Tag Archives: religion

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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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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Florida Pastor Arrested On Multiple Child Sex Charges

Orlando’s NBC affiliate reports: A pastor and owner of a kung fu training academy from Palm Bay has been charged with multiple sex crimes involving children, according to the Palm Bay Police Department. Palm Bay police arrested 42-year-old Roberson Douge Wednesday after they said two victims reported the alleged sexual abuse. According to the arrest affidavit, police recorded a call …

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Kentucky Pastor Arrested On Child Sex Charges

The Paintsville Herald reports: A former Johnson Central High School girls’ basketball coach and pastor was arrested on Sept. 21 after an indictment was handed down against him alleging sexual abuse, rape and sodomy against a minor. Johnson Commmonwealth’s Attorney Tony Skeans said the alleged offenses were listed in an indictment against Darrin Rice, 54, of Wittensville. Skeans said the …

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Cops: FL Priest And Bookkeeper Embezzled $1.5 Million

West Palm Beach’s ABC affiliate reports: Police said the investigation revealed that the church’s former parish administrator, Deborah True, and former pastor, Richard Murphy, opened a bank account in the name of “Holy Cross Catholic Church” in 2012. Police said bank records show that nearly $1.5 million of parishioners’ donations were fraudulently deposited into the account since 2015. From 2015 …

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NYC Catholic Deacon Pleads Guilty In Child Sex Sting

The New York Daily News reports: A Queens church deacon nabbed in an undercover sting pleaded guilty in Brooklyn Federal Court on Friday of trying to lure three teenage boys into meeting him for sex acts, law enforcement officials said. Rogelio Vega, 52, a former deacon at St. Sebastian Roman Catholic Church in Woodside, pleaded guilty to three counts of …

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STUDY: Decline Of Christianity In US Is Accelerating

Religion News Service reports: America has long prided itself on being a country where people can choose whatever religion they like. The majority has long chosen Christianity. By 2070, that may no longer be the case. If current trends continue, Christians could make up less than half of the population — and as little as a third— in 50 years. …

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MN Pastor Charged With Sexual Abuse Of Parishioners

The Roys Report reports: The longtime pastor of a Minnesota church retired in February. Now, he’s charged with criminal sexual conduct against two women in his former church, a criminal complaint shows. Bruce Douglas Konold pastored Eagan Hills Church, a Christian & Missionary Alliance (C&MA) congregation in the Twin Cities area, from 1997 until this past February. Authorities allege in …

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SCOTUS Temporarily Blocks Ruling For LGBTQ Students

NBC News reports: The Supreme Court on Friday temporarily allowed an Orthodox Jewish university in New York to deny official recognition to an LGBTQ student group, the latest in a series of decisions in favor of religious rights. Justice Sonia Sotomayor in a brief order granted an emergency request made by Yeshiva University, which claims that recognizing the group would …

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WA Catholic Priest Charged With Raping Adult Woman

The Kennewick Tri-Cities Herald reports: A Tri-Cities priest has been arrested on suspicion of rape. Rev. Tomás Vázquez Téllez, 49, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of third-degree rape with an aggravating factor of being a person of trust. Vázquez Téllez has been serving at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Pasco since Sept. 2021. Vázquez Téllez was booked into the Benton …

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“Angels” Block Protesters From BYU Pride Night Event

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: The angels stood quietly while protesters yelled “pedophile” and “groomer” and pushed signs quoting the Book of Mormon toward their faces. “You’re going against God,” one man spat. Another told them to “stop protecting the homos” at Brigham Young University. The dozen people dressed in white didn’t flinch. Hand in hand, they formed a shield …

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MD Priest Charged With Masturbating While Driving

The Maryland Bay reports: Reverend Jaroslaw “Jerry” Gamrot, 58, who serves at Holy Face Catholic Church and Little Flower School in Great Mills, has been charged for an incident that reportedly happened in July on a highway. Charging documents for the incident indicate that on July 25, Gamrot was traveling west on Route 70 in Frederick with no pants on …

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VA Pastor Sentenced To 8 Years For Child Sex Abuse

The Roys Report reports: A plea agreement shows that Douglas Phillip DeAndrea, former pastor of New Ground Church in Danville, was sentenced to 40 years in prison. DeAndrea, 44, was arrested October 18, 2021, on seven felony charges of object sexual penetration and aggravated sexual battery, according to Mark Hollandsworth with the Montgomery County Jail. A grand jury indictment reveals …

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Pennsylvania Pastor Found Guilty Of Raping First Grader

The West Chester Patch reports: A former teacher at West Chester Christian School was convicted of sexually assaulting a first-grader there in 2007. Randy Lee Boston, 64, of Shickshinny, Luzerne County, was found guilty by a jury Wednesday in the Chester County Justice Center of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, indecent assault of a person under 13, corruption …

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Sunday School Teacher Gets 87 Years For Child Rape

Raleigh’s NBC affiliate reports: A former Sunday school teacher will spend the next 87 years of his life in prison after being convicted of abusing and sexually assaulting at least three young girls behind church walls and on church buses in Johnston County. A jury found Jonathan Young, 38, of Benson, guilty on multiple counts of rape, sexual offense and …

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TN Megachurch Declares Bankruptcy After Sex Scandal

The Roys Report reports: A Tennessee megachurch has filed for bankruptcy and disclosed millions in debts, following scandal concerning Pastor Tavner Smith’s alleged sexual misconduct, federal court filings show. Venue Church in Chattanooga filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. Its bankruptcy petition shows the church has more than $3 million …

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Youth Pastor Arrested On Multiple Child Sex Charges

Fayetteville’s ABC affiliate reports: A man was arrested on a charge of sexual indecency with a child in a case related to his time as a youth pastor at a Bentonville church, according to Nathan Smith, Benton County prosecutor. Keenan Hord was arrested Thursday night and has been booked into the Benton County Detention Center. He is facing charges that …

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Tennessee Christian School Principal And His Secretary Charged With Having Sex In Front Of Underage Student

Nashville’s Fox affiliate reports: The principal and secretary of a small Christian school in McMinn County engaged in improper sexual activity in front of an underage teen and former student at the pastor’s home, according to 2 arrest reports from the McMinn County Sheriff’s Department. 47-year-old Jason Kennedy is principal, teacher and pastor of Liberty Christian School in Riceville. 28-year-old …

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Police: FL Pastor’s Wife Embezzled $165K From Church

Mobile’s CBS affiliate reports: The Florida Department of Law Enforcement charged a woman with grand theft after a Milton Church was defrauded out of $164,716. Lisa Michelle Hively, 55, was charged with one count of organized schemes to defraud and one count of grand theft. Hively was arrested after investigators opened up an investigation into the finances of Faith Baptist …

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PA Pastor Pleads Guilty To Recording Sex With Minor

The Delaware County Times reports: A 72-year-old Chester pastor pleaded guilty Tuesday in Delaware County Court to videotaping a sexual encounter he had with an underage girl during a relationship that lasted from 2018 through 2020. Edward Lilly, of the 4100 block of Kates Glen Drive in the Boothwyn section of Upper Chichester, entered an open guilty plea to one …

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