Religion

Alabama Baptist Pastor Charged With Child Molestation

Birmingham’s CBS affiliate reports: A pastor of a Jefferson County church has been arrested and charged with a child sex offense, Blount County Sheriff Mark Moon confirmed. Kenneth Daniel, 64, was booked into the Blount County Jail on the felony charge Wednesday night. A seven-year-old victim told her grandfather that Daniel, who is a pastor at First Baptist Church of …

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Pastor Charged With Child Rape Kills Himself At Trial

Columbus’s ABC affiliate reports: A Columbus pastor on trial for several charges committed suicide during a recess. According to the Muscogee County coroner, 51-year-old Christopher Daron Smith was pronounced dead at 1:13 p.m. on Oct. 19 from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Smith’s defense attorney, Shevon Thomas, II, says the judge gave a five-minute recess during the trial before …

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Texas Youth Pastor Charged With Child Rape [VIDEO]

Houston’s ABC affiliate reports: A one-time Teacher of the Year at Cleveland Middle School and youth pastor is accused of sexually assaulting a student. Alexander Oveal was booked into the Liberty County Jail on Oct. 10, within 36 hours of getting the allegations, and given a $100,000 bond. Shortly after his arrest, the Cleveland Independent School District immediately told parents …

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Southern Baptists Vote To Formally Ban Female Pastors

The Christian Post reports: At their fall meeting last week, the trustees at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, unanimously approved a resolution encouraging the seminary’s administration to continue theologically training both men and women, “but with men alone reserved for the office and function, and thereby title of pastor.” “It is further resolved that this Board encourages …

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Pastor Gets Five Years For Nude Photos Of Student

Las Vegas’s NBC affiliate reports: A former photography teacher convicted of forcing a student to pose nude for photos will spend the next five years in prison. The sentence was handed down by Judge Jacqueline Stam. Jeffrey Whiston, 44, was arrested in mid-April after the girl told friends about what happened. The student told investigators she agreed to meet the …

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Missouri Baptist Pastor Charged With Child Rape

The Joplin Globe reports: The former pastor of a fringe church in McDonald County at the center of a sexual abuse scandal 16 years ago is facing a new charge that he raped an underage girl. Raymond L. Lambert II, 67, of rural Washburn, was arrested and charged last week with first-degree rape of a 10-year-old girl in the summer …

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“Rape And Reuse” Pastor Gets 16 Years For Child Porn

Green Bay’s Fox affiliate reports: A former pastor was sentenced Monday to 16 years in prison for possession of child pornography charges. Rick Haberland, 49, was convicted of four counts of possession of child pornography. He was also placed on extended supervision for 16 years. He was also placed on the sex offender registry. The sentence was extended by another …

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Missouri Priest Pleads Guilty To Possessing Child Porn

From the Justice Department: A retired St. Louis priest pleaded guilty to federal charges Wednesday and admitted possessing thousands of images containing child pornography. James T. Beighlie, 72, pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography in front of U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp. In his plea agreement, Beighlie admitted that on May 17, 2021, while he …

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Michigan Priest Found Guilty Of Child Rape [VIDEO]

Click On Detroit reports: A 60-year-old priest has been convicted of child sex crimes in Wayne County. Joseph “Jack” Baker, 60, of Wayne, was convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct sexual penetration with a person under 13. Baker had been a pastor at St. Perpetua Parish in Waterford, Michigan since 2008. Before that, he was a pastor at St. Mary …

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“Flirting Juror” Axed From MI Gov Kidnapping Trial

Michigan Live reports: A young woman has been relieved of her jury duty following concerns she might have been flirting with a man accused of aiding a plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor. As proceedings continued Friday morning in the jury trial of Joseph Morrison, Pete Musico and Paul Bellar, Judge Thomas Wilson announced that a young woman has been removed …

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Southern Baptist President: Christian Nationalists Will “Wind Up Persecuting Christians Of Different Flavors”

The Christian Post reports: Southern Baptist Convention President Bart Barber has condemned the idea that the church should be running government and warned advocates of Christian nationalism that pursuing such an agenda will result in the persecution of Christians. “It stands contrary to 400 years of Baptist history and everything I believe about religious liberty. I’m opposed to the idea …

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Jewish Women Sue Kentucky Over Abortion Ban

Religion News Service reports: Three Jewish women in Kentucky have filed a lawsuit arguing that their religious rights are being violated by a set of state laws that ban most abortions. The lawsuit, filed in Jefferson Circuit Court in Louisville, is the third such suit brought by Jewish organizations or individuals since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. …

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Pastor: If God Tells You To Kill Someone, Do It [VIDEO]

“Well, I’m going to say something controversial that will absolutely delight atheists, ’cause they like to take – not all atheists, some internet atheists – like to take things out of context and use it to make me look bad. “I don’t care  You’ve already hated me anyways. It’s not like anything changed. If anything, I’m just glad people, like, …

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Florida Church Deacon Guilty Of Producing Child Porn

From the Justice Department: Jonathan High, 30, of Steinhatchee, Florida, has been convicted of two counts of use of a child to produce child pornography. The guilty verdict, returned yesterday, at the conclusion of a one-day bench trial, was announced by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. Prior to the trial, High pleaded guilty …

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AL Pastor Arrested On Multiple Child Rape Charges

Mobile’s Fox affiliate reports: A former Citronelle pastor was back behind bars Tuesday night after he was indicted on child sex abuse charges. Investigators said Gregory Adams, 64, lured young women in his churches and sexually abused them, dating back decades ago. Adams was indicted on three counts of sodomy, two counts of sexual abuse, and three counts of rape. …

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TN Youth Pastor Hit With More Child Sex Charges

The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports: A former youth pastor at Bellevue Baptist Church in Shelby County has been charged with multiple counts of sexual assault in the first and second-degrees by prosecutors in Benton County, Arkansas. The new charges come a month after he was arrested on a charge of sexual indecency with a child in August. The charges filed …

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Illinois Baptist Pastor Pleads Guilty To Felony Grooming

Decatur’s NBC affiliate reports: A former church pastor accepted a plea agreement in court on Friday, pleading guilty to Count II Grooming, a Class 4 felony. Joseph Krol, 38, is accused of sending sexually inappropriate Snapchat messages to a 15-year-old minor from Oreana. A sworn affidavit said Krol asked the child to take part in a “true online confessions game” …

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Ben Shapiro Defends Christian Nationalism [VIDEO]

Media Matters has the transcript: When people on the right use the phrase ‘Christian nationalism’, people on the left hear, ah, we’re talking about religious fascism. Well, no, when people say ‘Christian nationalism’ typically what they mean is not that the official church of the United States should be the Catholic Church, or that the church of the United States …

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TX Baptist Pastor Sentenced To Ten Years For Child Rape

Houston’s Fox affiliate reports: Authorities in Fort Bend County said a former pastor will be spending the next 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting a child. The District Attorney’s announced in a press release that William Benjamin Woodward, 62, pled guilty to the charge of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child in June 2022. Woodward previously served as pastor …

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Arrests Made In Heist Of Bling Bishop’s $1M In Jewelry

The New York Times reports: Two men have been arrested in the July robbery of a Brooklyn pastor, who had what the police said was more than $1 million in jewelry taken from him at gunpoint during a sermon that was caught on a livestream video, prosecutors in Brooklyn said Wednesday. Juwan Anderson, 23, and Say-Quan Pollack, also 23, face …

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