Church in Turmoil

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For three years, at least three adults knew about alleged inappropriate contact between a former youth pastor and a member of his youth group.
In that time, no one went to police, no one asked Sean Patrick Masopust to step away from his role with Northridge Church, and no one told the alleged victim’s mother.
It took an anonymous letter to the church’s state-level governing body to bring action against Masopust, who reportedly admitted to some contact. The letter arrived in October.
But Sunday, less than a week after Masopust was arrested and charged with fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, all three of those adults, including Masopust, are out of a job – and could face additional criminal charges for not reporting the abuse.
Mark Perryman, the minister at Northridge Church since 1991, resigned Sunday. He is Masopust’s father-in-law, and has maintained he didn’t know the extent of the alleged abuse.
When the incidents were discovered by his wife in October 2018, Masopust told the victim that “Pastor Mark” had sent him to Kansas for some time off, according to the criminal complaint.
Masopust remained on staff as the church’s associate pastor upon his return.
Tammy Perryman, Masopust’s mother-in-law, resigned Friday from her role as director of Sunshine Tree, the daycare affiliated with the church – where the alleged victim worked for a time.
In a letter to families, she said she is stepping down “due to the difficult circumstances that I’m sure you’re aware of.”
There have been no claims that she knew what happened; one former member said the allegations were “deliberately” kept from Tammy Perryman.
Felicia Masopust, who was listed as a staff member as recently as last weekend, reportedly resigned from her role overseeing youth and women’s ministry. She was accused of sexual abuse last month in a letter from the parents of a former youth group member who said Felicia Masopust sent him a sexually explicit text message in 2019.
Neither church members nor day care families were told about the nature of the accusations that preceded the Masopusts’ departures.
Repeated phone calls to Northridge Church and the Perrymans were not returned.
Neither of the Perrymans nor Felicia Masopust have been criminally charged.