A Walk Down Memory Lane: Exposing HOPCC's Web of Abuse and Cover-Ups
- blackhawkmissions7
- 16 minutes ago
- 6 min read
A System That Should Have Protected Children — Turned Against Them
It began with betrayal in the very place children should have found safety. Do you remember when Marshell Webb, a loyal follower of House of Prayer leader Rony Denis and an employee of the Liberty County Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS), was fired after an internal audit revealed she accessed confidential child abuse reports?
She wasn’t assigned to the case. She had no clearance to review it. Yet records showed Webb repeatedly logged in after hours, pulling sensitive files about reports made against Rony Denis — including reports concerning his own daughter and other children.
The result? Complainants soon discovered their worst fears confirmed. Leaders inside HOPCC openly admitted from the pulpit that they knew who had reported Denis. And then the harassment began. Families who dared to speak up were mocked, ridiculed, ostracized, and targeted.
A system meant to protect children had been weaponized to silence them. Let me refresh your memory...
Survivor Testimony: The Pain No Child Should Carry
But the betrayal runs deeper than confidential files. Survivors themselves have bravely come forward, shattering the wall of silence Denis and his loyalists tried to build.
Take the testimony of Lynette Rosario. As a child, she endured abuse at the hands of Rony Denis himself. Lynette recalled how, in Stuart, Florida, Denis kept multiple little girls under his control — but it was his own daughter who suffered the worst beatings.
"He did also beat his daughter. She actually got beat the worst. He was beating her long before he woke us up" (Rosario, 2019).
Her words cut like a knife because they expose the heart of the matter: Denis was not a man of God. He was a man who wielded power through fear, violence, and manipulation, starting with the most vulnerable — the children.
And Lynette’s testimony is not an isolated account. Across the years, countless survivors have come forward with their stories: children forced into silence, women coerced into submission, men exploited and controlled. Each story is a piece of a larger puzzle — a puzzle that reveals a cult built not on Christ, but on control, money, and abuse.
Hear her voice tell the story...
National Spotlight: The FBI Finally Steps In
For years, survivors cried out for help. Families begged authorities to act. Many felt like their voices fell on deaf ears. But now, the tide has turned.
In recent days, national headlines erupted as Rony Denis and several of his top lieutenants were arrested in sweeping FBI raids. After decades of unchecked power, the so-called “man of God” was led away in handcuffs.
Among those indicted was Bernadel Semexant, once paraded as a pastor and leader. He now faces five separate charges related to sexually abusing a child parishioner. His arrest confirms what survivors have said for years: that abuse inside HOPCC was not an accident, not isolated, but a pattern deeply embedded in its leadership culture.
The FBI indictments are a watershed moment — proof that truth cannot stay buried forever.
Gethsemane Press: Lies in Print, Theft in Plain Sight
Even as their empire collapses around them, Denis’ loyalists continue to churn out propaganda. Through their so-called “Gethsemane Press,” they pump out newsletters defending their disgraced Bible College, twisting truth into poison, and mocking those who dared to leave.
And here’s the bitter insult: “Gethsemane Press” is not their name to use. It is a blatant theft, a trademark infringement on my registered publishing imprint as an author— an imprint that I built to represent integrity, healing, and truth.
While they visited my author website, sending me vile and harassing messages, they used my imprint for lies and propaganda that promoted the very exploitative organization I spoke against.
I’ll be honest. To pursue a church (even a corrupt nonprofit like HOPCC) in court for a publication they don’t charge money for is not worth the endless drain of time and legal fees.
But that isn’t the point.
The larger offense is far greater. It is that they dared to take the name Gethsemane Press — a name tied to the agony and surrender of Christ, a name I chose to stand for integrity and truth — and use it to spew lies in a desperate attempt to redeem a disgraced Bible college program.
That Bible college stole millions from veterans. It crushed souls under false teaching. It has been exposed in the courts and in the media as nothing but a scam. And yet, with stolen words and stolen names, they try to whitewash the ruin.
It’s not just legal theft. It’s spiritual theft. It’s not just about branding. It’s about blasphemy.They have hijacked the name of Gethsemane — the place where Christ sweat blood in obedience — and slapped it on a propaganda machine that betrays everything the Gospel stands for.
That, to me, is the greater offense.
Millions Stolen: Veterans Exploited, Benefits Defrauded
The lies of HOPCC were not limited to the pulpit. They extended into the financial lives of veterans who trusted them. Their Bible College scammed millions of dollars in veterans’ benefits, siphoning funds meant to help soldiers rebuild their lives after service.
Think about the cruelty of that. Men and women who put their lives on the line for freedom came home to be preyed upon by wolves in sheep’s clothing. They were promised education, stability, and community — and instead were left exploited, stripped of benefits, and spiritually manipulated.
This isn’t righteousness. It’s robbery.
"Persecuted for Righteousness' Sake"? The Lie Unraveled
And yet, even now, Denis and his loyalists spin the narrative. They claim they are being “persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” They hold rallies, whisper campaigns, and fundraisers, telling members that to oppose the arrests is to stand for God.
But let’s call it what it is: a lie.
This is not persecution. This is exposure.
This is not suffering for Christ. This is judgment for crimes.
And yet, under this lie, they have already raised over $80,000 dollars for the legal defense of a pedophile and those who covered up abuse, lied to veterans, and exploited the faithful.
That money will not buy them innocence. It only shows the depths of manipulation, the way sincere people inside HOPCC are deceived into sacrificing for men who betrayed them.
Nonetheless, we also have to acknowledge that some are very much aware of all this, and they choose to follow because they are complicit in the evil.
Behind every headline and indictment is a trail of broken lives. Families torn apart. Parents cut off from children. Survivors silenced, shamed, and stalked.
I think of the mothers who went to sleep each night wondering if their children were safe in Denis’ care. I think of the fathers who trusted their families to a church, only to discover it was a cult. I think of the children — grown now — who still carry scars from the beatings, the isolation, the fear.
Their pain is not erased by an arrest. Their healing will take years, maybe lifetimes. But the first step toward freedom is always the truth — and the truth is finally being spoken, in courtrooms, in newsrooms, and in survivor testimonies across the nation.
Silence Is Betrayal
The time for silence is over. For too long, leaders, enablers, and even community institutions turned a blind eye. Some out of fear, some out of survival, others out of convenience. But silence in the face of abuse is betrayal.
But now, survivors are speaking, and the world is listening.
A Call to Survivors and Families
To every survivor: your voice matters.
Your pain is not forgotten. You are not alone.
To every family still inside: open your eyes. Look at the fruit of this tree. Abuse. Fraud. Indictments. Arrests. Lies. That is not righteousness. That is not the Gospel. That is not Christ.
And to the leaders who still cling to Denis’ lies, know this: God is not mocked. The truth will stand when your empire of deception falls.
Closing
This is not persecution.
This is exposure.
This is not righteousness.
This is justice.
This is not the end.
This is the beginning of healing.
For every survivor, every family, every soul wounded by House of Prayer: you are not forgotten. And the truth will set you free.
Yours truly- Blackhawk Missions
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