Gerald P. Curran

From XFamily - Children of God
Revision as of 09:58, 13 February 2007 by Panglossolalia (talk | contribs) (started article, stub, needs some work)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

Gerald P. Curran

Gerald P. Curran
Aliases Unknown
Born 1950-12-21, USA
Rank Unknown
Present location Rockford, Illinois, USA
Spouse(s) Unknown
Children Unknown


Gerald P. Curran was a long-time member of The Family.[1][2] On November 14, 1994, he was charged in Henry County, Illinois with one count of aggravated criminal sexual assault of a child under the age of 13 and one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a child under the age of 13.[3] On July 6, 1995, he was found guilty of the first charge of aggravated criminal sexual assault and the second charge was dismissed upon the State's motion.[3] The Honorable Judge Jay M. Hanson of the 14th Judicial Circuit then sentenced Curran to serve 11 years in prison.[3] On July 25, 1995, Curran entered into the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections to begin serving his sentence. [4] On September 12, 2000, he was released from prison early (apparently for "good behavior"[1]) on parole.[4] He was then under supervision until September 12, 2003 when he was discharged.[4] Curran is required to periodically register as a sex offender with local law enforcement agencies.[5] As a convicted child sex offender, he is also prohibited from being in certain places where children congregate and engaging in certain activities that might put him in contact with children.[6]


In February 2007, one of Curran's victims posted a brief account (on MovingOn) of her experiences, including repeated sexual abuse by adult men over a period of many years, as a child growing up in The Family.[1] The victim recounted that Curran was like a "second father" to her and lived with her family for a number of years and had sexual relations with her parents.[1] She also recounted that Curran began raping her at the age of 5 and that the abuse continued until she was 14.[1] According to her account, when her parents discovered the full extent of Curran's sexual abuse of their child over a period of 9 years, they did not report the matter to the police but instead sent Curran away and then a year later invited him to return to live in their home with his daughter.[1] According to her account, she and Curran's daughter then "ran away from home because I had to get away from him."[1] According to her account, after she and Curran's daughter were found by law enforcement and child welfare authorities, an investigation was conducted and Curran was arrested for aggravated criminal sexual assault of a child.[1] According to her account, both Family leaders and her parents strongly supported Curran rather than her and at the sentencing hearing, her father requested that Curran be given a reduced sentence.[1] Furthermore, the victim reported receiving a letter, which her parents allowed her to read but not keep, from the "leader of this group"[7] stating that she should forgive Curran and that "what he did wasn't so bad."[1]

The victim's account of The Family's support of Curran even after his conviction, sentencing and imprisonment for child abuse is corroborated by the memories of a former NACRO staff member, who recalled that top Family leaders arranged for $50 USD monthly payments to be sent to Curran after he wrote them requesting help because the criminal conduct for which he was convicted "occurred while he was in The Family and following the Letters."[8] According to the former NACRO staffer, Curran regularly sent in reports of his "witnessing" activities in prison and reportedly had a tattoo of the Family Symbol on his body.[8]

Sources

Documents

Notes and References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 movingon.org: What happened to me in the Family — 2007-02-07
  2. The xFamily.org editors are currently investigating the details of Curran's membership in the Children of God/The Family cult. It has been confirmed that he was a member of the organization when he committed the crimes for which he was convicted.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 PDF Icon1994CF30 Case Report, Henry County, Illinois — 2007-02-09
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 PDF Iconpublicdata.com: Illinois Department of Corrections - Gerald Curran — 2007-02-09
  5. PDF IconIllinois State Police - Sex Offender Registry - Gerald Curran — 2007-02-09
  6. Detailed information about this can be found in PDF IconA Guide to Sex Offender Registration in Illinois(86 pages, 3.1MB)
  7. It is presently unknown to the xFamily.org editors if the author of this letter was one of the top leaders of the groups such as Karen Zerby or Steven Kelly or a more junior leader.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Source: Correspondence to xFamily.org editor, 2006-10-18

This article is a "stub". This means it is an incomplete article needing further elaboration.

You can help xFamily.org by contributing information or writing a more complete article. Please use the Forum to send us content whenever possible.