More than 30 campus safety officers from Juniperview University and participating agencies descended on campus early Thursday morning to serve 11 search warrants following an eight-month undercover investigation targeting the unlicensed possession of contraband materials.
The investigation (initially launched by the Division of Alcohol, Theology, and Firearms) uncovered massive amounts of unauthorized philosophy books, irregular Bible translations, and DVDs of PG and PG-13 rated movies.
Campus authorities say there was over 320 kilos of raw product, 50 kilos of which were ready for distribution.
"Among the items, we seized 27 kilos of Kierkegaard and 13 bales of Rob Bell. 160,000 pocket editions of the NIV were prepped for delivery. We suspect the product was being stored for later dissemination throughout the region," said Officer Coppertop.
The investigation, named Operation Bad Apple, involved members of the Juniperview ATF, the North Indiana Theological Trafficking Program, and the Tri-County King James Task Force. Detective John Clandestine headed up the investigation.
"These materials are marketed to our youth and young adults," said Clandestine. "Young people become the target of suppliers who intentionally market these books and DVDs through slick and gimmicky packaging. Those young people who unwittingly experiment with these types of products often find themselves ending up in a bad place, sometimes even congregations that are not Southern Baptist."
Investigators said they executed the search warrants in dorms, offices, and common areas all over campus. Investigators also conducted searches of several private homes near campus as well as storage units in surrounding counties where students were allegedly gathering to share contraband materials.
Campus officials said they have charged six people with violation of campus racketeering rules, the sale of controlled translations, delivery of philosophy paraphernalia, and viewing PG movies without a parent or guardian present. Conviction on these charges could result in sentences of up to 60 years of after-school detention.
In all, 17 people have been taken into custody. Most shocking of all, 2 Bible faculty were involved in the sting.
"We discovered that a couple of Bible professors had encouraged students to read books that fell outside the bounds of our approved reading material," said President Barsuvius, "Those professors were terminated immediately... and they lost their jobs too."
Campus police also uncovered a quantity of methamphetamine, but it was not considered to be the primary threat.
