The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Matthew Phelps, an Evangelical pastor-in-training at Clear Creek Baptist Bible College in Pineville,Kentucky, stands accused of murdering his wife.
A 28-year-old North Carolina man is facing a murder charge after allegedly stabbing his wife in bed — but the newlywed claims he doesn’t remember carrying out the alleged crime because he might have done it in his sleep, PEOPLE confirms.
Matthew Phelps, of Raleigh, called police distraught early Friday morning, declaring that his wife, Lauren, was dead on their bedroom floor covered in blood.
“I had a dream and then I turned on the lights and she’s dead on the floor,” he says in a 911 call obtained by PEOPLE. “I have blood all over me and there’s a bloody knife on the bed and I think I did it. I can’t believe this.”
He told the dispatcher through tears that his wife wasn’t breathing and that he was afraid to get close to her — “I’m so scared,” he said.
Phelps is charged with murder and is being held at Wake County Detention Center without bail, a jail spokesperson tells PEOPLE. As police work to determine the circumstances around Lauren’s death, Phelps suggested during the 911 call that cold medicine he took the night before might have led to his alleged actions.
I took more medicine than I should have,” he said. “I took Coricidin Cough and Cold because I know it can make you feel good. A lot of times I can’t sleep at night. So, I took some.”
He added: “Oh my God. She didn’t deserve this.”
Phelps and Lauren had been married for less than a year, ABC News reports. Both of their apparent Facebook pages are filled with wedding photos of the young couple along with pictures that show their shared love for Star Wars.
Phelps’ account shows that he studied missions and evangelism at Clear Creek Baptist Bible College. Lauren was a Sunday school teacher and Phelps was studying to be a pastor, a friend told ABC.
Lana Bowlin of Mount Vernon announces the engagement of her daughter, Marlanda Brooke Bowlin, to Matthew James Phelps, son of Melodye and Jason Campbell and grandson of Amel and Teresa Hardcastle of Bowling Green.
Brooke is also the daughter of the late Marvin Bowlin. She is a graduate of Clear Creek Baptist Bible College and is a member of Calvary Baptist Church.
Matthew is a graduate of Clear Creek Baptist Bible College and is a member of Calvary Baptist Church.
The wedding will be at 2 p.m. Aug. 6, 2011, at Calvary Baptist Church, with a reception afterward at the church.
Update
In an October 18, 2017 report for The Morning Call, Thomas McDonald wrote:
Lauren Nicole Hugelmaier Phelps was the victim of 123 stab wounds and cuts last month during a frenzied attack in the bedroom of her home, according to an autopsy report made public Tuesday. Her husband, who faces murder charges, contends he took too much cold medicine before falling asleep, then awoke to find his wife’s bloody body.
State pathologists documented 44 cuts and stabs, some more than 4 inches deep, about her head and neck during the attack, according to the autopsy report. Those were part of a total 123 stabs and cuts all over her body that were thought to have been made with a kitchen knife, the autopsy said.
Matthew James Phelps, 29, is charged with first-degree murder and is currently being held in the Wake County jail without benefit of bail. Phelps called 911 just before 1:10 a.m. on Sept. 1 and described to a dispatcher that he had awakened to the bloody scene.
Emergency workers arrived at the couple’s townhouse in northwest Raleigh and found Lauren Phelps, 29, in a fetal position on the bedroom floor, according to the autopsy report. She was rushed to WakeMed and died in the emergency department at 1:43 a.m., according to the autopsy report.
In addition to the wounds to her head and neck, pathologists found 13 stab wounds and 11 cuts about her torso, 16 slashes and one stab wound on her right arm, along with 35 cuts and three stab wounds on her left arm. A stab wound on the left side of her neck completely severed her left jugular vein and her left common carotid artery, which supplies the head and neck with blood. Her body was covered with smeared blood, according to the autopsy report.
The state examiners surmised that the wound patterns were consistent with a single-edged blade, according to the autopsy report. Toxicologists did not detect alcohol in the woman’s body, nor did she have any pre-existing natural disease.
In 2015, Charles Woodall was arrested and charged with molesting three boys he met through his work at Northway Church in Macon, Georgia. Last Friday, Woodall was convicted of his crimes.
Amy Leigh Womack, a reporter for The Telegraph, reports:
Jurors deliberated for about two hours before finding former GBI agent Charles Woodall guilty of molesting three boys he met through his work at Macon’s Northway Church.
Woodall, who was taken into custody after the verdict was announced, was found guilty of six counts of child molestation, five counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes and one count of violating his oath as an agent. He will be sentenced at a later date.
District Attorney David Cooke said Woodall “abused the trust of two of our most sacred institutions, the church and the badge. Now he will have to answer for his crimes thanks to the courage of his victims who came forward to hold him accountable.”
Testimony in Woodall’s trial began Tuesday in Bibb County Superior Court.
The 36-year-old testified Thursday, calmly denying all the allegations against him. He said he didn’t know why the boys — whom he’d met during stints as a volunteer and other times as an employee of the Zebulon Road church — would make such serious allegations against him.
In her closing argument to jurors, prosecutor Nancy Scott Malcor recounted statements of 11 men — who were teenagers at the time of the alleged inappropriate contact with Woodall in Georgia and Tennessee — and reminded jurors of their “eerily similar stories.”
“Their stories are the same because the defendant is a pervert who hasn’t changed his playbook in 15 years,” she said. “These men are telling the truth. They have nothing to gain by lying. … They’re saying these things because they’re true.”
Allegations against Woodall date from 2005 to 2014.
Woodall testified he got a job at a Knoxville, Tennessee, church after dropping out of college following his freshman year.
At first he worked with the church’s afters-school program and then began volunteering with the youth group.
In 2005, he moved to Macon and began a summer internship working with youth at Northway Church, formerly known as Vineville North Baptist Church, Woodall testified.
At the end of the internship, he was hired as an assistant to the student pastor, a position he held until going back to college in 2007, with hopes of one day becoming a federal law enforcement officer.
In December 2011, Woodall was hired by the GBI as a crime scene specialist and was working as a field agent at the time of his 2015 arrest. The GBI assisted in Woodall’s prosecution.
Charles Cox, Woodall’s lawyer, said the actions of the men who accused his client of impropriety don’t match their words.
“Their words say Mr. Woodall is guilty. Their behavior says he’s innocent,” Cox said in his closing argument. “Actions speak louder than words.”
Cox said the men sought out a relationship with Woodall after the alleged inappropriate conduct supposedly occurred.
He said there’s no computer or credit card evidence that supports allegations Woodall purchased pornography he was accused of showing the men when they were teens.
There’s also no evidence he bought a sex toy he’s accused of providing to the boys, Cox said.
In a November 25, 2015 article, Womack reported:
The investigation of a former GBI agent charged with molesting three boys has revealed other alleged victims in Georgia and Tennessee, as well as an allegation in Dallas, Texas.
Bill Bodrey, assistant special agent in charge of the GBI’s Perry office, testified during a hearing Wednesday that 34-year-old Charles Woodall also was investigated in 2014, but insufficient evidence was found to prosecute.
Since authorities launched a new investigation about two months ago, allegations brought forward by others have corroborated the account that the boy in the 2014 case described, he said.
….
He is charged with nine counts of child molestation, six counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes, one count of electronically furnishing obscene material to minors, and violating his oath of office.
The charges stem from allegations that he molested three boys between September 2005 and February 2014.
Woodall, who became a GBI agent in December 2011, resigned in lieu of termination last month during the investigation.
He’d been assigned to the GBI’s Milledgeville field office, but he had interned at the Perry office before being hired as an agent.
When speaking with the GBI, one of the boys said he’d met Woodall at Northway Church on Zebulon Road in north Macon, Bodrey testified.
Woodall was a small group leader and mentor for the church’s youth and played in a church band, Bodrey said.
The boy told agents that his sexual contact with Woodall began when he was 13 or 14 years old, after the boy had confessed that he was addicted to pornography, Bodrey said.
Woodall offered to help the boy. Between 2009 and 2014, he drove the boy from his home to Woodall’s home or from church to Woodall’s home, where Woodall provided a sex toy and pornography to the boy, and touched the boy’s genitals, Bodrey testified.
Later, after the boy turned 16 and Woodall had left his position at the church to become a GBI agent, Woodall and the boy met at a motel room, where Woodall again provided pornography and a sex toy, and touched the boy’s genitals, Bodrey said.
Agent Jason Shoudel testified that Woodall provided pornography and a sex toy for two other boys, whom he drove individually from their home north of Macon to his home in Macon, where he coached them on how to pleasure themselves.
“He called it being his accountability partner with the church,” Shoudel said.
Between 2005 and 2007, one of the boys alleges that he had contact with Woodall once or twice a month, beginning when he was 12 or 13.
Years later, when the boy was 16 or 17, Woodall took the boy to a location outside Bibb County and gave him alcohol, Shoudel said.
Another boy alleges that he had contact with Woodall at least a dozen times between 2009 and 2011 when he was between 14 and 15, the agent testified.
At some point, Woodall took him to a motel room near the Mall of Georgia, north of Atlanta, where he gave him alcohol and touched his genitals, Shoudel said.
Donna Buttarazzi, a reporter for Sea Coast Online, reports:
A former high school tennis coach and current pastor of Wells Branch Baptist Church (also known as Trinity Coastal Community Church) was found guilty by a jury in York County Superior Court Thursday of an assault against a 15-year-old girl that took place at a Sanford McDonald’s in October 2016.
Peter W. Leon of Wells was charged with assault against a minor, a Class D misdemeanor, for touching the girl’s back and allegedly making sexual comments to the Sanford girl at the restaurant last fall. The two did not know each other prior to the incident.
Leon was sentenced Friday afternoon to 60 days in jail and a mandatory $300 fine. Judge Deborah Cashman suspended all 60 days, meaning Leon will not serve any jail time as long as he meets all sentencing requirements. Cashman ordered Leon to participate in counseling, including formal training on sexual harassment, and ordered that he have no contact with the victim or her family.
The trial began Thursday morning and ran all day, with closing arguments from both attorneys beginning around 3 p.m. The jury deliberated for roughly two hours before reaching a verdict just before 6 p.m.
The jury found Leon guilty of offensive physical contact which is defined under Maine law as “knowingly intending bodily contact or unlawful touching done in such a manner as would reasonably be expected to violate the person or dignity of the victim.”
Prosecuting attorney Susan Pope said she was pleased with Cashman’s sentencing.
“I’m pleased with the sentence. I think the judge got it right,” Pope said following the sentencing.
In her opening arguments during the trial Thursday Pope said Leon entered the Sanford south McDonald’s at 1439 Main St. around 3:30 p.m. on the afternoon of Oct. 24, 2016 and approached the girl, placed his hand on her back and said, “These jeans are looking pretty good on you, they are nice and tight in all the right places. Trust me, they look good.”
….
Leon pleaded not guilty to the charge. His attorney Amy Fairfield said in court Thursday morning that her client put his hand on the girl’s shoulder and asked her if she was in line.
Leon testified that he wasn’t sure if the girl was in line and he didn’t want to cut in front of her. He denied saying the comments about the girls jeans.
“It was so quick in and out of the restaurant, and I didn’t want to cut the line. I was making a comment and I used the word ‘dungarees,’ and then I said jeans. I didn’t think it was derogatory. I didn’t know how she could get those jeans on at the ankle they were so tight fitted,” Leon said in his testimony Thursday.
The 12-member jury of five men and seven women viewed a surveillance video from the McDonald’s restaurant several times during the trial. In it a man confirmed to be Leon entered the restaurant, approached the girl and appeared to speak to her and touch her on the back or shoulder area. Shortly after the incident the girl can be seen leaving the restaurant and her mother entered and confronted Leon.
The girl’s mother had been waiting in the car while her daughter went in to get food. She received a text and phone call from her daughter while she was waiting.
“I thought she needed more money, so I grabbed my wallet, and I got out of the car to go in. Before I touched the door to the restaurant, she came out crying. She said this man had touched her and talked really dirty to her. I said ‘what man?’ and she pointed to him (Leon).”
Sanford Police officer Sarah Howe testified that the girl’s mother called 911 from the restaurant. Howe said she spoke with the mother who gave her a license plate number of the car Leon left in. Howe also testified that she spoke with the girl following the incident, and she was clearly upset over the phone.
Howe spoke with Leon the day after the incident via telephone and he said he didn’t recall his exact words to the girl.
….
Leon is a former tennis coach for both boys and girls at Wells High School and he coached girls tennis in 2016 at Kennebunk High School for one year. Fairfield said that following his indictment last fall, both schools told Leon he could no longer coach.
In 2001, Leon was charged with witness tampering.
The Sea Coast Online reported at the time:
Leon, who is the current president of the Wells Rotary Club, is not a newcomer to serving in public office. Before moving to Wells, he was the minister at the First Congregational Church of Machias. In 1998 he was elected to the Calais School Committee. Leon was unable to serve the full three-year term due to being recalled in a special recall election in July 1999.
Leon took out nomination papers again in 2001 while under indictment by a grand jury for witness tampering. According to press reports, Leon had been hired by the Calais school system to tutor Michael Poole, a student that had been suspended after criminal charges were filed against him for $30,000 worth of damages to school property.
Leon was charged with witness tampering in 2001 after police taped a conversation he had with an inmate, Justin McVay, that had also been accused of vandalizing the school, articles state. According to the Bangor Daily News, Leon was indicted for attempting to coerce McVay to admit that Poole had nothing to do with the school vandalism.
Leon went to trial in April 2002 and was found not guilty.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Eugune Katcher, pastor of Resurrection Parish in Canton, Michigan, stands accused of stealing money, wine, and a television from his church.
A Canton priest is facing criminal charges related to stolen money, wine and a television from a church.
The Wayne County Prosecutor’s office charged Father Eugene Katcher, the former pastor of Resurrection Parish in Canton, with larceny on Thursday. He was arraigned at the 35th District Court in Plymouth and faces three counts of larceny in a building.
The Archdiocese of Detroit started an investigation into missing money and other items from the church in the spring and alerted authorities later. Authorities are not releasing how much money he allegedly stole from the church, but it has been determined he stole wine and a television.
The 71-year old priest retired in July, but after he was arrested the archdiocese restricted him from celebrating mass in a church setting. He is also banned from Resurrection Church property.
If convicted on the larceny charges, Katcher faces up to four years in prison.
A retired priest charged with stealing from Resurrection Parish in Canton has an opportunity to keep criminal charges off his record, officials say.The Rev. Eugene Katcher, 71, has been placed in a Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office diversion program allowing him to avoid a criminal record if he obeys certain court orders that are not disclosed.
“Father Katcher qualified for the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office diversion program because he had no prior record and was charged with a non-violent offense,” prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Maria Miller confirmed Friday. “According to the law, we cannot comment on any further details.”
Katcher could have faced up to four years in prison if he had been convicted in Wayne County Circuit Court on three counts of larceny involving allegations he stole collection plate money, votive candle donations and church property such as a television and wine.
He served as priest at Resurrection Parish from 2014 until July. Archdiocese of Detroit officials have said Katcher already had planned to retire before his arrest in July.
Under the diversion program, certain first-time offenders can keep their records clear if they have a history of law-abiding behavior and if they are charged with lower-level felony offenses.
Thanks to Pastor Mitch Olson, pastor of Grace Ministry Center in Kimball, Michigan slipping free on criminal charges for inappropriate sexual behavior with a female church member, Michigan Senator Rick Jones is working to add clergy to the sexual assault law so it:
afford [s] children, students of a certain age, patients of medical doctors and clients of mental health professionals, among others, special protection. The law states these victims cannot give consent because of the authority the perpetrator has in the relationship.
Astoundingly, clergy are not considered authority figures under Michigan law.
Nicole Hayden, a reporter for The Times Herald, writes:
Senate bill is being drafted in Lansing to address clergy members and sexual assault laws.
The action is being taken after Sen. Rick Jones, Michigan Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, read a story in the Times Herald detailing a prosecutor’s decision to deny criminal charges against a pastor who put his hands on the breasts, buttocks and genitals of a female member of his church.
“I am angry this could happen and that this pastor could get away and not be charged,” Jones said. “I think that it very inappropriate and in most cases a pastor has just as much power over a person as a teacher or a doctor. I have requested a bill be written by the Legislative Service Bureau to address this situation.”
Pastor Mitch Olson, of Grace Ministry Center in Smiths Creek, was investigated for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman, who was 19 years old at the time, during a religious ceremony.
he prosecutor’s office called Olson’s actions “morally reprehensible,” but concluded no criminal activity took place as the victim consented to the act.
Michigan’s criminal sexual conduct laws afford children, students of a certain age, patients of medical doctors and clients of mental health professionals, among others, special protection. The law states these victims cannot give consent because of the authority the perpetrator has in the relationship.
Jones said he believes the law should be clarified to say that a pastor giving counseling services should be regarded in the same way a therapist or psychologist giving counseling services is.
The victim said she felt happy to learn that a bill would be drafted to protect others from experiencing the same trauma she did.
I feel rewarded and happy that even though justice was not served for me, in the future it will be served for other women,” she said. “I’m happy I was able to protect (others) and made a difference.”
Jones said the bill will take a couple months to write before the bureau introduces the language to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Jones said because he is the chairman of the committee, he will make sure there is a hearing to review the bill.
“I suspect the bill will get a lot of support,” Jones said.
Jones said, as a former police officer of 31 years, he feels legislators should do everything they can to protect victims of sexual assault.
Klint Kesto, Michigan House of Representatives Law and Justice Committee chairman, said he is also reviewing the case involving Olson.
“Overall, non-consensual sexual touching is definitely a crime,” Kesto said. “I don’t know enough about the facts of this case … but I have a call into the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan. They are getting me case law that will hopefully shed light on the issue.”
David Moran, University of Michigan clinical law professor and co-founder of the Michigan Innocence Clinic, said he is less optimistic about the proposed bill.
Moran said he would be surprised if an amendment to the law actually happened.
“Where the lines have been drawn so far makes sense because the law is typically talking about children or prisoners – someone who is under complete control of an authority figure,” Moran said. “Once you start expanding the (special victims) list, it gets hard to draw the lines of who is an authority figure and who is not. You also run the risk of getting into constitutional issues as well, as churches and religion are protected under the First Amendment, so it’s dicey.”
Nicole Hayden, a reporter for the Times Herald, reports:
A pastor accused of sexually assaulting a young woman will not face prosecution because the woman doesn’t fall under any classes of victims as outlined by state law, officials said Wednesday.
Pastor Mitch Olson, of Grace Ministry Center in Smiths Creek, was being investigated after the 20-year-old woman filed a police report in June alleging that Olson sexually assaulted her while performing a religious act. The Times Herald does not publish names of sexual assault victims. At the start of August, the St. Clair County Sheriff Department submitted the case to the prosecutor for review seeking a criminal sexual conduct charge.
The prosecutor concluded no criminal activity occurred.
“The conduct of suspect Mitchell Olson directed towards 19 year old Victim was morally reprehensible. The Grace Ministry Center head pastor’s conduct appears to be highly questionably and not religious in nature. It also appears to have violated the standards of the church. However, based on the information and law cited above, this conduct despite being immoral is not illegal according to Michigan criminal law. For these reasons we are unable to prosecute this case,” said Senior Assistant Prosecutor Paul Soderberg in the case review released Wednesday morning.
The woman told the Times Herald that she was heartbroken by the decision.
“It’s frustrating to know that it did happen but that Michigan law can’t protect me,” she said. “It’s very frustrating. I think if Michigan law was different he would be prosecuted … it’s frustrating that he can continue to do to other women what he did to me … I have learned through this experience that sexual assault is so minimized and that it’s easier for people to brush it under the rug rather than take action.”
….
The prosecutor’s case review does not argue if Olson committed the alleged acts or not, but states that the allegations are not criminal according to Michigan law.
“In reaching this conclusion, the People thoroughly reviewed the evidence presented in the sheriff department’s criminal investigation. It included the multiple disclosures and statements made by victim, which were consistent and reliable … The review also considered the statements of suspect Olson, who appeared to minimize his actions and while also deflecting away from the issue at stake,” said the prosecutor’s review.
To be a criminal act in Michigan, the victim either had to fall under a special class of victims or there had to be proof beyond a reasonable doubt that there was force or coercion involved in the alleged sexual assault.
The special class of victims includes children under the age of 16, incapacitated victims, family members, students of a certain age, special education students, persons in foster care, clients of mental health professionals, prisoners, and patients of medical doctors, among others.
“In contrast, there currently are no laws in Michigan that specifically list or protect members of a religious organization as ‘status’ victims against sexual contact by religious leaders, authorities, or pastors, etc,” according to the prosecutor’s review.
But while Olson may have manipulated the victim to consent to his touches, the actions were deemed consensual and not criminal by the prosecutor as there was no force, violence or threat of injury.
“It should be noted that a knowing consent to the touching is a valid defense to this (criminal sexual conduct) charge,” said the prosecutor’s case review.
David Moran, University of Michigan clinical law professor and co-founder of the Michigan Innocence Clinic, said consent is generally a fair defense to all criminal sexual assault charges.
If a victim knows the sexual conduct is happening, even if they are tricked into it, it’s hard to criminalize the action, Moran said.
“If a guy at the bar says I am a second cousin of (the president) and can get you a job in the government if you sleep with me, but it turns out he actually is not related, is that rape?” Moran said. “It’s very hard to draw the line between the different types of lies people use to get sex … everyone can agree it is unethical for a pastor to take advantage of a member of his flock, but it’s hard to draw the line if it’s criminal … It is innocence in a legal sense.”
Moran said often times sexual harassment lawsuits in civil court are available in cases where it is impossible to charge someone with a criminal sexual conduct charge.
….
Grace Ministry Center board members Gordon Farnsworth, Joseph Forth, Dave Frazier, and Lewis Hurley declined to comment for the story. We could not reach board members Caremy Snellenberger, Bev Wilson, Tim Holcomb or Hannah Herr. Some of the board members have since resigned, according to the police report. Former Assistant Pastor Justin Mcburney declined to comment and has since resigned from his position.
You can read all of Hayden’s excellent article here.
Eric Garland, family pastor at Denman Avenue Baptist Church in Lufkin, Texas, was arrested Monday and charged with prescription fraud. (Garland has already been scrubbed from the church’s website.)
Officers with the Lufkin Police Department arrested Denman Avenue Baptist Church’s family pastor Monday in connection to allegations that he committed prescription fraud to obtain pain medication normally used for dogs. [This statement is incorrect. Tramadol is normally prescribed to humans.]
Eric Thomas Garland, 30, of Lufkin, was booked in to the Angelina County Jail on a third-degree felony prescription fraud charge. He was released later Monday after he posted a bail amount of $5,000.
The Denman Avenue Baptist Church web site lists Garland as the church’s family pastor.
“Eric Garland was placed on administrative leave by the Personnel Committee immediately upon learning of his prescription drug addiction,” a statement from the church said. “At this time, Eric has been relieved of all pastoral duties and responsibilities and is now facing the consequences of this addiction.”
….
According to the arrest affidavit, Garland obtained a canine pain medication called Tramadol through “misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception, or subterfuge.”
A Lufkin PD detective was contacted by a local veterinarian who wanted to speak to someone about a possible prescription fraud on May 31. When the LPD detective spoke to the veterinarian, the vet told him that he has prescribed 210 tablets of Tramadol to Garland since March.
The vet also told the Lufkin PD detective that Garland told him the medication was for a chocolate Labrador retriever named Bayla because the dog had back leg pain, the affidavit stated.
The veterinarian told the detective he first saw Garland on March 17 and that he prescribed him 30 Tramadol tablets, 30 Rimadyl, and two Bravecto, the affidavit stated. Then, on March 20, Garland allegedly called the veterinary clinic on March 20 and said that he had lost the Tramadol, so the vet prescribed 30 more Tramadol tablets.
According to the affidavit, the vet told the Lufkin PD detective that Garland came back on April 6 and April 18 and was prescribed 30 more Tramadol tablets each time. When Garland came back to the veterinary clinic on May 17, he got a prescription for 60 Tramadol tablets, the affidavit stated.
The veterinarian told the LPD detective that on May 31, he spoke to a veterinarian at the Lone Star Veterinary Clinic. During their conversation, a vet there brought up the fact that Garland had been to his clinic numerous times recently.
After that, the veterinarian contacted vets at Pineywoods Veterinary and the West Loop Animal Clinic. The vets he spoke to at those clinics also said that Garland had been by numerous times to get Tramadol prescriptions, the affidavit stated.
…..
On May 31, the Lufkin PD detective sent a request to the Commissioned Online Prescription System for Garland’s prescription history from June 2016 to May of 2017 and found that Garland was prescribed about 1,037 Tramadol tablets between June 1, 2016, and June 6, 2017.
“Prescription drug addiction is a national epidemic,” the statement from Denman Avenue Baptist Church said. “The church is made up of all walks of people and as we have been reminded is not isolated from addictions or other unwise circumstances ordinary people face day to day. The church family at Denman is here to provide the love and support that can only be found through faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to all people in our community.”
Note:
I wonder if Garland was taking other drugs too. The reason I wonder is that 1,037 Trampoline over a thirteen month period comes out to about eighty tablets a month. I am on long-term pain management and Tramadol is part of my treatment. In that same thirteen month period I took 1,560 tablets, four per day. If the Tramadol was all that Garland was taking, he might have become dependent, but I doubt addicted — unless he was binge using. I suspect the bigger issue is HOW and where he was obtaining the Tramadol.
Wayne Buchanan, pastor of Tremont Congregational Church in Bass Harbor, Maine and St. Brendan’s Anglican Mission, pleaded guilty last Friday to “one count of possessing sexually explicit material of a minor under the age of 12.”
Mark Good, a reporter for Mount Desert Islander, writes:
The former pastor of a Tremont church will serve a suspended sentence and probation after pleading guilty to a child pornography charge Friday in Hancock County Unified Criminal Court.
Wayne Buchanan, 63, of Southwest Harbor pleaded guilty to one count of possessing sexually explicit material of a minor under the age of 12, a Class C felony level crime.
Buchanan was sentenced to a suspended one-year prison term and to two years probation with conditions that include no unsupervised contact with children under the age of 12. He also is required to register with the Maine Sex Offender Registry.
Justice Patrick Larson noted that the sentence was the result of a negotiated plea between the defendant and prosecutors. Buchanan, who will serve no time behind bars if he complies with his conditions, faced up to five years in prison and up to a $2,000 fine.
The prosecuting attorney, Assistant District Attorney Toff Toffolon, told the court that there is no evidence that Buchanan disseminated child pornography or that he had any sexual contact with minors. Since being charged, Buchanan has “engaged in extraordinary rehabilitation efforts,” Toffolon said.
Buchanan’s attorney, Richard Hartley, told the court that “a lot of work” went into the case.
“What sets this apart is what my client has done since,” Hartley said. “It really is exceptional.”
According to Hartley, Buchanan sought counseling to deal with “what has been a long-recognized condition” and has gone as far as to start “a sex offenders anonymous program here in Ellsworth.”
….
Detectives with the computer crimes unit executed a search warrant at Buchanan’s home in January 2016, seizing computers, thumb drives and a memory card. In an affidavit filed to support the search warrant, Detective David Armstrong stated another detective downloaded “numerous sexually explicit images” involving children from Buchanan’s computer.
Buchanan resigned as pastor of the Tremont Congregational Church and St. Brendan’s Anglican Mission on Jan. 7, 2016, the day after state police executed the search warrant.
….
Buchanan…. has been “removed from his holy orders in the Anglican Church by action of the bishop according to the canons of the church and no longer is a member of the Anglican clergy.”
Buchanan, according to published reports, was active in boy scouting and at one time was president of the Katahdin Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
The former pastor of a Tremont church held up as an example of rehabilitation at his sentencing last month for possession of child pornography was arrested Sept. 7 for violating his probation.
Wayne Buchanan, 63, of Southwest Harbor allegedly violated his probation by using his computer to access websites and perform internet searches that are prohibited by his court-ordered conditions, according the Hancock County District Attorney Matthew Foster.
Buchanan, the former pastor of the Tremont Congregational Church and St. Brendan’s Anglican Mission, pleaded guilty Aug. 25 in Hancock County Unified Criminal Court to one count of possessing sexually explicit material of a minor under the age of 12, a Class C felony level crime. That same day, he was sentenced to a suspended one-year prison term and to two years probation with conditions that include no unsupervised contact with children under the age of 12. He also is required to register with the Maine Sex Offender Registry.
Buchanan was released from the Hancock County Jail on Friday, after posting $5,000 bail.
According to Foster, one of the search terms used by Buchanan was “rubbin butts,” which the Southwest Harbor man claimed was a search for a brand of barbecue sauce. While there is an actual brand by that name, “law enforcement feels that explanation is somewhat convenient,” the district attorney wrote in an email.
Buchanan’s probation conditions allow him to use the internet only as part of his sex offender treatment, Foster said.
The sentence handed down in August was the result of a plea agreement between the defendant and prosecutors. Buchanan faced up to five years in prison.
At the time, Assistant District Attorney Toff Toffolon told the court that Buchanan had “engaged in extraordinary rehabilitation efforts.”
Buchanan’s attorney, Richard Hartley, said the work his client had done “is exceptional.” Buchanan sought counseling to deal with “what has been a long-recognized condition” and had gone as far as to start “a sex offenders anonymous program here in Ellsworth,” Hartley said.
By violating his probation, Buchanan could be ordered to serve his one-year prison sentence. That will be determined at a hearing, which Foster said is scheduled for Oct. 13.
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Today, October 20, 2017, Mark Good, a writer for the Mount Desert Islander, reports:
A judge last week denied a motion to revoke the probation of a Southwest Harbor man convicted of possessing child pornography but did approve stricter conditions regarding his sex offender treatment program.
Wayne Buchanan, 63, was in Hancock County Unified Criminal Court Friday for a hearing to revoke his probation and to amend the conditions of his probation.
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In court last week, Buchanan’s former probation officer, Kurt Dyer, testified he had the former pastor arrested on the probation violation charge after receiving notification from monitoring software that Buchanan’s computer was used to access Facebook accounts, Amazon, YouTube, a drop box and other sites.
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“His probation conditions state he can only access a computer for treatment purposes,” Dyer said, explaining that he could see no therapeutic reasons to visit Facebook and other websites.
Buchanan’s attorney, Richard Hartley, asserted it was Buchanan’s wife, Nola Buchanan, who had used the family’s sole computer, a laptop, for the searches and accused Dyer of not following up on the Southwest Harbor man’s claim of that being the case.
Nola Buchanan also took the witness stand, testifying that she had used the computer on the family’s visit to New Hampshire, visiting the sites along with her daughter. “Rubbin Butts,” she said, is a barbecue restaurant in New Hampshire.
Nola Buchanan said her husband has never had a Facebook page and the drop box is used by him for his therapy.
Deputy District Attorney Toff Toffolon suggested Nola Buchanan was covering for her husband, saying she faced no legal jeopardy for not telling the truth.
“But you certainly see a legal downside as to why your husband is here today,” Toffolon continued.
Toffolon questioned her claim that Buchanan has never had a Facebook page after she admitted she didn’t know her “husband was collecting child porn.”
The deputy district attorney also challenged her reason for not contacting Buchanan’s probation officer after he was arrested to explain the circumstances of their computer use.
“I never thought I had access to Wayne’s probation officer,” she said.
Toffolon said the state had never accused Buchanan of accessing pornographic sites at the time of his arrest.
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Justice Pat Larson denied the motion for revoking Buchanan’s probation but the state was successful in having his conditions amended regarding treatment.
According to Toffolon, Buchanan is under the care of Harl Hargett of Alpha Forensic Psychological Services LLC of Lakewood, Colo.
Hargett’s website states that, along with treatment in his office, he offers therapy by Google hangouts, Skype and telephone. He claims to be certified as a sex addiction therapist, sex therapist and a substance abuse professional.
Buchanan’s current probation officer, Timothy Quinn, told the court that Buchanan’s therapy with Hargett was not what was required by the state for sex offenders. Quinn, a sex offender specialist with the Maine Department of Corrections, took over for Dyer after Buchanan was assessed to be a high risk for reoffending, according to testimony.
Quinn said Buchanan should be undergoing sex offender therapy, not sex addiction therapy. The two types of therapy are quite different, he said. With a state-certified sex offender counselor, a probation officer is able to monitor an offender’s treatment, he said.
Hartley argued that the plea agreement between the district attorney’s office and Buchanan included information on what counseling his client was to receive.
Toffolon pointed out that, at the time, prosecutors were unaware that Buchanan was a high-risk offender.
Larson ruled that Buchanan’s conditions be amended to require that he undergo state-ordered sex offender treatment and that his computers be subject to random search and seizure. Computers used by other family members are subject to random search and seizure upon reasonable, articulable suspicion.
Earlier this year, Justin White, pastor of First Christian Church in Columbus, Indiana was arrested on “felony charges of insurance fraud and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.”
The Republic reported:
A Columbus pastor who claimed his family was robbed of about $11,000 in cash and valuables while he was preaching at church has been arrested on felony charges of insurance fraud and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Justin K. White, 38, 3255 Sunrise Drive, senior minister at First Christian Church since May 2011 is accused of arranging with a juvenile to stage the Dec. 18 burglary at his Skyview Estates home on the city’s northeast side in order to file an insurance claim for the lost items, court documents in the case state.
White is accused of having the burglary staged to obtain money from his insurance company to pay a drug debt, court documents state. The charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor relates to White being accused of seeking to have a juvenile commit an act that would be a felony if committed by an adult, dealing in a narcotic drug.
White was arrested at 6:45 p.m. Friday at his home by Columbus Police detectives, said Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman. The charges were filed late Friday afternoon at the Bartholomew County Courthouse, from where a warrant for White’s arrest was issued soon thereafter.
According to White’s bio on First Christian’s website:
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always anticipated the Sunday morning worship gathering. There’s something thrilling that takes place when God’s people come together to offer our best to the Lord in praise, in fellowship, and in study. One of the most powerful parts of the worship service is when we open the Scriptures together to hear from God Himself. I feel humbled to stand and deliver messages from the Bible; it’s a role that I don’t take lightly, but am so thankful for the opportunity. By nature, I’m a teacher/preacher. I love the Scriptures, and I desire to help others grow in their understanding of its pages as well. My goal at the end of every sermon is not that the congregation remembers a joke, a story, or a particular phrase; my goal is for us all to come to know Christ in a clearer, fuller way.
One of my favorite word-pictures for the Church is found in 1 Corinthians 12:12 when Paul writes, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body…” I believe that Jesus Christ is the head of the church…the rest of us form the body. Out of this teaching, I believe the best way to lead is by serving together as a team. I believe that God has given me the gift to preach and communicate His Word, but that gift is not any more important than any other gift of the Spirit. As every part of the body plays a significant role, so every person in the Church is significant as well.
If you are new to the area or simply new to our church, I’d love to get to know you. I think you’ll find FCC a warm, welcoming place to connect with God and with others. Since arriving in Columbus in May of 2011, my wife, Michelle, and I have been so blessed and encouraged by such a loving and growing group of believers. We have three children–(names removed), and a Yorkie we’ve named Oliver. We love to travel, hike, play sports, eat, and share life with others. We are also die-hard fans for the Colts, Reds, and Indiana Hoosiers!
If there is a way I can help you along your spiritual journey, please don’t hesitate to contact me. We’d love to walk with you!
White’s home was “burglarized” on December 18, 2016 while he was busy preaching the word of God. WTHR-13 reported at the time:
While Pastor Justin White and his family were at church Sunday, someone burglarized their Columbus home, stealing about $11,000 in valuables.
They also took something special from one of his children, and now children are helping to replace it.
At First Christian Church in Columbus, while Justin White spent Sunday in the sanctuary, thieves were preying on the pastor’s home.
“I was here preaching. We have two services,” Pastor White explained. “Everything was going on as normal and then we went home.”
The family noticed the garage door was open to their home. They soon learned someone broke in and ransacked the place sometime between 8:30 and noon.
“The fact that somebody knew where we were and chose Sunday morning to come in? It’s hard. It’s hard to swallow,” said Pastor White’s wife, Michelle.
“We went in and my son looked up and saw that our tv was gone and he said, ‘we’ve been robbed!’ Then we started walking through the house and we realized they had taken so much,” Pastor White said.
The criminals stole more than $11,000 worth of valuables, electronics, small appliances and jewelry, plus something even more personal from (name removed), the family’s youngest.
“She uses a big plastic bottle as a piggy bank and she said, ‘dad! My money’s gone’,” Pastor White said. “It was all gone except for one quarter. They left one quarter there. The rest was gone.”
The bottle was filled with change that the 7-year-old had saved to buy Christmas gifts, earned through chores over several months.
“As a mom, that’s really hard. She’s heartbroken and that’s when I get angry and frustrated,” Michelle said. “I can handle the stuff that was taken from us, but my kids are hurting and that’s the hardest part.”
But then this family had something amazing happen.
They started receiving bags full of coins, donated from neighbors and church members – not from the adults, but from the children.
“Ziploc bags full of coins to be put back in my daughter’s piggy bank,” Pastor White said. “One was anonymous. Another was from a staff member. A mom brought her two preschool daughters over and they had bags full of coins for (name removed). The fact that it comes from a child to a child makes it special.”
“That was the first moment that I cried yesterday when they showed up at our door wanting to give,” Michelle said.
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He’s [White] also forgiven the thieves and says they’re always welcome in the house where he works – the house of God.
“There’s another way. You don’t have to live like this,” Pastor White said. “I feel for whoever did this.”
However, as Columbus Police detectives looked into the burglary allegation, they determined there were no signs of forced entry at the home. The front door and two other doors on the ground floor were unlocked and undamaged, they said. And the thief or thieves had left untouched wrapped gifts under the family’s Christmas tree.
Officers later learned after obtaining a search warrant that White made a claim for the burglary loss the same day he reported it through the Cincinnati Insurance Co, seeking $11,460.75 in compensation, court documents state.
In an unrelated investigation, Columbus detectives obtained a search warrant for the home of the parents of the juvenile who was involved, who is only identified by initials in the court documents. The juvenile told officers that he had an addiction problem and had just gotten out of rehabilitation, court documents state. After repeatedly denying that he had burglarized White’s house, he told officers, “Justin has a very bad drug problem, too, and he’s been asking me to get him things for him since I was 15 years old on house arrest,” court documents state.
The juvenile said the “things” were drugs, specifically pain pills and heroin, court documents state.
The accused accomplice said he had met White for spiritual counseling when placed on house arrest at age 15 or 16 for possession of marijuana, court documents stated. White would come to the boy’s house at lunch time while both of his parents were at work, court documents state.
On his second visit, White asked if the boy could get him some marijuana for his aunt who had cancer, court documents stated. During the third counseling session, White asked for prescription pain pills; and eventually, White asked the boy to obtain heroin for him, court documents states.
At the time of the burglary, White owed the juvenile about $1,000, and had met with the juvenile in his car at a business parking lot to set up the burglary, court documents state.
White originally wanted the juvenile to do the burglary Dec. 16 while he was in Ohio for his grandmother’s funeral, but the juvenile rejected the idea because of the short notice, court documents states.
On the day of the burglary, the boy went to the White house with another juvenile, a female, who knocked on the door and the two walked in because it was unlocked. A pile of items was where White had told them it would be, court documents said, except for a large television which was also part of the deal White had made with the youth, court documents state.
The boy told detectives his primary way of communicating with White was through Facebook Messenger, with White deleting the messages after they were read, court documents states.
When detectives called White in to tell him that they had recovered some of the family’s property, officers read him his rights and asked him about his relationship with the male juvenile, court records state.
White told detectives that he had been meeting with the boy about drug-related matters — around the same time White had been seeing a doctor for headaches, and was put on hydrocodone, the court records state.
“And, uh, I had that first pill and I wanted the whole bottle,” White told investigators, court records state.
The doctor continued to refill White’s prescription and he told investigators he became addicted, court records state.
White told detectives he met with one of the accused accomplice’s friends, who was a dealer, and White began buying drugs from him, court records said.
“I’m not proud of this now. It was horrible,” he told detectives, court records state.
White admitted to detectives that on a Sunday night, July 27, 2015 he overdosed on heroin and Columbus Police officers administered naloxone, a drug-overdose antidote, which saved his life but resulted in White being sent to treatment at a Hazelden addiction-treatment center in Minnesota for 32 days in August 2015, court documents state.
White told investigators he was clean after the treatment and had been off drugs ever since, court records state.
During the interview, detectives repeatedly questioned White about his interactions with the juvenile boy and specifically about their communication on Facebook. During the interview, White repeatedly denied setting up the burglary and denied he had relapsed on drugs, court records state.
In January, detectives interviewed another juvenile male, who told them that White had messaged him on Facebook when the accused burglary accomplice was incarcerated in a juvenile detention center and had asked the second male juvenile to obtain pain pills for him, court records state.
That juvenile then began regularly selling pain pills to White along with heroin, court documents stated.
The second male juvenile told detectives that when White was on vacation and he needed drugs, White would send him to the his residence with the password to the garage and was told to get certain items to pawn or trade to the drug dealer, court records state. The boy would then drive to where White was vacationing to deliver the drugs, court records state.
White resigned from First Christian Church on March 26, 2017.
Today, White pleaded guilty to ” two Class C felony charges, which allege that between May 7, 2013 and June 30, 2014, he aided or induced a juvenile to commit an act that would be a felony if committed by an adult.”
A former local pastor has pleaded guilty to two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Justin White, 38, former pastor of First Christian Church in Columbus, pleaded guilty Monday in Bartholomew Circuit Court to the two Class C felony charges, which allege that between May 7, 2013 and June 30, 2014, he aided or induced a juvenile to commit an act that would be a felony if committed by an adult, court documents state.
In the two counts, he is accused of aiding and inducing the juvenile to deal in two narcotic drugs, hydrocodone and oxycontin, court documents state.
The plea agreement calls for the prosecution to dismiss a Level 5 felony charge of insurance fraud, which accused White of staging a burglary at his home to obtain insurance money to pay a drug debt, court documents state.
Those convicted of a Class C felony could face a jail term of two to eight years and a fine of up to $10,000 on each count, court documents state.
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Update
Today, October 20, 2017, Justin White was sentenced to three years in prison for his crimes. Julie McClure, a writer for The Republic, reports:
The former senior pastor of one of the largest congregations in Columbus was sentenced to three years in prison as part of his guilty plea to two felony counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Justin White, 38, who recently moved to Camby, was taken away by the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department in handcuffs immediately after his sentencing Friday in Bartholomew Circuit Court.
White received a three year prison sentence on one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and a four year sentence on the second count, which was suspended. Judge Kelly Benjamin ruled White would be on probation for that four-year sentence, to be served after the prison sentence, and he could not have unsupervised contact with juveniles or counsel juveniles during that time.
White pleaded guilty in August to two counts of aiding or inducing a juvenile to commit an act that would be a felony if committed by an adult, according to court documents. He admitted to aiding and inducing a juvenile, who was then 16 years old, to deal in two narcotic drugs, hydrocodone and oxycontin, court documents said.
Wayland Brown, a Catholic priest and convicted sexual predator, has been indicted in South Carolina on nine counts of sexual battery involving two children under the age of fourteen. At the time of his crimes, Brown was pastor of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Hardeeville, South Carolina.
The Savannah Morning News reports:
Former Savannah Roman Catholic priest – and convicted child sex offender — Wayland Yoder Brown has been indicted in Jasper County, S.C., on nine counts of criminal misconduct with a minor – sexual battery — involving two male victims, South Carolina Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone III announced today.
Brown, 74, is in custody in Maryland, Stone said. He will be extradited to South Carolina. It’s not known how long that process will take.
The felony indictments, returned Thursday in the Court of General Sessions, charge Brown with sexual battery in several locations, including St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Hardeeville, S.C., the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge and the intersection of Stiney and Morgan roads in Hardeeville in the area surrounded by railroad tracks and depot area.
Victims in the cases ranged in age of under 11 to under 14. One victim was in the fifth, sixth, and seventh grades at the time of the alleged abuses. The other victim was in the seventh grade at the time. The crimes alleged in the indictments occurred in Jasper County between 1978 and 1988.
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Stone said the charges carry a sentence of 25 years to life for criminal sexual conduct in the first degree and 20 years each for the second-degree charges.
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Brown was ordained in the Diocese of Savannah in July 1977 and served as associate pastor at St. James Catholic Church and school in the mid-1970s. The Vatican dismissed Brown from the priesthood in December 2004.
He is a convicted sex offender and is registered in Maryland as a sex offender.
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In June 2002 he was arrested in Savannah on charges of child abuse and perverted practice from Maryland stemming from misconduct in the 1970’s when Brown was a seminarian in Washington, D.C.
Brown pleaded guilty in November 1977 to charges of child abuse and battery for performing sexual acts on a teenage boy and his younger brother, ages 13 and 12, between 1974-1977 in Gaithersburg, Md.
He was sentenced to 10 years in a Maryland prison in November 2002, but was released after serving five years because of credits he earned for good behavior. He was required to register as a sex offender in Maryland.
In 2016, the Savannah diocese reached a $4.5 million settlement through mediation of a lawsuit against Brown and two bishops stemming from sexual abuse of a minor – more than 30 years ago.
That suit, filed by Savannah attorney Mark Tate in the Court of Common Pleas in Jasper County, S.C., alleged that Brown took the plaintiff to Jasper County and had “multiple sexual encounters” with him between August 1987 and May 1988.
The plaintiff, Christopher Templeton of Savannah, was a 13-year-old student at St. James Catholic School in Savannah at the time.
That settlement resolves claims against former Bishop Raymond Lessard and current Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, but not as to Brown.
In October 2009, the Savannah diocese agreed to pay $4.24 million to another victim – former parishioner Alan Ranta Jr., who at the time of the acts was a St. James Catholic School student. He alleged Brown molested him between 1978 and 1983, starting when he was 10 years old.
