Minister Receives Fine, Volunteer Work for Failure to Report Abuse

A well-respected retired minister of a La Mesa church Friday was fined and ordered to perform 300 hours of volunteer work for not reporting a case of child molestation involving his church-school principal.

The Rev. Gottfried Herbert Hoffman, 65, of La Mesa, who was pastor at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church for 38 years until his retirement in July, was also placed on three years’ probation.

San Diego Municipal Judge Jesus Rodriguez also fined Hoffman $500, to be paid at a rate of $75 a month, and ordered him to show proof of the community work to be completed by December.

Could Have Received Jail Time

Hoffman pleaded guilty Jan. 17 to the misdemeanor charge of failing to report child molestation committed by Eugene Petersen, 37, of La Mesa, who was the church’s principal and seventh- and eighth-grade teacher.

Petersen is serving a two-year sentence in County Jail after pleading guilty to three counts of child molestation involving two girls, ages 12 and 13, from the church’s day school.

Hoffman could have received a six-month jail sentence. His attorney, John Meyer, urged that Hoffman not be given a fine or probation and that he receive a lesser amount of volunteer work. Deputy Dist. Atty. Aaron Katz suggested a $1,000 fine and the 300 hours of volunteer work.

“This is a fine, upstanding man who has never had a hint of trouble,” Meyer argued. “To end his ministry convicted of a crime is abhorrent to him.”

“Pastor Hoffman was unaware of the relatively new child reporting law. There were other individuals who knew of the law and did not report it,” Meyer said.

The prosecutor conceded that Hoffman had led an “exemplary life.” But Katz said that “these cases are extremely serious because they involve children.”

Parents Sought Leniency

The parents of one girl wrote a letter to the judge asking for leniency for Hoffman.

“We came to Pastor Hoffman to notify him that the molesting had occurred. We asked that this be kept as quiet as possible so there would be no publicity within this small school that would embarrass our daughter,” the parents wrote.

“We did not want to press charges but did want to be assured that Mr. Petersen would receive counseling, have his teaching credential removed and be registered as a sex offender.

“Please understand that Pastor Hoffman was trying to accomplish the wishes of the victim’s family by handling this problem in an orderly fashion without destroying the sanctity of Easter,” the letter concludes.

Other people urging leniency in letters to the judge were La Mesa Police Chief Robert Soto, City Councilman Ernest Ewin and Chamber of Commerce Vice President Gordon Austin.

But a Lakeside clinical psychologist, Diana Sjostrom, wrote a critical letter, saying Hoffman had covered up for Petersen before.

‘Adamantly Refused’ Advice

“Rev. Hoffman contacted me April 1, 1988, and asked me to see Eugene Petersen professionally or refer him to another psychologist who would not report Petersen or file a CPS (Child Protective Services) report on him,” Sjostrom wrote.

“I refused and quoted the law to him, and he adamantly refused to take my advice,” the psychologist wrote.

Hoffman declined comment after the sentencing, but he told probation officer Bruce Fox that “my intent was to give pastoral care to two females in my parish and to protect the victims from needless notoriety.”

“These proceedings have caused my family and me great anguish and suffering, for which I am truly sorry,” Hoffman said, according to Fox’s probation report.

The probation officer wrote that Hoffman was quite concerned about the child-molestation allegations disturbing the Easter activities of the church at the time.

Hoffman told Fox that he felt bound by the confidentiality of his role as a pastor not to reveal the molestation.