Does forgiving mean forgetting?A faith healer comes clean on his young-offender conviction for child molestation.(Todd Bentley)(Brief Article)

0 Comments | Report Newsmagazine, The, April, 2001 | by Hiebert, Rick

Todd Bentley has a confession to make. A faith healer who has attracted international attention over the past several months, Bentley presents himself as a reformed bad boy who was once jailed for 18 months for "crimes of an assault nature" and breaking-and-entering in his hometown of Gibsons, B.C. The truth is, his most serious crime was more heinous: the molestation of a seven-year-old boy. "They were sexual crimes," Bentley admits. "I was involved in a sexual-assault ring. I turned around and did what had happened to me. I was assaulted too.

"I don't like to talk about it publicly because it would hurt [my ministry]." he concedes. "I don't whip it out in the newspapers or on TV because people will go 'Whaaa?' I'll say 'I was in prison, period. Let's move...