Ex-pastor defends acts and the ACLU is helping him.

[tinknocker44]

This guy is loving those Liberal laws now.



His attorney argues that the minister had a right to solicit sex from an undercover policeman.
The Associated Press


OKLAHOMA CITY | The attorney for a former Baptist church leader who had spoken out against homosexuality said Thursday that the minister has a constitutional right to solicit sex from an undercover policeman.

The Rev. Lonnie W. Latham had supported a resolution calling on gays and lesbians to reject their “sinful, destructive lifestyle” before his Jan. 3, 2006, arrest outside the Habana Inn in Oklahoma City.

Authorities allege that Latham asked the undercover policeman to come up to his hotel for oral sex.

Latham’s attorney, Mack Martin, filed a motion to have the misdemeanor lewdness charge thrown out, saying the Supreme Court ruled in the 2003 decision Lawrence v. Texas that it was not illegal for consenting adults to engage in private homosexual acts.

“Now, my client’s being prosecuted basically for having offered to engage in such an act, which basically makes it a crime to ask someone to do something that’s legal,” Martin said.

Both sides agree that there was no offer of money, but prosecutor Scott Rowland said there is a “legitimate governmental interest” in regulating offers of acts of lewdness.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma has filed a brief alleging that Latham’s arrest also violated his right to free speech.

Before his arrest, Latham had spoken against same-sex marriage.

He has since resigned as pastor of the South Tulsa Baptist Church and stepped down from the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, where he was one of four members from Oklahoma.


http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/16772151.htm

[smokin68]

If this was a nobody nothing would ever be said. Nothing worse than a hypocrite in a power position...others come to mind? I'm glad to see for once it wasn't a priest...

[tinknocker44]

i think I'll save this 1 for jane and bill.

[geerair]

Oh dear, you mean those atheist commies at the ACLU are defending a religious official? Wow. ;) ;) ;)

[corny]

I believe babtist preachers probably have done a lot more child molesting and other sexually or abuse related crimes than catholic priests.... There is always one in the news around here....2 this past year were arrested...one for trying to have sex with a 13 yr old boy and another for propositioning a 17 yr old boy...in the second case I believe the boy was a willing participant.

We had one preacher and his wife a few years ago who kept a child basically as a slave for most of her life....beat her... sexually abused her....the other kids in the family knew about it too.... story below....

We also had a part time preacher/part time hvac guy around here who had 3 adopted kids that he worked like dogs....his daughter nearly died of pnumonia once because he wouldnt take her to a doctor and one of the boys broke his arm and wasnt taken to a doctor but was bandaged up by the preacher....

god was punishing that boy for a reason I guess....and I guess god was just trying to call the girl home for some reason....luckily those kids had "family" who intervened and got control of those kids from that wackjob son of a ***** part time preacher. By the way...that preacher was one of the biggest hvac hacks and scammers around...he downright would collect peoples money and never perform their work...I once asked him once about how he could lie to folks like he did.... His response was that he didnt "lie" he just "double talked" his way around certain subjects....lol

Diabetes got him...slowly got his foot and leg before eventually killing him....

Just something wrong with these folks....I guess preaching all that good makes em all eventually go bad....


heres the preacher who kept a kid as a sex slave... bet you could google "preacher" along with "sex slave" or "homosexual act" and many other terms and come up with thousands of hits....

HAMMOND, Ind.(AP) -- A lawsuit filed by a woman adopted 20 years ago from a Valparaiso orphanage alleges that she lived a hellish existence as a virtual sex slave in the home of a Tennessee minister and his wife.

The 12-page filing in U.S. District Court accuses the Baptist Children's Home and Family Ministries, both of Valparaiso, of failing to conduct background checks on Joseph and Evangeline Combs before placing the child in their care.

with especially aggravated kidnapping. The former pastor and his wife kidnapped a baby girl from a children's home, then brainwashed her into believing God wanted her to be their family's servant, according to police. For much of 20 years, the girl served the couple and their four other children and was being physically and sexually abused by the couple, according to court documents.

The couple face criminal charges in Tennessee of kidnapping, child abuse and aggravated assault. Authorities there say the woman was abused for two decades.

Under the couple's care, the lawsuit alleges, the victim endured continued abuse through beatings and other physical abuse that left her with broken bones, dislocated joints and emotional scars.

"The circumstances in her home could not have been any worse," said Gregg Herman, the woman's attorney. "We hear the terms outrageous, horrific and egregious used quite often to describe situations. Those words are not strong enough to describe what this woman lived through."

The lawsuit claims that Joseph Combs sexually abused his adoptive daughter, who was kept as a "slave" in the couple's home.

It also alleges that Children's Home's operators never checked to make sure the adoption process had been completed.

No final order of adoption was obtained from the state.

Herman said the woman, who now lives in Michigan, will need several surgical procedures and years of counseling to overcome the physical and emotional trauma she suffered.

The Combses' 20-year-old son, David, has denied the charges of abuse. In addition to him, the couple have an adopted 21-year-old son and three other biological children. The youngest is 12.

The Combses lived in northwestern Indiana at the time of the adoption, but later moved to Bristol, Tenn., where Joseph Combs was the minister at the now-defunct Emmanuel Baptist Church.

[coordinatesales]

Satan always attacks those working against him the hardest. This was a sad case. I know a lot of people from that church and it really shook them up. Church leaders are held to a higher moral standard both by God and people. He knew that and knew his actions were wrong. His life has been destroyed and he will have to deal with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his existence. A victory for Satan, he might as take them while he still can.