KENOSHA, Wis. — What began Sunday as Daybreak Church’s public response to horrifying child-sexual-assault allegations against longtime elder Dale Robert Nixon took a bizarre turn when Daybreak Church Pastor Wesley “Brit” Windel, 42, devoted significant portions of the service to defending his church and criticizing the media scrutiny surrounding it. His wife, Stacie Windel, said Wesley had been “defamed and slandered on social media,” while Wesley praised people who defended Daybreak, referred to surrounding criticism as “stupidity and evil,” declared that attacking a faithful church is “attacking Jesus himself,” and said he owes nothing to anyone outside the church’s walls.

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Dale Robert Nixon, 43, of Kenosha, is charged with child enticement, causing mental harm to a child, incest and repeated sexual assault of a child. Prosecutors allege Nixon sexually assaulted his adopted daughter beginning when she was approximately 10 years old and continuing for about five years. She estimated approximately 260 assaults, and investigators wrote that the actual number was likely higher.

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Nixon is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Interestingly, Wesley and his wife did not speak about Nixon’s alleged conduct Sunday as though it remained merely an allegation. Their language repeatedly treated Nixon’s conduct as something that had occurred. Stacie read a statement from Nixon’s wife, Kristine “Kristy” Nixon, referring to Dale Nixon’s “horrific actions.” Stacie and Wesley’s own statement referred to the “victims of Dale’s heinous acts.” Later, Wesley told the congregation unequivocally, “God didn’t allow this. Dale did.”

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KCE will continue to call the criminal accusations allegations because Nixon has not been convicted. Daybreak’s pastor and his wife, however, spoke to their congregation Sunday as though there was no question Nixon committed the acts.

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Sunday’s service began with Stacie reading the statement she said was written by Kristy and approved by the Nixon children. “Our family is living a nightmare that no one should ever have to face,” the statement read in part. It asked for privacy and prayers and said the family’s fear that they would be unable to return to Daybreak because of Dale Nixon’s “horrific actions” had instead been met with an overwhelming outpouring of support.

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Kristy’s position appears markedly different from her initial reaction documented by police. According to the criminal complaint, when Kenosha Police informed Kristy that her daughter had reported being sexually assaulted by Nixon for five years, Kristy said Nixon was not someone she would expect to do something of that nature. She said she did not want to discount the information, but asked detectives not to try to convince her that her husband sexually assaulted the girl because they did not yet have all the evidence.

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Church leadership also made the extraordinary decision to publicly identify the minor alleged sexual-assault victim by name during the livestreamed service. KCE believes the adults involved had an obligation to consider the permanent consequences of broadcasting a child’s identity to anyone with an internet connection. A minor’s name, once publicly connected online to allegations of years of incest and sexual abuse, cannot simply be taken back later. Many people reached out to KCE during and after Sunday’s service, including current and former Daybreak members and other viewers who were disturbed by the decision. KCE knows the girl’s identity and will not publish it.

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One caller told KCE, “We were shocked when we heard that,” adding that they had tuned in specifically to see whether Daybreak would address the controversy: “Let’s watch their service and see what they say about this, if anything. Well, they said plenty.” The caller was also struck by how definitively church leadership spoke about Nixon’s guilt only days after his arrest. “I mean, just bizarre that they immediately go, yeah, he did this, and it’s terrible,” he said.

From ‘40 Minutes’ A Month To ‘One Of My Closest Friends’

Perhaps the most striking development Sunday was Wesley’s dramatically different description of Nixon’s importance within Daybreak. After KCE’s initial reporting, Wesley strongly objected to KCE referring to Nixon as a youth pastor. Wesley instead characterized Nixon as a “background checked youth volunteer/co-leader” and said Nixon’s main youth responsibility involved serving one Sunday per month for approximately 40 minutes in a large-group setting.

That characterization painted a picture of someone with a relatively limited role involving Daybreak’s children. What Wesley said Sunday painted a very different picture. Stacie described Nixon as someone she and Wesley regarded as a “close friend and ministry partner.” Wesley went considerably further, telling the congregation, “Dale is one of my closest friends.” He said they had known and loved Nixon and his family for almost a decade and acknowledged that Nixon had stood before the congregation and preached, led church gatherings and served the church.

That’s a long way from 40 minutes once a month.

KCE previously located another Daybreak service in which Wesley affectionately referred to Nixon as his “brother,” turned the Sunday service over to Nixon to preach and prayed over him before his sermon. Nixon himself discussed spending time with Daybreak middle-school children, including hosting middle-schoolers at his home for games, food and Bible study.

Sunday brought another significant revelation. Wesley explained that immediately before Nixon’s arrest, Nixon remained part of Daybreak’s active eldership. Wesley identified the existing elders as Doug, Greg and Dale and said they were involved Tuesday morning in discussions surrounding the church’s eldership process. Less than three hours later, Wesley said, he received the call informing him of what was happening with Nixon.

Nixon therefore wasn’t simply someone who occasionally helped with children. By Wesley’s own account, Nixon was one of his closest friends, a ministry partner, a five-year elder, a preacher and an active church leader right up until the day of his arrest. The distinction matters because Wesley made Nixon’s supposedly limited role a central part of his criticism of KCE’s original reporting.

Lead Detective Brittni Bray Meets With Daybreak Families

There was also an important and positive development Sunday. Kenosha Police Detective Brittni Bray, the lead detective investigating Nixon, asked to speak with Daybreak’s middle- and high-school families.

Wesley announced that following the service, parents and children would meet upstairs and be separated while Bray provided parents with guidance about how to have conversations with their children. Wesley acknowledged the obvious concern, saying, “We know that his involvement with our student ministry is concerning, as it should be.”

That is significant. It provides parents an opportunity to have informed conversations with children who interacted with Nixon and provides a direct avenue for any additional information to reach the lead detective. Daybreak also announced plans to coordinate counseling resources for students and families. KCE commends Bray for taking that initiative and Daybreak for facilitating it.

The Focus Returns To Daybreak

Wesley repeatedly returned to himself, Daybreak’s reputation and those criticizing the church. Stacie had already told the congregation that the week included “watching our church name in the news headlines” and “Brit being defamed and slandered on social media.”

Wesley also emphasized the support he and Daybreak had received from outside the congregation. He told church members that pastors and churches throughout the community had reached out, and said Kenosha Mayor David Bogdala, a Republican, had also contacted him to offer support. Wesley presented the outreach as part of the broader community support Daybreak had received during the controversy.

At another point, Wesley talked about strangers obtaining his telephone number and sending him messages. “Like people I will never meet, will probably never know, texting me that somehow they got my number,” Wesley said. He then joked, “Oddly, they found my number.” Stacie interjected, “Too soon.” Wesley responded, “That’s not.” There was laughter and levity during portions of the discussion.

The exchange came during a service necessitated by allegations that one of Daybreak’s longtime elders sexually assaulted his adopted daughter hundreds of times over approximately five years. Wesley then praised people who had come to the church’s defense online, including a person he said had “shut someone down.” He referred to the surrounding controversy as “that stupidity and that evil” before saying, “They can write whatever news they want to write. You know what’s good. You know what’s true.”

Taken in context with Stacie’s explicit reference to news headlines, social media and what she called the defamation and slander of her husband, Wesley’s remarks were plainly part of a broader discussion about the media and public scrutiny Daybreak faced during the week.

Later, Wesley looked toward the camera and took the rhetoric even further: “To attack the church of Christ that is faithfully doing what it is called to do, is attacking Jesus himself.” He then addressed criticism that he has responsibilities to the broader community. “I have a responsibility to Jesus, my wife, this family, and you,” Wesley said. “That is my priority list.” Then came an even more sweeping declaration: “I don’t owe anyone outside of these walls anything. I don’t.” He made it clear that he has “no responsibility for the community.”

He Said He Wanted Questions. KCE Sent Them.

Those comments are particularly difficult to reconcile with Wesley’s previous public criticism of KCE. After KCE’s first story, Wesley complained that he wasn’t given an adequate opportunity to respond and publicly said he “would have welcomed a conversation” to provide correct and accurate information.

So KCE took him at his word. KCE sent Wesley a second email with detailed questions about Nixon’s actual role at Daybreak, Nixon’s interactions with children, the church’s response, whether parents of children who had significant contact with Nixon were being encouraged to speak with their children, and why Wesley had characterized Nixon’s youth involvement primarily as approximately 40 minutes once a month. Wesley did not respond to that email either and still has not reached out to KCE.

His silence leaves unanswered questions. Among them are questions about Daybreak’s finances and Wesley’s own financial relationship with the church. How much does Wesley receive from Daybreak each year in salary and other compensation? What other financial benefits, if any, does he receive from the church? Those are questions KCE would welcome Wesley answering, along with the questions already sent to him.

Wesley publicly complained that KCE didn’t give him an opportunity to answer questions. KCE gave him that opportunity. He didn’t answer. Then, on Sunday, he told his congregation, “I don’t owe anyone outside of these walls anything. I don’t.”

‘Cult-Like’

Current and former Daybreak members have described aspects of the church and its culture to KCE as “cult-like.” KCE does not use that characterization lightly, but Sunday’s service was bizarre at times. There was laughter and joking during a service necessitated by horrific child-sexual-assault allegations. People who defended the church online were praised. The media and public scrutiny were discussed in terms of “stupidity and evil.” Wesley looked toward the camera and declared that attacking a faithful church amounts to attacking Jesus himself, then announced that he owes nothing to anyone outside the church’s walls.

Most strikingly, Wesley’s focus continues to appear heavily trained on defending Daybreak’s reputation. That pattern began almost immediately after KCE’s first report. Wesley’s lengthy public response concentrated heavily on disputing KCE’s description of Nixon’s church position and defending Daybreak. Sunday’s service again devoted considerable attention to the news coverage, criticism of Wesley, criticism of Daybreak and the people who had come to their defense.

The alleged victim should be at the center of this story. Instead, far too much of Wesley’s public response has appeared centered on Daybreak Church being a victim of the story.

All the while, Wesley’s own words continue to demonstrate that Nixon was anything but a peripheral volunteer. The contrast is stark: 40 minutes once a month versus a five-year elder, ministry partner, preacher, one of the pastor’s closest friends, active church leader and a man entrusted with Daybreak’s middle-school children.

Those aren’t KCE’s titles. They are roles and relationships established by Daybreak’s own material and Wesley’s own words. KCE believes readers can decide for themselves why Wesley initially chose to emphasize 40 minutes a month when describing the church role of a man he now publicly acknowledges was one of his closest friends.

The reputation of Daybreak Church is not the most important issue here.

The children are.

Kenosha Police Detective Brittni Bray and other investigators now have the enormously important job of determining the full scope of what allegedly happened and whether anyone else was harmed.