On Wednesday, the church confirmed on its website that “the Reverend Todd Guggenmos has been publicly accused of harassing an individual online through an anonymous Twitter account.” Guggenmos is the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Parish located in Langenburg, Landestreu and MacNutt, Sask. “We also received a screenshot of a tweet allegedly from an account that condones sexual relations between adults and minors,” the church’s statement said. The church said it is now in the process of hiring an outside investigator to look into the allegations. “The Lutheran Church – Canada holds its pastors to a high moral standard and takes these allegations seriously,” the statement said. “No person deserves to face harassment as alleged in these complaints. And our church body strongly condemns pedophilia.” When asked about the allegations, Guggenmos responded via email. “I did not tweet about sex between minors and adults,” he wrote. He did not directly address the allegation that he harassed a woman using an anonymous Twitter account. “I look forward to the coroner’s report on these allegations that have been made against me.” Until his suspension, Reverend Todd Guggenmos served several rural Lutheran churches in Saskatchewan. (lutheran-church-regina.com) The allegations were made by Tammy Robert, a prominent Saskatoon communications consultant and outspoken online political commentator who is no stranger to online conflict. Robert claimed that for nearly two years he had been targeted by someone using the Twitter handle @notTammyR. “The tweets from this account were incredibly vicious,” he wrote in a blog. “Vicious personal attacks on me and other Saskatchewan residents, particularly women.” Several other Twitter users also claim that @notTammyR is harassing them. One of them is Regina’s Tenille Lafontaine. She says while she’s not sure who is behind the account, she knows the person is aggressively targeting her. In a series of tweets, he said he has complained to Twitter about the account and the company agreed that @notTammyR broke the rules. But that didn’t stop the behavior. Tenille Lafontaine says she has made several Twitter complaints about @notTammyR’s behavior, but the abusive behavior continues. (Twitter/Tenille Lafontaine) “The person behind the account violated twitter’s rules against abuse and harassment time and time again but was never removed until the owner shut him down this week after realizing he had been out of the account. TWO. YEARS,” he wrote.
Robert thinks @notTammyR is run by Guggenmos
In her blog post, Robert said she didn’t know who was behind the account until some “business sleuths” provided evidence suggesting the person behind the account was Guggenmos. Robert said “sleuths” came across a Facebook post in which some of the pastor’s associates appeared to “name-check Reverend Guggenmos as the man behind the @notTammyR mask.” He said when initially confronted, Guggenmos denied being behind @notTammyR. He says that shortly after that confrontation, both Guggenmos’ personal Twitter account and the @notTammyR account were deleted “simultaneously.” A Google search turns up a Twitter account called @ToddGugg that says it belongs to Todd Guggenmos, “Lutheran pastor in Sask.” The account appears to have been deleted, as has the @notTammyR account. Robert says she believes the fact that both accounts were deleted around the same time “is a dead giveaway” that Guggenmos was behind both. Tammy Robert says the person behind @notTammyR has been harassing her for years. (Twitter/Tammy Robert)
An investigation begins
In an email to Robert, Rev. Timothy Teuscher, president of the Lutheran Church of Canada, thanked Robert for voicing her concerns. “We expect the investigator will wish to contact you as part of their investigation,” he wrote. In a subsequent blog post, Robert responded to news of the investigation by publishing an open letter to Guggenmos. “The only way to get out of this and keep your job is to admit what you did, sincerely apologize to me, your church and everyone else you’ve hurt with your behavior over the years, and then receive the professional help you clearly need. ” she wrote. “I’ve never met you. Your hatred of me is misplaced, irrational, and not worth losing your job over.” In a prayer posted on YouTube on March 25, 2021, Guggenmos made reference to conflicts on social media. He said God’s mercy extends to all people – “the progressives and the nationalists to your neighbor whose dog keeps getting into your garbage and the one whose social media posts get under your skin.” It is unclear when the investigation will be completed.
