Photo via Myia M Maples-Andrews via Facebook
Matthew Gibson, the son of the bishop of Progressive Baptist Church of Brownsville in Brooklyn, New York has been accused of raping a now 14-year-old girl for years inside the walls of the church. The alleged sexual abuse is believed to have started in 2012 after her mother died.
“He should rot in hell. How can a father do this?” said Josephine Maples, the victim’s grandmother. Many outlets are reporting that the young girl in question is Gibson’s daughter. According to his family, alleged sexual abuse and assault has been going on for years at the church and involves other attackers besides the 44-year-old.
Gibson’s daughter reportedly only told her sister-in-law, Myia Maples, about the reoccurring assault last week, although it had been going on for years. According to Myia, her husband, the girl’s older brother, has full custody of the teen and her twin brother. After the death of their mother, seven years ago, he became their guardian while their father, the accused pastor, was given visitation every other weekend. In a distraught Instagram post, Maples is seen airing out all the dirty laundry of Matthew, his father, Bishop Ben T. Gibson, and how they’ve abused little girls in the church:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsqJ1HZFl5c/
After coming home tormented, the teenage girl just blurted out to her sister-in-law about what was happening with her father. Since then, the pastor has been arrested and charged with sexual abuse of a child, incest and child endangerment. He is being held on $10,000 bail and has another court date in the works.
The unnamed victim’s twin brother admitted that he was present at the church when the assaults would take place but didn’t know that they were happening. His father would reportedly keep him preoccupied: “He would make me play on the drums, and when it was happening, I wouldn’t be nowhere around. I feel like, in the moment, I let my sister down,” he said.
The Progressive Baptist Church of Brownsville leader isn’t the first man of the cloth to be accused of sexual assault. In 2017, Jesse Jackson was accused of inappropriately grabbing a woman’s thighs and other disrespectful acts. The extent of R. Kelly‘s sexual abuse allegations has recently come to light with the airing of Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly. And, TV personality A.J. Calloway and music journalist Touré have also been accused of similar allegations in the past few weeks.
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