JACKSON TOWNSHIP Clergyman discusses church client

About 80 people attended the trustees meeting.
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NORTH JACKSON -- The Rev. Scott Pyles wanted to clear up a few rumors he said have been circulating about a client Victory Harvest Ministries has been housing since the end of last month.
A few weeks ago, the Palmyra Road church took in its first sex offender. Steven Rich, 40, formerly of Goodsprings, Tenn., was paroled about three weeks ago and released into Columbiana County after having been sentenced to six years in prison and having been labeled a sexual predator. Rich pleaded guilty in 1998 in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court to a rape charge and two counts of gross sexual imposition for sexual conduct with a 7-year-old girl in 1996 and 1997.
The Rev. Mr. Pyles, Victory Harvest's assistant pastor, was one of about 80 people who attended Tuesday's Jackson Township trustees meeting at the township fire station. Mr. Pyles said he wanted to dispel a rumor he heard that the church was supposedly planning to build a facility that would bring into the community between 200 and 300 sexual offenders.
"That's simply not true," he said.
Working together
Mr. Pyles said that the parole office in Mahoning County worked with Help Hotline Inc. of the Mahoning Valley and that Help Hotline called Victory Harvest to house a 71-year-old sexual offender from Columbiana County. The 71-year-old man stayed for about a week, and he had the same parole officer as Rich. The parole board contacted about 40 halfway houses and other facilities, Mr. Pyles said, but none would take Rich. Finally, Rich came to Victory Harvest.
Mr. Pyles said that a minimum of two staff members provide 24-hour supervision seven days a week to Rich and others staying at the church. Cameras are set up to record what goes on at Victory Harvest and clients cannot leave the property without staff accompanying them, except to go to work or on an approved pass to visit family, Mr. Pyles noted, adding that Rich has no immediate family in the area.
Nevertheless, several residents said that even though they understand Mr. Pyles' desire to help people like Rich, they were concerned that Rich and other sexual offenders could commit another crime.
"All it takes is one incident," one resident said.
Getting information
Trustee Steve Gondol said he is talking to about 11 agencies, including the county district board of health, to get as much information as possible about Victory Harvest and that he and fellow trustees welcome new information from residents and others.
"We're trying to be as fair as possible," Gondol said.
The 10-year-old church is privately funded and serves primarily as a facility to treat those with alcohol and drug problems and provides temporary shelter to homeless people, Mr. Pyles noted. He added that Rich is staying at Victory Harvest on a month-to-month basis, at the determination of his parole officer.
Victory Harvest holds three Victory Over Addiction classes, as well as three church services, each week and clients are required to attend. The classes, which follow the 12-step principles of Alcoholics Anonymous and are based in scripture, are designed to help those with addictions and other problems recover, Mr. Pyles said.
"If we have an open bed and someone needs a place to stay, we're going to open our doors," Mr. Pyles said. "That's what the Lord calls us to do."