conflict of interest, several people close to the situation told IndyStar the church's elders chose to publicly minimize the nature of the incidents and protected their pastor over the congregation's children.
In a July 2020 meeting, Olivetti told the pastor of a neighboring church he and his elder board were going to hide the allegations from higher authorities in the denomination.
"We’re not sending a report up,” Olivetti said during the conversation, an audio recording of which was obtained by IndyStar. “It’s not going to be in our regular session minutes. It’s going to be in a different (record).”
Last summer, the boy was found by a juvenile judge to be delinquent on what would be multiple felony counts of child molesting if he had been charged as an adult.
An ecclesiastical judicial commission, convened in late 2020, investigated the actions taken by Olivetti and the other elders and presented their findings to Presbytery in March 2021. IndyStar was provided with a copy of this report, which the Presbytery has not made public. Its findings included:
Olivetti used “undue, excessive, or improper” influence to shape the church's response.
Conflicts of interest were “not understood, ignored — or worse veiled.”
Church leaders committed a series of failures “to protect and provide the safety” of those in their charge.
Leaders did not respond with urgency “fitting the gravity of the circumstances.”
Elders failed to remove Olivetti from all discussions and decisions despite giving the impression he had been recused.
Charges presented by those investigators were not accepted by the Presbytery. A second commission has since been convened — the Synod judicial commission — and accepted charges against Olivetti, Magill, Larson and Carr late last year. The exact wording and nature of those charges is unknown.
More: 5 things to know about church child sex abuse scandal in West Lafayette
In preliminary meetings, the defense asked the Synod judicial commission to vacate all charges and nullify the investigation, according to the letter, a request the commission denied.
“The SJC determined that the denial of judicial process was unfair to all — accusers and accused alike,” the commission wrote. “A full, fair, and impartial opportunity to fully ‘address this matter’ is necessary to bring it to completion.”
Olivetti’s ecclesiastical trial is expected to begin in early March. A separate trial for Magill, Larson and Carr will take place later that month.
Report child abuse to Indiana authorities
Indiana law requires any adult who suspects a child is being abused or neglected to report those suspicions to law enforcement or the Indiana Department of Child Services. Reports can be made anonymously 24/7 via the DCS hotline: 1-800-800-5556.
You can reach IndyStar reporter Holly Hays at holly.hays@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter: @hollyvhays.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Jared Olivetti, West Lafayette pastor, placed on leave by RPCNA Synod
