Former Baptist pastor indicted
Posted on 02/08/2003 4:22:45 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Former Baptist pastor indicted
Minister who left Flower Mound in 2001 faces sex charges
02/08/2003
A former Flower Mound Baptist pastor has been indicted by a Denton County grand jury in connection with sexual misconduct involving a 14-year-old girl and a woman in her 30s.
Grand jurors issued two indictments this week against Michael Wayne O'Guin, 34, who left The Church at Wichita Creek in Flower Mound amid allegations of misconduct in August 2001.
Mr. O'Guin, who arrived at the church in fall 1999, now lives in Tennessee.
Denton County District Attorney Bruce Isaacks said his office will seek to extradite Mr. O'Guin to Texas.
Mr. O'Guin was indicted on charges of the sexual assault of the girl and the attempted sexual assault of the woman. Officials say the later incident took place at the church.
Mr. O'Guin declined to comment Friday. He works at an insurance company in Dyersburg, Tenn.
He referred questions to his attorney, Knox Fitzpatrick, in Dallas. Mr. Fitzpatrick could not be reached for comment.
The girl was raped in spring 2001, said Flower Mound police Lt. Wendell Mitchell. The incident occurred at a residence on Devonshire Court in Flower Mound, according to police reports. Mr. O'Guin at one time lived on that street, Lt. Mitchell said. The girl reported the incident in September, he said.
The incident involving the woman occurred in fall 2000 at the church on Wichita Trail, Lt. Mitchell said. She reported the crime to police in October, he said.
Attempted sexual assault is a third-degree felony, punishable by two to 10 years in prison. Sexual assault is a second-degree felony, punishable by two to 20 years in prison.
"He is innocent until proven guilty, but any time you have an allegations of a sex crime involving a minister, that's fairly egregious," Mr. Isaacks said. "Any allegations like this tears up a church. This church, from what I understand, has pretty well recovered. They're moving down the road, but nevertheless, it had to be done."
The church's current pastor, David Sylvester, said in a written statement that the church is cooperating with authorities.
"The pastor and leadership group of The Church at Wichita Creek in Flower Mound has only recently been informed by local law enforcement officials of the pending legal charges against Mr. O'Guin," said Dr. Sylvester, who joined the church in June. "As church leaders, we are fully cooperating with all requests from legal authorities and trust that this matter will be resolved in a manner fully consistent with the law."
He said the Flower Mound church, which has about 175 members, is recovering and counseling is being offered.
"The church is a healthy church that has experienced growth in recent days and has a bright future," Dr. Sylvester said. "Our primary concern and prayer as a church is for the full restoration and spiritual healing of all the individuals who may have been involved in this matter."
Lt. Mitchell said he did not know why the women did not alert police sooner.
Two weeks after the second report was made, Flower Mound detectives traveled to Tennessee to question Mr. O'Guin, Lt. Mitchell said. He was arrested on the two charges and taken to the Dyer County jail.
Lt. Mitchell declined to say whether Mr. O'Guin gave investigators a statement.
Mr. O'Guin was released after posting a $1,000 bond the same day, Dyer County jail officials said.
Mr. Isaacks said that he was surprised when the Tennessee court set such a low bail for Mr. O'Guin.
"I'd be shocked if a ... [Texas] judge released someone like that on a $1,000 bond," Mr. Isaacks said.
He added that Mr. O'Guin's father-in-law is the Dyersburg police chief. The chief did not return phone calls Friday.
Mr. O'Guin was formerly a minister in Brookport, Ill., and also has lived in Missouri and Arizona, Mr. Isaacks said.
E-mail jtrahan@dallasnews.com
hahaha!I need to get my wife to check me every day
to see if I have something like one of those
"kick me" signs on or something. :)
Maybe it's time to just give in - quit your job and spend all day researching the articles you post so that you can answer any possible question that anyone might ask ;)
Be gone, TROLL? What is that supposed to mean? You shame me for not knowing?
01-43729 Michael W. O'Guin Texas Bankruptcy Court
This church paid him $8,950 per Month. He still filed Chapter 7 in September 2001. Skipped on over $57K in unsecured debt.
See, now where do you get info like that?
hehehe! :)
I was not aware that sodomy was involved?
Just take a breath and relax Miz.curious.
You're new around here so sit back and take things in for a while. You already pinged me by mistake and you know, it just isn't polite to go to a site you just signed up to and start telling people off.
Here's some tips:
TROLL= someone who is stirring up trouble on a site.
SHAME= you'll get a lot worse than what I've given you if you keep up your strange posts.
HAHAHAHA!!!
Incoming FReepmail
I believe there is enough info given in the article to describe the offender and crime to the satisfaction of the offender information folks.
I have been watching this thread for some time.
As an educated American, I believe most people are quick to point fingers, what happened to "He is innocent until proven guilty,"?
I believe this case surfaced around the same time allegations were being made against Catholic Priests and their alleged crimes against youth. This makes it a little easier to wag fingers in faces and form uneducated opinions.
Since when does his salary or the fact he faced bankruptcy have anything to do with the charges?
The only truth to this case is. All crimes/alleged crimes involve families. Someone's child. Someone's husband or father, someone's minister, a friend.... a life.
As an educated American, I believe most people are quick to point fingers, what happened to "He is innocent until proven guilty,"?We still believe in that on this forum.
We also believe in "Trust but verify". Do you know who said that?
Welcome to FreeRepublic.com.
A Scott who knew Mike, whose father pastored a church in Illinois. Is this Scotto P? This is terribly tragic news, and I was devastated to hear of it. My hope is that it's not all true.
Lindsay
I'm probably stepping out of the comfort zone for those who wait impatiently for "justice," but I have to say: Mike, if you're out there reading this, I want you to know that you're cared for and thought of frequently. No bull, dude.
LL
heh! It's out close to the D/FW Airport. :)My aunt lives there. She and her (now late) hubby have lived there since the 1930's. It used to be a part of Grapevine. "Flower Mound New Town" sprang up in the 70's so now they're in Flower Mound.
Although adopted by many and set into motion with a directive of many different areas of interest, the phrase "Trust But Verify" was used by Ronald Reagan in direction to the Soviets pertaining to Arms Control, also referred to with-in the GPC Verification Process. And the title of a a book pertaining to Cold War.
Is this to what you are referring? :o)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.