MIDTERMS 2026: Preliminary Results for 2026

News

Former Bellingham Baptist Church music teacher sentenced for molestation

9 years ago in Local

Photo: clipart.com

KGMI News
By Alex Gray

BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) – The former music teacher at the Bellingham Baptist Church gets five years in prison for molesting a girl for years.

The Bellingham Herald reports Michael Bane’s sentence is the same as the church’s youth pastor, Christopher Trent, who was sentenced last month for molesting a different girl for years.

Police reports show Bane confessed to pastor Josh Carter that he’d been sexually abusing the girl for about 8 years.

Carter told Bane to turn himself in.

Carter says both Bane and Trent underwent background checks yearly and the church hosted classes on how to spot child sex abuse, but the men abused these girls despite the safeguards.

A Christian consulting group is assessing whether or not the church can do more.

Recent Headlines

20 minutes ago in Sports, Trending

Cristiano Ronaldo announces his international retirement from Portugal

Fresh

Cristiano Ronaldo won't play for Portugal anymore, ending on Thursday a career that spanned six World Cups and included a European title and the men's all-time international scoring record.

17 hours ago in Sports

Ravens are getting veteran QB Jacoby Brissett from the Cardinals, AP source says

Veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett is heading from the Arizona Cardinals to the Baltimore Ravens, a person with knowledge of the trade told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

17 hours ago in Sports

Zverev’s tenure as No. 1 begins with ‘bad’ loss at Paris Masters, Djokovic also goes out

Alexander Zverev's tenure as the No. 1 in men's tennis started with a 7-6 (5), 6-2 defeat to Lorenzo Musetti in the second round of the Paris Masters on Wednesday.

2 days ago in Sports, Trending

Major League Baseball proposes delaying salary cap start until 2028 in talks with players

Major League Baseball proposed delaying the start of a salary cap until 2028, saying teams have too many commitments for next season that wouldn't allow them to reduce spending quickly enough.

2 days ago in Sports

Luka Doncic is off to a spectacular offensive start for the Lakers with a string of 40-point games

Although Luka Doncic is in his ninth NBA season as one of the sport's most dynamic scorers, he has rarely been better than this. Two weeks into the Los Angeles Lakers' first season following LeBron James' departure, Doncic is scorching opponents with one brilliant offensive performance after another.