Romanian community unites to help boy
Statesman Journal (Salem, OR)
Churches bring gifts to 9-year-old who may have been abused
Churches unite
The following Portland-area churches helped coordinate gift-gathering for the Romanian boy:
·Philadelphia Romanian Assembly of God
·Romanian Seventh-day Adventist Church
·Romanian Baptist Church
·St. Mary's Romanian Orthodox Church
BY DENNIS THOMPSON JR.
Statesman Journal
The Portland-area Romanian community came to Salem bearing gifts Tuesday.
The goal: to ease the suffering of a 9-year-old Romanian boy whose adoptive father stands accused of molesting him during a four-year period.
A group of about 20 people delivered more than 25 gifts to the Summer Street offices of the Oregon Department of Human Services, which has placed the child in foster care.
"Working with kids, I love their innocence," said Damaris Cinpean, 19, who leads a Sunday School group that created a poster-size Christmas card for the boy. "Knowing someone took that away from the little boy, it breaks my heart."
The boy was adopted from a Romanian orphanage by Silverton man William Delos Peckenpaugh, 37, who is charged with six counts of first-degree sodomy, two counts of first-degree sexual abuse and using a child in the display of sexually explicit conduct.
Peckenpaugh was arrested after a sexually graphic video allegedly of himself and the boy was found in a camera that had been returned to Fry's Electronics in Wilsonville. He is being held in the Marion County jail, awaiting trial.
The case resonated within the Romanian community because the United States is seen as a land of hope for many in Romania, said Vasile Cinpean, a pastor assistant at the Philadelphia Romanian Assembly of God in Portland. An estimated 25,000 Romanians live in the Portland-Vancouver, Wash., area.
"There are so many children in need in Romania," Cinpean said. "When they have a chance to be adopted by someone in America, it's seen as a great opportunity. This is a tragedy."
Four Romanian churches led the effort to purchase gifts for the boy, said Bogdan Grigore, an editor with the Romanian Times, a biweekly Portland-area newspaper.
"This thing kind of gathered together the churches to act as a community," Grigore said.
The family of Monica Remchek, 18, purchased a Bible and a Game Boy for the boy.
"I just hope he likes it," Remchek said. "I pray a lot for him. We're all really angry with the situation. It shouldn't happen to anyone."
Fibia Ursu, 17, and her sister purchased an Incredibles coloring book and crayons for the boy.
"We figured everyone would get him toys, so we wanted to do something different," she said. "We also bought him blowing bubbles."
Jim Rudd, a Portland businessman who serves as an honorary Romanian consul, helped coordinate the gift drop-off with state officials.
The group's ultimate hope is that the boy eventually will be placed with a Romanian family in Portland.
"We think that would be a benefit for the child, to have someone around him who speaks Romanian," said Mircea Lubanovici, another Romanian Times editor.
State officials predicted that the unexpected generosity will make a tremendous difference in the boy's Christmas.
"I am just overwhelmed with the love and support," said Michelle Felton, an ombudsman with the children's advocacy office. "I don't know what to say. It's quite amazing."
dmthomps@Statesman Journal.com or (503) 399-6719