Religion

The Monroe News reports: Robert Auxter, 75, of Monroe, who had been a pastor and a deacon at Monroe’s Grace Lutheran Church, is charged with two felony counts of gross sexual imposition by the Ottawa Common Pleas Court of Ottawa County in Port Clinton, Ohio. According to court documents, he is charged with having sexual contact with a person younger …

Baltimore’s CBS affiliate reports: The Delaware Department of Justice is looking for more victims in the prosecution of a Sussex County pastor charged with soliciting child pornography. The DOJ says 62-year-old Leonard Eley, was indicted on Nov. 28 on one count of Sexual Solicitation of a Minor, two counts of Possession of Child Pornography, and one count of Theft by …

The New York Times reports: Lamor Whitehead, a flashy Brooklyn pastor who was the victim of a brazen armed robbery last summer, was charged on Monday with fraud, extortion and lying to federal authorities. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Mr. Whitehead solicited money from victims, including a retired parishioner, through threats or false promises of enriching them, then kept the …

The New York Times reports: A well-known Catholic priest and incendiary leader of the anti-abortion movement was removed from the priesthood by the Vatican, according to a letter from Pope Francis’s representative to the United States that was obtained by The New York Times. Frank Pavone, who leads the advocacy organization Priests for Life, and was once a religious adviser …

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports: A former Catholic priest who pleaded guilty last month to a felony obscenity charge for performing sex acts with two professional dominatrices on the altar of a Pearl River church has been held in contempt of court for giving a television news interview. Travis Clark, 39, now must serve six months behind bars. Clark had …

Cleveland’s NBC affiliate reports: Seventeen men in Northeast Ohio were arrested and charged as the result of a human trafficking investigation that took place on Dec. 8. An online ad offering sexual favors for money led the men to a Microtel Inn & Suites hotel in Canton, the center of an undercover operation. Reports indicate one of the men, Robert …

Miami’s ABC affiliate reports: A Miami-Dade preacher has been accused of preying on an elderly couple in her congregation, allegedly stealing their life savings and their home. That woman, 63-year-old Yvonne Hampton-Barley, is already out of jail. She is accused of befriending the couple and using her position as a church pastor in an deceptive scheme to steal from them. …

NBC News reports: A Florida pastor accused of fraudulently obtaining $8 million in Covid relief funds is in declining health and appears to be unable to speak, his lawyer said after he failed to appear in court. “There are grave medical concerns,” Erin Hyde told a federal judge in Orlando on Wednesday. Evan Edwards, 64, and his son Josh, 30, …

Religion News Service reports: Mark Rivera, a former lay pastor at the center of several sexual abuse allegations in a conservative Anglican denomination, was found guilty of five counts of felony child sexual abuse and assault on Thursday morning. Judge John Barsanti of Illinois’ 16th Judicial Circuit Court in Kane County found Rivera guilty of two counts of predatory sexual …

Durham’s ABC affiliate reports: A Durham pastor, who also worked as a substitute teacher, is facing 14 new criminal charges out of Wake County. Police accuse David Dixon of committing a number of sex crimes with an underage victim at his Raleigh apartment. This comes a week after Durham investigators arrested him on charges of statutory rape and indecent liberties …

NBC News reports: A Florida pastor and his son were arrested Wednesday on charges of fraudulently obtaining more than $8 million in federal Covid relief funds and attempting to use some of the money to buy a luxury home near Walt Disney World. Evan Edwards and his son, Josh, 30, were taken into custody five months after an NBC News report raised …

Norfolk’s ABC affiliate reports: A Norfolk man who served as a youth group leader was convicted of sexual abuse Monday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said. Charles Willoughby III, 39, served as a youth group leader at New Life Worship Center. According to the DOJ, between 2006 and 2012, he groomed teenage girls in the church’s youth program to try …

Reuters reports: Future generations of New Zealanders will be banned from purchasing tobacco as part of a package of new anti-smoking laws that passed parliament on Tuesday and are among the most strict in the world. The suite of new laws include bans on selling tobacco to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, punishable by fines up to …

The Seattle Times reports: A Puyallup couple have been charged with illegally entering the U.S. Capitol and engaging in disruptive behavior during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection in Washington, D.C. Scott Roy Christensen, 49, and his wife, Holly Dionne Christensen, 44, are named in charges unsealed in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia late last month. They have …

Wichita Falls’ NBC affiliate reports: The pastor of a Wichita Falls church was jailed on charges of sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl whose family attended his church, Good Samaritan Outreach Ministries. Paul Coleman was in jail Saturday on charges of sexual assault and indecency with a child. According to the arrest warrants, an 11-year-old girl made an outcry at …

From the Justice Department: US Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return of an indictment charging Henry Troy Wade (45, Ocala) with six counts of wire fraud related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each count. In addition, the United States is seeking an …

The Marshall Independent reports: A 36-year-old former pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Sleepy Eye faces three felony 3rd-degree criminal sexual conduct charges filed in Brown County District Court Friday. Bail was set at $50,000 for Nathan Van Alfred Luong of Rochester. Luong is accused of having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a teenage female church member from about October …

The Christian Post reports: Notable Bible teacher and author John Piper said this week that modern-day Christians should not “rule out” the New Testament command for followers of Christ to give each other a “holy kiss.” In a “Look at the Book” video posted to YouTube on Thursday, Piper examined if Christians should still give greetings to each other through …

Shaw Local reports: Nearly eight years after he was charged with disseminating child pornography, three lawyers and scrapped trial dates later, DeKalb pastor Corey D. Butler will spend more than a decade in prison after he pleaded guilty Wednesday in front of a DeKalb County judge. Butler, now 42, was indicted on April 29, 2015, with dissemination of child pornography, …

The Daily Beast reports: Kirstie Alley will be cremated and remembered during a memorial service at the Scientology headquarters in Clearwater, Florida, according to the Daily Mail. The Cheers actress and longtime Scientologist dedicated herself to the organization in 1979 while struggling with substance abuse issues, crediting the group’s drug treatment program, called Narconon, for breaking her cocaine habit. She …