First Unity Church accused of ignoring sex complaints

ST. PETERSBURG — Three former youth group leaders say First Unity Church officials ignored their concerns about a board member they believed made sexual advances toward young men at the church.

The youth leaders said their memberships in the 700-strong congregation were revoked after they reported their concerns last year.

This week, Francine Arrington, one of the youth leaders, filed a whistle-blower lawsuit, saying she was also fired from her job as the church's director of youth education. She was hired in July 2006.

The suit, filed by attorney David Linesch in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court, says Arrington was fired for "voicing her opposition to the conduct of the Defendant (First Unity) and specifically its retention of a sexual predator who was a member of the Defendant's counseling staff and the Board of Trustees."

In March, St. Petersburg police arrested Richard O'Toole, 69, for presenting himself as a licensed mental health counselor and offering services to church members. O'Toole was charged with six counts of practicing medicine without a license.

He was a First Unity Church member for nine years and a board member for 21/2 years. He is no longer a member.

Detective Joe Gasper said police began investigating O'Toole after the former youth group leaders contacted them with concerns about O'Toole.

He is not charged with any crimes involving sexual abuse against children and is not on the state sex offender registry. But police say they are still investigating whether O'Toole may have engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior with youths as well as whether any more people were duped by his claims of being a mental health specialist.

Police have investigated an additional case in which O'Toole allegedly made advances toward a youth but said no charges were filed because the statute of limitations had expired.

In 1997, O'Toole was arrested on a charge of simple battery after showing a boy a pornographic film and then grabbing the clothed boy in a sexual manner. O'Toole pleaded no contest and adjudication was withheld.

The lawsuit says Arrington, 52, first learned O'Toole had made sexual advances toward two young men in early 2007. She said she reported the conduct to the church's minister, Temple Hayes, and learned that Hayes had been contacted by the grandparent of a third young man who also was concerned about O'Toole.

But Hayes continued to let O'Toole interact with youths, the lawsuit says. In October 2007, Arrington was fired.

That same month, two other youth group leaders —Arrington's husband, Jim Arrington, and Tom Crowley — said they encountered a 17-year-old who did yard work for O'Toole and accused him of making a sexual advance.

The former youth group leaders said they told Hayes about the incident and called police.

Police said they could not charge O'Toole in connection with that case due to insufficient evidence. But the report led them to uncover that O'Toole was passing himself off as a licensed mental health counselor.

Jim Arrington and Crowley said the church told them they were no longer welcome as members. "They were protecting the church rather than protecting the children," said Crowley, 58.

Abhi Raghunathan can be reached at araghunathan@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8472.

Comments on this article

by ron	Apr 14, 2008 12:11 PM
O'Tooles a creep, Temple needs to show soem humility and step down immediately.

by Andrea	Apr 11, 2008 4:16 PM
Please do not believe that the church and its leaders did something wrong, just because a disgrunted ex-employee says so. There is so much more to this story, I'm sure. The church took action, as it should.

by Enough	Apr 11, 2008 4:10 PM
There is no coverup folks. Trust me. I know - i was there during all of this. How absurd that anyone could question that, especially if you were not there during it. I was! Please stop the witch hunt. EVERYONE wants justice/safety for our kids!

by Catherine	Apr 11, 2008 1:43 PM
I am a member of First Unity.I do not believe our Board did anything but take appropriate action.Suing First Unity is like suing me.We have no "Mother church" with $.You're taking money out of MY wallet - for what?

by Jim	Apr 11, 2008 1:43 PM
Reading these comments - the anger seems to be with those who have left the church. It is good they are gone. No one is perfect. If mistakes were made, they have been corrected now. Lets move on.

by CWebb - NGU	Apr 11, 2008 9:17 AM
Janet, if you only know how out of character your words were ("sinner" "witch")with what Unity teaches. This isn't the forum to share info with you, but I encourage you to look a little deeper into what you think yo

by Soulset	Apr 11, 2008 9:17 AM
The harsh comments against this pastor & church are akin to public persecution. I would understand going after the true offender here, but the shameful attempt at condemnation without all the facts by these ex-members illustrates their true

by another Truth Seeker	Apr 11, 2008 9:17 AM
I tend to agree with the Watcher. I think the difficulty lies within the leader(s). Look closely at the Pastor & listen to the congregation. God Bless the children.

by Pay Attention	Apr 11, 2008 9:17 AM
Today this pervert was arrested again, so do some of you think the police are making all this up and Richard is innocent. 10 felony counts must mean something is wrong here. Who was protecting whom should be the big question. Still no comment?

by Eyes Wide Open	Apr 11, 2008 9:16 AM
Gee, I guess we are all acting in this silly way because, gosh, Richard has been arrested again on 5 more counts?!

by TruthSeeker	Apr 10, 2008 7:37 PM
Interesting...Richard was arrested AGAIN today. 5 more counts of practicing without a license. Thank you SPPD for protecting our youth and us...this church won't do it.

by Wondering	Apr 10, 2008 7:35 PM
As a member of Unity, I wonder why Temple has had no comments on this serious issue? Can she not be reached? What about Unity Village? Surely there must be some response...

by Watcher	Apr 10, 2008 5:43 PM
What should guide us is at the end of our nose, so pay attention to it. It?s not always what?s before us ? words, facts or appearances. To see the truth, we need to look behind the facts. Something is wrong within this church and with their leaders.

by janet	Apr 10, 2008 5:43 PM
It seems that like in so many places that work with children, too few are listening to the children's voices.A church should always be on a hunt for sinners(witches) who hurt children and cover it up. Now, let's wait and see who t

by Beth	Apr 10, 2008 5:13 PM
Love. Love all. Love the former sponsors. Love all the youth. Love the church and its leaders. Love the congregation. Love all. Rise above. Enough blame. Enough.

by One Truth	Apr 10, 2008 5:05 PM
I KNOW what the board went through since the RO thing surfaced. I KNOW there were NO ACTIONS taken to hide or thwart the truth from coming out. I KNOW because I was there. It was an awful experience-these posts make it worse for all and serve no

by Truth	Apr 10, 2008 5:05 PM
Francine was not ousted. She resigned on her own accord. And, she resigned because she was not happy, as she let everyone know. Not for any other reason.

by ray	Apr 10, 2008 4:57 PM
we've gone to this church for a while and it's been quite evident that the leadership was not focused on making a family friendly environment...only an alternative lifestyle friendly one...and just ignored the children at all levels.

by Janan	Apr 10, 2008 4:52 PM
What disgraceful journalism to build an entire article based on innuendo and then infer that the accused is a sexual predator when he hasn't been arrested except on trumped up charges of spirtiual counseling without a license. Where is your eth

by Eyes wide open?!	Apr 10, 2008 4:10 PM
Dear truth, I too love First Unity. Since when is it okay to oust people who are coming from truth? How is that showing "love for all"? There is no hate, judgement, fear, here, other than what has come from the board and it's minist

by Just Me	Apr 10, 2008 4:10 PM
Innocent until proven guilty! I believe this is correct? You wouldn't believe it by these posts or by the article. Sounds like a witch hunt. Get ALL the facts & truth first.

by janet	Apr 10, 2008 4:09 PM
Reading all of these comments has made me feel that this church is in need of NEW LEADERSHIP committed to LISTENING before so much anger is let in. I'll pray for all of you, most especially your children.

by janet	Apr 10, 2008 4:08 PM
I am not a member of this church, I work with helping struggling children. It makes me very sad to read that a churches leader and board seemed to close their ears to the cries of their children. Why were people put out of the church for listening?

by Religion Gone Awry	Apr 10, 2008 10:58 AM
While I agree that no one know all the facts, here is what I know (thanks TruthSeeker) - O'Toole's B-ground doesn't make sense (look on SPTimes web site). It's here in B/W - But you need to take

by The Truth	Apr 10, 2008 8:29 AM
I love our congregation, board, staff and volunteers, etc, especially our youth. I honor them all. This whole situation is sad. We all need to come from LOVE-for ALL involved, not from hate or judgement or vindictiveness. Love is the answer.

by Virginia	Apr 10, 2008 8:28 AM
I was a child brought up in Unity.It was a loving,nurturing environment and the basis for all I believe. I am saddened to see this happen when the true church has so much to offer and the children today need so much. Peace and healing be with Unity.

by Purpose?	Apr 9, 2008 1:45 PM
For what purpose is the suit? Money? Hate? Vengence? Francine ran around for weeks telling anyone who would listen that she was going to resign - and now this? Unbelievable...

by My 2CW	Apr 9, 2008 1:45 PM
My observation from inside. When a church officials focuses on increasing affluent memberships, building an organic caf?, and a large books store over spritual support, I would say greed is the focus. A rumor of inappropriate sexual behavior would ge

by Time to Wake Up	Apr 9, 2008 11:05 AM
I continue to be amazed at how many people are willing to go through life blind to what is in front of them. This church and community need to rid themselves of these sick people. If the congregation can't or won't do it, the police will.

by Godchild	Apr 9, 2008 10:30 AM
Abhi- Ask Jesus to ask Temple Hayes why she did not report in 2006 about her parishioner's grandson. Never mind, they have no comment.

by Saved	Apr 9, 2008 10:28 AM
What a shame. People who use kids for their own pleasure is horrible, but those that shield the perpetrator are just plain evil and bad. Victims and perps need help, but shielders need jail time. It is time to stop protecting the evil ones and help.

by Call the police	Apr 9, 2008 10:28 AM
Jesus-Obviously you have bought the church's line. Where did you get all your info? Could it be you are one of the church admin covering up the truth? And hiding behind the name of our savior, despicable and sinful you will be judged.

by TOM	Apr 9, 2008 10:28 AM
If it had been Catholic the lawyers would be lined up around the block ready to sue.

by TruthSeeker	Apr 9, 2008 10:10 AM
Pat- You can do your own search on the web to see that he has no background except for owning a Nursery...how do you go from plants to have 2 Phd's and a masters degree? Interestingly, you also can't verify much of what the minister cl

by 4th & 5th	Apr 9, 2008 7:27 AM
Thank you Abhi for publishing this report. We are the 4th & 5th youth leaders released after this revelation made to the minister. We only hope more step forward to ensure this man along with this ministry stop the cover up!