" THE MOST FAMOUS MAN IN AMERICA: THE BIOGRAPHY OF HENRY WARD BEECHER ," by Debby Applegate, Doubleday, 527 pages, $27.95 The sex scandal in which Henry Ward Beecher was the protagonist involved Elizabeth Tilton, a member of the congregation Beecher preached to each Sunday. According to Tilton, the sex did not come "out of low or vulgar thoughts either on her part or his, but always from pure affection and a high religious love." She felt "justified before God in her intimacy with him." That is according to the magnificent new book, " The Most Famous Man in America ," by Debby Applegate. And while a significant portion of the book is devoted to this 1872 scandal involving a minister and one of his flock, it's far from the only thing of interest. Henry Ward Beecher , who is not well known to contemporary Americans, was bigger than life. He was surely charismatic and he got his kicks mainly from delivering emotional, powerful...

In a trial outcome Friday that apparently stunned members of an Athens, Ohio, church congregation, a Hocking County jury convicted the church's pastor of committing public indecency in a state park lavatory on May 15. "Oh, no," blurted out one audience member in the packed courtroom, as the jury foreman in Hocking County Municipal Court read out the guilty verdict against 57-year-old H. Willard Love, senior minister of the Athens Church of Christ . One young woman in the audience burst into tears, and could be seen outside the courtroom later, sobbing inconsolably. Love was arrested after he allegedly masturbated in front of an undercover park ranger in the restroom at the spillway of Lake Logan State Park, off U.S. Rt. 33. After deliberating more than an hour and a half Friday, a four-man, four-woman jury found him guilty despite Love's having put on a vigorous defense in which he portrayed his arrest as the result of a misunderstanding by the arresting officer. Judg...

Former Peace Lutheran Church Associate Pastor, Gregory Briehl , faced two judges. A General District Court judge set a $2,500 bond for 52-year-old Briehl on two counts of videotaping non-consenting adults and a Juvenile Relations Court judge set the bond at $100,000 for another charge, 20 counts of possession of child pornography. "I'm in total shock, this is a small neighborhood and all the kids play together," said Ava Kessler. Kessler is a mother of two who just found out her neighbor, Gregory Briehl is in police custody for possessing child porn on his computer. Prosecutors charged him with 20 counts. "Definitely 20 charges are a lot of charges for possession of child pornography," said Lt. John Teixeira, of the Albemarle County Police Department. Albemarle County Police said Briehl also placed video cameras around his home, taping women and possibly children without them even knowing it. Court documents show Briehl's wife found out and tipped off polic...

A Pensacola evangelist who owns the defunct Dinosaur Adventure Land in Pensacola was arrested Thursday on 58 federal charges, including failing to pay $473,818 in employee-related taxes and making threats against investigators. Of the 58 charges, 44 were filed against Kent Hovind and his wife, Jo, for evading bank reporting requirements as they withdrew $430,500 from AmSouth Bank between July 20, 2001, and Aug. 9, 2002. At the couple's first court appearance Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Miles Davis, Kent Hovind professed not to understand why he is being prosecuted. Some 20 supporters were in the courtroom. "I still don't understand what I'm being charged for and who is charging me," he said. Kent Hovind, who often calls himself "Dr. Dino," has been sparring with the IRS for at least 17 years on his claims that he is employed by God, receives no income, has no expenses and owns no property. "The debtor apparently maintains that as a minis...

WEST MEMPHIS, AR -- A community is shocked to learn that one of their religious leaders is facing criminal charges, but it's not just any charges he's facing. The West Memphis man is accused of secretly videotaping an underage girl and not only is the suspect a pastor, but he also is a newly-elected member of the Crittenden County Quorum Court . It all started on Friday, July 7th when Charlotte Moten made a complaint that she had found a video camera in her 14-year-old daughter's bedroom. The accused suspect, 61 year old Jack Moten, also lives in the home on South 12th Street in West Memphis. After using a search warrant at his home Tuesday, police arrested Moten and charged him with a Class D Felony of voyeurism and video voyeurism against a girl. While reading the charges to the judge at Moten's court arraignment, the court official said Moten did not deny the charges to police. "Upon interview, the defendant admitted to placing it there," read the court off...

The senior pastor of Bloomington Illinois' Second Presbyterian Church has been put on medical leave following his arrest during a domestic dispute with his estranged wife, church officials said Monday. The Rev. Ted Pierce has been charged with aggravated battery, criminal trespass to a residence and domestic battery after a June 29 incident. Prosecutors say he choked his wife, from whom he is separated, and threatened to kill her. Pierce has been active in the community during his five years at the helm of Second Presbyterian, helping to create the Compassion Center, a day center for homeless people in downtown Bloomington, and ShareFest, an annual countywide volunteerism program. The Rev. Roane Deckert, who has served as minister of pastoral care under Ted Pierce and has assumed Pierce's pastoral duties, said many were shocked and saddened to hear about the incident and continue to support Pierce. "Do we approve of what happened? Of course not. Nobody in their right mind...

A pastor was arrested in Cocoa Florida on charges he forced a member of his congregation to have sex. Police said the victim, a member of the congregation, believed the pastor to be her "spiritual advisor." Police arrested 43-year-old Jesse French, the pastor of the Solid Life Ministries-Church of Disciples in Rockledge, Florida, on 10 counts of sexual battery and 15 counts of lewd and lascivious to a member of his congregation. "She's been raised in a very tight very religious home and for someone to come in and turn something like this against her, it's just really appalling and unbelievable to me," said Detective Barbara Matthews, Cocoa Police Department. Police said, three to four months ago, French told the victim that he needed to anoint her with oil, stating that God advised him to do so because the victim was tired. It was then, police said, French began by anointing the victim's arms and legs. The victim told police that, around the beginning...

Multiple felony and misdemeanor charges were filed Thursday, June 22nd against 67-year-old Rev. Xavier Ochoa-Perez, an assistant pastor at St. Francis Solano Catholic Church in Sonoma. Unfortunately, Ochoa may have fled the country. The complaint filed by the Sonoma County District Attorney’s office alleges that Ochoa engaged in lewd conduct with three boys over a period from 1988 to the present. The boys ranged in age from 12 to 16 at the time the abuse occurred. Ochoa admitted to sexual abuse of a 12-year-old altar boy to Bishop Daniel Walsh on Friday, April 28th. Bishop Walsh, of the Diocese of Santa Rosa , immediately suspended Ochoa and contacted the diocese’s lawyer, Mr. Dan Galvin. Mr. Galvin claims he did not immediately notify authorities because he believed Child Protective Services to be closed on weekends, and waited until Monday, May 1st to fax a letter to their office. Officials believe Ochoa fled to Mexico over that weekend. link

Detectives of the Hartford Connecticut Police Department's Juvenile Investigative Division today arrested Modesto Reyes, 52, of Ellsworth Street, Hartford, for the sexual assault of an eleven-year-old female. Reyes is a Pastor at the Iglesia De Dios "Cristo Te Llama" church at 889 Broad Street, Hartford. On May 22, 2006 Hartford Police Officers responded to a complaint of a juvenile sexual assault that allegedly occurred several times inside the church located at 889 Broad Street. Information obtained by Detective Cheryl Gogins of the HPD's Juvenile Investigative Division confirmed a female victim at full term pregnancy that gave birth on May 24, 2006. Through cooperation of the now twelve-year-old victim and DNA evidence obtained by Hartford Police, the suspect Modesto Reyes, was identified as the biological father of the victim's baby. Reyes was arrested by Hartford Police without incident at his home on June 21, 2006 and charged with four counts of Sexual Assau...

A Slippery Rock Township PA minister accused of downloading and sending child pornography over the Internet will face trial. District Judge James Reed yesterday dismissed 11 felony charges against Robert D. Schmidtberger, 51, of Rose Point Road, at his preliminary hearing, but held 187 felonies against the pastor for court. Schmidtberger has been pastor of the Rose Point Reformed Presbyterian Church for 12 years. Although Schmidtberger told Reed he is moving to Mercer County, the judge allowed him to be free on his own recognizance, under the condition he no longer is allowed to teach children. That stipulation was requested by assistant district attorney Kate Fee-Baird. The hearing, which lasted almost two hours, was recessed for about an hour after it started, while the judge and attorneys reviewed child pornography images that allegedly were found on Schmidtberger’s computers. Attorneys agreed 11 of the counts of sexual abuse of children for possession of child pornography, all felo...