Free Republic

Small town Arkansas Pastor Rocky Goodwin is facing 10 felony charges, which include distributing, possessing, and viewing matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child. Editor’s note: This article contains details about child sex abuse that some readers might find disturbing and/or triggering. Goodwin, 86, is the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Warren, Arkansas. According to the affidavit for the warrant of arrest, an Arkansas State Police (ASP) special agent started investigating Goodwin in 2023 after receiving a tip from Lenore Paladino, an analyst for the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force. Paladino was alerted when Microsoft reported...

One day after being charged with aggravated sexual battery, a longtime Tennessee pastor died by suicide in a hospital bathroom, authorities said. David Mark Baker Sr., 57, was serving at Family Baptist Church in Columbia, had been a jail chaplain, and once ran for Maury County mayor. On Sept. 10, Baker was charged with aggravated sexual battery in a case that involved a minor, according to Sheriff Bucky Rowland. Baker, released from jail on $200,000 bond, was scheduled to appear in court next month. Columbia Police Chief Jeremy Alsup said Baker walked into a local emergency room on Sept. 11,...

Children screamed in terror and hid under the pews at Hiawatha Church of God in Christ on Sunday, witnesses said, as an Ashtabula man was shot and killed by his son just after the Easter service.

Escaping the Nazis By: JOHN MULLANE Bucks County Courier Times The memories haunt Danny Goldsmith. Chill night. Nazi troopers storming his street in Belgium, pounding on doors, smashing them. He, his mother and baby sister, Lillian, hid on a rooftop as the beam of a German soldier's flashlight swept past them. It was 1942. He was 10. "At one point, I peeked over the cornice and saw our Jewish neighbors being dragged into the street in their night clothes and put in trucks," he said to a packed room this week in Arlington, Va. His parents' wedding photo was on...

Vandalism occurs after appearance of 'demons' By MATT COUGHLIN Bucks County Courier Times Two "demons" made an appearance at a Tullytown church a few weeks ago, according to the pastor. The two walked into St. Michael the Archangel Church on Levittown Parkway in Tullytown about five and a half weeks ago and introduced themselves as "demons," Rev. Michael C. DiIorio said Tuesday. DiIorio said the two individuals, whom he declined to describe, walked around after Sunday Mass asking to speak with the pastor. When parishioners pointed DiIorio out, the two walked up to him and said they were "demons" and...

Just heard on CNBC Squak Box that FEMA has decided it will reimburse churches for providing for hurricane evacuees. My first thought is how corrupt churches are in certain communities. What will be the "proof" needed by FEMA to make payment? I suspect ligit lists of evacuees are already floating around churches. Provide the list to FEMA and get money for helping 3000 people in your one-room country church.This is exactly the type of situation I was affraid would happen. No way the Feds can keep this situation from getting out of hand. No amount of oversite will stop massive...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - The state House on Friday voted against affirming the separation of church and state in a resolution brought by a legislator who said he was fed up with a religious undertone at the Capitol. The House voted 44-39 against the proposal. Only two Republicans voted for it, and one of them, Rep. Jim Medley, said he had intended to vote no but didn't get to his machine in time to change his vote. Democratic Rep. Buddy Blair said he offered the measure because he was tired of conservative colleagues "making every issue into a religious...