You can’t make this stuff up.
In an emergency filing with the Dayton, OH, Court of Common Pleas, Tricia Duff, attorney for Kate McClain, asked the court to enjoin Daniel McClain (“Dan McClain”) from attempting to enroll their children in the Reynoldsburg City Schools. Dan McClain’s effort to enroll the children is his latest effort to manipulate the courts in order to obtain the upper hand in divorce litigation — despite myriad indicia that he is eminently unqualified to be a parent. Or, for that matter, to be a teacher in the Reynoldsburg City Schools.
To understand the situation, it’s important to know that Dan McClain tried to hand the court a fait accompli by registering the kids in the Reynoldsburg Schools without telling the courts or consulting with his wife, Kate.
That’s key, because any parenting decision that’s made without input from the other parent is inherently disruptive to all involved, including the children. Moreover, this weasel move illustrates a key problem with Dan McClain, which we have seen again and again in his various church jobs and in his personal life — he doesn’t see the need to consult with anyone.
For example, Dan McClain’s sh*tty attitude was displayed at St. Paul’s when he decided to fire the director of music without consulting his vestry. As a result, McClain did so by email–an improper move by any definition. No severance, no pastoral care, just autocratic behavior.
Similarly, Dan McClain tried to shift St. Paul’s toward Anglo-Catholicism without any consultation with the vestry or church members. And he tried to manipulate church members with his ludicrous postcard urging them to bring back patriarchy into the church. (McClain sent the postcard anonymously, but oddly just so happened to go to the current church mailing list.)
Clueless much, Dan?
Then we have the allegations that Daniel McClain used church funds for personal expenses. These allegations seem plausible, given Dan McClain’s recurring notion that he can do whatever he wants without consulting anyone else.
But the problems don’t stop there.
In the emails attached to Duff’s pleadings, we see Dan McClain try to slide the whole thing by local sports officials. No mention of his wife, no mention of shared parenting. That right there is damning. As in, if it has to be done in secret, it’s almost certainly wrong.
Doubtless, the next step in Dan McClain’s gameplan was to basically say, “Well, the kids are enrolled in school here, they’re engaged in sports here, so they will be staying here.”
So where is “here?” According to the emails Dan McClain sent to Reynoldsburg sports officials, his new residence is at 512 Longview Street, Pickerington, OH, 43147. That’s a rental property, exactly one block away from a registered sex offender. (Perhaps that illustrates why both parents and the courts need to be involved in these decisions.)
Research indicates that’s also the home — big surprise — of Dan’s girlfriend, Erin O’Rourke. Until now, we have withheld her name, but in light of the issues below, we believe it’s long past time to name her.
Specifically, having an affair while married is bad enough. Trying to move the children in with an adulterous partner is even worse. And on top of that, Dan is trying to do so without the approval of the divorce court or consultation with his legal wife.
We also note that Dan McClain’s conduct is perilously close to parental child abduction, which is defined as “the hiding, taking, or keeping hold of a child by a parent while defying the rights of the child’s other parent or guardian.”
While we’re on the topic of Dan McClain’s adulterous partner, what kind of sorry excuse for a human being thinks that this conduct is acceptable? That’s even more the case when, as here, we see an ongoing pattern of bribery and manipulation by Daniel McClain intended to influence the children to live with him.
All we can say is that Ms. O’Rourke has some serious gaps in ethics and judgment if she doesn’t think this behavior is problematic or if she is willing to be party to this conduct.
Of course, the fact that Dan McClain is now living with his adulterous partner and trying to move his kids in with him in violation of his wife’s rights also touches on McClain’s Title IV clergy disciplinary case. Specifically, he remains in open repudiation of his oath as a priest, and the canons and discipline of the Episcopal Church. Anglican Watch therefore hopes the Diocese of Southern Ohio will act promptly to move the matter to the highest level — the hearing panel — and defrock McClain.
As for the Reynoldsburg Schools, we strongly urge officials not to hire someone whose behavior is so thoroughly problematic. And the more vulnerable the student population, the more important it is to hire teaching professionals not just with the credentials, but also with the life skills needed in order to succeed. In other words, Dan should be nowhere near schoolchildren.
As for the courts, we hope the court will smack Dan down hard. His conduct evinces an ongoing contempt for the court, the rule of law, the judicial process, and the rights of others, and he needs a swift kick in his nasty backside from the court.
Feel free to quote us.
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