The alleged victim of sexual abuse by Batavia pastor Marty Macdonald has filed a report with the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office in a step that brings questions to an open investigation while only further confirming Hobson’s own stance on her accusations, she says.
“The Sheriff’s Office contacted me. So I spoke with them, and after speaking with them, that’s when I filed,” Hobson said to The Batavian Monday. “So, currently, it's still an open investigation. You know, honestly, my motivation hasn't changed, so I still stand on the side of truth. I will no longer be silenced, and I want to encourage others to come out of the shadows of guilt, shame and fear and let their voices be heard.
“I’ve talked to law enforcement several times over the last few weeks, in September and October. It’s still an open investigation, so I’m letting them do their job.”
Joseph Graff, chief deputy of the Criminal Investigation Division, confirmed that the case has drawn some attention in the Sheriff’s Office. The Batavian specifically asked whether the statute of limitations might apply to the allegations.
“We are looking into her case to determine if there are any statutes that are still applicable,” Graff said.
In criminal law, the statute of limitations is not straightforward and depends on the section of penal law cited and the facts of the case, which is information not yet available, according to legal sources.
Macdonald has forcefully denied the allegations through a public statement provided to the media and members of City Church.
Hobson’s story is not new. She first raised it in conversations with a local reporter and other community members more than 20 years ago.
She has said that from the age of 12 to 18, she was groomed and sexually abused by Macdonald, she said. She hadn’t told anyone until years later. She only came out publicly in September when emboldened by a similar case in which a teen, Cindy Clemishire, had been sexually abused by a powerful pastor at the time, Robert Morris, and that became widely publicized when the Clemishire shared her story, and Morris resigned from his church.
After The Batavian first published Hobson’s story, Cornerstone Pastor Paul Doyle made a video asking Macdonald and his son Ryan to step down from The City Church in Batavia. This was in response to a cease-and-desist letter demanding that Doyle retract what he had said publicly about Macdonald.
That cease-and-desist letter also went to The Wartburg Watch, an online publication that has kept the Hobson articles and related posts intact.
Meanwhile, online chatter about the Hobson articles has included many posts of support for Hobson and some questions about why she hadn’t come forward sooner or filed charges against the well-known Batavia pastor.
None of the comments have deterred her newfound spirit, she said. Now that she has taken this step to file a police report, Hobson isn’t certain “what avenues yet, but I plan to continue to tell my story.”
Attorney Anjan Ganguly, who has been representing Macdonald and The City Church, was not aware of any investigation into the allegations against his client, he said.
“Neither Pastor Marty nor I have been notified of any police report or investigation,” Ganguly said Wednesday.
