Ogden’s Daughters: Abuse Much Worse Than Earlier Believed
By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews
WINONA LAKE — A late Grace College professor who founded the school’s Department of Music is under new scrutiny over allegations that he sexually abused dozens of young men.
According to statements from his two daughters in a Christian Post story last week and an investigative report completed by Grace, Don Ogden both sexually harassed and assaulted victims while he served as music professor at Grace and in church leadership, including at Winona Lake Grace Brethren Church. Ogden worked at Grace from 1950-1993 and passed away in 2015.
The daughters said in the Christian Post story that they believe their father abused “100 to 200 male victims.”
Grace mentioned in both the investigative report and a statement shared with InkFreeNews that it became aware of the sexual misconduct by Ogden in early 2021. It hired attorney Elizabeth Canning with Campus and Workplace Solutions to investigate the claims.
The report on her investigation states that “the reported incidents occurred between 1960 and 1990, with most incidents occurring in the 1980s.”
Eleven people said “they experienced or witnessed sexual misconduct by Mr. Ogden, with most of the incidents occurring during choir or music group tours.”
“The investigation also revealed that some former employees had knowledge of the misconduct and failed to appropriately respond at the time,” the report said.
“Additionally, in 1993, Mr. Ogden was arrested in Kansas for sexually assaulting a minor while traveling as part of his work in Grace’s alumni department, but this case was not prosecuted.”
According to the Christian Post article, the latter incident wasn’t prosecuted “because the boy recanted his story and said the sex was consensual.” Per the article, as Kansas’ age of consent is 16, “the case was closed.”
In a statement from WLGBC provided to InkFreeNews, the church stated it learned of the Kansas incident around the time it happened in March 1993.
“Our church family was shocked to learn that Don Ogden had been arrested in Kansas and accused of sexual misconduct,” it said in part. “Upon learning about this, church leadership immediately and permanently relieved Don of his part-time ministry position at the Winona Lake Grace Brethren Church and commenced a discipline and restoration process that lasted over a year and included a public confession.”
The statement notes that “at the time it was thought that this confession was accurate and complete.”
The church said later in the statement that “almost three decades later, a family member of Don informed the church that Don may have hidden a wider pattern of inappropriate sexual behavior.”
That led to the church taking a few actions, including it making a public statement in person and by email to church members including:
- “An acknowledgment that Don’s confession was not, as previously believed, accurate and complete, as well as regret that the discipline and restoration process in 1993 had not been more thorough.”
- “The offer of professional Christian counseling, anonymously and at our cost, to anyone who might have been abused or impacted by Don in his function as music minister at the church.”
- “An explanation of the third-party investigation initiated by Grace College and a plea to anyone who knew anything to talk with the investigator.”
The church said it also reached out to men who were former church members involved in the music ministry during the time Ogden served at the church.
It “supported and cooperated” with Grace’s investigation, according to the statement, also being “determined to initiate a separate and parallel third-party investigation if the existing investigation surfaced any information connected to the church.”
The church said as of now, “none of these efforts has resulted in any evidence pointing to victims at the church in relation to Don’s function as part-time minister of music.”
In the statement, the church said it “continues to offer help – professional, anonymous, and at our cost – to anyone who might have been impacted by Don in his capacity as part-time music minister at WLGBC.”
“WLGBC is committed to supporting victims of sexual abuse by calling sexual abuse what it is: reprehensible, inexcusable, and deserving of punishment from both civil and church authorities,” the statement also says. “We review our policies and procedures on a regular basis in order to ensure that abuse of any kind cannot take place in the context of church ministries.”
Grace also noted its response to Ogden’s actions.
“Grace is committed to acknowledging the pain of Mr. Ogden’s actions, protecting our campus community and preventing future misconduct. We are dedicated to focusing on accountability, improvement and meaningful action based on the recommendations of the investigator,” it said in the separate statement.
“Grace College condemns all forms of sexual harassment, which has no place in a God-honoring community such as ours,” that statement continues. “A respected member of the school and community betrayed the trust placed in him by students and families. We are deeply sorry this happened.”
“Grace is dedicated to creating a safe environment and a Christ-centered community for our students. As the investigation determined, the school did not respond appropriately in the decades when Mr. Ogden was on staff. Policies and personnel are in place to prevent and respond to these situations if they do occur,” it said.
The investigation report mentions that information “regarding Don Ogden specifically can be sent to Elizabeth Canning at [email protected]. Reports regarding Grace College now or in the past can be sent to Carrie Yocum at [email protected].”