Cigars, Boozy Bible Studies and 'Crazy' Parties: An Insider Recalls Michael Wilson's 'Grooming'
Describes Wilson's Bible studies as a place for "special outcasts" he then manipulated and victimized
Trigger warning: This article contains references to sexual assault and other topics some may find upsetting.
Special note: the name of the source in this story has been changed to protect his privacy and safety as well as his family’s.
When Brady started attending weekly mens-only Bible studies at Michael E. Wilson’s home in Wenatchee he was just 17, and he had to get special permission to join.
The rule was that everyone in the group was 18 or older. At the time Brady thought the age limit was odd.
“That’s kind of weird. It’s a Bible study,” he said. “Why does that matter? God’s word is not limited to any age actually.”
A friend who invited him said that “more graphic” things are discussed than might be heard at the average men’s group or Bible study. Even though he was under the age limit his friend, who attended Grace City Church, vouched for him. So Wilson and Brady met and the man deemed him mature enough to join the group.
This was during the first winter of the Covid-19 pandemic, and schools, like basically everything else, were shut down. Brady said he felt lonely and isolated. What should have been one of the best years of his young life was being spent in chaotic seclusion.
“I was super depressed, super socially isolated,” he said. “No one to talk to, no one to care. It was just a really restricted time so I was so pumped to be a part of something life-giving.”
So he was happy to have any form of social interaction and grateful to be accepted into the group. But from the very beginning, he sensed something was “a little off” with Wilson. He said he’s not someone you’d meet and “immediately think ‘predator,’” Brady said. But the long hugs were a red flag.
“When I first met him, he would hug me and it was like this really weird and long hug,” he said. “I’m like, ‘Why are you hugging me for so long?’”
Each Sunday he would prepare a lavish meal for the group of men and they would eat, drink wine and beer, and then smoke cigars on the deck of Wilson’s home before starting the Bible study. On average about 20 men met each Sunday but sometimes as many as 35 would show up. Most of the men were between the ages of 18 and 24, Brady said.