Pastor Arrested For Sexual Harassment

Isaac Tetteh, the Head Pastor the Pre-Gospel Foundation Ministry at Lebanon, a suburb of Ashaiman, has been arrested by the Ashaiman police for sexually harassing a certain Juliana Doe, a married woman, as well as issuing death threats to some of his followers.

His action did not go down well with the married woman, compelling her to report the matter to the police, after her complaint to the Pentecostal Churches Council went unaddressed. He was subsequently arraigned before the Ashaiman Circuit Court where the case is being tried for the offences he was accused of committing.


Persecuting, Chief Inspector Daniel O. Nortey narrated to the court that the complainant, Juliana Doe, Hannah Doe and Elizabeth Padi, were all fellowshipping at the same ministry where the pastor is the overseer. He indicated that in March 2009, the first complainant got married to her husband and the wedding was officiated by the accused in this church, adding that a few weeks after the marriage ceremony, Juliana Doe’s husband travelled to Kuwait where he was domiciled.


Chief Inspector Nortey told the court that soon after the departure of the complaint’s husband, the accused started demanding sex from her but she turned him down. Continuing with his narration, Chief Inspector Nortey disclosed that the accused kept on harassing his victim till she reportedly got fed up and revealed the accused person’s indecent behavior to the whole congregation and some senior members of the Pentecostal Churches Council.


As a result, all three complaints and some members of the church, including the accused person, were invited to a meeting by the members of the Pentecostal Churches Council, with a view to settling the matter amicably; a situation the prosecutor explained did not end well. The pastor, who was perhaps not happy about the complaints’ actions, started threatening them that they were going to die before the end of December 2009.

He noted that the complainant, who felt threatened, made a report to the police and the accused was arrested, but he denied the allegations during interrogations.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was granted bail in a sum of GH¢10,000 by the Ashaiman Circuit Court presided Over by Mr. Seyeram Yao Azumah. The case has been adjourned to be heard on a later date.

It all came down to one thing:

Did the McCaskey Gospel Choir director know the student with whom he was having sex was only 15 years old?

Norman M. McMillan III said he didn't know. The student said he did.

A Lancaster County jury sided with the student and convicted McMillan of nearly a dozen charges Friday afternoon.

McMillan sat silently as the jury pronounced him guilty of five counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, four counts of statutory sexual assault and one count each of indecent assault and corruption of minors.
Earlier Friday, McMillan, 27, of Lancaster, testified on his own behalf, and he admitted he had the sexual relationship with the student but told the jury he believed the girl was 16 years old.

"It was a very, very bad call of judgment," McMillan told the jury. "I just should've been more responsible."
But the girl, now 19, testified Thursday that McMillan specifically asked her age, knew exactly what year she was in school and had access to school records — all before they began having sex in November 2005.
Jurors began deliberating shortly after noon and less than one hour later announced they had reached a verdict.

The teenager's aunt, sitting with the victim in the front row of the spectator section, covered her face and wiped tears from her eyes as the seven men and five women stood and pronounced McMillan guilty on all counts.

Judge Jeffery Wright ordered a background investigation and a psychological evaluation of McMillan before he imposes sentence.

After the jurors and spectators left the courtroom, McMillan's mother, clutching a worn Bible, cried softly, and she called out "I love you" to her son as he was led away in handcuffs.

McMillan's case was one of five similar incidents of Lancaster County music instructors having inappropriate relationships with teenage girls and the last to be resolved in court.

The former McCaskey Gospel Choir director was arrested by city police Detective Andrew Morgan in May 2008 and has remained in county prison since that time.

On the witness stand Friday morning, McMillan was smiling and confident as he told the jury how he taught the girl to drive in the high school parking lot and drove her to apply for a job.

Those reasons, plus her work at a church camp, McMillan said, led him to believe she was 16 years old. Sixteen is the legal age of consent in Pennsylvania.

Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Franz used the defendant's statements against him in her closing argument.

McMillan testified, Franz noted, that he first met the girl when she was a freshman, and he described her as well-spoken and intelligent.

"She's not the kind of student inclined to be held back for years," Franz said.

"This isn't a case where she met the defendant in a bar and used fake ID to get in. He met her as choir director in high school when she was a freshman," Franz said. "He knew exactly how old she was."

Defense attorney Douglas A. Conrad told the jury in his closing argument that the school district used "bad judgment in hiring such a young person to teach other young people."

And his client, Conrad added, "used bad judgment in having a relationship with a student — any student — it's not right."

Conrad pointed to the testimony of two of McMillan's colleagues who helped with the school choir.
Clifton Jenkins and the Rev. Ronald Taliaferro both testified for the defense that McMillan would not have had access to class lists, school records or computers, Conrad said.

The teenager, in her testimony, told the jury that the couple had sex at the school, in McMillan's car, at his home or at the home of one of his friends.

In May or June 2006, she said, they agreed to end the relationship when rumors started circulating about the time they were spending together.

The school district terminated McMillan in September 2006 after the school learned of the alleged relationship.

The teenager admitted she still cared for McMillan and didn't go to police until April 2008 after her aunt convinced her to talk to authorities. A month later, she said, they hired an attorney to file a lawsuit against the school district. The civil lawsuit is pending, officials said.

Conrad also raised the issue of the civil lawsuit filed by the teenager's family against the district, including a demand of $350,000.

"I guess that will make it right," Conrad told the jury.

TEXARKANA, Ark. — Evangelist Tony Alamo used his stature as a self-proclaimed prophet to force underage girls into sham marriages with him, controlling his followers with their fears of eternal suffering.
But the judge who sentenced Alamo on Friday to 175 years in prison for child sexual abuse warned of another kind of justice awaiting the aging evangelist.

"Mr. Alamo, one day you will face a higher and a greater judge than me," U.S. District Judge Harry F. Barnes told the preacher. "May he have mercy on your soul."

Barnes leveled the maximum sentence against the 75-year-old, who preyed on followers' young daughters and took child "brides" as young as age 8. A jury convicted Alamo in July on a 10-count indictment accusing him of taking the girls across state lines for sex.

Alamo, who has made millions through his ministry, also must pay $250,000 in fines. He will return to court for a Jan. 13 hearing at which Barnes will determine if the five women who testified about their sexual abuse will be paid restitution. Federal prosecutors say an expert believes each one should get $2.7 million for the physical and mental abuse they endured.

Barnes said Alamo used his influence as both a father figure and a pastor to force himself upon impressionable girls who feared "the loss of their salvation."

"You are described by others who testified as a prophet of God, a person of trust, a person of supreme authority in the church," Barnes said, staring the pale preacher. "It's hard to imagine the scenario and the damage that occurred to these five young girls."

Alamo, who had muttered and cursed through his two-week trial, stood silently during the sentencing, dressed in a yellow prison uniform and a blue windbreaker. Before Barnes' ruling, Alamo told the judge: "I lean on the lord Jesus Christ."

"I'm glad I'm me and not the deceived people in the world," the evangelist said.

Alamo's defense team, which had asked for leniency due to the preacher's age and poor health, promised to appeal Barnes' ruling.

FBI agents and Arkansas State Police troopers raided Alamo's compound in nearby Fouke in September 2008. The FBI arrested Alamo five days later in Flagstaff, Ariz., charging him with violating the Mann Act, a century-old morality law originally aimed at stopping women from being sold into prostitution.

Five women, age 17 to 33, testified in July that Alamo "married" them in private ceremonies while they were minors, sometimes giving them rings. Each detailed trips beyond Arkansas' borders for Alamo's sexual gratification.

With little physical evidence, prosecutors relied on the women's stories to paint an emotional portrait of a charismatic religious leader who controlled every aspect of his subjects' lives. The women said Alamo ordered beatings or punitive fasts for minor infractions or at the whim of his paranoia.

Defense lawyers said the government targeted Alamo because it disapproves of his apocalyptic brand of Christianity. Alamo never testified at trial, but spoke to Barnes twice during the hearing Friday. He first told the judge he thought his defense team provided him adequate legal help, though he wanted them to harshly cross-examine the women to show "that the people who were testifying against me were lying."

My lawyers "did prove that I never took girls out of state to have sex with them," Alamo said.

Three of the five victims spoke in court Friday about how Alamo stole their childhoods and tore apart their families to satisfy his sexual perversions. One woman Alamo took as a child "bride" at age 8 described how she shook uncontrollably when he first molested her.

"You have the audacity to ask for mercy," the woman said, looking up from her handwritten notes to stare at Alamo. "What mercy did you show us?"

The evangelist's lawyers pleaded for a lower sentence because of his age and infirmities. They called as witnesses two followers and a doctor, who discussed how Alamo suffered from hypertension, diabetes, obesity and glaucoma. However, Dr. Samuel Berkman acknowledged under cross-examination that he examined Alamo only once in 2004, as the preacher sought an eye lift to look younger.

"There's no question he's done a lot of good," said Don Ervin, a Houston lawyer who led Alamo's defense, outlining the church's efforts to reach the poor. "He's an unusual man and an unusually great man."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyra Jenner said after the hearing that prosecutors would work with the federal prison system to ensure Alamo can't control his ministry and its many businesses from behind bars. At trial, one of the victims described how Alamo "married" and groped her during a prison visit.

How long Alamo remains an influence depends on whether police or former followers dismantle the ministry through lawsuits and criminal cases. The FBI declined to say Friday whether it had ongoing investigations involving the ministry.

As Alamo left the courthouse, he said he would leave to his church's future in other hands.
"The Lord is in charge," the preacher said.

Pastor charged with groping women at church food bank

Police say the pastor of a Bessemer City church fondled at least five women who asked for groceries from the church’s food bank.

Harley Michael Keough, 72, of 307 S. 12th St., Bessemer City, was arrested Friday on five counts of sexual battery. Keough is the pastor of King James Baptist Church at 100 E. Georgia Ave.

“I think anyone who would go into a food bank or a church facility or any other institution of trust and have something like this occur would be surprised and horrified,” said Gaston County Police Capt. Joe Ramey.
Keough tried to place his hand down a 23-year-old woman’s pants and touched her breast on Oct. 19, according to an arrest warrant. He also placed his hand down a 25-year-old woman’s pants the same day, another warrant states.

On Nov. 18, 2008, the pastor allegedly grabbed a woman’s hand, placed it against his genitals and rubbed it against his hip and buttocks. He put his hand down a 35-year-old woman’s pants on Nov. 13, 2006, according to a warrant affidavit.

Keough touched a 46-year-old woman’s breast, grabbed her buttocks and tried to kiss her on the lips in September 2006, another affidavit states.

Police have interviewed the five alleged victims and presented their case to the District Attorney’s Office before filing charges, Ramey said.

Sexual battery is a Class A1 misdemeanor and is defined as engaging in sexual contact “by force and against the will of the other person” or when that person is incapacitated or mentally disabled. The charge usually involves unwelcome touching.

A woman who answered the phone at King James Baptist Church Friday evening said she believes the accusations against her pastor are false. She referred questions to a deacon, who declined to give his name and said the church has no comment.

The 30-person congregation is known as a hunger ministry powerhouse in Gaston County. King James feeds 130 families every week, storing donated food in a large building behind the church equipped with 17 freezers. A former sous chef, Keough prepared Christmas dinner for needy residents last year.

Keough told The Gazette for an April 2008 story that he became pastor of the church in 1999 and receives no salary.

He was booked in the Gaston County Jail under a $50,000 secured bond.

NY Pastor Arrested For 11-Year-Old Murder

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WPIX) - A Buffalo pastor has been arrested in the case of the shooting death of a teenager that occurred over 11 years ago, officials announced Tuesday.

Detectives arrested Jose G. Figueroa, 31, and charged him with 2nd degree murder after he confessed to the killing of 17-year-old Alex Martinez.

Authorities said Figueroa, along with several individuals, broke down the rear door of Martinez's residence around 12:30 a.m. on Jan. 29, 1998. Then, without saying a word, Figueroa allegedly fired his gun and lodged a bullet into the victim's head.

During the time of the shooting, the Homicide Bureau Chief Joseph Riga said it appeared that Martinez had been targeted. He said the perpetrators entered Martinez's home, shot him and then left through the same door they broke through in.

Figueroa, who is a pastor and a full-time cleaner, was tracked down by homicide detectives after they received his name from an anonymous tipster a few weeks ago.

Investigators contacted Figueroa Friday and he later agreed to go to Police Headquarter to be questioned on Monday. He told authorities he had become a pastor since the shooting, but did not specify a church.

The motive for the shooting - which was originally thought to be drug related - remains under investigation.

Aurora pastor accused of child sex assault

AURORA, Colo. - The pastor of an Aurora church was behind bars Tuesday evening, charged with sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust.

The Rev. Isaac Aryee was arrested on Oct. 26th at his church, Praise Chapel International Ministries, on E. Mississippi Ave.

The case has been referred to the Denver District Attorney's Office which says the case file is currently under seal. However, a D.A.'s office spokesperson confirms that the victim in the case in a 15-year-old girl whom Aryee met through the church.

Prosecutors believe it was an ongoing sexual affair.

Rev. Aryee and his wife moved to Colorado from Ghana in West Africa in 2002, according to the church's official Web site.

A background check shows Aryee was also arrested by Denver Police in 2002 for soliciting a prostitute.

Rev. Aryee and his wife moved to Colorado from Ghana in West Africa in 2002, according to the church's official Web site.

Church youth leader arrested in sex scandal

Estero - A sex scandal shocks a local Catholic Church.

A youth minister has been arrested after having a sexual relationship with a teenage girl in his ministry.

24 year-old Brendan McConnell was arrested Monday.

His alleged victim is a teenage girl under the age of 16.

The two met while McConnell was a volunteer in the Life Teen Program here at Our Lady of Light Catholic Church.

The Lee County Sheriff's Office is not releasing the exact age of the girl, but we do know she is between 12 to 15 year's old.

McConnell's arrest report states the victim's mother found 23 pages of instant messages between McConnell and the victim.

The messages were regarding sexual acts the two performed on each other.

In the report, the victim admits she and McConnell knew what they were doing was wrong, but still did it anyway.

She also told police it all happened at McConnell's parents house.

According to the arrest report, McConnell met the teen victim about 8 years ago and has been her core leader for the youth ministry.

Our Lady of Light administrators forwarded me to the Diocese of Venice.

A spokeswoman at the Diocese says McConnell was immediately removed from all volunteer duty at the church.

In a statement the spokeswoman also says "as a volunteer around children, and vulnerable adults, Mr. McConnell underwent a mandatory criminal background check...and he was cleared by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI."

The background check was done before McConnell was arrested for loitering and prowling last year.

The Diocese of Venice says they are fully cooperating with the authorities.

We went to McConnell's house Tuesday, but no one answered the door.

Local Preacher Arrested on Sex Crimes with a Minor

A Dothan preacher and volunteer chaplain with the Houston County Sheriff's Office faces charges of having sexual contact with a 15-year-old girl.

The news comes as a shock to the sheriff.

Authorities say a late evening phone call and a confession led to the arrest of 53-year-old Curtis Grant.
“Curtis Grant is a pastor of Open Door Baptist Church here in Dothan and a volunteer chaplain for the Houston County Sheriff's and a former volunteer chaplain for the Dothan Police Dept.” said Houston County Sheriff Andy Hughes.

Friday, the Houston County Sheriff's office charged Pastor Curtis Grant with one count of second degree rape, five counts of sodomy and five counts of enticing a child for immoral purposes.

“Grant actually called me at home last night and confessed to me what he had done,” said Sheriff Hughes.
Shortly after that phone call, Sheriff Hughes had grant questioned and arrested.

“He did assist us in making death notifications he ministered to our staff here at the sheriff's office,”
Sheriff Andy Hughes says he was blindsided by the news.

“I was very angered very saddened by this news when you've got a person whose in a position of public trust in two different arenas actually in the clergy and as a volunteer with the sheriff's office here,”

Sheriff Hughes says the sexual contact between the 15-year-old victim and Pastor Grant was consensual but under Alabama law a minor must be 16 before having consensual sex with an adult.

“If she was 16 it still could have been a crime it would have been contributing to the delinquency of a minor and that would have been something the parents would have followed up on and been able to press charges,”
Sheriff Hughes says he doesn't care who you are, if you're breaking the law, your days are numbered.

“I don't care if you're an employee of the sheriff's office or what if you commit a crime we're going investigate it we're going to prosecute you and we're going to put you in jail,”

Grant is being held in the Houston County Jail on a $65,000 bond.

Leland pastor facing child sex charges

A 46-year-old pastor from Leland has been charged with felony sex crimes against a child, officials said.

Brunswick County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested James T. Johnson of Leland on Tuesday, according to a detective with the office. Johnson is the pastor of The Olive Branch church on Mt. Misery Road in Leland.
The detective declined to further discuss the case. Johnson faces three counts of indecent liberties with a child, two counts of first-degree sex offense with a child and one count of attempted first-degree rape of a child, according to the sheriff's office.

Johnson was taken to the Brunswick County jail and held on a $250,000 secured bond.

On Wednesday night about 20 cars were parked outside the church – a white building with a temporary red-and-white-striped canopy out front.

Bobby McKnight, The Olive Branch's assistant pastor, said those inside were holding a prayer meeting in support of Johnson and his family.

Much of the church's congregation has known Johnson faced an allegation of sexual misconduct since it surfaced four months ago, McKnight said. But they didn't think anything was going to come of it and were surprised when criminal charges were filed this week.

McKnight said he didn't know the details of the allegation, but that he doesn't think it involves anyone at the church. If sheriff's deputies had come to the church they would have found people who defended Johnson, McKnight said, but they have not interviewed people at the church.

Johnson founded The Olive Branch church, which moved into its current facility two years ago, McKnight said. He also said Johnson helps out in the community, especially through the church's food pantry and occasional yard-sale-style giveaways.

“If he's in the wrong, then he's in the wrong,” McKnight said. “We're not hiding anything. But nobody here believes it.”

Pastor going back to prison

A DeKalb County preacher charged with the sexual abuse of a boy in his congregation is on his way to prison.

Billy Masters, 67 and reportedly a preacher at Harvest Baptist Church near Kilpatrick, was arrested in May and charged with sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12, apparently a member of his congregation.

At the time of his most recent arrest, Masters was on probation after having served time on a 2001 conviction for the sodomy of three males of similar age.

Deputy District Attorney Bob Johnston said Tuesday that, as part of a plea deal, the most recent charge against Masters would be dropped, but his probation on the earlier conviction revoked. This means Masters must now return to prison to serve out the rest of the time on the earlier sentence, about 15 years.

A grand jury was set to hear the more recent case against Masters later this month, but in the meantime the DA’s office had petitioned for revocation of the earlier probation, Johnston said.

Johnston said the family of Masters’ most recent victim, as well as Masters himself, agreed.

“We had two overall goals in mind,” Johnston said. “They were sending Masters back to prison and preventing a situation where this child would be forced to get on the stand and testify.”

He said, under Alabama law, Masters would not be eligible for parole until at least 85 percent of his sentence is served, or about 12 years. Johnston said the DA’s office would oppose any move for early release based on factors such as age or health.

“I feel that justice was served,” Johnston said. “This judgment was made in concert with Investigator Mary Waters, who worked this case, and the victim’s family. I’m pleased that we were able to put Masters back in prison without this child having to go on the stand.”

Masters has been held without bond at the DeKalb County Jail since his arrest in May.

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Former Waco Area-Pastor Sentenced In Child Sexual Abuse Case

WACO (November 2, 2009)--William Frank Brown, 45, the former pastor of the First Baptist Church of Bellmead, was sentenced to 50 years in prison Monday after he pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated sexual assault in a series of child sexual abuse incidents.

Brown wept as he was sentenced to 50 years on each, count,

 

The sentences will be served concurrently, which means he would be eligible for parole in 25 years.
Brown was indicted in June on four counts of indecency with a child by contact and four counts of aggravated sexual assault.

Brown was arrested in April, police said, after his victim told a school counselor about the sexual abuse.
At least one of the assaults occurred in Robinson and in Harris Creek, in Waco.

Brown resigned from the church before the investigation against him became public.

He turned himself in after learning a warrant had been issued for his arrest, police said.