Two missionaries with strong ties to southern Manitoba are facing long jail sentences after being convicted of sex crimes involving children in the Dominican Republic (DR)
According to DR1.com, an English news source in the DR, a missionary originally from Steinbach and her husband have been convicted and sentenced by the Second Collegiate Court of La Vega for sex crimes involving children in the country.
Tracee Lynne (Plett) Pepper and her husband, Adam Eric Pepper, are former students at Steinbach Bible College, and according to Adam’s Facebook page, he also attended Providence University College and Theological Seminary. Adam's LinkedIn profile also says that he served as a youth leader at Steinbach Evangelical Mennonite Church from 2005 to 2009, and as a youth leader at La Broquerie Youth Group from 2008 to 2012.
They were recently living in El Mirador, Jarabacoa in the central province of La Vega, working as missionaries for the Ontario-based Commission To Every Nation Canada. At the time of publishing this story, CTEN had not responded to SteinbachOnline's request for comment.
The news report includes some history of the case, which was prepared by the Unit for Comprehensive Attention to Victims of Gender, Intrafamily or Sexual Crimes of Public Ministry of La Vega.
This investigation began in 2021, reports the news agency when a mother of a nine-year-old child found disturbing evidence in a cell phone that the missionaries had gifted her son.
Police raided the Peppers’ home in April 2021 and seized USB flash drives, an expensive camera and accessories, high-definition recording equipment, and an underwater digital camera. On the devices, police say they found sexually explicit content involving the boy and another girl.
DR1.com reports that Adam was sentenced to seven years in prison while Tracee received a five-year sentence with a ban on working and cannot leave the country. They were ordered to pay the equivalent of 10 official minimum wages and legal costs.
The husband and wife spoke with CHVN in 2020 about difficulties they had faced getting back into the Dominican because of pandemic lockdowns.
At the time, Tracee said that her and Adam's goal was "to help restore relationships with God, self, and others by fostering spiritual, physical and emotional wellbeing in the lives of children and families."
Neither of the missionaries have made public statements. Commission to Every Nation has been contacted for comment.