Black Collar Sex Crime Round-Up: October 4, 2009
James Cornell Clark • MP Coetzee • Jason Glaza
Jonathan James Hartman • Jonathan Locust, Sr. • Jody Lusk
Because we could spend 24/7 tracking the sex crimes of right-wing religionists (especially “youth pastors”) and never get caught up. Of the following, the more interesting cases will probably end up with their very own Conservative Babylon entries.
Sentenced: Jessica Banks, 65, pastor, Word of Life Apostolic Church, a Moreno Valley, California, strip-mall church, to nearly 37 years plus two additional stretches of 15-to-life, for the ongoing, horrendous physical abuse of her five young adopted daughters. Story: Press-Enterprise, September 17, 2009
Arraigned: Bradley Barrett, 49, pastor, Oak Grove Baptist Church, Grafton, West Virginia, for drugging (with Ambien), sexually abusing, and taking pornographic pictures of “at least four children between the ages of five and 11.” Barrett pled not guilty to the four counts against him, for 
each of which he is being held on a $1,000,000 bond ($4,000,000 total). Also arrested: Craig Johnson, another Oak Grove pastor, on a misdemeanor charge of failing to report child abuse. Johnson has pled not guilty. Story: State Journal, September 11, 2009; WBOY, September 16, 2009
Indicted and arrested: Jennifer Michelle Brennan, 36, of Spotsylvania, Virginia, youth minister, St. Matthias United Methodist Church, Stafford, on ten counts of taking indecent liberties with a child and ten counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Brennan, who was reportedly counseling a 15-year-old boy and his girlfriend against premarital sex, is accused of having sexual intercourse with the boy on multiple occasions in early 2009. Story: Freelance Star, September 9, 2009; Stafford County Sun, September 16, 2009
Conviction upheld: James Cornell Clark, 57, pastor, Mount Vernon United Methodist Church, Lubbock, Texas, sentenced in 2007 to ten years for “importing an alien for immoral purposes,” by luring a student from Kenya to Texas, then threatening to have her deported if she didn’t have sex with him. No word yet on whether Clark is appealing his 41 other, unrelated convictions (e.g., mail fraud and money laundering) resulting from his use of his church to defraud the U.S. government of more than $500,000 from the USDA’s Summer Food Program. Story: U.S. Dept. of Justice, January 30, 2008; Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, September 11, 2009
Sentenced: MP Coetzee, Apostolic Faith Mission Church, Meerensee, Richards Bay, South Africa, convicted on “four counts of indecent assault and two counts of crimen injuria” (under South African common law, a crime of “unlawfully, intentionally and seriously impairing the dignity of another”), “committed against three women ranging in ages from 16 to 21 years, who were members of his congregation,” to four years. Story: iafrica.com, September 30, 2009
Under investigation: Jason Glaza, 30, youth pastor, Faith Church, New Milford, Connecticut, for report of an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 16-year-old female member of his church. To the church’s credit, senior pastor Frank Santora immediately fired Glaza and contacted both police and the state Department of Children and Families. Story: News-Times, September 29, 2009. Glaza is married and the father of three. The Facebook page for his “Encounter Youth Group” notes: ‘This youth group is like no other, its [sic] taking new england [sic] by charge and wont [sic] stop there. Pastor Jason Glaza has much in mind for this youth ministry and everyone around it. Already in his short time being here Pastor Jason brought the youth group its first summer camp and many other trips that were said to be amazing experiences. As Pastor Jason often says, ‘If they wanted a youth pastor that would just sit in the corner and watch the kids every week, then they hired the wrong youth pastor.’”
Trial date set: Jonathan James Hartman, 29, Salvation Army youth pastor in Greenwood, Indiana, arrested in April, 2009, and charged with sexually molesting three girls, ages 13, 14, and 15, over a period of three years “at the Salvation Army worship center in Greenwood.” A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for October 29, 2009, with his jury trial slated to begin February 10, 2010. Story: IndyStar.com, April 22, 2009; September 22, 2009
Sued: Jonathan Locust, Sr., pastor and founder, Rivers of Living Waters Apostolic Church, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, by three women who say he “used his ‘dictatorial power’ over the church to ‘perpetuate fraud, sexual, emotional and spiritual abuse’ upon them for two years.” Story: Courthouse News Service, September 29, 2009
Trial date set: Jody Lusk, 35, pastor, Auburn Church of Christ, Auburn, Kentucky, and married father of three, for January 25, 2010. Accused of taking a 13-year-old girl to Illinois and raping her, Lusk, who claims he had a consensual sexual affair with the girl “for a few months,” blamed “Satan and his ways” for his actions. Story: WBKO, September 9, 2009; October 2, 2009
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