Fr. Keith and the Case of the Missing Correction
On September 5th, Fr. Keith Hartsell publicly alleged that the Provincial Response Team had interviewed him about allegations that he mishandled child sexual abuse (see Carol’s Story) and had cleared him of wrongdoing. Because the Provincial Response Team’s stated goal is to not be the investigative team or the team providing care to survivors, they asked him to correct his statement.
The Province alerted ACNAtoo that Keith Hartsell would be presenting a public correction on October 31 regarding his misleading comments from September 5. However, the audio of the livestream recording for the church service during which this correction was to happen cuts out for 5:54 of the announcement segment of the service, while Keith is talking. No mention of the situation is made elsewhere, and this is the only part of the service where audio is missing. If Keith did correct his statement from September 5 while the livestream audio was off, there is currently no way either to confirm that or to know what his statement included.
The ongoing lack of public correction does not serve the Diocese of the Upper Midwest or the Provincial Response Team’s stated wishes for transparency and accountability, including their specific request that Keith make this correction. The Diocese of the Upper Midwest has the authority to hold Keith to those standards or discipline accordingly if he does not meet them.
For reference, the livestream can be viewed at this link and is also embedded below. The segment missing from Keith’s announcements is from 42:57-48:51. The audio returns as soon as Keith finishes speaking.
Cornerstone Anglican Church - Portage Park: 10/31/21 livestream