Bob Jones Administrator Suspended For Soliciting A Prostitute In 1991
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Went to school with this guy - he graduated in 1982…
…the year I was supposed to graduate, but I was expelled 3 weeks shy of graduation. No, not for soliciting a prostitute.
See, I know not to do that.
Yes, yes - I’m weird that way.
Bartosch was “Who’s Who” in 1982 and BJU Student Body President that year, but within 9 short years he was serving prison time - for a sex crime.
But, no worries! We know Joe - he was a good man while here at The Fortress of Faith! Background check?! Surely you jest, sir!
Now, Easton? If he ever comes back on campus, well, we want him fully investigated! Spare no expense!
The Superior Court of California page for this incident is here.
As I read that page, the charge was dimissed after conviction in 1994 pursuant to California Penal Code Section 1203.4, which provides for the expungement of California criminal records in certain cases. Readers interested in the current version of the section, which could differ from the one in effect in 1994, can find it here and here.
In Googling this provision, I found this web page by the California-based Shouse Law Group, which states:
As we discuss below, once a felony or misdemeanor conviction is expunged, a prospective employer is barred from using it against you in hiring decisions…or even asking you about it in the interview, for that matter.
* * * * *
Q. After my record is expunged, can I answer “No” if I’m asked whether I have a criminal record?
A. Yes.this is one of the benefits of obtaining a California expungement. If the court grants your expungement, you can legally answer “no” if you are asked whether you have a criminal record. There are, however, three exceptions:
1. if you plan to become a peace officer or run for public office,
2. if you want to work for the California Lottery commission, or
3. if you want to apply for state license.
I hope that this helps shed some additional light.
As the quantity of communication increases, so does its quality decline; and the most important sign of this is that it is no longer acceptable to say so.--RScruton
Easton, what is the basis for your statement that Joe served prison time?
Edit: I ask because jail time is not the same as prison time, either legally or in popular connotation.
As the quantity of communication increases, so does its quality decline; and the most important sign of this is that it is no longer acceptable to say so.--RScruton
According to online records obtained from the Superior Court of California, Bartosch was arrested and charged with misdemeanor solicitation of a prostitute in 1991. The records indicate he served three days in jail and was later sentenced to three years of probation.
Read the article — It’s right there like Peet said.
And…after re-reading my original comment…
I don’t want to be perceived as glorying in the “down-fall” of another fellow Christian. Too many are doing that now. I don’t want to be one of them.
Bartosch, as President of the BJU Student Body in 1982, was at the table during my final disciplinary hearing before I was officially expelled from BJU. (I’m sure they’ve changed the procedure by now.)
My original post was made in haste — an immature reaction to a 31 year-old memory — and an event that altered the course of my life.
Even if Joe’s record was “expunged”, it certainly would have been prudent - not required, but prudent - for Joe B. to reveal to a conservative Christian institution that he had strayed from the straight and narrow. Certainly, he may not have been hired, but we wouldn’t be talking about this now, either, would we?
EDIT — “I ask because jail time is not the same as prison time..” — I mean jail when I say prison. And when I say prison, I mean jail. For example: Jack Schaap is in jail. He is serving time in prison. Clear?
Let me get this right.
Bartosch is arrested and serves three days jail time some 22 years ago. His record, for soliciting a prostitute, is subsequently expunged by the courts.
Because his record is expunged, he writes that he has no criminal background on his application, as he’s legally able to do. He is hired at BJU, puts in a considerable amount of time at the school, and winds up serving as Dean of Distance Education and then becomes Chief Branding Officer. Some time this year, BJU finds out about the past expunged offense and suspends him indefinitely. I do absolutely agree with Easton that it would have been prudent to explain the whole affair to the school upon employment or during the interview stages.
So…why should they do that? Does he have direct interaction with the students? Does he pose any kind of threat to anyone at the school (other than the school’s image)? Does this offense cost BJU anything or put the school at risk?
I would hazard that the answer to the latter three questions above are No, No, and No. So why do this? Why send a press release out on it?
This whole story brings Psalm 103 to mind:
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
Unless there’s more to this story (which there might be), it doesn’t seem to be very compassionate or wise by the school to make a big deal of it. This is something that could (should!) have been handled internally and discreetly, in my opinion.
"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells
The consequences of one’s past actions impacts one’s career options.
At the bank … any financial indiscretion on one’s record or a poor credit report has negative implications. (For example … a case of a women who passed bad checks)
In California…
“Once a conviction is expunged, it becomes an arrest that did not end in conviction. Legally, you may answer “No” to these types of questions when applying with a private employer. Keep in mind, though, that background checks typically go back 10 years, and employers can see that you had a conviction dismissed. Answering “No” may look dishonest. A better response may be “Yes, expungement granted.” When applying for government employment, you must disclose the conviction and expungement.
Like I said, “prudent.”
Of course, there may have been full disclosure - we don’t know.
Right now none of us are better than the members of the Blue Haired Bloody Mary Club sitting around the bridge table gossiping on a Saturday afternoon…
(Source: Sacramento County Law Library)
Brent posted some solid factual info about how these things work.
Given how quick people are to cry “cover up” these days—espec. where BJU (or any “IFB” ministry) is involved—it seems like a no-brainer to me to issue a press release as they did.
About “jail” vs. “prison,” it’s true that many (most?) make no distinction, but the difference matters. Though sentenced offenders sometimes do “jail time,” not all who do “jail time” have been convicted and sentenced, as I understand it. Jail is often a parking place while the legal process runs its course.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
So, that’s how we’re going to talk about this?
Parsing the meaning of “jail time” vs. “prison time?”
Really?
Easton, everything gets parsed here. Get used to it. For fundamentalists, I find it odd.
1 Kings 8:60 - so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other.
It was 20 years ago. He served his time. Forgiveness? I also run a small business, and employ a convicted bank robber to do admin work. I don’t care about his past history. We have laughed together as I, the former police officer, listen to him describe how he plotted the bank robbery. It’s in the past. I don’t hold it against him.
I don’t know the guy. Maybe he’s slimy. Maybe he’s not. He did appear to have been punished once already, however.
Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.
[Easton]If you are going to bring it up then it is incumbent upon Christians to deal with that element accurately. You have a problem with that, really?So, that’s how we’re going to talk about this?
Parsing the meaning of “jail time” vs. “prison time?”
Really?
[TylerR]He did appear to have been punished once already, however.
From the WSPA text — “The records indicate he served three days in jail and was later sentenced to three years of probation.”
“Punished?” You can’t be serious.
It was only “jail”, Tyler — not like it was prison or anything.
More like a 3-day vacation from work and all the other responsibilities of life while the legal process ran its course. We all should be so lucky.
Discussion