Pastor accused of sex crimes - ExChristian.Net

Put yourself
on the map

browse the latest article updates

Who's Online?

Previous News:

News Archives:

11.03 12.03 02.04 03.04 04.04 07.04 02.05 03.05 04.05 05.05 08.05 09.05 10.05 11.05 12.05 01.06 02.06 03.06 04.06 05.06 06.06 07.06 08.06 09.06 10.06 11.06 12.06 01.07 02.07 03.07 04.07

Introductory Stuff

WebMaster's Anti-Testimony
Not ready to be nice
Take the Gospel Story Quiz - English
Take the Gospel Story Quiz - French
To the passing Christian
More Reminiscing
Becoming an Ex-Christian
A Letter to CHRISTIANS
A Plea to TRUE Christians
THINK
Test Your Bible Knowledge
Compact Bible Errors Helper
Public Service Pamphlet
Anti-Tracts Archive
Recommended Books
Submit your own testimonial
Letters to the WebMaster
ExChristian.Net Forums
Links Articles and More!
Message the Webmaster
"Voicemail the Webmaster"
World Religions Chart

Pastor accused of sex crimes
.: posted 10/01/2005 ::: by .:webmaster:. ::: EmailThis! »

By R.J. VILLELLA

A Ravenna area minister was arrested Friday for arranging to have sex with a 14-year-old girl, said Massillon Police Department Det. Bobby Grizzard.

Nelson Lynn Wright, 42, a senior minister at the Lighthouse Community Chapel, 3011 Ohio 59, Ravenna, is facing two counts of importuning, fifth-degree felonies.

Wright, of 763 Highland Ave., Ravenna, was taken by Ravenna officers to their station, Grizzard said, and Massillon police picked him up and transported him to Massillon.

He was booked into Massillon City Jail and bail was set at $100,000. He will remain in jail over the weekend until appearing Monday in Massillon Municipal Court.

Massillon Police acting with the FBI Internet Task Force began the investigation in May, Grizzard said, and an arrest warrant was issued Friday.

That warrant was served by the Ravenna Police Department, he said.

“This is an Internet case,” Grizzard said. “He was arranging to meet a young girl for sex. From what we understand, he was the senior pastor and counseled youth on a variety of issues for a number of years.”

Grizzard said detectives posing as young teens, were contacted on the Internet by Wright, who then asked to meet for sex.

Grizzard said similar charges are pending from another northern Ohio county and those charges could be filed as early as Monday morning.

Steve Hornyak, an elder at Lighthouse Community, was shocked and didn’t want to believe the news when contacted. Hornyak declined comment.

The Rev. Randall Handly, general secretary treasurer with the parent organization Full Gospel Churches International, said he’s never met Wright but has talked to him on the phone several times.

“We mostly help with the federal and state paperwork so they can get tax-exempt status,” he said of the loose network of independent churches.

Handly said Wright, if found guilty of the charges, would be ousted from his role as minister.

“We would revoke his credentials,” he said. “But we would help him through his ordeal from a spiritual standpoint.”

link

Add this page to:

2 Comments:

.:webmaster:. wrote:

Former pastor to serve jail timeMan gets six months in prison for sex talk online with `teenager'By

MEDINA Oh - The one-time pastor of a community church in Ravenna was sentenced Monday to six months in prison for having explicit online discussions with someone he believed was a 15-year-old girl.
Nelson Lynn Wright, 43, of Ravenna, had pleaded guilty to a single count of importuning, a felony.

Wright, who was the pastor of Lighthouse Community Church when arrested, was charged after he went into a chat room on America Online titled ``Junior High Hotties'' and struck up a conversation with a girl named Jamie.

The ``girl'' turned out to be Medina County Sheriff's Detective James Foraker, and that conversation proved to be Wright's undoing. The conversation got explicit -- they talked in detail about sex -- and they set up a meeting that never occurred.

When Foraker started digging into the case, he learned Wright wasn't exactly a stereotypical pastor. He had online profiles full of sexual innuendo, according to court records.

On Monday, Wright's attorney, Robert Cyperski of Canton, asked Medina County Common Pleas Judge Christopher Collier for leniency. He said Wright has resigned from his church post and must find a job to care for his ailing wife and their two young children.

Collier refused, however, because Wright would not admit his wrongdoing during a pre-sentence investigation that the court's probation officers conducted. During those interviews, Wright said he simply was playing a role online, and he assumed the person on the other end of the computer was doing the same.

``You denied guilt in this completely,'' Collier said, adding later: ``I'm a huge `acceptance of responsibility' guy.''

Wright, who is to be sentenced March 6 on an importuning case filed in Stark County at about the same time as the Medina County case was filed, was labeled a sexually oriented offender. That means he will be required to register his address once a year for the next 10 years with the sheriff's department where he resides.

``The sorrow, the guilty, the shame... I can't explain in words,'' Wright said during Monday's court appearance. ``I'm sorry, and I'm guilty.''

posted: February 28, 2006 EST

.:webmaster:. wrote:

The above from here: http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/13979748.htm

posted: February 28, 2006 EST

Post a Comment | Create a Link | Post in the Forums | Permalink