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Bishop Eddie Long
Georgia megachurch preacher Bishop Eddie Long was accused of luring young men into sexual relationships. Spencer LeGrande, 22, Jamal Parris, 23, Anthony Flagg, 21, and Maurice Robinson, 20, all filed lawsuits against the pastor in Sept. 2010 claiming they were 17 and 18 when Long first adopted them as his "spiritual sons." The men said Long then abused his "spiritual authority" and seduced them with cars, lavish trips and jewelry in exchange for sex, which he allegedly justified with Holy Scripture. The lawsuit has since been resolved, bringing a quiet end to a blockbuster legal complaint that targeted one of the nation's most powerful church leaders.
Credit: CBS/The Early Show
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Bishop Eddie Long
Georgia megachurch preacher Bishop Eddie Long was accused of luring young men into sexual relationships. Spencer LeGrande, 22, Jamal Parris, 23, Anthony Flagg, 21, and Maurice Robinson, 20, all filed lawsuits against the pastor in September 2010 claiming they were 17 and 18 when Long first adopted them as his "spiritual sons." The men said Long then abused his "spiritual authority" and seduced them with cars, lavish trips and jewelry in exchange for sex, which he allegedly justified with Holy Scripture. The lawsuit has since been resolved, bringing a quiet end to a blockbuster legal complaint that targeted one of the nation's most powerful church leaders.
Credit: CBS/The Early Show
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Dale Richardson
South Carolina pastor Dale Richardson was charged with kidnapping and raping several women at gunpoint, including two of them in a trailer behind his church. He was also accused of kidnapping a fourth who was not sexually assaulted. According to an incident report, on a Saturday afternoon in July 2010, the preacher picked up a woman and gave her a ride. When the 20-year-old tried to exit out of the car, Richardson allegedly pulled a gun, bound her hands, covered her head and took her to the gray-blue trailer home behind the Free Will Baptist Church in Ladson. The trial is still pending.
Credit: CBS/WLTX
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John Fiala
This Nov. 18, 2010 photo provided by the Dallas County Sheriff's Department shows John Fiala, a former Roman Catholic priest charged with sexually abusing a teenage boy in 2008 in his rural Texas parish. According to police, he is now accused of plotting the alleged victim's murder.
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Warren Jeffs
Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was convicted of sexually assaulting two girls, one younger than 17 and one younger than 14. His followers in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a Mormon offshoot, believe polygamy brings exaltation in heaven and see Jeffs as God's earthly spokesman. The charges came after a massive 2008 raid of the church's remote West Texas ranch.
Credit: AP Photo, file
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Warren Jeffs
Police had raided the group's ranch in April 2008, finding women dressed in frontier-style dresses and hairdos from the 19th century as well as seeing underage girls who were clearly pregnant. Jeffs was sentenced to life in prison. He claims he was the victim of religious persecution.
Credit: AP Photo, file
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Kevin Gray
Connecticut pastor Kevin Gray was accused of stealing funds in order to support some very un-priestly habits. The 64-year-old Roman Catholic priest of a Waterbury church was arrested in July 2010 for allegedly stealing $1.3 million over the course of seven years, and using the money to pay for personal expenses, including hotel rooms, restaurants, clothing and male escorts.
Credit: CBS/WFSB
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Rev. Luis A. Bonilla Margarito
A Pennsylvania couple filed a lawsuit against Rev. Luis A. Bonilla Margarito alleging he had sex with their teenage daughter in the basement of their home and got her pregnant. The lawsuit, which was filed in Aug. 2010, alleged the priest carried on a sexual relationship with the teenage girl while he was the chaplain of a Catholic high school in Reading, Pa.
Credit: AP/Reading Eagle/Richard J. Patrick
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Rev. Terry Jones
Rev. Terry Jones was a nobody outside Gainesville, Fla., until his Koran burning plan gained international attention. Though his demonstration wasn't technically illegal, the pastor was jailed briefly for refusing to pay a $1 "peace bond" after a jury determined the Koran burning protest would constitute a breach of the peace. Jones, whose past rhetoric against Muslims inflamed anti-Western sentiment in Afghanistan, said he refused to pay the $1 bond because to do so would violate his freedom of speech. He later paid it and was released.
Credit: AP Photo/John Raoux
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Rev. Terry Jones
Rev. Terry Jones was a nobody outside Gainesville, Fla., until his Koran burning plan gained international attention. Though his demonstration wasn't technically illegal, the pastor was jailed briefly for refusing to pay a $1 "peace bond" after a jury determined the Koran burning protest would constitute a breach of the peace. Jones, whose past rhetoric against Muslims inflamed anti-Western sentiment in Afghanistan, said he refused to pay the $1 bond because to do so would violate his freedom of speech. He later paid it and was released.
Credit: AP Photo/Phil Sandlin
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Jacques Robidoux
Jacques Robidoux, one of the leaders of a defunct Massachusetts sect known as "The Body of Christ" that rejects modern medicine, government and science, was convicted in 2002 of first-degree murder in the starvation death of his 1-year-old son, Samuel. According to the Boston Globe, Robidoux said God had told him to stop feeding the toddler solid food. He claims his son's death was an act of Satan.
Credit: AP Photo, file
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Joe Barron
Joe Barron, one of the 40 ministers at Prestonwood Baptist Church, one of the largest churches in the United States with 26,000 members, was arrested on May 15, 2008 for solicitation of a minor after driving from the Dallas area to Bryan, Texas in order to allegedly engage in sexual relations with what he thought to be a 13 year-old girl he had met online. It turns out Barron's online communications had in fact been with undercover law enforcement official.
Credit: KEPRTV
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Vaughn Reeves
Modesty is apparently not a virtue for Vaughn Reeves, a former pastor, and his sons. Prosecutors said the men pocketed about $6 million, bought two airplanes, sports cars and vacations with donations taken from about 11,000 church members. Investigators said Reeves and his three sons used their now-defunct company, Alanar, to trick about 11,000 investors into buying bonds worth $120 million secured by mortgages on church construction projects. Instead the investors were funding Reeves lavish lifestyle. In 2010 Special Judge Dena Martin ordered Reeves to serve a 54-year sentence on nine counts of fraud.
Credit: AP Photo
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Ted Haggard
Ted Haggard was the pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado and was the president of the National Association of Evangelicals from 2003 until November 2006. In 2006 it was alleged that Haggard had been regularly visiting a male prostitute who also gave him methamphetamine. Haggard admitted his wrongdoing and resigned as pastor of New Life Church and as president of the NAE.
Credit: AP Photo
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Pastor Tracy Burleson was convicted of capitol murder in the fatal shooting of his wife, Pauletta Burleson, who was found dead outside the couple's home on May 18, 2010. Prosecutors said Burleson paid his son, William Fuller, to kill his wife. According to documents, Fuller admitted that he shot and killed his stepmother in a murder-for-hire plot allegedly devised by his father; a claim Burleson denied.
Credit: KHOU
