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US pastor commits suicide after Ashley Madison hack


AFP
By Mira Oberman
1 hour ago



Chicago (AFP) - A US pastor committed suicide six days after his name was exposed by hackers of the Ashley Madison adultery website, his wife told CNN Wednesday.

Canadian police have said that at least two suicides were linked to the leak of 32 million customer profiles from the Canada-based site last month. It's not clear if John Gibson's death was one of them as police released no details.

Christi Gibson discovered her husband's body -- and a suicide note which chronicled his demons and his shame at being exposed -- in their New Orleans home on August 24.

"He talked about depression. He talked about having his name on there, and he said he was just very, very sorry," Gibson said as their adult son and daughter sat next to her in a New Orleans studio.

"Nothing is worth the loss of a father and a husband and a friend. It just didn't merit it. It didn't merit it at all."

In addition to his work as a pastor, Gibson, 56, taught at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

Gibson said her husband, who had struggled with depression and addiction in the past, was worried that he would lose his job.

"It wasn't so bad that we wouldn't have forgiven it, and so many people have said that to us, but for John, it carried such a shame," she told CNN.

"What we know about him is that he poured his life into other people, and he offered grace and mercy and forgiveness to everyone else, but somehow he couldn't extend that to himself."

- 'Have an affair' -

Ashley Madison, launched in 2001, is known for its slogan: "Life is short. Have an affair." It helps connect people seeking to have extramarital relationships and is owned by Avid Life Media.

According to authorities, the company became aware of the hack on July 12 when staff were greeted in the morning with a message on their computers threatening to leak client information unless the Ashley Madison website was "shut down immediately, permanently."

The message was accompanied by rockers AC/DC's song "Thunderstruck."

Ashley Madison ran into more trouble when tech news site Gizmodo looked at the leaked data and concluded that it showed little if any activity from the site's purported female members, suggesting many accounts were in fact fake.

Avid Life Media rejected the analysis and said the site has registered hundreds of thousands of new members -- including real women -- in the wake of the hack, which has garnered massive media attention.

Tributes to Gibson poured in from students and faculty who remembered him as a kind, generous man who would repair student's vehicles in his spare time.

"John was a popular member of our Leavell College faculty," seminary president Chuck Kelley said in an obituary posted on the school's blog.

"He was particularly known for his acts of kindness to the seminary family. John was the quintessential good neighbor."

His son alluded to Gibson's troubles at an August 28 memorial service.

"My dad was a great man. He was a great man with struggles. Everyone has struggles. Everyone is broken," Trey Gibson said in a video of the service posted online.

Students and former classmates took to the seminary's Facebook page to mourn his loss.

"Amazing man and teacher. I do not hold anything against you, Dr. Gibson. We all have shortcomings," wrote Robbie Combs.

"Hoping the very grace and mercy and forgiveness he taught of with such vigor will comfort his family and all who knew him," wrote Dore Atwill Kesterson.

Gibson, whose wife Christi is also a minister, comes from a long line of Baptist ministers.

He was pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Pearlington, Mississippi -- about a 45 minute drive from his home on the seminary grounds.

He obtained a doctorate of theology from the seminary and was elected to the faculty in 1998, the obituary said.

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New Orleans Pastor Allegedly Outed in Ashley Madison Breach Commits Suicide

By Maria Coder
@mariacoder 09/09/2015 AT 01:10 PM EDT




A Baptist pastor who was allegedly outed as having an account on adultery website Ashley Madison has committed suicide.

John Gibson, a 56-year-old professor at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, was found dead by his wife on August 24, less than one week after hackers exposed the names of people who'd signed up for the website. His wife, Christi Gibson, said that in his suicide note, John addressed his struggles with depression and his remorse surrounding Ashley Madison.

"He talked about having his name on there, and he said he was just very, very sorry," Christi Gibson told CNNMoney.

She said her husband "poured his life into other people" offering forgiveness, but wasn't able to extend that same mercy to himself.

"It wasn't so bad that we wouldn't have forgiven it, and so many people have said that to us, but for John, it carried such a shame," she told CNNMoney. She added that she believed her husband was afraid he'd lose his job.

The identities of up to 37 million users were revealed in the Ashley Madison data breach. (The site was hacked in July, and users' personal information was released in August.) Toronto police have said that at least two other people may have committed suicide following the release of information. The website is owned by Canada-based Avid Life Media.

There have also been extortion attempts associated with the breach, CNNMoney reported.

"These were real people with real families, real pain and real loss," Christi Gibson told CNNMoney. But "don't underestimate the power of love. Nothing is worth the loss of a father and a husband and a friend. It just didn't merit it. It didn't merit it at all."

Avid Life Media is offering a reward of $379,000 to catch the Ashley Madison hackers.

Multiple class-action lawsuits have been filed in different states against Avid Life Media. In late August, the company said in a statement to PEOPLE that it "will address any litigation in the appropriate forum." It added, "In the very best interest of our customers, who have been affected by this malicious act, we are firmly committed to fully assisting these law enforcement and investigative authorities."

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Baptist pastor revealed as Ashley Madison user committed suicide: family

BY Tobias Salinger /

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS /

Wednesday, September 9, 2015, 12:40 AM

A guilt-ridden Mississippi minister ended his life less than a week after he was outed as a user of the notorious hookup website Ashley Madison, his family said Tuesday.

Dr. John Gibson, 56, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Pearlington, Miss., and a professor at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s Leavell College, died Aug. 24, seminary officials said. His wife Christi found his body at their home with a note that touched on the infidelity website’s recent breach by hackers, she told CNN Money on Tuesday.

“He talked about depression. He talked about having his name on there, and he said he was just very, very sorry," Christi Gibson said. “What we know about him is that he poured his life into other people, and he offered grace and mercy and forgiveness to everyone else, but somehow he couldn't extend that to himself.”

Gibson was born to a long line of Baptist ministers in Louisiana and earned master of divinity and doctor of theology degrees from the New Orleans seminary. He taught undergraduates at his alma mater since 1998. The seminary dismissed morning classes the day after his death and held a memorial ceremony on Aug. 28.


John Gibson's son Trey said his father had taken his own life at a chapel service at the New Orleans Baptist Seminary on Tuesday.


But Gibson’s son Trey disclosed he committed suicide during chapel service at the seminary on Tuesday, according to the Louisiana Baptist Message.

“My dad was a great man. He was a great man with struggles,” he said at the service. “My dad reached a point of such hopelessness and despair that he took his own life.”

Gibson helped his Gulf Coast congregation rebuild their community after Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc there 10 years ago. On the school’s campus, he offered free car repair to students and was the “quintessential good neighbor,” seminary President Chuck Kelley said in a post on the school’s blog. The school provided counseling for students and faculty after Gibson’s death.

“John was loved by the students because of his love for the ministry and for them; he was always a favorite,” said Leavell College Dean Thomas Strong. “Our hearts are saddened as we miss greatly a significant part of our Leavell College family — a colleague — a friend. We are better because of John and the way God used him in our lives.”

Hackers breached Ashley Madison’s systems in July and posted names and other personal data from the site’s users in August. A group called “The Impact Team” took responsibility. At least three suicides in Texas and in the Toronto-based company’s hometown may be related to the cybercriminals’ 9.7-gigabyte data dump.


Gibson's wife Christi Gibson and his children Callie and Trey discussed his death on CNN Tuesday

Trey, an undergraduate at Louisiana State University, and Gibson’s daughter Callie, a University of Alabama doctoral candidate, survive him, along with his wife, a minister of discipleship and missions at New Orleans’ First Baptist Church. They shared the circumstances surrounding Gibson’s death to send a message to the site’s 32 million outed users rather than to act as “a source for salacious gossip,” Christi Gibson told CNN.

“These were real people with real families, real pain and real loss,” Gibson said. “Nothing is worth the loss of a father and a husband and a friend. It just didn't merit it. It didn't merit it at all.”

cisslybee2012

Sep 9 2015, 08:54 PM

Wow...

A guy killed himself over his image?

I mean,

So what if his booty head life been exposed?

Who cares?

Join the rest of the world.

That's nothing to kill yourself over.

This is clearly a case of a man taking himself too seriously.

And apparently,

He didn't believe in that tenet in the bible about suicide being the greatest sin.

Doctor Saul Santiago

Sep 10 2015, 10:04 AM

Image is everything to some people.

Perhaps he was seeking eternal punishment by committing suicide.

cisslybee2012

Sep 10 2015, 10:11 AM

Doctor Saul Santiago

Sep 10 2015, 10:04 AM

Image is everything to some people.

Perhaps he was seeking eternal punishment by committing suicide.

Image couldn't have been all that much to him, or else he wouldn't have been leading a double life. I would say that his devotion was more to bullshit than truth. I guess he thought that now that his shit leaked out that he won't be getting the respect and reverence he was anymore. And since he won't, he'd rather not be here.

It's bullshit, because he didn't deserve the high treatment he was fronting for.

cisslybee2012

Sep 10 2015, 10:45 AM

Well said...

The thing about religion,

Is that it serves as a front for men to lead double lives. A man can pretend to be one thing while something else behind the scenes. Which is a huge problem in the Catholic church. And the real reason why Pope Emeritus left it. He couldn't go on covering up the perverted actions of priests.