Posted on 06/30/2008 6:43:43 PM PDT by Coleus
Video: Deacon Charged For Lewd Act
The latest suspect is 48-year-old Jerome Pitchford, long-time deacon of Milwaukee's Holy Redeemer Church of God in Christ. The warm weather seems to expose the issue at the park, and in this case, the apparent secret of a married man with children, a church leader. Police said Pitchford apparently does not practice what he teaches in Sunday School. Police say after church at the Holy Redeemer Church of God in Christ on Sunday afternoon, he was arrested and charged with lewd and lascivious behavior at Milwaukee's Estabrook Park.
The criminal complaint says he was looking for sex with another man. He exposed himself, to what turned out to be an undercover police officer. As WISN-TV 12 News reported in late 2006, this type of illegal activity is a constant problem that law enforcement has not been able to stop. "They initiate either by you know grabbing the officer, which is fourth-degree sexual assault or exposing themselves, which is lewd and lascivious behavior," said Milwaukee County Sheriff's Deputy John Nelson.
Parishioners and a neighbor of Jerome Pitchford say they're stunned that he was caught up in this kind of activity. “I just couldn't believe it and I was still wondering was it true, because I couldn't believe it cause he's such … a gentleman," said Bernice Sykes, Pitchford’s neighbor.
He’s not only a gentleman, but a deacon, a youth counselor and mentor, says one parishioner who wanted to he heard but not seen. "I'm so speechless, i can't believe that," the parishioner said. "I can't believe it, but I hope that he will get … a little therapy and get himself straightened out,” Sykes said.
Weird thing about it is that for the past 10 years, everyone in the densely populated neighborhood has know about this activity and the police presence in the park. It’s really known widely as the “gay park.”
Confucius say “When in doubt, whip it out!”
To paraphrase an old camp song:
Oh the Deacon went out
In the the park to walk.
But he was caught
Showing off his Lewd and Lascivious behavior!
The down low...you’re doing it wrong.
Keep shining the light! Child abuse by pastors need sunshine.
If only they were allowed to marry!
Oh wait...
I think he might have a fascination with showing the hypocrisy of some posters, I could name quite a few of them but I’d get in trouble.
Indeed. As we all know, it's only Catholic sex crimes which are deserving of our attention and indignation.
Search "naked jogging priest" and see how many threads our friend Alex has devoted to this profound issue. And that's just one guy.
Thirteen threads (not all mine), over a course of a year. And why bother searching? I've got all of them cataloged right here. How many threads have been posted about Protestant pastors and laypeople in the last three days alone?
Unlike my obsessed Catholic friends, I followed the "naked jogging priest" story from beginning to end, from accusation to conviction, creating threads with each news development over the year-long period. Had he been exonorated, I would have reported on that, too. Curiously, very few - if any - Catholics have called for his removal from the priesthood even after his conviction. My conclusions about Whipkey still stands:
It took the jury less than three hours to decide what to do with him. It's been almost exactly one year since his admission "I know what I did was wrong", and a decade since his boys' camp antics, and his archdiocese still hasn't decided what to do.Now knock it off. Do not make these threads about me.There's a lesson in there somewhere.
Discuss the issues all you want, but do not make it personal.
I had no problems with the naked priest threads and I pinged the Catholic list to notify them of this priest’s absurd behavior. It’s just too bad the continuation of the story couldn’t be on the same thread.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1878595/posts?page=17#17
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1941447/posts?page=10#10
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.