On Nov 5, 2013, Joe Mauk informed his friend and co-missionary, Tom Randall, of the abuse allegations he had received. He included written testimonies from two girls to Randall. Neither girl was fifteen years old, yet when Joe Coffey, repeating what he had heard from Randall, described it on Jan 19, 2014, he said:
Before he [Tom] went, he got a communication from somebody in the Philippines who was very concerned about some rumors that were coming out of the orphanage. And they were rumors about misconduct. And the rumor itself that got to Tom – because he and I sat and talked about it – was that the worker who is in charge of the orphanage, a man named Toto Luchavez, had kissed one of the fifteen-year-old girls.
Why mention only one girl? Why call written testimonies directly from victims “rumors of misconduct”? Did Randall misinform Coffey? Or did he choose to present a misleading version to the congregation?
Email from Joe Mauk to Tom Randall (Nov 5, 2013)
Hi Tom,
I hope by now you have been able to hear from Karen about Ruth’s phone call. I did not want to call you first. This is a situation where no one could be expected to absorb the reality in one dose. Like chemotherapy, it is a nauseating situation, there is no pleasure in communicating with you, but the nausea is sometimes necessary to be endured before any hope of healing can occur.
I would like you to please, take a breath, slow down a bit, and don’t read the following fast. Contemplate and absorb as much as you can without rushing to conclusions. There are three things I want to share with you to outline the basic situation as I see it.
I am your friend. I recommitted to this friendship when we had the kerfuffle over Brian. I made a vow to God that, no matter what, I would be your friend. In this vow I am writing to you now, and I compelled Ruth to call Karen first to lay a little foundation.
There is clear evidence that for at least the last four years, Toto has been using his position of authority to take advantage of the girls of Sankey.
If you give Toto any indication you have been informed of this, innocent people may suffer and most likely no additional evidence of wrongdoing will ever come forth from our kids.
I am sending separately by email attachments the letters from {VICTIM 1} and {VICTIM 2}. I am doing this out of friendship and concern for the ministry. But primarily love and concern for you. Since these came to my possession, to not hand them over to you would be a violation of our friendship (and also a criminal act). Actually my first desire was to come home and enlist the help of Joe Coffey to break the news to you. Unfortunately my passport is being renewed and the time of your trip is very soon.
So so sorry,
Joe