The pastor of the poorly named Good News Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota was charged with assault yesterday after beating a 12-year-old boy who “wanted to test God.” The pastor’s son was also implicated in the abuse.

Dong Wook Kim, 51, of Good News Church, at 3000 W. Broadway Av., was charged with two counts of assault in the second- and third-degree, and a single [count] of malicious punishment of a child, all felonies, prosecutors said. His 19-year-old son, Joo Seong Kim, faces the same charges. Police say that father and son repeatedly struck the young victim with various objects — a 2-by-4 piece of lumber, electrical cord and a wooden closet rod — and forced him into a “push-up position and plank” for long periods, because the youngster was misbehaving in school and had rejected his faith.

It was worse than that. In addition to those incidents, the boy was also “kicked in the head” and punched in the head and stomach by the pastor. Wook Kim also slammed the boy’s “head into the doorframe multiple times.”

Wook Kim said the boy’s parents gave him permission to beat the child. One of the bruises found on the boy’s body, however, was the “size of a football.” Even Michael Pearl would call that a step too far.

When the boy spoke to police later, he said his sister had been subject to the same sort of abuse. She is currently in protective custody.

In a letter sent to the judge by Wook Kim’s wife, she asked for a more lenient sentence because the beatings were “out of greed of wanting to make [the boy] a better person.”

If the judge ignores that, however, the two men face up to seven years in prison in addition to a five-figure fine.

(Thanks to @MorseAuthor for the link)



