The Convicted Sex Offender Who Got Into Grace City Church’s “School of Ministry” Program

*Trigger warning: this post includes mention of a sexual assault of a minor.

In June 2020, a woman took her 14-year-old daughter to Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee, Washington “to receive treatment following a sexual assault and the hospital reported it to the city of Wenatchee,” according to an affidavit of probable cause by Chelan County Sheriff’s Detective Randy Grant filed June 12, 2020.

The “suspect Clerc, Nicolas R. is 28 years old,” Grant wrote. “He is required to register as a sex offender following a conviction in Douglas County, WA for a crime that occurred in 2013. The victim in the current incident will be referred to as (redacted). (Redacted) is a fourteen year old female whose complete identity and contact information is known to me, Detective Grant. Clerc is more than 48 months older than (redacted).”

Here is the first page of the affidavit with the initials used for the victim, the name of the victim’s mother and the address where the alleged sexual assault took place redacted.

The victim “had told Mary Jo and then they told their pastor. The pastor told them to tell CW’s parents.”

On the second page of the affidavit Det. Grant gives the details how the situation transpired as well as the alleged sexual assault. The victim got a ride to the Eddy’s home Friday night because she wasn’t old enough to drive.

“She did not realize Clerc was going to be there,” Det. Grant wrote. “He has a license and could have driven over early the next morning. She has known Clerc about a month and Clerc knows her age. He had been flirtatious.”

According to the affidavit, after the Eddys went to bed Clerc started grabbing at her and she went to the bathroom.

“She and Clerc were going to sleep in the living room,” Grant wrote. “When she came out of the bathroom, he started wrestling with her.”

From there one thing led to another, and that’s when the alleged sexual assault occurred.

After that the victim told Mary Jo. The Eddys didn’t contact the authorities or go to the victim’s parents first, but instead “they told their pastor.” According to the report, the pastor told them to tell the victim’s parents. But it would be about five days after the assault occurred that the victim and her mother would go to the hospital and the crime would be reported.

Clerc was arrested and eventually pleaded guilty to third degree rape of a minor in Chelan County Superior Court. In late 2020 he was sentenced to serve a second prison sentence for “third degree rape of a minor,” and is currently incarcerated, according to the sentencing document.

Clerc’s plea deal was reported on by NCWLIFE News on this broadcast from Sept. 2020.

A few of the conditions of his plea agreement stipulate that Clerc cannot “access, maintain, or create any Facebook and/or other social media site accounts” and “no attendance at church functions directed at minors.”

Facebook is how he established contact with his first victim, according to her.

You can read the full judgement and sentencing document here.

I became aware of Clerc because of a tip from a local woman of faith who wishes to remain anonymous. She sent me a link to an Instagram post from Grace City Church in 2020 and identified Clerc in it.

A post from Jan. 2020 identifying these people as “School of Ministry Students.”

He’s in the top left corner of the frame. But I wanted an image that would provide irrefutable proof of Clerc’s connection to Grace City Church.

That took me less than 10 minutes to find.

His Facebook profile picture features a group photo that includes Clerc along with GCC Pastor Adam James as well as Danny Salas, who is listed as a “content manager, online producer” on GCC’s website “leadership” page here.

The photo is also on his featured story on Facebook, along with some references to a religious conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

After finding the photos and his court records, I reached out to Adam James, Danny Salas and Kyle McMullen, who is listed as “story team director” and director of The Vector Academy on GCC’s website.

I asked them if they knew about Clerc’s previous conviction for third degree rape of a minor in 2013 and if Clerc was a part of The Vector Academy’s 2019–2020 class. According to the marketing booklet for the current Vector Academy class, the last term ends June 17.

If the 2019–2020 course followed the same schedule that would mean Clerc committed the second alleged sex crime about two weeks prior to the end of that year’s last term. So I asked about that and the fact that at 28 Clerc was well outside the age window to be accepted into the Vector Academy, according to their own marketing booklet.

GCC’s booklet they published to market this year’s class states that the course is for “college-age (18–24), Jesus-loving men and women,” but Clerc was 28.

Neither Kyle McMullen, Adam James or Danny Salas responded to my emails.

It’s not the first time Clerc was in the orbit of a local church’s youth ministry program though. He was never in any leadership position but he was actually asked to stop attending another local church’s youth program back in 2013, and I spoke with the pastor of that church about Clerc and his behavior back then.

I asked that pastor if anyone from Grace City Church had contacted him to ask about Clerc. He said no and expressed concern and anger that no one at GCC had contacted him to ask about Clerc before they allowed him into their “School of Ministry.”

I also spoke with Clerc’s first victim and she gave me the details of that offense, back when she was in her mid-teens and he was 20. It was difficult to learn about the details of that offense and how it affected her for years afterward. But listening to her story did help me understand the context and Clerc’s patterns of behavior. I am deeply grateful to that woman for reaching out to me and sharing her painful story. I know it wasn’t easy, but it is my sincere desire and hope that it will result in a safer and more just community for all of us.

The irony of a convicted sex offender being a part of a “School of Ministry” class that received instruction from Art Azurdia should not be lost on anyone. Here’s another post from GCC’s Instagram account from about a month after the photo above.

Pretty rich to allege that society has “redefined right and wrong” when you’re promoting the fact that a guy like Azurdia is going to be your next instructor.

According to Katie Roberts, Azurdia sexually abused her while she was a student of his at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. Unlike Clerc however, Azurdia has never been convicted of a sex crime to my knowledge.

I reached out to GCC to ask about Azurdia and other controversial Vector Academy instructors like Douglas Wilson earlier this year, but no one responded to those emails either.

If you’ve been following my coverage of Grace City Church and The Vector Academy, you might recognize the last name “Eddy.” A few weeks ago, Devon Eddy, Mary Jo’s husband doxxed me and put my name and office address online.

I have to admit it surprised me that he did that because both he and Mary Jo know that I have Clerc’s court records and the affidavit of probable cause that show their home address. I reached out to them to ask why they contacted their pastor before the victim’s parents or the police and ask who that pastor was. This was Devon’s response.

Before communication with the Eddys devolved into this I did have a brief text conversation with Mary Jo about Clerc and it was clear she was concerned primarily about him and his reputation once he gets out of prison, should I publish what I have.

There was no expression of concern for the 14-year-old girl Clerc allegedly sexually assaulted under their roof.