A Presbyterian minister in Linden, New Jersey, is accused of performing oral sex to extract “evil spirits” from men in emotional crises, according to My Central Jersey.
Rev. Dr. William Weaver of Linden Presbyterian Church, 69, has been charged with “multiple acts of idolatry and sexual misconduct” by the church and was supposed to face three accusers in an internal church trial in January, but he recused the jurisdiction of the Elizabeth Presbytery one day before the start of the trial. No public charges have been filed against the minister, though the three men said they filed reports to authorities.
One accuser, 37-year-old A.J. Meeker, wrote in a statement that he was 20 when he started seeing Weaver for counseling after flunking out of college and moving out of his family’s house. As part of these counseling sessions, Meeker wrote, Weaver had him lie naked on a bed, opened Meeker’s mouth, placed his own mouth on top of Meeker’s mouth, and moved his tongue around “to see if I had anything in my mouth or throat.”
Then Weaver engaged in oral sex, Meeker said. “He would then ingest my ejaculate and then would spit up multiple pieces of plastic or metal into a Ziploc bag,” Meeker wrote.
William Weist, 52, recounted similar counseling sessions with Weaver, saying the minister would describe Native American rituals meant to ward off evil spirits.
“I felt so small and worthless, like a piece of trash in the street,” he said, remembering his decision to stop meeting with Weaver. “I just couldn’t face what had happened to me.”
Robert Fuggi, a lawyer with the Fuggi Law Firm in Toms River, said Weaver’s alleged conduct could be deemed criminal. “[The individuals] were misled, and he used fraud and he used other tactics, or techniques, to manipulate these people into being sexually abused,” he said. “It’s really horrifying that he took his position of a pastoral role, one they look up to, and he manipulated them.”
“We don’t know who else has been hurt by this,” said Audrey Pereira, associate representative to the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter No. 779, for which Weaver has served as a chaplain. ”He did good on one hand, but he’s like a Jekyll and Hyde. On the other hand, he did this evil to who knows how many. It can’t just have been these guys, there has to be more.”
The Union County Prosecutor’s Office told My Central Jersey it could neither confirm nor deny information regarding Weaver, but the three accusers say they’re speaking out to keep others safe. “I was willing to never bring this up and live with it, but I refuse to stay silent any longer,” Meeker wrote. “I need to make sure that this never happens to anyone else ever again.”
