Reputation for Sale: How Robert Hahn is Trying to Rewrite His Past

“One cannot and must not try to erase the past merely

because it does not fit the present.”

― Golda Meir, My Life

For nearly thirty years, Robert Hahn was the face of Chesapeake Church in Huntingtown, Maryland. His public reputation was that of a respected pastor, someone you’d turn to for spiritual guidance and leadership. Those who worked closely with him knew a different person. When dozens of his victims came forward with their stories, his reputation was shattered. The scandals and allegations, which include misconduct, lies about his education, and blatant abuses of power, piled up quickly. He left Chesapeake Church in a blaze of anger and self-righteousness. Soon after, he was fired from End Hunger. The other nonprofits he managed seem to be in a state of limbo. At a time in life when he should have been relaxing and enjoying retirement by his pool, he found himself bartending.

Eventually, he secured a job as Chief Advancement Officer at Birmingham Green, a senior living facility in Manassas, Virginia.

There’s no way of knowing who provided Hahn with a job reference(s).

Hahn has also been hard at work trying to mitigate the damage done to his online reputation. Instead of owning up to his mistakes, he’s hired an online reputation management organization called Erase Technologies to improve his online image.

Enter Erase Technologies: A Pricey Fix for a Broken Image?

To fix his damaged reputation, Hahn has turned to a legitimate company that specializes in “reputation management.”  Erase Technologies aims to replace negative search engine stories about Hahn with new content that portrays Hahn positively. 

You will be tempted to search for Hahn’s articles. Please don’t. Every click boosts his online presence. I promise there’s nothing of interest out there. There are just a lot of hypocritical self-help articles and self-aggrandizing interviews.

Could Hahn’s online history potentially be “erased”?  The company claims to remove negative online reviews and unfavorable content from websites and search engine results, and then publish content designed to overtake the search engines. Since there is no legal way to delete the blog or news stories that reveal the truth about who Hahn is, the only remaining option is to bury them. 

So far, articles about or written by Robert Hahn have appeared in various places via PR wires and on his new website, where he presents himself as an entrepreneur and thought leader. The tactic is working, to an extent. The problem is that while you can publish articles full of relevant keywords and place them strategically on the web, you can’t MAKE people visit them. You need traffic, quality backlinks … a following. But with persistence, he might succeed in climbing the ranks enough that a quick search would only show the positive and not the negative.

The Leopard Can’t Change Its Spots: The Lies Continue

Interestingly, as Hahn works toward repairing his online image, he has decided to continue lying about his credentials. One of the most easily proven lies of Robert Hahn is his claim to have earned a Master of Divinity, which would, of course, be preceded by a Bachelor's degree. He is sticking to those claims. In an “interview” (published by Erase Technologies) for a Business Magazine in the UK, his biography reads as follows:

Robert studied journalism at Long Island University. He went on to earn a Master of Divinity from Trinity College and University. He also took executive nonprofit management courses at the Kellogg School of Management.

Along the way, he picked up several certifications—fundraising, strategic thinking, and crisis communications, to name a few. But the core of his education wasn’t found in classrooms.

“Life has been the best teacher,” he says. “Especially the tough moments.”

Robert Hahn does NOT have a Master of Divinity, which is a prestigious degree that requires completing 72 to 106 credits of study.  Trinity College and University is a diploma mill. The degree is fake. Read more here: Pastors with Fake Degrees.

On LinkedIn, Hahn states he received a certificate in Non-Profit/ Public/ Organizational Management from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. You can find Kellogg’s catalogue of certificates online. Certificates that might fit the description above include the Kellogg Executive Scholar Certificate, the Nonprofit Management Essentials free online toolkit (not a credential), and the Philanthropy and Nonprofit Certificate, which is a fully remote graduate certificate.

When you add a certification under the “Licenses & Certifications” section on LinkedIn, you’ll see optional fields like:

Name: (of the course or certificate)
Issuing Organization:
Issue Date / Expiration Date: (if any)
Credential ID: (this is usually the certificate number)
Credential URL: (often a direct verification link)

These fields are not filled out on Hahn’s LinkedIn. He also states he’s certified in “Crisis Communication” through the Public Relations Society of America, but again, he has not provided a credential ID, credential URL, or similar details.

Any employer has a right to and SHOULD corroborate these claims.

A Word of Caution for Anyone Thinking of Working with Him

Hahn’s use of Erase Technologies should be a serious red flag to his current employer and any current or future business associates. Hahn does NOT suffer from receiving unfair reviews on Yelp or Google - his actions brought about his reputation, and his hiring of an online management organization is not just about removing a few unflattering articles; it’s about covering up an entire career that was, if I may quote Elf, “built on a throne of lies!” Significant lies that misled an entire community and caused harm to many individuals. Instead of owning up to his past, he is focusing on controlling what the public sees when they Google his name. There is no remorse, just a further attempt to sweep things under the rug without taking responsibility for the chaos he left in his wake.

Robert Hahn has made a career of exploiting vulnerable people. He’s a bully, a drunk, a blackmailer, and has a dubious history with the nonprofits he founded, stacking boards with close friends and family members and using donor funds to purchase himself a luxury Caribbean beach home. You can read an overview of what I learned from my investigation of Robert Hahn in the article “2022: A Year’s End Summary of the Fight to Expose the Abuse and Enablement of ‘Pastor' Robert Hahn at Chesapeake Church.”

In his current role as an Advancement Officer at Birmingham Green, Hahn is in charge of securing donations and building relationships to support the home’s mission and programs. It’s a forward-facing position, perfect for a charismatic communicator who enjoys playing the humble hero.

The Future of Chesapeake Church

Meanwhile, it appears Chesapeake Church is moving forward. Their new pastor, who is also an Elder (a good sign!), recently wrapped up a “restoration process at the church.” Unfortunately, the Elders who enabled Robert Hahn’s behavior for so many years remain in leadership. As of today, no one has reached out to my sister or Hahn’s daughter and son-in-law to make amends. During the process, those who felt they were in need of restoration were asked to come forward. While I understand the new pastor doesn’t know the names of the “survivors," the rest of the leadership team certainly does. Asking victims to come forward seems like a backwards way to do things, especially since a few I’ve spoken with cannot even enter a church without having a panic attack.

As the church forges ahead, I hope they do not avoid or diminish any discussion of what happened when Hahn was in charge. “That was in the past,” or “We’re only focusing on the positive,” are phrases used to downplay the harm caused to many. (I have NOT heard that these things are being said.) While the church may have completed its “restoration process,” healing from deep church wounds isn’t something that has a precise end date. The effects of what happened will probably last throughout the church’s lifetime. The church should remember, as God remembers. The Bible states that God has counted and remembers every one of our hurts.

Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? Psalm 56:8 

While companies like Erase Technologies can influence search results, they cannot change the official record of Hahn’s past or the testimony of those affected by his leadership. Hahn’s story, ultimately a tragedy, reminds us of the importance of due diligence, transparency, and accountability when trusting people with positions of authority. It reminds us that yes, truth can be buried.

But it can never be destroyed.