Posted on 05/20/2011 8:04:53 AM PDT by Morgana
A woman who says she was raped and impregnated as a 15-year-old by a member of her church - and then forced to read a letter of apology aloud to the congregation - is now seeking justice from the courts.
Jury selection starts Monday at Merrimack Superior Court in New Hampshire in the case against Ernest Willis, who prosecutors charge raped Tina Anderson twice in her home in 1997, leaving her pregnant, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported.
The then-teenager was then compelled by leaders of the Trinity Baptist Church to apologize for becoming pregnant with a married man's child, the Concord Monitor reported.
Willis, now 52, has admitted to the sex, but claims it was consensual.
Anderson, now 29, who asked media outlets to publicly identify her to draw attention to the case, told police the church's pastor, Charles Phelps, spirited her away to another church member in Colorado in an effort to muddle a police investigation back in 1997.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
Could be more here than we are being told, or it could be as bad as it looks. I’ll never understand why so many of these cases come up so long after the fact though.
All political considerations aside, this was just pure and simple wrong. The media will use it to bash Christians but that is not the issue.
But ... Why aren't the Baptist officials on trial?
**The then-teenager was then compelled by leaders of the Trinity Baptist Church to apologize for becoming pregnant with a married man’s child,**
And the man apologized to his wife and to the congregation too?
**Trinity Baptist Church**
Hmmmm
Eventually the girl left that church, married and has a family. I hope she gets something from the suit - that bastard who raped her knew she was a kid and allowed the church congregation to think she was a slut while all he got was praise for admitting an "indiscretion" - no mention that it was a 15 year old child. He should have gone to prison
If only these men did not have to remain celibate......oh, wait! He was married!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wrong church.
And why aren’t they collecting Baptist money?
Phelps?? Baptist Church??
Why does that resonate?
Regards,
GtG
This is an abbreviated name - I think the documentary on tv said this was not associated with the larger Baptist denomination - it was an small independent church. The pastor, with the creepy name of Phelps has moved on to another church and the younger pastor there now was shown on the video denouncing that entire situation
Come on HBO: ‘Inbreds of New Hampshire - The Series’.
I would hazard a guess that this is an independent church and there is no money to collect.
The full name of this church was ‘Greater Ebenezer New Revival Tree of Life Institutional Double Rock on the Side of the Road to Jericho Missionary Baptist Church of Zion... And may I say, Mount Calvary?’
“That was only the first step in Anderson’s “church discipline,” one of many ritual practices in the Independent Fundamental Baptist Church (IFB), which Anderson, now more than a decade later, says preys on the vulnerable...
...The church said a report was made to the Division of Family and Child Services within 24 hours of learning about the accusations on Oct. 8, 1997. “
Sin is sin no matter who is guilty.
Having faith in God gets in the way of having total faith in a Socialist/Marxist government ....
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