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GREENWOOD, SC. - A minister and former school library aide has been charged with 16 more counts of sexually molesting children after police identified more victims from homemade videotapes.
Fernando Garcia - held on a $4 million bond - is now charged with a total of 44 counts of sexual misconduct with at least 15 victims, police say. “Investigators probably still have several weeks of work left to do - more charges are likely,” said the police chief. Garcia was charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor and 14 counts of lewd acts on a minor. The latest charges accuse him of fondling children at an elementary school, where he worked for two years, and at the Abbeville Baptist Association, where he was pioneering a Hispanic ministry. The Chihuahua, Mexico-native is a husband and father of two teen-age children.AP 6/28/2000
Tales of horror: Sex crimes victimizing children rock community's foundations
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Bartow, FL. Accompanied by family and parishioners, the Rev. Kenneth Baxley, pastor of Central Baptist Community Ministries in Lakeland, was sentenced Thursday to a two-year prison term for failing to register as a sex offender. The failure-to-register charge originated with a crime committed by Baxley in 1983 but confessed to seven years later. He served 15 months in prison for attempted sexual battery on a child younger than 12. Baxley has served several churches in various capacities in the Lakeland area since his release. (The Ledger, June 1, 2001).
Minister not registered as sex offender gets 2 years
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LARGO, FL. Randy Morrow, 40, street minister with Countryside Baptist Church in Palm Harbor, was charged with molesting three teenage boys. (St. Petersburg Times, October 18, 2000)
Authorities say they have a taped phone call in which pastor Morrow apologizes to one of the reported victims
Authorities Youth minister sentenced for sex
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EASTON - A pastor will stand trial on rape and child-abuse charges, a judge ruled yesterday. The Rev. Andrew Roy Tilghman, 32, was ordered to stand trial in circuit court on charges of first-degree rape and first-degree sexual offense against two girls.
Tilghman is pastor of the United Missionary Baptist Church. District Judge William Adkins III also ordered him to stand trial on nine counts each of second-degree rape, second-degree assault, child abuse and third- and fourth-degree sexual offense and two counts of second-degree sexual offense. His wife, Great Elizabeth Tilghman, 33, was ordered to stand trial on charges of child abuse and second-degree assault. Easton Police Detective Brandon Bobbick testified in a hearing that a 10-year-old revealed she had been beaten by Great Elizabeth Tilghman and that she and her sister had been sexually abused by Andrew Roy Tilghman. - AP May 24, 2000
Easton pastor's abuse trial on
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AIKEN. SC. - A former youth minister who admitted to molesting church members on camping trips and manipulating neighborhood boys with money and gifts during 3 decades has received a 30-year prison sentence.
Robert Dorsett, 65, pleaded guilty to 15 sex crimes involving children during an emotional hearing in which the offenses were read in detail to a hushed courtroom. Some of Dorsett's victims - who range in age now from 9 to 43 - attended the hearing and asked the judge to keep Dorsett from abusing more children. Friends and family members of Dorsett attended the hearing, lining up to speak on his behalf. Many were neighbors or co-workers who called him a father figure and hard worker.
Dorsett met many of his victims while he was a training director at First Baptist Church in Aug.a years ago. During trips in a church program, he would organize shaving cream fights and have the youths shower together, police said. He encouraged them to go streaking.
During a search of Dorsett's home, sheriff's officers found a brown suitcase containing X-rated videotapes and magazines along with candy, cookies and other items he gave the children, police said.
Investigators found notebooks where Dorsett kept track of neighborhood boys and their telephone numbers. Publicity about his arrest last year led to new allegations by victims who had tried to forget the abuse, police said. Augusta Chronicle, 11/30/99
Molester pleads guilty
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TAMPA - A church deacon already accused of Internet sex crime against a teen-age girl faced more sexual extortion charges for allegedly terrorizing 5 other high school and college students. Robert Harvey Alexander, 41, a deacon at the First Baptist Church in Tampa, was being held in lieu of $150,000 bond after an appearance in federal court to advise him of the 5 additional charges.
Three 21-year-old students at Georgia Tech in Atlanta and two students at Plantation High School in Florida were the latest alleged victims of attempts to engage them in telephone and cybersex, federal agents said. Frank Gallagher, head of Tampa's FBI office, said the new charges grew out of interviews with people named on a "Victim's List." Agents seized the list with 99 names and e-mail addresses on it when they arrested Alexander for using the Internet in an attempt to extort a 16-year-old girl.
All of those on the list received virtually identical messages threatening to destroy their reputations unless they engaged in phone or computer sex with the sender. Gallagher called it "cyberterrorism" because of the fear created in the recipients. One women told her father, an assistant federal public defender, about the message. Another contacted university officials.
Investigators are trying to reach other women included on the list. So far, have traced 17 of them, and are continuing their search. Prosecutors said they hope the new charges will bolster their claim that Alexander is a methodical and dangerous sexual predator. AP, 11/11/99
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FAIRBANKS, AK. - A Baptist pastor from an interior village was arrested on charges he molested his adopted teen-age daughter, State Troopers said.
Richard Cook, 46, is accused of having sex with the girl twice and touching her genitals often during the past 19 months, according to court documents. He has been charged with one count each of first- and second-degree sexual abuse of a minor.
Troopers said Cook first sexually touched the victim, then 13, in Oct. 1997. Four months later, the molestation became an "almost daily" event despite the girl's protests, according to court documents.
The girl's adoptive mother, who had started working outside the home, suspected something was amiss because Cook "changed his behavior and demeanor," according to the documents. But when she questioned her husband and daughter, both denied anything was going on, troopers said. The girl attempted suicide before she reported what happened.
Troopers said Cook has since admitted to the sexual contact, stating he knew his actions were wrong but that he "just got mixed up a bit," according to documents.
He was arrested at a Fairbanks motel. Cook and the women had traveled to town to seek help, said police. AP 4/27/99
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MASCOTTE, FL. - A Baptist preacher was charged with molesting three foster children left in his care. Pastor William Nathan White, Jr., 50, was being held at the county jail on $45,000 bond, charged with three counts of sexual battery of a child under age 12, a capital offense, jail officials said.
Following his arrest, 8 foster children and 3 adopted children were removed from his home and placed in other foster homes according to a spokeswoman for the state Dept. of Children & Families. State records show that White and his wife, Susan, have taken in at least 20 children since they were licensed by the state to become foster parents in 1995.
White first was accused of sexual battery when a 7-year-old girl, who lived with the family for two weeks, told her natural mother during a visit monitored by social workers that White had molested her a sheriff's spokesman said. The girl told investigators that while sitting on White's lap, the minister asked her if anyone had ever touched her "private area." White then placed his hand inside her clothing and fondled her, reports said.
In a videotaped interview, a 10-year-old told authorities White had repeatedly molested her since she came to live with him in Aug., according to reports. An 11-year-old, who lived with the Whites from Aug. into Nov., said the pastor often had her sit on his lap while she played computer games, and he once fondled her, records said.
Investigators plan to question every child the Whites have had in their custody since 1995. State social workers are also reviewing their files to determine if there were any concerns raised about the Whites' home in the past AP 3/5/99
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DUBUQUE, IA. - A woman is suing her former pastor and the Baptist church for which he worked. Sheldon D. Stotmeister is accused of having exploited the woman in order to have a sexual relationship when Kim Deutmeyer came to him for counseling. He is also alleged to have encouraged her to divorce her husband and to not tell anyone about the relationship.
Two weeks earlier, her ex-husband Darrell, filed a similar suit.
Stotmeister resigned in March and was arrested in Aug. on charges of sexual exploitation by a counselor as a result of his relationship. Telegraph Herald, 4/15/99
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FORT WORTH - Five women agreed to drop their sexual-misconduct lawsuits against the founder of a Baptist church in exchange for his admission to some of the affairs, according to court papers.
The lawsuits against Ollin Collins, founder of Harvest Baptist Church and a former board chairman of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, were dropped after Collins acknowledged that he "engaged in an adulterous relationship" with three of the women. But all five women retained the right to sue Collins again their attorney said. "We had asked him to apologize to the church and agree not to be in the pulpit until Sept. of 2000, and he refuses to do that," he said.
Four women and the family of another filed lawsuits in state district court contending that Collins had used his position to force them into "lewd, lascivious, obscene conduct."
Harvest Baptist Church, with 3,500 members, fired Collins in Nov.
The church and the women agreed to a settlement in which the church and its insurance company would pay $400,000 to the women and their families, the Star-Telegram reported. The church has paid about $100,000 of the settlement and will sell a piece of property to cover the cost said an attorney for the church. AP 4/22/99
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An Ardmore youth minister has been charged with child molestation. Everice Daniel Johnson appeared in district court Tuesday for initial arraignment on one count of lewd acts against a child under 16. Johnson, a youth minister at Mount Zion Baptist Church, was released following the court appearance on a $2,000 personal recognizance bond. According to charge information filed by the district attorney's office, Johnson allegedly touched the girl "in a manner relating to sexual matters or sexual interests." (The Daily Admoreite, January 14, 1999)
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Tampa, FL. Dan Earl Allmond, Youth Pastor of Tampa Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist Church, and a married man, suddenly resigned on December 9, 1998 and disappeared off the scene when the police were called in concerning a complaint made by a female high school student that she was having sex with the pastor as a minor. Senior Pastor McCormick of Tampa Baptist Church denied all knowledge about the sexual activities and ordered the staff of Tampa Baptist Academy to stay silent on the whole matter and not to discuss Dan's previous sexual escapades with no one! McCormick's own daughter was sexually promiscuous and had to leave school for a while for fear of being pregnant. (Tampa Tribune, December 9, 1998)
Dan Earl Allmond faces two counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor
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SAN FRANCISCO - A minister already facing theft and arson charges was sued by 10 parishioners who allege he convinced them to take out mortgage loans for church improvements and then stole the money.
Rev. Thomas McCall allegedly used the loan money, totaling more than $850,000, to buy real estate in San Francisco and Southern Calif., according to the lawsuit. The members of the Concord Missionary Baptist Church are seeking damages for breach of contract, breach of good faith and fair dealing, fraud and negligent misrepresentation.
McCall had been under investigation since last Jan., when 7 parishioners claimed the pastor convinced them and others to mortgage their homes to finance $1.1 million in church renovations.
Records show church members raised a total of $2.9 million in equity, donations and construction loans - about $1.1 million more than was necessary for the work.
In addition to 4 counts of grand theft for allegedly taking $2.5 million in church funds, including the $850,000 mentioned in the suit, McCall also faces an arson charge for allegedly trying to destroy financial records by setting his apartment on fire. He has been dismissed from the church and the trial was scheduled to begin Jan. 25. AP, 10/14/98
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WASHINGTON, DC. - A Baptist minister in Texas who had sex with two women while counseling them about their marriages lost his appeal to the Supreme Court. He now must pay each one $115,000.
The court, without comment, turned away Rev. Shelby Baucum's argument that a federal jury violated his religious freedom by deciding he had committed malpractice and breached his fiduciary duties. Baucum had sexual relationships with two women who were church members and employees in 1991. One woman was fired from her job as the church receptionist and the other lost her job as his administrative secretary when they disclosed the relationships. Baucum was asked to resign, which he did.
The women then sued him in federal court, and each won awards of $30,000 in compensatory damages and $85,000 in punitive damages. Baucum appealed, contending the jury had punished him for what he said was a mixture of secular and spiritual counseling - the equivalent of "clergy malpractice."
But in upholding the awards, the Court of Appeals ruled that the religious-freedom difficulties posed by such a finding were not present in Baucum's case. The appeals court ruling added: "The First Amendment does not categorically insulate religious relationships from judicial scrutiny, for to do so would necessarily extend constitutional protection to the secular components of these relationships É To hold otherwise would impermissibly place a religious leader in a preferred position in our society." AP, 10/5/98
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APOPKA, FL. - A minister who molested third-graders at his church school couldn't promise that he wouldn't molest again, and so was sentenced to prison for 7 years and 4 months, followed by 10 years of probation. The judge acknowledged the remorse of David Joe Rich, 55, and that he took responsibility for his crimes, but said she wanted to ensure he would not harm anyone again.
Rich, former pastor of Springs Community Baptist Church, pleaded guilty to molesting 2 girls and trying to molest a third during the 1995-96 school year. He fondled the girls, ages 8 and 9, at his desk while other students were in the classroom, said the prosecutor. The desk concealed the probing.
Rich apologized and made no excuses for his conduct but could not explain it. With God's help and counseling, he said, he hoped never to molest again. But he said he would be foolish to make a "100 percent" guarantee. He had resigned when confronted about the abuse 2 years after it ended.
While on probation, Rich must get counseling. He cannot be alone with children younger than 18 or live near a school or other place where children visit. The judge told Rich he should bring his ministry to prison. "There are people in prison who could use your services," she said. Orlando Sentinel, 12/4/1998
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NORRISTOWN, PA. - A clergyman was charged with murdering a 4-year-old boy whom he and his wife had agreed to look after as a favor to the child's impoverished mother, authorities said.
Rev. Javan McBurrow , 47, beat Michael Davis across the back of his legs as many as 10 times with a two-foot metal mason's level, and then forced the child to march the length of the family's squalid suburban home until he dropped, police said. They said the boy was being punished for wetting his pants and for looking at one of the couple's daughters in the bathroom.
McBurrows and his wife, Jane, took the boy to the hospital, telling doctors he had fallen in the bathtub. They then fled with their own five children to Georgia. The boy died soon after and an autopsy showed he had been beaten over a prolonged period.
McBurrows, pastor of the Third Christian Church was arrested for child endangerment in Georgia and returned to Philadelphia.
The 4-year-old, his 7-year-old sister and 5-year-old brother had been living with the McBurrows for about a month because their mother, who also has 3 other children, could not care for them.
After being charged with first-degree murder, McBurrows was remanded to jail with bond set at $500,000. Police who searched the family's home described the two-story house as a "squalid, uninhabitable" dwelling with only one bed. The property has since been condemned. Reuters 1/15/99
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NORRISTOWN, PA. - A clergyman was charged with murdering a 4-year-old boy whom he and his wife had agreed to look after as a favor to the child's impoverished mother, authorities said.
Rev. Javan McBurrow , 47, beat Michael Davis across the back of his legs as many as 10 times with a two-foot metal mason's level, and then forced the child to march the length of the family's squalid suburban home until he dropped, police said. They said the boy was being punished for wetting his pants and for looking at one of the couple's daughters in the bathroom.
McBurrows and his wife, Jane, took the boy to the hospital, telling doctors he had fallen in the bathtub. They then fled with their own five children to Georgia. The boy died soon after and an autopsy showed he had been beaten over a prolonged period.
McBurrows, pastor of the Third Christian Church was arrested for child endangerment in Georgia and returned to Philadelphia.
The 4-year-old, his 7-year-old sister and 5-year-old brother had been living with the McBurrows for about a month because their mother, who also has 3 other children, could not care for them.
After being charged with first-degree murder, McBurrows was remanded to jail with bond set at $500,000. Police who searched the family's home described the two-story house as a "squalid, uninhabitable" dwelling with only one bed. The property has since been condemned. Reuters 1/15/99
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RICHMOND, VA. - Former Mayor Rev. Leonidas B. Young has agreed to plead guilty to 4 of 19 felony counts alleging he sold his influence as mayor and, as a pastor, defrauded members of his congregation, according to a newspaper.
The Times-Dispatch said Young is likely to face 2 years to 2 1/2 years in prison at sentencing. Young will lose his City Council seat automatically if he pleads guilty. He became pastor of Richmond's Fourth Baptist Church in 1990 and was elected to City Council 2 years later and appointed mayor in 1996. Last fall, Young was indicted on charges of racketeering, fraud, filing false tax returns, suborning perjury and money laundering. The charges carry prison terms ranging from five to 30 years.
Authorities allege Young peddled influence as mayor and cheated members of his church out of money he used to help pay for an expensive secret life of extramarital affairs. AP, 1/27/99
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Cherokee County, GA. A Cherokee County church deacon was convicted Saturday of molesting a 14-year-old girl who attended his church. Jurors deliberated about 14 hours Friday and Saturday before finding John M. Eatman guilty of child molestation and enticing a minor for indecent purposes. He is to be sentenced in several weeks. Prosecutors said he showed the girl an adult magazine and made sexually explicit comments to her in August, then touched her buttocks during Sunday morning services Sept. 27 at South Cherokee Baptist Church. (The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, 12-13-1998)
Deacon convicted of molestation: Man fondled teen in Cherokee church
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KANSAS CITY - A minister who participated in a school program to counsel troubled youths has been charged with rape and other sex offenses involving 3 teen-age girls. Rev. Gregory Robertson, 40, was accused of using his affiliation with the Kansas City School District to befriend families of students outside of school, said a spokesman of the police sex crimes unit. Robertson convinced parents to allow some children to temporarily move into his home to "give them guidance," he said.
Robertson has pleaded innocent and is free on $15,000 bond. He faces charges of statutory rape, 2 counts of statutory sodomy, attempted statutory sodomy and 4 counts of sexual misconduct. The charges involve 3 girls ages 12 to 14. The girls told police the incidents occurred between Feb. 1996 and Dec. 1997 at Robertson's home.
Police said Robertson met at least one of the girls through his work with the school district. They were not sure how he met the other two. The three girls did not know each other.
Robertson was part of a Ministers Alliance, a group formed last school year by a former superintendent to counsel troubled students. The program no longer exists, and Robertson was banned from the schools after officials heard about the investigation, said a district spokeswoman.
Police began investigating Robertson in Sept. 1997 after a girl told officers she had lived in Robertson's home in 1996. No charges were filed. The investigation was reopened in Jan. after a 12-year-old girl made new allegations. Detectives then found 3 other girls who had lived in Robertson's home, including one who said Robertson offered to buy her a pair of shoes in exchange for a sex act.
Robertson was ordained at Zion Grove Missionary Baptist Church about 6 years ago, but has since left the church, police said. AP, 10/28/98
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BOONE, NC. - A long-standing pastor and high school teacher accused of raping a 15-year-old student two years ago was sentenced to spend up to two years in prison as part of a plea arrangement.
Rev. Larry Edward Elliott, 50, pleaded guilty to 3 counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor. He entered his plea just before the jury was to be selected for his trial. A judge ordered Elliott to serve time for one of the 3 counts, the others suspended and the district attorney dropped 3 other charges of statutory rape.
Elliott, a Baptist pastor for 20 years, resigned after the accusations surfaced. He had worked as a substitute math teacher at the school where he met his victim. (9/15 Watauga Democrat)
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TIERRA AMARILLA, NM. - The Chama First Baptist Church has been sued by a man who claims the church should have stopped the pastor, Rev. Louis Day, from wrecking his marriage. Eileen Dement began counseling soon after he became pastor in 1993, but she testified that she never considered him a psychological counselor, and began an affair which included lovemaking sessions in the church. She left her former husband for Day, whom she married in 1996, and has a 7-month old son by him.
She testified it would have taken "an act of God" to save her marriage to the plaintiff, Richard Hurd. He testified that Day told him to try to add some romance to their marriage. (8/29/98)
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TAMPA - The president of the National Baptist Convention USA pleaded not guilty to federal fraud charges and was allowed to remain free on a $125,000 bond. Rev. Henry Lyons, 56, was indicted by a federal grand jury on grounds that he had used the organization of black churches to steal millions of dollars from corporations and activists.
Lyons was indicted on 56 counts including fraud, extortion, conspiracy and tax evasion. At the hearing, 8 friends of his pledged to cover the bond. He said that all of his assets were frozen by the government.
Prosecutors charge that Lyons fraudulently solicited contributions for charitable causes, including the rebuilding of black churches destroyed by arsonists. The indictment said he used the donations to support a lavish lifestyle, buying cars, jewelry, country club memberships and homes throughout the country.
Lyons already faced state charges that he used his position to bilk millions of dollars from companies doing business with the church group. A federal grand jury also indicted a convention employees Bernice Edwards and Brenda Harris. Both are free on bond also. (7/7/98 Reuters)
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Atlanta, GA. The Rev. Danny B. Moody may have slipped in the eyes of the law, but he hasn't fallen from grace in the hearts of his followers. Moody, 52, who has served as Pastor of Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Douglasville for 24 years, was arrested May 29 on a felony Peeping Tom charge. Atlanta police allege Moody aimed his Camcorder beneath the skirts of females while riding escalators at Hartsfield Internationa Airport. Moody was released under $5,000 bond the same day. Almost three weeks later, Moody's wife, Brenda, said his congregation still supports him. "The church has been told about the charges against him, but the church stands behind him by an overwhelming vote," Brenda Moody said. (The Atlanta Journal and Constitution 06-19-1999)
Minister faces felony Peeping Tom charge
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HARTFORD - A former Baptist deacon who fathered a child with a young parishioner was sentenced to 18 years in prison for raping her and another girl as well.
Edward Brown, Jr., 39, asked for forgiveness in court. The young woman was 6 years old when Brown began molesting her. He raped her several times and she became pregnant in 1994 at age 14. She hid the pregnancy, giving birth alone in her room. When the baby died shortly thereafter, she threw away the body, which has never been found.
Six months later, she had a nervous breakdown. Doctors would not believe she had been pregnant until a medical exam proved it.
After Brown pleaded guilty to the rape, one of his family members came forward to accuse him of molesting her since age 5. 4/4/98
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ORLANDO - A minister surrendered to faces charges of molesting two elementary-school girls and sheriff's investigators were seeking more possible victims. Rev. David Joe Rich, 54, who resigned his post at Springs Community Baptist Church in Apopka, was arrested after confessing to the assaults. He was charged with four counts of lewd and lascivious acts and released on bail.
The two girls, whose parents confronted Rich, said they were fondled during classes while standing behind the pastor's desk. Other girls were also called to stand there, according to a detective. (2/14/98)
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DALLAS - A pastor convicted of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl wassentenced to 12 years in prison following testimony that he agreed to let her graduate early from the church's school in exchange for sex. Rev. Jerry Wayne Power, longtime pastor of Irving Baptist Temple and principal of the church's school, was convicted of two counts of sexual assault of a child.
Power, 51, hopes to be released on bond while appealing the decision, his attorneys said. The jury of 11 women and one man deliberated 31/2 hours before deciding to punish Po
Besides how do you know how I act in public? Do you have ESP or some kind of other power? Oh I know Mary told you.