Perverted Justice

TRIGGER WARNING: sexual assault. In this conversation, Shielagh Clark shares her deeply personal journey of confronting her past abuse, navigating the complexities of her identity, and seeking justice against her abuser. She reflects on her experiences within the church, the impact of trauma on her life, and the challenges she faced during her legal battle. Through her story, she emphasizes the importance of truth-seeking, empowerment, and the need for accountability within religious institutions. NAMES CHEAT SHEET: https://bit.ly/pj-cheatsheet

This conversation explores the journey of healing from abuse, the impact of church dynamics on victims, and the quest for justice and accountability. Shielagh Clark shares her personal experiences, the emotional toll of confronting her past, and the challenges faced in seeking support and navigating relationships. The discussion emphasizes the importance of truth in healing and the courage required to speak out against abuse. Time Frame Covered: Fall 2019 NAMES CHEAT SHEET: https://bit.ly/pj-cheatsheet

TRIGGER WARNING: Rape, Sexual Abuse, Spiritual Abuse, Miscarriage   Beware unchecked power within the church!   In this episode of Perverted Justice, I reveal the dark underbelly of religious authority and the spiritual abuse that accompanies clergy sexual abuse. I lay out false claims made by pastors which damaged my reputation, and steps I took to have my abuser arrested.   Listen to the long-lasting damage caused by those who should have been trusted but instead betrayed their calling. Are you equipped to recognize a hard truth - even when it might shatter your perceptions?   Disclaimer: original call recording was 42 minutes of mostly silence. Long periods of silence are removed for the sake of timing here but no content is missing or reordered.    Time period covered: Winter 2019/2020 NAMES CHEAT SHEET: https://bit.ly/pj-cheatsheet

TRIGGER WARNING: Sexual assault, rape  In this episode, Shielagh Clark offers insight into why accountability is key to building trust and restoring relationships.  We start by analyzing a resignation letter that is full of dishonesty and from there, we explore the elements of effective apologies, why it's so hard to admit our wrongdoings, and then detail missed opportunities. To download the cheat sheet for remembering who is who: CHEAT SHEET. To read the Greenville News article posted following Weaver's arrest: ARTICLE. Time period covered: Winter 2020

In this pivotal episode of Perverted Justice, Shielagh Clark dives deeper into the complexities of civil litigation, sharing her personal journey through the legal system and its intersection with her fight for justice against Hyde Park Baptist Church. Shielagh begins with a detailed yet accessible breakdown of legal procedures, including the Child Victims Act (CVA) and the distinctions between civil and criminal law. From pleadings to discovery and beyond, listeners are guided through the mechanics of her case, offering clarity on the challenges survivors face when seeking justice. The episode then shifts to personal reflections on the filing of her complaint, the limitations imposed by the CVA, and the emotional toll of distilling lived trauma into legal documents. Shielagh candidly discusses the church's inadequate response and contrasts it with her hopes for truth, reconciliation, and institutional accountability. Lastly, Shielagh examines the broader implications of civil litigation, highlighting its potential to drive systemic change. With references to historical cases like the McDonald’s hot coffee lawsuit and the Boston Globe’s exposé of abuse in the Catholic Church, she underscores the critical role of survivors, journalists, and advocates in holding institutions accountable.   Resources Mentioned Books: Trauma and Recovery by Judith Herman Suffering and the Heart of God by Diane Langberg We Too: How the Church Can Respond Redemptively to the Sexual Abuse Crisis by Mary DeMuth The Wounded Heart by Dan Allender UnTwisting Scripture by Rebecca Davis Films: Spotlight (2015) – A film detailing the Boston Globe's investigation into the Catholic Church abuse scandal. Articles: https://bit.ly/MidHudsonCVA Complaint: https://bit.ly/cvacomplaint Cheat sheet: https://bit.ly/pj-cheatsheet Homework for Listeners Explore the McDonald’s hot coffee lawsuit for insights into the real story behind this misunderstood case. https://bit.ly/McDCoffeeSuit Reflect on the role of civil litigation in driving accountability within institutions. Call to Action If you’ve found this episode thought-provoking, please rate, review, and share Perverted Justice with your community. Together, we can advocate for radical honesty and systemic change.   Time Period Covered: Spring of 2020

Hyde Park Baptist Church (Romans Road Bible Church) had a beautiful opportunity to right the past and be an example for the local community and neighboring churches - but instead of rising to the challenge, they crumbled.  In this episode, Shielagh lays out the steps the new pastor took to warp perceptions and sidestep his duty to care. Was it incompetence? A calculated strategy? Or something worse? When institutions protect themselves, who pays the price? And what happens when the truth refuses to stay buried? Books: A Church Called TOV by Scott McKnight and Laura Barringer https://www.churchcalledtov.org/ Tates Creek Presbyterian Church public statement: https://bit.ly/TatesCreek Youtube video of Murray's jokes: https://bit.ly/WMSJokes Time Period Covered: Summer 2020

In this second installment of the three-part series on the initial responses to the lawsuit, Shielagh shifts the focus from leadership to the broader community’s reaction. From social media to the quiet, calculated silences, we examine how impression management played a key role these first few weeks. Despite living 800 miles away, Shielagh still felt the weight of the narratives being spun—some dismissing the lawsuit as irrelevant, others distorting her motives. In this episode, she shares how she sought to make sense of the chaos, from creating a Venn diagram to discovering the groundbreaking research of Wade Mullen, whose work on institutional crisis management helped her understand the church’s tactics. She confronts the "new church" argument head-on, asking: Can an institution erase its past simply by rebranding? And challenges the false peace that so many sought to maintain at the cost of truth and justice. Through personal reflections, documented conversations, and hard-earned insights, Shielagh explores why telling the truth remains the ultimate disruption—and why it’s so often met with resistance. Venn Diagram: https://bit.ly/VennD-Responses Books: Something's Not Right by Wade Mullen Trauma and Recovery by Judith Herman The Lord is my Courage by K.J. Ramsey Cheat Sheet: https://bit.ly/pj-cheatsheet Time Period Covered: Summer 2020

To close the three-part series on reactions to the filing of the lawsuit, we examine the role of Peter Nargi, the youth pastor at Hyde Park Baptist Church, and his failure to report what he witnessed. As a leader responsible for the safety and spiritual guidance of the church’s youth, Nargi saw the warning signs—he witnessed Weaver alone with Shielagh in situations that should have raised alarm. And yet, he said nothing. Why did he choose silence over action? Was it fear? We’ll explore how his inaction contributed to the perversion of justice and the culture of complicity that allowed abuse to persist unchecked. Using firsthand accounts, documents, and radical truth-telling, we expose how silence isn’t just passive—it’s enabling. And we ask the critical question: when a leader fails to protect those in their care, does the system share the blame? Tune in as we continue to unravel the truth behind Hyde Park Baptist Church’s failures—and the people who let them happen. **Peter Nargi denies having suspicions to warrant investigation or report Cheat Sheet: https://bit.ly/pj-cheatsheet

In this episode of Perverted Justice, Shielagh breaks down Hyde Park Baptist Church’s official answer to the lawsuit—and the lies, denials, and outright blame they cast in the process. From denying basic, verifiable facts to employing the doctrine of unclean hands—essentially arguing that she was at fault for her own abuse—their response was more than just a legal maneuver. It was a moral failure. We explore what this answer reveals about the church’s priorities, their willingness to distort reality to protect themselves, and their responsibility to know what was being filed on their behalf. She also shares her experience navigating the legal process—switching attorneys to protect her integrity, struggling to be heard, and coming to terms with the fact that the church she once respected had no intention of doing the right thing. This episode is about more than just a legal document—it’s about truth, accountability, and the devastating impact of institutional betrayal. Links:  Cheat Sheet: https://bit.ly/pj-cheatsheet Complaint: https://bit.ly/cvacomplaint Answer: https://bit.ly/CVAAnswer

In this episode of Perverted Justice, Shielagh Clark dissects a troubling sermon delivered by Pastor Richard Murray—one that reveals far more than he intended. Hidden within his words is a chilling glimpse into how he truly views the abuse Shielagh suffered and the twisted narrative he’s been spinning for years to protect himself and the church. As Shielagh breaks down Murray’s message, the patterns become undeniable: the same victim-blaming rhetoric, the same perverted sense of justice that has plagued this case from the beginning. But this time, he goes even further—telling the most repulsive, gut-wrenching lie about Shielagh yet. A lie so vile, so transparently self-serving, that it shatters any illusion that Murray is fit to stand in a pulpit. Shielagh exposes how this kind of deceit isn’t just harmful—it’s dangerous. It’s a weapon wielded against survivors to silence them, to protect abusers, and to keep the truth buried under the weight of religious authority. This isn’t just about one man’s moral failure—it’s about a church culture that enables and rewards these distortions of truth. By the end of this episode, one thing is clear: Pastor Richard Murray should resign or be removed from his position immediately. His words have proven that he is unworthy of his title, his influence, and the trust of his congregation. It’s time for the church to decide—will they continue to stand behind men who pervert the truth? Or will they finally demand justice?

Show Notes: In this episode of Perverted Justice, Shielagh takes you inside the most agonizing part of her legal battle — the moment justice slipped through her fingers, not because the system failed on its own, but because the church intervened to protect the man who abused her. You’ll hear how the solicitor on her case believed her. She believed he deserved active prison time. He was close — terrifyingly close — to accountability. But then the church did the unthinkable: they added her abuser to the civil lawsuit she had filed against them. That single move gave him the leverage he needed to avoid a guilty plea — a legal loophole that let him deny responsibility while the court accepted a conviction. This wasn’t a misunderstanding. It was a strategy — one that protected the church by handing the child molester the tools to escape the truth. In this episode, Shielagh walks you through the timeline of how it happened, what it cost, and what it reveals about how institutions silence survivors — not just with inaction, but with deliberate, calculated betrayal. Key Themes: The emotional and legal cost of an Alford plea How the church’s legal tactics gave power back to the abuser The solicitor’s belief in my case — and what could have been The impact of institutional betrayal on survivors of abuse Listener Discretion Advised: This episode contains discussions of child sexual abuse, institutional betrayal, and trauma. If the episode moves you, I’d be honored if you’d share it — especially with those who still think silence is safety. Time Period Covered: Fall 2020-Spring 2021

TRIGGER WARNING: Sexual assault details  In this episode, Shielagh picks up where she left off—with the crushing weight of what Hyde Park Baptist Church stole from her. She open by unpacking one of their most insidious tactics: willful ignorance. Church leaders kept themselves intentionally uninformed about the actions of their attorneys so they could later claim plausible deniability. It was strategic, manipulative, and deeply dishonest. They wanted the benefit of a ruthless legal strategy without the accountability for its cruelty. The lies were calculated, and the church community was manipulated by design. Then, she returns to the courtroom—Weaver’s sentencing. After months of pandemic delays, she finally had the chance to speak. The courtroom was limited, but her support system was not. Her family and friends gathered outside in teal, the color of sexual assault awareness, and showed up in full force. Their solidarity meant everything. Shielagh shares behind-the-scenes details of that day,  and reflects on the heartbreaking pattern of being told she was "too much" for asking questions—something that happened again and again with the professionals supposedly advocating for survivors. Survivors aren’t meant to shrink. They are meant to stand tall, ask hard questions, and demand truth. She closes this episode with her full victim impact statement and selected portions of the court transcript, offering commentary as she goes. Despite all the institutional failure, Judge Letitia Verdin listened. She heard. She was moved. And she delivered a sentence that exceeded expectations, including a crucial restriction on Weaver’s access to minors. Yes, the church did everything it could to silence and discredit —but they couldn’t stop the judge from believing. And that mattered. Listener Discretion Advised: This episode contains discussions of child sexual abuse, institutional betrayal, and trauma. Time period covered: April 2021, brief discussion of events that occurred April 2001

In this episode, we pick up in April 2021, just after the criminal conviction of Weaver. Shielagh addresses a manipulative letter from Pete and Lori Nargi that was sent to her sister, analyzing the tactics they used to deflect accountability and distort the narrative of abuse into one of alleged mutuality. She explores how their self-protective rewriting of history reveals a deeper unwillingness to confront their own failures—and how that mindset sets the tone for how leadership often mishandles abuse. Then, we move back into the civil case timeline. Shielagh walks through the early discovery process, the emotional toll of invasive demands for her private messages, and the moment she realized that her integrity stood up to the scrutiny meant to discredit her. She also shares the story behind a $3.5 million settlement demand—one she never wanted to make, but was forced to by the church’s own legal maneuvering. Finally, we see how church leadership twisted that settlement letter into a weapon, breaking confidentiality to frame Shielagh as greedy and dishonest. She speaks honestly about the frustration of being vilified for seeking truth while those in power are moved only by threats to their reputation or finances. This episode unpacks not only the legal developments, but the emotional and spiritual betrayals that happen when institutions prioritize image over truth—and money over justice. video: https://youtu.be/EoICQ7k31SY?si=xBap22NQ401nMLv7 Church Complaint Weaver Answer   Time Frame covered April 2021 - April 2022

In this pivotal episode, we begin our deep dive into the summer of 2022 — a season marked by fresh wounds inflicted by an institution that continues to prioritize its reputation over its people. Shielagh walks listeners through a psychological evaluation prepared for trial, exposing how Hyde Park Baptist Church’s response to her abuse matched every known facet of institutional betrayal: failure to protect, cover-ups, misinformation, and punishing the victim. Drawing from expert analysis and deeply personal reflections, Shielagh details the devastating impact of being retraumatized — not by the original abuse alone, but by the church's ongoing refusal to respond with honesty, vulnerability, and care. We explore how DARVO (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender) plays out not just on an individual level, but systemically, and how scapegoating a former secretary became a chilling modern-day reenactment of the Day of Atonement — a deflection of guilt at the cost of yet another innocent woman. This episode confronts hard truths, including the heartbreak of being re-cast as the enemy simply for seeking justice, and the emotional toll of watching others turn away in confusion or disbelief. As always, we name these patterns not just to expose them, but to create space for something more honest, courageous, and redemptive to rise in their place. Video referenced: https://youtu.be/BddWs7_EA7o Time period covered: Summer 2022

In this episode, Shielagh recounts one of the most pivotal therapy sessions of her journey, occurring just after the deeply unsettling meeting between Richard Murray and the Greens. Still reeling from the manipulation and disorientation that meeting produced, she brings raw honesty into the therapy room - and into this episode - wrestling with deep self-doubt, despair, and a lifetime of spiritual conditioning that taught her to question her own experiences before ever questioning authority. Through journal entries and introspection, listeners witness the inner conflict of someone who has spent years blaming herself for harm she didn’t cause. Shielagh explores the dangerous theological messages that formed her, like the overuse or imbalanced use of Jeremiah 17:9, and begins to unravel how spiritual language has been weaponized to justify abuse and silence the voices of those who dare to speak truth. Her therapist helps reframe this trauma by introducing concepts like locus of control, emphasizing how systems of spiritual abuse distort a victim’s perception of responsibility. Shielagh’s realization that fear may explain - but not excuse - the church's betrayal marks a turning point. She reflects on the impossibly high expectations placed on victims to reconcile without repentance, and the hypocrisy of demanding trust from those the church harmed while never accounting for the harm it wielded when it had the power. Woven throughout are powerful moments of clarity, including the impact of K.J. Ramsey’s The Lord Is My Courage, which arrives providentially and helps Shielagh articulate the grief and rage of being abandoned by shepherds who claimed to act in God’s name. Through Ramsey’s words and her own experience, Shielagh boldly confronts the institutional betrayal that masquerades as Christian love but fails to live the gospel it preaches. She closes the episode by naming the difference between false redemption that squashes truth and the real healing that comes through confession, exposure, and justice. Shielagh points listeners toward a deeper truth: that goodness is not found in silence or niceness, but in the fierce, unwavering light of truth-telling and love. Book Mentioned: The Lord is My Courage  by KJ Ramsey. I guess it should be said that, like many titles I recommend, I found this book very helpful while I also do not agree with it entirely. Time Period Covered: July 2022

When the Truth Breaks Through In this episode, Shielagh reflects on a powerful dream she had following a breakthrough therapy session. In the dream, her home began flooding as water poured through a failed patch in the roof - a vivid picture of what it feels like when truth can no longer be contained. The patch, she realized, symbolized the years of lies used to cover up her abuse. She also recounts a tense visit to her abuser’s current church, where his pastor’s aggressive defensiveness and shocking admissions made her even more keenly aware just how unsafe churches can be for children and how difficult it remains for survivors to be seen as anything other than threats when they push for reform and accountability. The episode ends with a redemptive turn: Shielagh’s decision to attend a concert at Hyde Park Baptist Church and the unexpected comfort she found when the Slaughters welcomed her without hesitation, and Tom Slaughter, in particular, stepped in as protector the way her own father failed to do in 2005. This episode is about the difference between people who patch over the truth and those who hold the door open when it finally breaks through - as well as the healing that can come when someone simply shows up and stays.

Episode 17: Fabrications and False Hope In this emotionally raw episode, Shielagh sits down with Dale and Alex, once trusted figures, in a vulnerable attempt to reach understanding, accountability, and shared pursuit of truth. She opens her heart about the deep harm their behavior during the lawsuit has caused, expressing a sincere desire for healing rooted in honesty and love. But instead of meeting her in that place of courageous truth-telling, Dale and Alex respond with platitudes, evasions, and - most devastating of all - a complete fabrication of the conversation that follows. What was meant to be a step toward reconciliation becomes another layer of betrayal, as they twist her words to avoid taking responsibility and continue protecting their image at the cost of integrity. This episode is a sobering reminder of how even well-staged conversations can be used to manipulate, deflect, and deny. And yet, through it all, Shielagh holds fast to the power of truth and the belief that real love does not flinch at what is hard. Youtube video: https://youtu.be/KgY-Q0BxOPs?si=0RE9k6Xqa4t-uG46

Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussion of image-based sexual violence, including the non-consensual taking of photos, the spreading of rumors about “naked pictures” that never existed and the devastating emotional and psychological consequences of such violations. Listeners will encounter descriptions of trauma, victim-blaming, and institutional betrayal. Please care for yourself as you listen. Summary: In this episode, Shielagh confronts one of the most painful and misunderstood chapters in her story: the existence of degrading photographs taken against her will, the lies that followed, and the devastating way church leaders weaponized those images to discredit her. The narrative begins with Shielagh’s attempt to clear up a misunderstanding with Pastor Jim Mitchell, believing it would open lines of communication. Instead, she was silenced, treated as a threat, and ultimately had the police called on her. This painful rejection revealed a deeper problem: years of rumors and false narratives built on mischaracterizations of her, fueled by a single misunderstanding that metastasized into institutional mistrust. Shielagh courageously addresses head-on the false claim that “naked photos” of her existed, explaining that while she was forced into degrading photos, no such explicit images were ever taken. Research on image-based sexual violence underscores what she has lived: heightened risks of PTSD, depression, shame, harassment, and social isolation. Rather than recognizing the images as evidence of her victimization, church leaders framed her as immoral, locking her into a distorted reputation that continues to affect her decades later. By revisiting events from 2005 through 2022, Shielagh exposes how lies and silence within church leadership repeatedly compounded harm, substituting rumor for truth and preserving institutional self-protection over justice. Through her telling, she illuminates how profoundly a community’s refusal to acknowledge truth can weaponize power against a survivor. This episode is both testimony and warning: when integrity is replaced by silence and gossip, victims remain trapped in falsehoods, while institutions escape accountability. Time Period Covered: July 2022 and some history for context

In this episode, Shielagh Clark closes out the summer of 2022—a season marked by both courageous steps and devastating setbacks. She reflects on the fallout from her attempt to be heard by the church, including the scolding she endured from her own attorney, whose words echoed the very dynamics of control and silencing she thought she had escaped. What was framed as a “confrontation” became another weapon used against her, showing how institutions and even advocates can twist survival into liability. The episode also explores how the deposition process unexpectedly unearthed proof of the very truth Shielagh had been trying to tell all along, and how another survivor’s story confirmed that she was not alone in being dismissed and shut out by church leaders. Finally, she shares how the passage of New York’s Adult Survivors Act opened a new legal path, merging with her existing case and pushing it closer to trial. This chapter of Perverted Justice reveals the cost of standing up for oneself when even allies resist—and underscores the persistence of truth, even when institutions try to bury it Time Period Covered: August 2022-January 2023 ASA Complaint will be linked soon

In this episode of Perverted Justice, Shielagh Clark revisits the tension between truth and image that defined her litigation against Hyde Park Baptist Church. While the church and attorneys treated the case as a tug-of-war over money, (which is the language the law speaks) Shielagh emphasizes that for her, litigation was always about truth—forcing hidden realities into the light so the past could be redeemed. The episode explores the complexities of the church’s insurance coverage. Shielagh explains how abuse claims spanned multiple policies, why her attorneys considered a bad-faith claim against Church Mutual, and how the revelation that the church had indeed offered the full $300,000 policy limit from the start reshaped the legal strategy. She shares the stress of resisting settlement pressure, including a hospitalization for anxiety, and reflects candidly on her fleeting hope of leveraging a trial judgment to transform the church property into a space of healing for survivors. From there, the discussion widens to the moral responsibility of church leadership. Shielagh draws on her own experience as a business owner navigating insurance litigation and her study of the epistemic condition in moral philosophy. She explains how concepts of foreseeability in law align with Christian ethics, highlighting the failure of Hyde Park’s board to fulfill their duty of care. She contrasts their immediate decision in 2005 to protect the abuser with severance pay while punishing her with expulsion—an act of twisted moral clarity that revealed a bad theology. The episode blends personal memories—helping raise the steeple as a child, later imagining its removal as an act of poetic justice—with theological reflection. Shielagh critiques the church’s posture as one that turned a symbol of faith into a gesture of contempt toward “the least of these.” She reminds listeners that both law and faith demand responsibility where ignorance is willful or avoidable, and that Hyde Park’s leaders had every opportunity to know and act differently. Ultimately, Episode 20 underscores the contrast between legal maneuvering for money and the deeper call to radical honesty, compassion, and accountability.