CANTON — Former Christian Fellowship members will hold a rally at 10 a.m. Friday in front of the St. Lawrence County Courthouse calling on state officials to make members of clergy mandated reporters of sexual abuse.

In May, a church member named Sean Ferguson was charged with sexually abusing children for an incident that occurred in 2015. The charges weren’t filed until seven years later after the allegations were brought to police by St. Lawrence County Child Protection Services in 2021.

Former members of the church got organized following the revelation that top church members, including Senior Pastor Rick Sinclair, were aware of the allegations in 2017, but chose not to report them to authorities or fellow members of the church. Ferguson also remains in proximity to the victims on a daily basis, which raised further concerns for some members who reached out to the newspaper.

Abigail Nye, a former member of the CFC, who was raised in the church but has since moved to Wisconsin, helped found a support group aimed at helping those who had lived within the church transition to life outside of the CFC. The group was founded in direct response to the church’s handling of the Ferguson allegations.

CFCtoo will lead the rally where they will urge support for the Child Abuse Reporting Expansion Act, which would add clergy to the state’s list of mandated reporters.

Nye and other former members created a website called CFCtoo.com which offers support to church members who have suffered as members of the church.

The website includes what Nye refers to as “survivor stories” from past members who share their experiences during their time as members there. The stories include a variety of allegations ranging from cult-like behavior, domestic abuse, physical abuse, spiritual abuse and sexual abuse.

For more about the issue see early story at https://www.northcountrynow.com/news/clergy-be-mandated-reporters-christian-fellowship-center-sees-exodus-over-handling-sex-abuse