Salvation Army Officer Arrested - Accused Of Raping A 16 Year Old Girl

The Salvation Army officer's name is Luis Leonel Valdez.  In June, 2012 he was a youth minister for The Salvation Army in El Paso, Texas. 

Valdez took the 16 year old girl to breakfast at McDonalds.  She reported to police that the coffee she drank tasted funny.  The next thing she remembered was waking up in Valdez's bedroom.  Her pants and panties had been removed and her blouse was pulled up.  Valdez was getting dressed.  When he left the room, the young girl managed to escape and called 911.

DNA from her rape kit matched the DNA of Valdez.  When arrested, he told police that the girl was just hallucinating, or having a nightmare. He made no statement about the DNA match.

The Salvation Army has strict policies with respect to officers being alone with children.  Under no circumstances are officers aloud to take them to their homes.

Major Michael Morton, Area Commander for The Salvation Army in the El Paso area was asked about the incident.  His response;  "In this particular case, this is a very abhorrent behavior. We have a case where the individual deliberately violated our own safety checks. If someone deliberately goes out to violate the law, they will succeed. The trick is did we catch it and have we done something about it? And the answer is, yes, we did."

Really?  The Salvation Army caught it?   The police investigation indicates that the young girl escaped from Valdez and reported that she had been raped.  The Salvation Army caught nothing!  Note that Major Morton refers to Valdez as "the individual", in an attempt to distance The Salvation Army from the crime.  The individual charged with the rape of a 16 year old girl is a Salvation Army officer.  The Salvation Army's "safe from harm" policy failed.

Despite Major Michael Morton's attempts to distance The Salvation Army from the incident in question, and shed a good light on the issue as far as The Salvation Army's policy is concerned, it is not as cut and dry as Major Morton's statement indicates.  The El Paso Police Department believes there are more victims and has set up a tip line, urging potential victims to can come forward.   Again, The Salvation Army caught and prevented nothing!

Another Salvation Army spokesperson stated "The Salvation Army will reserve judgment until we see how this plays out. The officer has been suspended."

What happens to a Salvation Army officer who is suspended while The Salvation Army reserves its judgment?  What happens to the officer while The Salvation Army waits to see how it "plays out"?

Salvation Army officers live in homes owned by the organization, drive vehicles owned by the organization, enjoy full medical benefits and receive a salary.  Even though Valdez was suspended, The Salvation Army continues to financially support him, with his officers benefits.  Actually, your donations continue to support Valdez, while he awaits trial for his alleged crime.

It's unclear at this time whether, or not, The Salvation Army is paying for Valdez's defense, but the organization does have a vested interested in how it "plays out".  The Salvation Army may have some civil liability for its failure to keep a 16 year old girl safe from harm.  Again, any money spent by The Salvation Army with respect to this incident comes from your donations to the organization.

From all indications, as of today Valdez is still on The Salvation Army payroll and is still being housed by the organization.  What is outrageous about the current status of the suspended officer is where The Salvation Army has chosen to house him.

The Salvation Army owns a resort, Camp Hoblitzelle, near Midlothian, Texas, the place where Valdez is believed to be housed.  Those who are not familiar with the resort will be shocked to know that The Salvation Army conducts meetings, seminars and day camps for children at the Camp Hoblitzelle.  They even rent out the facility to other religious organizations for day camps.  Housing an alleged rapist where children are sent for day camp is beyond belief!

If this outrages you as much as it outrages me, call Major Ward Matthews, Area Commander for the Dallas Metroplex Command, 214-637-8100 and ask him why The Salvation Army is housing an alleged rapist at Camp Hoblitzelle.

Update 7-18-13.  The investigation continues with respect to other potential victims.  No trial date set at this time.  Many thanks to Channel 7 news for staying on top of the story.  If only The Salvation Army took sexual assault by one of its officers seriously.

Major Robert Green - Prejudice and Misconduct

I have known Major Robert Green, and his wife, Charma, for more than three years. We met shortly after their appointment as Corp Officers for The Carr P Collins Social Services Center in Dallas, Texas, where I was the Billing and Finance Manager. This piece covers some serious issues; his lack of respect, prejudice and gross misconduct on the job.

Major Robert Green is still a Salvation Army officer and is now assigned to The Lancaster Corp in Fort Worth, Texas. The Salvation Army transfers officers who commit misconduct. Officers are never held to the same standards it holds its employees. The bar for ethical and moral behavior is much lower for officers.


The following statements are direct quotes from Major Robert Green.  

“Did you see the way that woman was dressed? If I were her husband I would have hit her too. Oh, I'm not saying I condone domestic violence, but I do understand why her husband hit her." 

Major Green made those two statements about a client in the Domestic Violence program at The Carr P Collins Social Services Center, a facility owned by The Salvation Army.  At the time he was the Corp Officer for the facility.


“I don't know why The Salvation Army does business with Home Depot. They hire gays.”

Major Green made that statement to the finance staff of The Carr P Collins facility.  The facility has an account with Home Depot.

I know gay and lesbian employees who work for The Salvation Army. Does Major Robert Green believe you should not donate to The Salvation Army? After all, they hire gays and lesbians.


Major Green committed gross misconduct on the job:

In the fall of 2012, at a golf outing (Top Golf) for the program managers of the Carr P Collins facility Major Green took pictures numerous inappropriate pictures of the rear ends of some of our female program managers. He was observed taking the pictures and was asked to delete them from his camera, which he agreed to do. However, instead of deleting the pictures, at the next managers meeting he included them in a PowerPoint presentation, complete with inappropriate captions.

One of the shots was the rear end of The Director of Operation for Carr P Collins, Ms Blake Fetterman. The tag line Major Green chose was, "It's all in the wiggle".  Other female employees were treated to the same disrespect in Major Green's presentation.


Major Green thought his presentation was funny. Everyone else was embarrassed, insulted and outraged.

Several managers, including me, complained in writing about the incident. The Texas Divisional Headquarters of The Salvation Army sent two human resource employees to interview those who complained.

Because I saw a pattern of escalating bad behavior in my dealings with Major Green, I included the other issues documented in this piece in my complaint. I wanted Salvation Army leadership to know I had not chosen to write a complaint about Major Green without seeing the pattern of misconduct.

I was asked why I included other incidents in my complaint. One of the two Human Resources employees asked if I thought mentioning the other issues was appropriate. Yes, his pattern of behavior was relevant.

Three other questions I was asked; “Don’t you think Major Green was just joking?” and “Did you see anyone laugh at the presentation?” and “Will you still be able to work at Carr P Collins with Major Green?”

I saw the final question for me the same way everyone else saw it. We were being invited to leave if we could not work with Major Green. It was a veiled threat, but I got the message and so did others. The Human Resources employees had a job to do and that job was to downplay the issue.  Their mission was to sanitize Major Green’s actions and begin the job of sweeping those actions under the carpet. They should have been carrying brooms, instead of pens and paper.

The Carr P Collins Human Resources Manager, Ms Kacye Harvey, gave the two-person clean up squad a pass, telling me “they are doing what they have to do to keep their jobs.”That was a true statement.

For the next two months Major Green continued to work at Carr P Collins, while The Salvation Army considered what to do. He held his daily devotionals, preached his Sunday sermons and continued to interact with those he offended. In devotionals he and his wife talked about the evil at Carr P Collins that was working against them. Neither ever admitted that Major Green's misconduct was the issue.

Around two months after the slide presentation it was announced that Major Green and his wife were transferring to Fort Worth, where they now serve as Corp Officers. The decision to transfer them was belatedly made by The Salvation Army’s Divisional Commander for The State of Texas, Lt. Colonel Ken Luyk and Major Ward Matthews, Dallas/Fort Worth Area Commander. 

The transfer was announced about a month before it took place, leaving Major Green plenty of time to rub in the fact that he was not really being punished for anything.  Most of the time he claimed victory over all of us who complained about his actions. Of course there were times when he played the victim, blaming everyone at Carr P Collins for persecuting him. Some days he claimed victory, other days he was the victim.

Lt. Colonel Ken Luyk and Major Ward Matthews knew Major Green's actions were wrong, but they also knew all along that appropriate actions would not be taken.  Both of them failed the backbone test. Both are morally bankrupt. Their handling of this incident proves it.  If I had been the cameraman, they would have fired me immediately.  Their moral standards bar is much lower for a fellow Salvation Army officer.

Lt. Colonel Ken Luyk and Major Ward Matthews protected a fellow officer while treating loyal employees like that pile of stuff the neighbors dog leaves in your front yard.

Here is the final blow with respect to Major Green. On May 21, 2013 The Salvation Army released a bulletin announcing that Major Robert Green was sent to Moore, Oklahoma as a counselor, in the aftermath of the tornado that recently moved through the area. With everything The Salvation Army knows about this man, he was still sent to be a counselor. Major Robert Green should be receiving counseling, not giving it.