FORT WORTH -- Terry Hornbuckle used to stand before thousands and preach the word of God. On Monday, he stood silent in a Tarrant County courtroom and listened as one of the women he raped called him the devil. "You are evil in every way," Kate Jones said defiantly. "You are truly pathetic in everyone's eyes." Minutes after jurors sentenced Hornbuckle to 15 years in prison for drugging and raping her, Jones lambasted him in a three-page, double-spaced victim-impact statement, not only for what he did to her but also for sexually assaulting two other women. In addition to that 15-year sentence, jurors sentenced Hornbuckle to 14 years in prison for raping Krystal Buchanan and 10 years in prison for raping a third woman, Jane Doe. Jones and Doe are pseudonyms. "What you have done is the most horrible thing that anyone could do," Jones told Hornbuckle. "You preyed among the people you were supposed to help in their weakest moment." Because Hornbu...

WEST PALM BEACH — Newly appointed Pastor Steven Flockhart abruptly abandoned the pulpit at First Baptist Church West Palm Beach late Friday after The Palm Beach Post questioned the fabricated education credentials he used to land the post. Flockhart, 40, submitted a one-line resignation to church leaders, said the Rev. Kevin Mahoney, executive pastor of the venerable church along the Intracoastal Waterway. It was effective immediately. A closer look: Steven Flockhart's résumé "He admitted he lied. He has apologized for that and he's asked for forgiveness," Mahoney said. A top Baptist minister, the Rev. John Sullivan, president of the Florida Baptist Convention, was traveling from Jacksonville to lead today's services at the church. Flockhart was not expected to attend, Mahoney said, but told church leaders he would write an apology letter to be read to the congregation. If a written apology isn't received, Ben Bassett, chairman of the church's personnel...

The pastor of a church on the northeast side (Houston Texas) was arrested late Wednesday afternoon. It came after a police investigation that lasted more than a month and a half. Houston police say Pastor Robert Holmes knew about the abuse a 12-year-old boy was suffering, but did not report it to authorities. That boy is now living with other relatives. He sustained bruises, cuts and multiple broken bones, authorities say, at the hands of his father and stepmother. According to police, the pastor thought counseling was enough to help the boy's family. The pastor maintains his innocence. Holmes said, "I'm a pastor. I take care of this community. Criminals are killing folks, and (police) would do a man of God like this... That's sad. I didn't do anything!" State law explicitly states: The requirement to report under this section applies without exception to an individual whose personal communications may otherwise be privileged, including an attorney, a member o...

An Orangeville, Ont ., pastor has been charged by the Toronto police sex crimes unit in relation to sexual assaults of a woman between 1997 and 2005. Police allege at the time of the offences, the suspect was a United Church minister at the Manor Road United Church in Toronto and Mono Mills United Church in Orangeville . Police allege while serving in his capacity as a minister and counsellor, he sexually assaulted a woman, now 52, and police believe there may be other victims. William Brian Major has been charged with three counts of sexual assault. Major is currently a pastor at Mono Mills United Church in Orangeville. He is scheduled to appear in Toronto court on Oct. 3. link

Some have seen her in toast, in trees, even potato chips. Now one Glendale man says the Virgin Mary is in his refrigerator. Last week, John Milonas was grilling a hamburger on his George Foreman Grill. When he went to clean the drip pan, something caught his eye. He says it looks like the leftover grease created an image of the Virgin Mary. Milonas says he didn't know what to think, so he started showing his friends. "They're all skeptical when I tell them the story and then when I show them the picture, they get that 'ah-ha' look on their face and it's just amazing that the whole image of her is there, the baby Jesus and the figure behind, people just stare and say that is the Virgin Mary, an image of the Virgin Mary," said Milonas. Milonas called the makers of the George Foreman Grill to tell them about what's in his drip pan. He says he hasn't heard back from the company. Milonas hasn't decided what to do with the image, so for now he's...

PINEVILLE MO - Sexual abuse charges spanning four decades were filed Tuesday against a McDonald County pastor, his wife, and two church deacons. The charges were filed by Steve Geeding, McDonald County prosecutor, and Daniel Bagley, the county's assistant prosecutor. Raymond Lambert, 51, pastor of the Grand Valley Independent Baptist Church, located in Washburn, has been charged with one count of first degree child molestation, four counts of second degree child molestation and three counts of statutory sodomy in the second degree for events which happened between Feb. 15, 1995, and April 4, 2004. Lambert's wife, Patty Lambert, 49, faces a count of second degree child molestation and a count of first degree endangerment of a child in a ritual or ceremony which took place on April 3, 2004. Tom Epling, 51, was charged with five counts of first degree statutory sodomy for events happening between July 16, 1977, and July 15, 1982. And Paul Epling, 53, faces two counts of first de...

The United Church of Canada may ask its members to stop buying bottled water. The request is part of a resolution against the privatization of water supplies that has been put before delegates at the church's general council this week in Thunder Bay. Richard Chambers, the social policy co-ordinator with the national office of the church, said that water is a human right, and no one should profit from it. "We're against the commodification, the privatization is another way to say it, of water anyway, anywhere," he told CBC News. "And bottled water that we see being sold in Canada is just an example of that. The thin edge of the wedge of the privatization of water." Chambers said congregations would be asked "to put their energies and their resources into making sure there is safe public access to water locally." Ironically, the church's delegates are drinking bottled water this week at its meeting at Lakehead University. The conference facility...

Randall W. Harding sang in the choir at Crossroads Christian Church in Corona, Calif., and donated part of his conspicuous wealth to its ministries. In his business dealings, he underscored his faith by naming his investment firm JTL, or "Just the Lord." Pastors and churchgoers alike entrusted their money to him. By the time Harding was unmasked as a fraud, he and his partners had stolen more than $50 million from their clients, and Crossroads became yet another cautionary tale in what investigators say is a worsening problem plaguing the nation's churches. Billions of dollars has been stolen in Christian religion-related fraud in recent years, according to the North American Securities Administrators Association, a group of state officials who work to protect investors. Between 1984 and 1989, about $450 million was stolen in Christian-related scams, the association says. In its latest count - from 1998 to 2001 - the toll had risen to $2 billion. Rip-offs have only become...

A Newark, Ohio , minister and his wife were jailed yesterday on charges of possessing child pornography. David H. Waser ordered 11 sexually explicit videotapes involving juveniles, some as young as 4, from an undercover postal inspector in Missouri, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court. Waser, 57, and his wife, Judy, 54, are scheduled to appear in federal court today in Columbus to decide whether they will be held in jail pending trial. They were in the Franklin County jail last night. Waser has been removed as minister of Newark's Second Church of Christ at 19 S. Williams St., his son confirmed yesterday from the family home at 617 W. Main St. in Newark. The son was too upset to say any more. Postal inspectors tracking the order said they searched the Wasers' home on July 19 after the package of 11 tapes was delivered. They found the package open and one tape in the couple's videotape player. That tape was described as involving two 10-year-old bo...

A TEENAGER from Summerstrand broke down in tears as she was asked to identify herself and other women in an album of hard-core pornography handed in as evidence in a string of charges ranging from rape, indecent assault, drug abuse and the making of child pornography against a well-known Summerstrand church pastor, who is her stepfather. The teenager, who may not be named, testified in the High Court against the man who became her adoptive stepfather after she was taken from her parents at the age of six because of their substance abuse. The dark-haired girl – dressed in jeans, a white top and black jacket – was calm throughout her testimony for the State, until she was asked to identify the girls in pictures printed from a data CD allegedly made by the pastor. The evidence remained sealed by the prosecuting team until the court hearing started yesterday morning to protect the girls in the pictures. The 54-year-old pastor, who remains in custody, faces several charges of raping his a...

FLINT MICH - The pastor of Foss Avenue Baptist Church pleaded guilty to several charges Monday and faces a Sept. 18 sentencing before Genesee Circuit Judge Judith A. Fullerton. The Rev. Derrick A. Aldridge, 51, of Flint pleaded guilty to improper possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle, a 90-day misdemeanor, and possession of cocaine, a 4-year felony. Attorney Michael P. Manley, who represents Aldridge, said he will wait until sentencing to see if his client is eligible for a designation that would allow the conviction to be erased if Aldridge successfully completes the sentence requirements. Assistant Lapeer County Prosecutor Steven G. Beatty earlier said his office would oppose that type of sentencing request. The case is being handled by the Lapeer County prosecutor's office at the request of Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton, who represented Aldridge in a 1995 embezzlement case , to avoid any appearance of impropriety. Aldridge was arrested Jan. 13 at Flushing Road nea...

MAPLEWOOD, Minn . — Like most pastors who lead thriving evangelical megachurches, the Rev. Gregory A. Boyd was asked frequently to give his blessing — and the church’s — to conservative political candidates and causes. The requests came from church members and visitors alike: Would he please announce a rally against gay marriage during services? Would he introduce a politician from the pulpit? Could members set up a table in the lobby promoting their anti-abortion work? Would the church distribute “voters’ guides” that all but endorsed Republican candidates? And with the country at war, please couldn’t the church hang an American flag in the sanctuary? After refusing each time, Mr. Boyd finally became fed up, he said. Before the last presidential election, he preached six sermons called “ The Cross and the Sword ” in which he said the church should steer clear of politics, give up moralizing on sexual issues, stop claiming the United States as a “Christian nation” and stop glorifyin...

One of central Alabama's biggest church scandals is over tonight (Aug 2, 2006). Lawyers for the DayStar Assembly of God have settled a lawsuit with two of its former members. Don and Becky Whittington gave the church $50,000 to invest in an illegal securities scam that ensnared dozens of people. The same scam eventually killed off the church and forced the bank to reposess its six million dollar sanctuary . Becky Whittington is speaking out for the first time tonight. "You don't grieve for something you don't love. Grief is the price you pay for when you do love something and it's been painful," she said. You would think Whittington would call the settlement a victory. Instead, she's reflecting on the price she and her family paid. "It's been totally frustrating and totally draining when you've been forced to endure something for such a long time," she said. The Whittingtons were among the biggest buyers into the scam mastermind Steve Co...

STAFFORD, Texas — They are not the words one expects to hear from a politician or a Southerner, and Leonard Scarcella is both: "Our city has an excessive number of churches." Scarcella is mayor of this Houston-area community, which has 51 churches and other religious institutions packed into its 7 square miles. With some 300 undeveloped, potentially revenue-producing acres left in Stafford, officials are scrambling to find a legal way to keep more tax-exempt churches from building here. "With federal laws, you can't just say, 'We're not going to have any more churches,' " Scarcella said. "We respect the Constitution, but 51 of anything is too much." Stafford, population 19,227, is the largest city in Texas without a property tax, and it depends on sales taxes and business fees for revenue. Nonprofits have been attracted by its rapid growth and minimal deed restrictions. "It's thrown everything out of balance, plus providing zero r...

A church leader who illegally shipped South African workers to the Isle of Man and paid them "slave wages" has been jailed for three months. Pieter Van Rooyen, 46, admitted breaking immigration laws by providing false documents to help five labourers get through immigration controls. The pastor faked invites to a business course when they were actually renovating his luxury home. He was jailed by High Bailiff Michael Moyle who also imposed £1,500 costs. The workers were paid as little as £1.36 (2.38 USD) an hour - described in court as slave wages - and made to work up to 72 hours a week on his home at Lag Birrah Drive, Onchan. Van Rooyen was the leader and founder of the Life Church in Douglas and a former offshore banking executive at Barclays. He said he did not realise the workers were going to be paid so little and that he had budgeted with the builder to pay them a decent wage. But Mr Moyle said the offences were committed out of greed. Although he jailed Van Rooyen,...

Calls into the 911 Newport Arkansas Dispatch describe what happened with a pastor’s wife during church. Dispatch: (Phone rings) "911 Emergency Services." Caller: "I'm up here at the Pentecostal Church on Dill Street behind USA Drugs. There's a woman up here who’s got a gun." Dispatch: "A gun...all right, we'll send an officer." And with that, Newport police arrived at the Pentecostal Church of God for what was anything but your typical church service. Church member Buddy Sherman explains, "We were all right here [pointing to the front pew]. Our pastor stood back there [pointing to the pulpit] and she was standing right here [pointing to the front of the pews]. She never intended any harm on nobody." That's how Sherman describes Pastor Larry Estes' wife, 44-year-old Tammy Estes. According to Sherman, Tammy stood up, with a .357 magnum in her hand and confronted her husband. “She wanted the truth to get out, what she thought was...