Piecing It All Together:
Part 01, An Accusation and Arrest
“Abuse silences victims and renders them powerless.
Listening makes room for their voice and restores dignity.”
- Diane Langberg
*The following contains references to sexual assault and child sexual abuse and may be triggering to some readers.
When communities listen to survivor stories, they empower and support survivors on their journey toward restored dignity. Listening to stories of abuse can be a challenging task for church communities. Bearing witness requires paying attention to details and tracking with a large cast of abusers, enablers, bystanders, and allies. In addition to the abuse itself, survivor stories often include countless other secondary and tertiary injuries that compound the initial trauma.
This first section of our timeline begins with the child sexual abuse and subsequent mishandling that led to the formation of #ACNAtoo. Where possible, we have included the primary source evidence alongside the events as alleged by survivors and witnesses. You can continue the series with Part 02, Part 03, Part 04 and Part 05 of our timeline
Who’s Who, May 2019:
Christ Our Light Anglican Church (COLA): small church in Big Rock, IL that Cherin Marie and other longtime Church of the Resurrection members planted in 2013
Cherin Marie: Christ Our Light vestry member and mother of Mark Rivera’s alleged nine-year-old victim
Mark Rivera: Catechist at Christ Our Light and former longtime member and volunteer leader at Church of the Resurrection
Rev. Rand York: Christ Our Light’s rector, Cherin Marie’s great uncle, and Mark Rivera’s spiritual mentor and close friend of 20+ years
Christopher Lapeyre: Christ Our Light senior warden and worship pastor, longtime member and worship leader at Church of the Resurrection, and Mark Rivera’s close friend of decades
Diocese of the Upper Midwest (UMD): one of the 28 dioceses within the Anglican Church of North America
Church of the Resurrection (Rez): UMD headquarters in Wheaton, IL, where Cherin Marie, Mark Rivera, Christopher Lapeyre, and Rev. York attended since the the mid 90’s
Greenhouse Movement: church planting organization within the UMD, which planted COLA and approved Mark Rivera to become a lay Catechist
William Beasley: UMD Missioner General and head of Greenhouse Movement
Charlie Philbrick: UMD Chancellor (lawyer for the Diocese)
MAY 2019
“Cherin Marie’s 9-year-old daughter tells Cherin that Mark Rivera (Cherin’s godfather, church leader, spiritual mentor, former neighbor of 10 years, and groomsman in her wedding), has been sexually abusing her.”
“Cherin Marie and her husband disclose their daughter’s sexual abuse to Rev. Rand York, their rector at Christ Our Light Anglican (COLA), who initially expresses grief and promises to support them through whatever comes next.
Rev. York then privately confronts Mark Rivera, who denies the accusations. After consulting with senior UMD leaders Cn. William Beasley and Chancellor Charlie Philbrick, Rev. York then asks Cherin to attend a meeting with himself, COLA Senior Warden Christopher Lapeyre, and Catechist Mark Rivera.
Read more about Cherin’s meeting with Rev. York, Christopher Lapeyre, and Mark Rivera through this link:
In this meeting, Christopher Lapeyre tells Cherin, ”We have been advised by the Diocesan Chancellor that we do not need to report this to the authorities,” then adds, “And it sounds like you don’t need to, either...””
Mark Rivera and Bishop Robert Duncan (photo via Facebook)
“Cherin Marie’s family returns to Church of the Resurrection (Rez), which had been Cherin’s home church from 1996 – 2013.
After attending the Sunday morning service at Rez, a COLA community member helps facilitate and participates in a private prayer session between Cherin and Rez Deacon Margie Fawcett. During the prayer session Deacon Fawcett hears what happened to Cherin’s daughter and says, “First off, this needs to be reported to the police, because it’s a crime! ”
Cherin assures Deacon Fawcett that she plans to report her daughter’s abuse the following day, and Deacon Fawcett expresses her relief and approval.
The COLA community member who participated in the private prayer session with Cherin and Deacon Fawcett then alerts the Rivera family that Cherin plans to report Mark to the authorities.
”
“Rev. Rand York formally removes Mark Rivera as COLA Catechist. Cherin, who is a member of the COLA vestry, learns this information through an email sent out to all the vestry members.”
“Cherin Marie calls the RAINN sexual assault helpline for guidance and, based on their advice, contacts the local police to formally report Mark Rivera for child sexual assault.
Shortly afterward, Mark Rivera’s wife and children receive a surprise visit from DCFS.
Within a few hours of the DCFS visit, Rev. Rand York texts Cherin saying he needs to cancel the baptism of Cherin’s infant son, which was scheduled for that coming weekend. ”
Mark Rivera (photo used with permission)
“Mark Rivera sends an “update” email to the family and friends he presumes to be supportive of him, blind cc’ing all the recipients.
In his email, Mark Rivera refers to his 9-year-old victim as “my accuser” and asks his supporters to pray she will recant her accusations.
“Please pray that we can find a lawyer. Pray for [Mark’s wife] and [redacted]’s mental health. Also, that my accuser recants. This has also hit my little church VERY hard. Please pray for COLA church and my pastor.”
Read Mark Rivera’s email here:
Mark Rivera also expresses his desire to “return home soon.” He is not away from home because he was arrested but because DCFS had ordered that Mark be supervised around his children at all times, a restriction that necessitates him living elsewhere for the time being.
”
When Mark Rivera sends his first “update” email in May 2019 and presents himself as a victim of false accusations, he has at this time already allegedly raped his next door neighbor, Joanna Rudenborg, in 2018 and is allegedly engaged in an ongoing abusive sexual relationship with a teenager.
“Mark Rivera sends two additional update emails to his family and community of supporters about his living arrangements.
The emails demonstrate the interconnected nature of the COLA community, in which members were related variously by blood, spiritual ties, and business relationships.
“I have decided to sleep in my car till a suitable arrangement can be made. I slept in cars as a teenager and all I remember was the bitter cold. At least this time around, I won’t be freezing - yay!”
Read Mark Rivera’s email here:
“My pastor (and his wife are long time and dear friends) is the landlord’s brother-in-law, one of my and [Mark’s wife]’s closest friends, who is also a godmother to [redacted] AND [redacted], and is the one who lives down the road where the family would move to is the daughter of my landlord. If I attempted to explain more of the relationships all of our heads could explode.”
Read Mark’s second email here:
”
Mark Rivera (photo via Facebook)
JUNE 2019
“Cherin Marie sees Rev. Rand York’s wife at a store. Rev York’s wife (who is Cherin’s great aunt and someone Cherin and her children have lived with for nearly two years) avoids eye contact and hurries out of the store.
Cherin later texts Rev. York’s wife to say she’s sorry she didn’t get to say hello at the store and that she misses her. Rev. York’s wife does not respond and has never spoken to Cherin since. ”
“Rev. Rand York stops by Cherin Marie’s home for a five-minute prayer session, but Rev. York refuses to talk about or even acknowledge the situation.
This brief meeting is the first contact Cherin has had with COLA leaders Rev. York and senior warden/worship pastor Christopher Lapeyre in two weeks. Cherin has sent them numerous emails in the preceding two weeks and received no response.”
After this brief prayer meeting, Rev. York does not speak with Cherin’s family for four weeks, at which time he sends Cherin an email asking her to resign from the COLA vestry.
“A few hours after Rev. York’s short visit with Cherin Marie’s family, Mark Rivera sends his supporters the following email, which highlights his ongoing close relationship with COLA leader Christopher Lapeyre.
“So Chris is here and he got a phone call that he stepped outside to take. [Mark’s wife] came to me and said “I wonder what is happening now?!?!”
“I need prayers and jokes to make it through this weekend.”
Read Mark Rivera’s email here:
”
“Mark Rivera sends the following update to his community, in which he alleges that Cherin Marie has begun to “warn” his neighbors and greater church community that Mark molested her daughter.
“My god-daughter (the mother of my accuser who is also my god-daughter), has begun to “warn” my neighbors and greater church community that she believes I molested her 10 year old girl. This has had (and will continue to have) a devastating affect on the social lives of my teenage children.”
Read Mark Rivera’s email here:”
“Mark Rivera sends another update email to his supporters, stating that the Chancellor for the Diocese of the Upper Midwest, Charlie Philbrick, has been searching for a pro bono lawyer for him. Mark states that, thanks to his supporters’ promises of long-term financial loans to cover legal fees, Charlie Philbrick has expanded his search and found an expert defense lawyer, Jim Ryan.
“But a couple of you had pledged long term loans to cover legal fees, so the chancellor expanded his search to include better lawyers who would be willing to take the case on the cheap.”
Mark writes this email two weeks after Cherin’s daughter’s allegations were made known to the church. During that time, a representative of the Diocese of the Upper Midwest has been actively working to help find Mark a lawyer while Cherin’s family has yet to receive any support or care from church or diocesan leaders.
Neither the diocese nor its cathedral, Church of the Resurrection, which has been Cherin’s home church for many years, have offered Cherin and her family any financial, legal, or spiritual support. It will be an additional two weeks, a full month after Cherin’s daughter’s disclosure, before even basic pastoral care is provided to them.
Read Mark Rivera’s email here: ”
Left to right: Christopher Lapeyre, Mark Rivera, Bp. Stewart Ruch, Rev. Rand York (photo via Facebook)
“After being advised by his new attorney not to discuss the case with anyone, Mark Rivera sends his final community update email. He alleges that the investigators don’t have any evidence and plan to create a false narrative to frame him.
“As it stands, [Mark’s wife] and I have been advised not to discuss the case with any of you in any way. The reason for this is because the investigators lack any hard evidence and will be groping for anything they can get. They will use any meeting notes, any conversations, anything and everything they can to create a false narrative to achieve their goals.”
Read Mark Rivera’s email here:”
“Mark Rivera is arrested and charged with the following:
4 Counts: PREDATORY CRIMINAL SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIM UNDER 13 Y/O
5 Counts: AGGRAVATED CRIMINAL SEXUAL ABUSE VICTIM UNDER 13 Y/O
”
No one from Kane County, the Diocese of the Upper Midwest, Church of the Resurrection, or Christ Our Light tells Cherin Marie that Mark Rivera has been arrested. Cherin is instead left to discover this on her own, two weeks later. Cherin’s family therefore misses Mark’s first few court appearances.
“After waiting a month to receive care from the church, Cherin Marie has her first pastoral care meeting with staff at Church of the Resurrection. ”
Read the rest of the series:
Part 02, Ignored & Rejected
What happens when churches turn their backs on abuse survivors? This second section of our timeline highlights the ways that communities shun victims and support predators.
Read Part 2 of the Piecing it All Together series here.
Part 03, Incompetence & Malpractice
Survivors experience secondary trauma when church leaders exhibit incompetence and pastoral malpractice in response to abuse allegations. In this third section of our timeline, we lay out disturbing pastoral responses that followed the reports of abuse.
Read Part 3 of the Piecing it All Together series here.
Part 04, Official Channels
Survivors often face secondary trauma and exhaustion when navigating official channels. In this fourth section of our timeline, we document the futility of seeking help through institutions that are structured in a way that makes justice impossible.
Read Part 4 of the Piecing it All Together series here.
Piecing It All Together:
Part 01, An Accusation and Arrest
“Abuse silences victims and renders them powerless.
Listening makes room for their voice and restores dignity.”
- Diane Langberg
*The following contains references to sexual assault and child sexual abuse and may be triggering to some readers.
Listening to the stories of survivors is a critical step in restoring their dignity. It is also a challenging step. It requires paying attention to details and tracking with a large cast of abusers, enablers, bystanders, and allies. Understanding the gravity of survivor stories involves looking through the array of evidence--the thousand small cuts--that compounds the initial trauma.
This first section of our timeline begins to lay out the child sexual abuse and subsequent mishandling that led to the formation of ACNAtoo. Where possible, we have included the primary source evidence alongside the events based on allegations from survivors and witnesses.
Who’s Who, May 2019:
Christ Our Light Anglican Church (COLA): small church in Big Rock, IL that Cherin Marie and other longtime Church of the Resurrection members planted in 2013
Cherin Marie: Christ Our Light vestry member and mother of Mark Rivera’s alleged nine-year-old victim
Mark Rivera: Catechist at Christ Our Light and former longtime member and volunteer leader at Church of the Resurrection
Rev. Rand York: Christ Our Light’s rector, Cherin Marie’s great uncle, and Mark Rivera’s spiritual mentor and close friend of 20+ years
Christopher Lapeyre: Christ Our Light senior warden and worship pastor, longtime member and worship leader at Church of the Resurrection, and Mark Rivera’s close friend of decades
Diocese of the Upper Midwest (UMD): one of the 28 dioceses within the Anglican Church of North America
Church of the Resurrection (Rez): UMD headquarters in Wheaton, IL, where Cherin Marie, Mark Rivera, Christopher Lapeyre, and Rev. York attended since the the mid 90’s
Greenhouse Movement: church planting organization within the UMD, which planted COLA and approved Mark Rivera to become a lay Catechist
William Beasley: UMD Missioner General and head of Greenhouse Movement
Charlie Philbrick: UMD Chancellor (lawyer for the Diocese)
MAY 2019
“Cherin Marie’s 9-year-old daughter tells her that Mark Rivera (Cherin’s godfather, church leader, spiritual mentor, former neighbor of 10 years, and groomsman in her wedding), has been sexually abusing her.
Read more here”
“Cherin Marie and her husband disclose their daughter’s sexual abuse to Rev. Rand York, their rector at Christ Our Light Anglican (COLA), who initially expresses grief and promises to support them through whatever comes next.
Rev. York then privately confronts Mark Rivera, who denies the accusations. After consulting with senior UMD leaders Cn. William Beasley and Chancellor Charlie Philbrick, Rev. York then asks Cherin to attend a meeting with himself, COLA Senior Warden Christopher Lapeyre, and Catechist Mark Rivera.
Read more about Cherin’s meeting with Rev. York, Christopher Lapeyre, and Mark Rivera here.
In this meeting, Christopher Lapeyre tells Cherin, ”We have been advised by the Diocesan Chancellor that we do not need to report this to the authorities,” then adds, “And it sounds like you don’t need to, either...””
Mark Rivera and Bishop Robert Duncan (photo via Facebook)
“Cherin Marie’s family returns to Church of the Resurrection (Rez), which had been Cherin’s home church from 1996 – 2013.
After attending the Sunday morning service at Rez, a COLA community member helps facilitate and participates in a private prayer session between Cherin and Rez Deacon Margie Fawcett. When Deacon Fawcett hears what happened to Cherin’s daughter, she says, “First off, this needs to be reported to the police, because it’s a crime! ” Cherin assures Deacon Fawcett that she plans to report her daughter’s abuse the following day and Margie expresses her relief and approval.
The COLA community member who participated in the private prayer session between Cherin and Margie then alerts the Rivera family that Cherin plans to report Mark to the authorities.
”
“Mark Rivera is formally removed as COLA Catechist. Cherin learns this information by email as a member of the COLA vestry.”
“Cherin Marie calls the RAINN sexual assault helpline for guidance and based on their advice contacts the local police to formally report Mark Rivera for child sexual assault.
Shortly afterward, Mark Rivera’s wife and children receive a surprise visit from DCFS.
Within a few hours of the DCFS visit, Rev. Rand York texts Cherin saying he needs to cancel the baptism of Cherin’s infant son, which was scheduled for that coming weekend.
”
Mark Rivera (photo used with permission)
“Mark Rivera sends an “update” email to his family and friends who he presumes to be supportive of him, blind cc’ing all the recipients.
In his email, Mark Rivera refers to his 9-year-old victim as “my accuser” and asks his supporters to pray she will recant her accusations.
“Please pray that we can find a lawyer. Pray for [Mark’s wife] and [redacted]’s mental health. Also, that my accuser recants. This has also hit my little church VERY hard. Please pray for COLA church and my pastor.”
Read Full E-mail
Mark Rivera also expresses his desire to “return home soon.” This is not because he was arrested, but because DCFS had ordered that Mark be supervised around his children at all times and this restriction necessitated that he live elsewhere for the time being.
”
At the time of his May 29, 2019 email, where Mark Rivera presents himself as a victim of false accusations, Mark has already allegedly raped his next door neighbor, Joanna Rudenborg, and is allegedly engaged in an abusive sexual relationship with a teenager.
“Mark Rivera sends two additional update emails to his family and community of supporters about his living arrangements.
The emails demonstrate the interconnected nature of the COLA community, in which members were related variously by blood, spiritual ties, and business relationships.
“I have decided to sleep in my car till a suitable arrangement can be made. I slept in cars as a teenager and all I remember was the bitter cold. At least this time around, I won’t be freezing - yay!”
Read Full E-mail
“My pastor (and his wife are long time and dear friends) is the landlord’s brother-in-law, one of my and [Mark’s wife]’s closest friends, who is also a godmother to [redacted] AND [redacted], and is the one who lives down the road where the family would move to is the daughter of my landlord. If I attempted to explain more of the relationships all of our heads could explode.”
Read Full E-mail
”
Mark Rivera (photo via Facebook)
JUNE 2019
“Cherin Marie sees Rev. Rand York’s wife at a store. Rev York’s wife (who is Cherin’s great aunt and who Cherin and her children lived with for close to two years) avoids eye contact and hurries out of the store.
Cherin later texts Rev. York’s wife to say she’s sorry she didn’t get to say hello at the store and that she misses her. Rev. York’s wife does not respond and has never spoken to Cherin since.
”
“Rev. Rand York stops by Cherin Marie’s home for a sterile five-minute prayer session, but refuses to talk about or even acknowledge the situation.
This brief meeting occurs after COLA leaders Rev. York and Christopher Lapeyre have already ignored numerous emails that Cherin sent to both of them over the previous two weeks.
After this prayer appointment, Rev. York does not speak with Cherin’s family for four weeks, at which time he sends Cherin an email asking her to resign from the COLA vestry.”
“A few hours after Rev. York’s short visit with Cherin Marie’s family, Mark Rivera sends his supporters the following email, which highlights his ongoing close relationship with Christopher Lapeyre.
“So Chris is here and he got a phone call that he stepped outside to take. [Mark’s wife] came to me and said “I wonder what is happening now?!?!”
“I need prayers and jokes to make it through this weekend.”
Read Full E-mail
”
“Mark Rivera sends the following update to his community, in which he alleges that Cherin Marie has begun to “warn” his neighbors and greater church community that Mark molested her daughter.
“My god-daughter (the mother of my accuser who is also my god-daughter), has begun to “warn” my neighbors and greater church community that she believes I molested her 10 year old girl. This has had (and will continue to have) a devastating affect on the social lives of my teenage children.”
Read Full E-mail”
“Mark Rivera sends another update email to his supporters, stating that Diocesan Chancellor Charlie Philbrick had been searching for a pro bono lawyer for him. Mark writes that, thanks to his supporters’ promises of long-term financial loans to cover legal fees, Charlie Philbrick expanded his search and found an expert defense lawyer, Jim Ryan.
“But a couple of you had pledged long term loans to cover legal fees, so the chancellor expanded his search to include better lawyers who would be willing to take the case on the cheap.”
Read Full E-mail
”
Left to right: Christopher Lapeyre, Mark Rivera, Bp. Stewart Ruch, Rev. Rand York (photo via Facebook)
“Mark Rivera sends his final community update email, after being advised by his attorney not to discuss the case with anyone. He alleges that the investigators don’t have any evidence and plan to create a false narrative to frame him.
“As it stands, [Mark’s wife] and I have been advised not to discuss the case with any of you in any way. The reason for this is because the investigators lack any hard evidence and will be groping for anything they can get. They will use any meeting notes, any conversations, anything and everything they can to create a false narrative to achieve their goals.”
Read Full E-mail”
“Mark Rivera is arrested and charged with the following:
4 Counts: PREDATORY CRIMINAL SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIM UNDER 13 Y/O
5 Counts: AGGRAVATED CRIMINAL SEXUAL ABUSE VICTIM UNDER 13 Y/O
”
No one from Kane County, Church of the Resurrection, or COLA tells Cherin Marie that Mark Rivera has been arrested. Cherin is instead left to find this out on her own and therefore misses Mark’s first court appearance.
“Cherin Marie has her first pastoral care meeting with staff at Church of the Resurrection, after waiting a month to receive care from the church.
”
Read the rest of the series:
Part 02, Ignored & Rejected
What happens when churches turn their backs on abuse survivors? This second section of our timeline highlights the ways that communities shun victims and support predators.
Read Part 2 of the Piecing it All Together series here.
Part 03, Incompetence & Malpractice
Survivors experience secondary trauma when church leaders exhibit incompetence and pastoral malpractice in response to abuse allegations. In this third section of our timeline, we lay out disturbing pastoral responses that followed the reports of abuse.
Read Part 3 of the Piecing it All Together series here.
Part 04, Official Channels
Survivors often face secondary trauma and exhaustion when navigating official channels. In this fourth section of our timeline, we document the futility of seeking help through institutions that are structured in a way that makes justice impossible.
Read Part 4 of the Piecing it All Together series here.