Conservative Babylon

Trial set: David Keith Allen, 49, former pastor, New Life Church of Restoration (now Crossroads House of Prayer), near Gatesville, Texas, charged with the 2011 murder of his wife, who died in a fire in the couple’s mobile home, from which Allen escaped; for October 29, 2012. Allen is currently being held on a $1 million bond. Story: Conservative Babylon, February 3, 2012; Conservative Babylon, March 19, 2012; KWTX, April 21, 2012 (more…)

“Consider this quote from conservative pundit Fred Barnes, which is intended as a solid endorsement of Romney: ‘His plan was to run as a moderate but govern (I think) as a conservative. He’s abandoned the moderate mask and positioned himself firmly in the conservative camp.’ Barnes means this as a compliment, but the subtext is that Romney is a huge liar. Romney has been forced to reinvent his persona so many times that it has become impossible for almost anybody to buy into the idea that he is a consistent, principled figure.” (more…)

Sentenced: Francis J. Drabiska, 61, Roman Catholic priest; former pastor, Word of God Parish, Swissvale, Pennsylvania; to seven years’ probation after pleading guilty to one count of theft plus restitution of some $143,000, the amount he was charged with stealing in cash offerings from his parish (although it is estimated as much as $180,000 was actually stolen). “Father Drabiska said he stole for more than a decade,” reported the Post-Gazette in 2011, “and ‘used the money to live a lifestyle beyond his means,’ but the statute of limitations meant investigators could charge (more…)

“Mitt Romney’s campaign has gone to great lengths in recent days to make Rick Santorum’s endorsement of the former Massachusetts governor’s 2008 White House run a burden for Santorum’s current presidential bid.

“The attack has always had a hint of hypocrisy, owing to the $10,000 that Romney’s political action committee gave to Santorum when Santorum was running for re-election to the Senate in 2006. But, it turns out, the support Romney gave to his now-presidential rival was deeper than a set (more…)

By Nick McCann, reprinted with the kind permission of Courthouse News Service

EUGENE, Ore. (CN) — Former members of Bain Capital fired six out of seven managers of a senior housing company because they are not Mormon, the fired managers claim in Federal Court.

David McCurdy and his co-plaintiffs sued Sorenson Capital Partners, Care Holding Co., Care Senior Living, and SCP Care Acquisition. (more…)

Video after the jump.

Toni Collette Fratto, 19, copped a plea deal to second-degree murder and testified against her ex-boyfriend, Kody Cree Patten, also 19, in order to escape a death sentence and instead spend at least the next 18 years behind bars (when she’ll be eligible for parole on a life sentence). (more…)

Arrested again: John H. Brothers, Jr., 43, former youth pastor, Hyland Baptist Church, Henderson, Kentucky, on “eight charges of first-degree burglary, eight charges of sexual assault on a child, and seven charges of sexual assault,” reports the News Star. “Brothers was wanted in Colorado for crimes against a child. … Brothers was arrested in 2011 in Kentucky on charges of first-degree sexual abuse of two juveniles who were members of his former church, Hyland Baptist… (more…)

“Now we know why Mitt Romney has been less than forthcoming about the details of his finances. Romney and his trustee claimed that he divested completely from Chinese-based companies. But today we learned that he continues to have a partnership interest worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in a Bain Capital fund that owns a Chinese video surveillance company. This revelation not only highlights Romney’s utter hypocrisy on China, but it also raises more questions about what his investments are and why he won’t reveal all of them. (more…)

Icky Ricky has “suspended” his presidential campaign. (He has to say “suspended” instead of “quit,” so he can keep collecting donations.) (more…)

Backstory:

• “Face (and Mouth) of San Diego Tea Party Michael Kobulincky Accused of Kidnapping & Rape,” March 18, 2012

• “Fiesta Island Kidnap-Rape Accuser: Attacker Was Not Kobulnicky… But Kobulnicky Admits to Encounter? Huh?,” March 26, 2012 (more…)

Backstory:

• “Proposition 8 Donor Arrested on Child Porn Charges (Yes, Another One),” March 13, 2012

• “You Know That Proposition 8 Donor Arrested on Child Porn Charges? You Guessed It…,” March 15, 2012

And now… (more…)

Charged: Jeffrey Scott Atkins, 38, teacher & band director, Oak Mountain Middle School and music minister, Riverside Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama, with three counts of first-degree sexual abuse, one count of enticing a child to enter a vehicle, house, etc., for immoral purposes, one count of electronic solicitation of a child, and one count of a school employee having sexual contact with a student under the age of 19 years, according to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, which states: “Investigators determined that communication between the teacher and the student using (more…)

“On June 12, 1994, [Mitt Romney] and his wife, Ann, attended a Planned Parenthood fundraiser at the home of a Republican activist in Massachusetts. In May 2007, somebody outed the Romneys for having written a $150 check to Planned Parenthood, presumably for attending the event. The check, signed by Ann, was from their joint account. At this point, only the check was public. Reporters hadn’t yet learned about the event. Mitt Romney responded by attributing the check to Ann: ‘Her contributions are for her and not for me, and her positions I do not think are terribly (more…)

BOY SCOUTS
OF BABYLON

Indicted: Julius C. Blackwelder, 59, former bishop, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Trumbull, Connecticut (Bridgeport ward), on charges of affinity fraud, allegedly fleecing against fellow Mormons of more than $400,000. According to a press release from the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), a federal grand jury in Bridgeport returned an indictment charging Blackwelder “of Utah, formerly of Stratford, Conn., with nine counts of money laundering and mail and (more…)

Backstory:
“Police: Liberal-Mocking, Divorced Utah Mormon Gun Nut Offs Girlfriend, Kindergartener, Self,” March 26, 2012

We seldom use the word “evil” in these pages, at least not with any degree of seriousness, but there’s no other word for Landon Scott Jorgensen. And, this time, we’re serious. (more…)

Convicted: Terrill Raemon Dalton (left in photo), 45, self-proclaimed “Holy Ghost and father of Jesus” and president, Mormon breakaway sect Church of the Firstborn and General Assembly of Heaven, of two felony counts of first-degree rape. Dalton raped a 15-year-old girl after commanding his second-in-command, Geody Harman (right in photo), 38, to rape her first. Dalton, who could get life in prison, plans to appeal. Story: Conservative Babylon, March 22, 2012; (more…)

Michael Kobulincky, ex-spokesman for the San Diego Tea Party, is not the man who kidnapped and raped one Laura Chiles, says NBC San Diego. While Kobulincky sits in a jail cell, Chiles tells the news station “she realized the mistake when she saw video from Kobulnicky’s arraignment last week. ‘I’ve never seen him in my life.’”

Then why is Kobulincky still in the clink? Conflicting information gathered today in the story, “Sex Assault Victim: You Got the Wrong Guy,” has us wondering what the dickens is going on: (more…)

Some people say suicide is the most cowardly, selfish act a person can perform.

We say suicide is the one decision a person makes entirely alone — and we feel genuine sorrow for anyone whose hurt runs so deep, suicide seems like the only solution.

However: We also say that if you’re going to kill yourself, don’t take anybody else with you. Taking another person (or two, or more) who didn’t want to die along for the ride is indeed the most (more…)

“When Newt and Rick speak for their church’s tender conscience on not being forced to insure women’s health, they are speaking for a church body run by old men who have presided over 50 years of covering up child abuse, sexual molestation and the codling of fascist regimes from Franco to Mussolini. …

(more…)

Charged: Malcolm John Fraser, 39, Scottish-born assistant pastor, Sound Doctrine Church (whose beliefs include: “All sexual immorality is sin. The only acceptable sexual relations are between husband and wife, as God originally made them”), and executive officer of its associated Christian vanity-publishing company, WinePress Publishing, Enumclaw, Washington, with two counts of first-degree rape of a child. The Enumclaw Patch reports: “Fraser is accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a girl who was between 10 and 11 years old at the time. According to charging (more…)