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II - 91 1 months, the grass growing months, the
gentleman that his job 2 is to drive a John Deere tractor and
mow most of the 3 property. There's just a little bit he leaves for us to do. 4 Q.
Okay. Now, why don't you have them do
the whole 5 property? I mean, why do you have to have some of the 6 students do some of the property? Why do you do that? 7 A.
Well, to teach a work ethic, a good work ethic.
I 8 think a lot of teenagers today don't
know how to work and the 9 meaning of work. And it was good for me when I was younger 10 to push a lawn mower and it taught me
a lot of things. So we 11 can use that same pushing a lawn mower
or pushing a weed 12 eater to help our young people we have
in school with us. 13 Q.
Are most of the students who come to Mountain Park, did 14 they have some sort of troubled past? 15 A.
Yes, sir, most of them do. 16 Q.
Okay. Does the work detail help in
addressing the past 17 of these youths in trying to remedy
their -- remedy 18 themselves to be more productive
citizens? 19 A.
I think so. I know so. You know, religion, you can't 20 make anybody accept it. And I tell parents that. You can't 21 make a boy trust Christ as his
personal savior. But you can 22 teach him a good work ethic. He can step right back out in 23 society, fulfill a job and be a good
citizen. And he can put 24 food on the table for his family. And I think work ethic and 25 incorporate that to our ministry has
definitely helped a lot
II - 92 1 of young people. Because a lot of young people, they may not 2 trust Christ. And if we can teach them how to work, I think 3 we have accomplished something. 4 Q.
So it goes back to the mission of trying to nurture 5 that Christian values and Christian
development? 6 A.
Yes, sir. 7 Q.
Okay. And also looking at the
missions, does it also 8 help to develop respectfulness and
discipline and leadership? 9 A.
I know it does. Keeping the property
nice, lawns 10 mowed, vehicles washed, I think that's
a good -- I think 11 that's a good basis for the Christian
service. A Christian 12 should have those kind of things, so I
certainly believe so. 13 Q.
Now, in a typical afternoon for how long do the boys do 14 this work detail if they are working
and not doing sports? 15 A.
We'll start at 2:30 and we will typically quit between 16 4:30 and five o'clock. So you're not looking at any more 17 than two to two and a half hours. Most of the time we do 18 stop, though, at around 4:30. 19 Q.
Okay. Sir, that work detail schedule,
does that change 20 a little bit on Saturdays and Sundays? 21 A.
Yes, sir. On Saturdays the students,
we get up a 22 little later, get up at seven. Breakfast at 7:30.
Then we 23 have our common area cleaning and
bible reading, those kind 24 of things. So we actually don't start work until a little 25 later in the morning. So we may start work at nine, 9:30.
II - 93 1 And we'll stop at about 11:30. And most of the time on 2 Saturdays I make a point that Saturday
afternoon we go 3 fishing or we play ball just about
every Saturday. It's very 4 rare a Saturday in the afternoon that
we do work. It's very 5 rare. 6 Q.
Okay. Very good. On Sundays do the boys do this 7 outdoor work detail? 8 A.
No, sir, Sundays we do no work detail. The
only thing 9 we do is common area cleaning. Cleaning the dorm as our -- 10 as an everyday chore, but we do not do
any work outside 11 cleaning the dorm. 12 Q.
Is that because it kind of goes against your Christian 13 values and beliefs? 14 A.
Yes, sir. 15 Q.
Mr. Gerhardt, do the boys actually do any of the -- 16 students at Mountain Park, do they
make any products that 17 Mountain Park sells? 18 A.
No, sir, they do not. 19 Q.
Okay. Are any horses or cattle or
anything maintained 20 on Mountain Park? 21 A.
Brother Gerhardt owns some horses himself, but that's 22 it.
But Mountain Park does not maintain any horses. 23 Q.
And is Mountain Park in the business of buying or 24 selling or raising horses? 25 A.
No, sir, they are not.
II - 94 1 Q.
Is Pastor Gerhardt in that business? 2 A.
No, sir, he is not. 3 Q.
Will the students do chores
into the night ever? 4 A.
No, sir, not that I can recall. We
don't work into the 5 night. 6 Q.
Okay. Are chores ever assigned as a
corrective 7 measure? 8 A.
Yes, sir, they are. 9 Q.
Why are chores assigned as a corrective measure? 10 A.
Chores are assigned as a corrective measure if a 11 student is not willing to cooperate or
not willing to do the 12 things that are required by them. And during the time all 13 the other boys may be fishing or
playing ball, basketball, 14 volleyball, whatever it may be, that
student may be needing 15 to stack wood or that student may be
needing to sweep 16 concrete. So that would be the times that a student would be 17 working as a discipline. 18 Q.
Okay. And doing chores as corrective
measure, so it's 19 kind of done to get the student to
recognize what they've 20 done and that they haven't done
something properly or they've 21 acted improperly and it's to correct
the behavior? 22 A.
Yes, sir, it's one of the last measures. 23 Q.
Mr. Blair, do you recall -- my apologies. 24 A.
No offense. 25 Q.
Mr. Gerhardt, do you recall Jordan Blair being at
II - 95 1 Mountain Park? 2 A.
I recall him being there, yes, sir, I do. 3 Q.
Okay. Do you recall when you met him? 4 A.
No, sir, I don't recall when I actually shook his hand 5 for the first time. 6 Q. Do
you typically greet most of the male students who 7 arrive at Mountain Park? 8 A.
Yes, sir. I'm the one who greets
almost every male 9 student at Mountain Park. 10 Q.
And when you do greet new students, do you greet them 11 alone or is there somebody else with
you? 12 A.
I don't recall ever greeting a student alone.
There's 13 always someone with me. 14 Q.
So you can't -- strike that. Do you
recall what date 15 that Mr. Blair arrived in Mountain
Park? 16 A.
Just through this court session here, but off the top 17 of my head, I would not know. I hear it's October 24th, 18 2001. 19 Q.
Now, Mr. Gerhardt, you heard Mr. Blair's testimony 20 during this trial that he claims that
you slammed him up 21 against a counter sink and a wall. Now, and he claims that 22 you did that on the first day that he
was at Mountain Park. 23 Mr. Gerhardt, did that, in fact,
happen? 24 A.
No, sir, that never did happen. 25 Q.
Okay. Does Mountain Park maintain a
no-touch policy
II
- 96 1 for staff? 2 A.
Yes, sir, it does strictly maintain a no-touch policy 3 for staff. 4 Q.
Would you have even been alone with Mr. Blair in the 5 sink area to permit you to do that? 6 A.
No, sir, I would have not been alone with him. 7
MR. BRIGGS: May I confer just a
moment, Judge? 8 Thank you. That's all I have at this time, Your Honor. 9
THE COURT: Very well. We'll
have our luncheon 10 recess at this time. Recall the admonition, ladies and 11 gentlemen of the jury. Return to your jury rooms at 1:30 and 12 we'll continue at that time. 13
(Court in recess from 12:28 p.m. until 1:43 p.m.) 14
THE COURT: Good afternoon, ladies and
gentlemen of 15 the jury. Shall we continue.
Cross-examination of 16 Mr. Gerhardt. 17
CROSS-EXAMINATION 18 BY MR. STILLEY: 19 Q.
Mr. Gerhardt, can you tell us about your time frame of 20 reference with respect to Mountain
Park? And in order to do 21 that can you tell us when you first
started in school at 22 Mountain Park? 23 A.
I started high school in June of 1993. 24 Q.
When you started, did you have a substantial idea of 25 the operations of that school?
II
- 97 1 A.
Please restate the question. 2 Q.
Certainly. Let me rephrase it a little
bit. How 3 long -- let me strike that question
and ask another. How 4 long did it take before you obtained
some position of 5 authority at Mountain Park? 6 A.
A long time. When I was a student and
I lived in the 7 boys' dorm, I would have been no
different than a new 8 student, you know, who was just
enrolled. I had an 9 orientation period where I was
strictly watched. There was 10 also a period where I was by myself. And after that length 11 of time there was a period where I
became an orientation 12 guide myself. So I started from the very bottom and through 13 just the impression of the ministry,
the Lord, I was just 14 able to move right up, so to speak,
the ladder. 15 Q.
Okay. Would it be fair then to say
that you were 16 familiar with the operations of
Mountain Park since at least 17 about 1994? 18 A.
Familiar with the operations, yes, I was familiar with 19 the operation. 20 Q.
Has that operation been roughly the same from 1994 to 21 2004? 22 A.
Yes, it has. 23 Q.
Okay. When did you first get a paid
position? 24 A.
I don't recall the date when I became a paid position. 25 Q.
Do you recall the year?
II - 98 1 A.
I can't even honestly recall the year when I became one 2 for a paid position. 3 Q.
It that before you got out of high school? 4 A.
Yes, it was. I was -- through the
Lord's grace I was 5 able to get to junior staff position,
which means I was still 6 a student, still in high school, but
was in a position that I 7 had a small paycheck every month. 8 Q.
Okay. And do you know how long that
you had that 9 paycheck while you were in school? 10 A.
Probably, I'm going to roughly guess about maybe two 11 years. 12 Q.
Did any other students in the school who were actually 13 enrolled in the school get paid jobs? 14 A.
At that time I remember at least two other junior staff 15 that were males at that time that were
also junior staff 16 position. 17 Q.
Okay. Do you have any personal
knowledge of the 18 criteria that was used to select
persons or that is used to 19 select persons for paid positions? 20 A.
That question would have to be directed to Brother 21 Wills or Brother Gerhardt. They have their own criteria. I 22 don't know what it is. 23 Q.
Okay. So you don't have personal
knowledge, correct? 24 A.
No, sir. They have their own criteria
that they 25 choose.
II - 99 1 Q.
Now, some of the students are taught things like 2 welding; is that correct? 3 A.
Yes, sir. 4 Q.
That's not a certified program, is it? 5 A.
I don't know. 6 Q.
And you don't have any certified instructors on that 7 program, do you? 8 A.
I don't know that either. 9 Q.
Who would have that knowledge? 10 A.
I don't know who would have that knowledge. 11 Q.
Nobody gets any credit for the learning of things such 12 as welding, do they? 13 A.
I do not know. 14 Q.
Did you ever learn anything other than a strictly 15 academic subject while you were in
high school in Mountain 16 Park? 17 A.
Certainly. 18 Q.
And what did you learn? 19 A.
Practical things of life that I learned while a student 20 at Mountain Park, daily practical shoe
leather things. 21 Q.
Did you get any credit for having learned those things? 22 A.
No, I did not get credit for learning those things. 23 Q.
Isn't it true that there are any subjects at Mountain 24 Park for which students get credit
except academic? 25 A.
Please restate the question. |
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