Religion

Manchester’s ABC affiliate reports: A former New Hampshire minister is accused of strangulation and sexual assault and is being investigated for similar charges in Florida. Ossipee police said at the time of the allegations, Kevin Straughan, 67, was the head minister of Agape Ministries Church in Ossipee and Moultonborough. Straughan has been indicted on several charges, including four counts of …

Oregon Live reports: A Multnomah County jury on Friday found a pastor of a religious group guilty of sexually abusing a former member when she was a child – the third time a jury has reached a verdict against Michael Sperou. Though he was found guilty of sexually abusing one victim, six other women came forward years ago with their …

Religion News Service reports: The National Religious Broadcasters, an association of Christian media outlets, has joined a lawsuit seeking to block a California law that requires social media companies to publish their policies on removing hate speech from their platforms. “In an environment where much religious viewpoint expression is considered ‘controversial’ speech, NRB is acting to stop the weaponization of …

The Roys Report reports: The Holy Land Experience, one of America’s largest biblical theme parks, lies in ruins, after Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) spent more than $130 million on the project. AdventHealth purchased the Orlando, Fla., property from TBN in 2021 for $32 million. According to Orlando TV station WESH, AdventHealth submitted plans to build a hospital on the site. …

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports: A New Orleans man arrested on charges that he repeatedly damaged a 100-year-old statue of the Virgin Mary on the campus of St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Metairie is now accused of illegally entering the church’s locked sanctuary and defiling the altar, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said. Paul Laborde Jr., 56, a …

France 24 reports: Old sins cast long shadows. After centuries of secrecy, the French Bishop’s Conference (CEF) has decided it will be more transparent by equipping priests, bishops and deacons with digital, scannable identification cards. No bigger than a bankcard, the IDs will certify whether or not its holder is fit to perform a sermon or has the right to …

Click2Houston reports: A former employee of a Magnolia church is now the center of an investigation after he reportedly turned himself in and confessed to ‘inappropriate behavior with adolescents’ during his time at the ministry. Court documents state that Michael Anthony Romero was charged with indecency of a child involving sexual contact.  He also said that he had previously touched …

The Mansfield News Journal reports: Guilty on all five counts was the verdict Friday in the federal sex-trafficking trial of the Rev. Michael Jude Zacharias, a Roman Catholic priest who has led parishes in Mansfield and Fremont. The jury’s decision was announced a little before 5 p.m. Friday. Zacharias, 56, was found guilty of all five counts of sex trafficking, …

The Christian Post reports: There has been an interesting shift in English idiom over recent years from the language of “making love” to that of “having sex.” The former — which today may even sound a little quaint — speaks of an act that can only take place between two people who know and love each other and which has …

San Francisco’s ABC affiliate reports: The Diocese of Oakland has announced it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in light of over 330 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse. In a press release, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland says that the lawsuits have come after a new California statute allows claims that have expired to be filed. RCBO says that …

The Baltimore Sun reports: A Catholic priest resigned from his position on the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center’s board of directors after The Baltimore Sun revealed his role in helping to cover-up child sexual abuse within the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Monsignor Richard Woy, a longtime board member at the Towson hospital, delivered his resignation letter Saturday to Board …

St. Louis’s NBC affiliate reports: A former nurse at St. John Vianney High School was charged Thursday with multiple sex crimes after allegations of inappropriate conduct with a student. Erin Foerstel was charged with two felonies: one count of second-degree statutory sodomy and one count of sexual contact with a student. According to charging documents, Foerstel performed oral sex on …

Religion News Service reports: An evangelical Christian pastor and author whose book on the theology of sex caused a furor online earlier this spring has resigned from the leadership of his Arizona megachurch. “We have found ourselves in an impossible situation,” Joshua Butler wrote to members of Redemption Church in Tempe in announcing his resignation. Butler’s new book, “Beautiful Union,” …

Memphis’s CBS affiliate reports: A Mississippi educator was arrested and charged Thursday with two counts of molestation – touching a child for lustful purposes, two counts of sexual battery and one count of unnatural intercourse. Daniel Paul Harris, 44, of Olive Branch was given a bond of $950,000 on the charges, according to DeSoto County Jail records. Harris and his …

The Charlotte Observer reports: A former North Carolina police officer now faces additional sex and alcohol charges involving minors in York County, after officials from a Fort Mill church called deputies last month to report the allegations, according to law enforcement and court documents. Erickson Douglas Lee, 25, of Charlotte, was charged with four sex crimes Tuesday by York County …

Charlotte’s ABC affiliate reports: Records show a Cornelius police officer arrested for child sex-related crimes is accused of committing them while acting as a church youth leader. According to his arrest warrant out of York County, the allegations against Erickson Douglas Lee were for incidents reported between December 2020 and July 2022. The crimes all appear to have happened at …

CTV News reports: In December 2022, an elementary Catholic teacher was charged with making, possessing and distributing child pornography. At the time, police said the accused used various personas like “Dan Forest” to lure children online. Investigators also said that in February 2022, the accused met with a 14-year-old girl in Brampton and allegedly sexually assaulted her. The suspect, identified …

The Iowa Messenger reports: It took a Webster County jury just under two and a half hours late Friday afternoon to convict a former Christian missionary of sexual abuse. Jordan Dee Andrew Webb, 30, of Fort Dodge, was found guilty of one count of second-degree sexual abuse with persons under the age of 12, a Class B felony; incest, a …

Lafayette’s CBS affiliate reports: Former teacher Jacob De La Paz, who left his employ at St. Thomas More High School abruptly on Wednesday under a cloud of suspicion, has been arrested in Youngsville. Authorities have confirmed to KLFY that De La Paz, 33, was arrested at approximately 6 p.m. Thursday by agents from the Department of Homeland Security, assisted by …

The Bakersfield Californian reports: A 68-year-old Maricopa pastor has been charged with committing lewd and lascivious acts upon a child after a girl alleged the religious leader kissed and touched her inappropriately. The girl — who said she was either 12 or 13 at the time — said Maricopa Community Church pastor Stephen McCurtis was giving her a driving lesson …