Several young men are speaking out about a Presbyterian minister in New Jersey who “used Native American exorcism rituals, gemstones and even oral sex to extract ‘evil spirits' from men undergoing crises in their lives,” the Bridgewater Courier News reports.
Rev. Dr. William Weaver, a pastor at Linden Presbyterian Church for 39 years and the once-chaplain for a county police department, renounced the jurisdiction of the Elizabeth Presbytery one day before a January 2019 trial was to begin over allegations by the men that go back to 1999. The allegations became public after Weaver renounced jurisdiction to avoid trial. He's no longer an ordained minister.
One man who was allegedly abused by Weaver described his experience, the Courier reports:
Every meeting with Weaver began the same way, Meeker said. The minister told him to undress completely and lie on the bed. Then he placed an angel coin — a coin with an angel or saint printed on it used for praying — on Meeker's forehead and wrapped a magnetic strip around his head to keep it in place.
Weaver then would place a series of stones on both of Meeker's feet his hands and on the left side and right side of his chest.
“I was told that for him to get everything out me, I needed to lay completely still to not move the stones on my feet,” Meeker said in the impact statement. “He would then take out the feather and scan my body from my neck to my stomach.”
Weaver then 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,” Meeker wrote.
Then the interaction became sexual, with Weaver engaging in oral sex, according to Meeker.
“He would then ingest my ejaculate and then would spit up multiple pieces of plastic or metal into a Ziploc bag,” Meeker stated.
All three victims reported similar acts of abuse. One said he allowed it to happen because he was at such a low point in his life.
The Courier adds: “Weist, Meeker and Staunton said they informed various law enforcement organizations of their allegations against Weaver. They said they were hoping that some form of official reprimand would result from the church trial, which took more than a year to organize, but that fell apart when Weaver moved to Lakewood and renounced the jurisdiction of the Presbyterian Church. More than anything, though, the three men said they want to ensure that what they claim Weaver has done to them never happens again.”
Read the full report here.