Hinton went from betrayed son to sex abuse victim advocate

In my last column, I introduced you to pastor Jimmy Hinton whose life took a harrowing turn when, alongside his mother, he reported his father for possible child sexual abuse. His commitment to advocacy unfolded, marked by exposing pedophile deception techniques, support for survivors, and breaking the silence within religious communities.

This week we learn of the important steps Hinton took after reporting his dad, providing a courageous model for others to follow as outlined in his book, “The Devil Inside.” Most importantly, Hinton prioritized the well-being of victims.

“We needed to tell the entire church soon," he said. "The main reason was that we didn’t want anyone from the church in denial to publicly defend my dad. The victims were extremely fragile, and it would have been detrimental if people began to rally around their abuser. It would not have been good if church members started defending my dad’s ‘innocence’ or spoke about all the good he had done his whole life.”

Hinton, with his mother, shared the truth with every family member, diffusing emotions and acknowledging the irreversible change. His dad's admission to sexually abusing 23 victims — a fraction of his crimes — nearly caused Hinton to suffer a nervous breakdown.

Hinton met personally with each victim and their family to share facts and aid in their healing. He expressed to his wife, “If this were our daughter, would we want the first knock on the door to be from the police or our minister?”

Hinton informed the entire church of his father’s arrest, reading a heartfelt letter that openly disclosed the allegations, emphasized the truth of the accusations, and underscored the necessity that justice prevail.

In the aftermath of his dad’s arrest, Hinton found himself questioning God. “I thought about Matthew 18:6 over and over again," he wrote. "'Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.’

“By now, I had heard multiple stories from my dad's victims about their struggles with God," Hinton continued. "Some family members no longer believed in God. Some of dad's victims told me they felt as if God hated them, or (that) they did something wrong as a kid to be abused the way they were by my dad. The more I listened, the angrier I got with God."

Hinton said he asked where God had been "when dad did so much damage, wrecked those little girls’ self-worth, and stripped their innocence away?”

“I didn’t hear a voice or experience anything out of the ordinary, but somehow I got an answer that left me strangely satisfied and afraid," he wrote. "It was a four-word answer that forever changed the course of my life: ‘Where were my people?’”

Hinton included himself in the group. "Where was I when my dad was molesting family members?" he asked. "Where was I when he gained access to church members’ kids? The apostle Paul said, ‘You should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.’ Jesus was a hardcore defender of the oppressed.”

While the question God asked brought him some peace, it also created a tremendous sense of guilt and burden. Hinton wanted to run from any mission that would require him to even think about abuse, let alone to become the rescuer of children. But he felt he couldn't. And with that, his advocacy began.

“Our kids can't afford for us to sit idly by hoping someone else will step up to the plate to protect them," Hinton wrote. "Idleness hasn't worked for generations and it's not working now. So now is the time for Christians to act. The church's record on abuse should embarrass us. When secular researchers rightly named the church as the most dangerous place for children, it ought to spark a fight inside every one of us.”

In his pioneering advocacy, Hinton has focused on identifying high-risk individuals, how they target victims and parents, and how they deceive us so that child sexual abuse can be stopped before it happens. Next week, we will explore the valuable lessons we can learn from Hinton.

If you are presented with the chance to respond courageously to a disclosure of child sexual abuse, seize it. Your supportive and empathetic response can make a significant impact in helping the victim, breaking the cycle of silence, and fostering a safer environment for all.