Dallas area Preacher convicted of raping 3 women

[Tock]

Here's the results of another colorful local trial -- I've passed on mentioning several other preachers that have been convicted of similar crimes lately, as this one has consistantly made the Dallas newspaper's front page, and shows how even popular preachers can't be trusted to tell the truth.

A local newspaper columnist checked the claims the preacher made on his website:
He has earned a B.S. degree in Pre-Law/Business from the University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas; a Pre-Law degree from the Oral Roberts University School of Law in Tulsa, Oklahoma; a Masters degree in Christian Education/Social Work from the Southwestern Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas; and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Conflicts Management at Trinity Theological Seminary in Newburg, Indiana.
. . . and it turns out that half of what he's claimed is false. Tsk tsk tsk.


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Dallas area Preacher convicted of raping 3 women -- during the trial, the preacher admitted that he had sex with all three of them. The women said they had been drugged, the police found "date-rape" drug in his SUV.

Here is his website: http://www.agapecf.org/pastors/bishoptbio.html

More charges on other crimes will follow . . . he's up for witness tampering among other things.

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http://cbs11tv.com/local/local_story_234165325.html

Aug 22, 2006 9:50 pm US/Central
Hornbuckle Guilty On All Counts; Awaits Sentencing
(CBS 11 News) FORT WORTH A Tarrant County jury has found Reverend Terry Hornbuckle guilty of raping three women. Jurors deliberated for nearly a week before reaching their decision.

Two of the accusers were members of Hornbuckle’s Agape Christian Fellowship Church.

Hornbuckle faces 20 years in prison on each charge, but could also be eligible for probation.

Hornbuckle showed no emothion when he heard the verdict. Now comes the punishment phase for the 44-year-old founder of the Arlington megachurch.

Prosecutors called Hornbuckle "Bishop Casanova" - a religious leader with a sinister and criminal side.

"We're very pleased with the verdict we think the jury worked very hard and they came out with the correct verdict," said prosecutor, Sean Colston.

The defense rested its case last Tuesday without calling any witnesses. It introduced into evidence on Friday a letter from NFL career rushing leader Emmitt Smith written to the Tarrant County grand jury describing Hornbuckle as "an honest and trustworthy man" and a "true model for our family." Smith said Hornbuckle had done premarital counseling for him and his wife.

Last week, the mother of one of the women Hornbuckle is accused of assaulting told jurors that former Dallas Cowboys player Deion Sanders urged her not to report the rape allegations. Loretta Sheppard testified that Sanders told her that he and T.D. Jakes, pastor of the Potter's House in Dallas, were working with Hornbuckle on his problems.

Prosecutor Betty Arvin told jurors that helped explain why the sexual assault wasn't immediately reported.

During closing arguments Tuesday, defense attorney Leon Haley said Hornbuckle's trial was a lesson in the evils of drugs and adultery. He said the sins didn't rise to the level of criminal violations.

"He's stupid. He's wrong. But, they are too," Haley said.

Arvin told the jury not to accept the argument that Hornbuckle violated only God's law. She said each of the three women's cases fit the definition of rape under Texas law.

"Tell him he's guilty of not just being a sinner, but of being the criminal that he is," she said.

[singern]

As far as criminality, he is no more guilty than any other scum bag rapist, but Ethically, and morally he is guilty of so much more.


Hang the bastard, and all those like him from the tallest tree.......

[Tock]

Latest on this . . .
Yesterday, during the punishment phase of the trial, another woman testified that the preacher drugged and raped her. Dunno why she didn't testify during the other part of the trial, but there you have it.

Anyway, this goes to show ya that just because someone is a preacher, claims to speak for God, etc etc etc, it doesn't hurt to check to see if what he's saying is true.
As Ronald Reagan said of the Soviet Union, "Trust, but verify."

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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont....2f6be43d.html
Pastor's sentence weighed

FW: Jury in Hornbuckle rape case to resume deliberations Monday


08:27 PM CDT on Thursday, August 24, 2006

By JEFF MOSIER / The Dallas Morning News


FORT WORTH – Attorneys in the rape trial of Terry Hornbuckle made their final pleas to the jury Thursday morning before the panel decides whether to give the minister probation or send him to prison for up to 20 years.

Prosecutors said the defendant is nothing more than a con man and predator who irreparably damaged the lives of the three women he is convicted of raping. Defense attorneys described their client as a drug addict who has bottomed out and deserves the jury's compassion and a chance for rehabilitation.

"Terry Hornbuckle has been building his résumé for the penitentiary," prosecutor Sean Colston said in his closing statement.

Ms. Colston said the founder of Agape Christian Fellowship church in Arlington used his position to satisfy his "carnal desires" and destroyed many lives in the process.

Defense attorney Mike Heiskell asked the jury to show Mr. Hornbuckle mercy and give him a second chance.

"You have convicted him," he said. "You don't have to condemn him."

Mr. Heiskell said his client has done good work but fell because of the sickness of drug addiction. Authorities found methamphetamine in Mr. Hornbuckle's Cadillac Escalade when he was arrested, and he tested positive for the drug twice while out on bail.

Jurors began deliberating just before 10 a.m. Thursday, more than three weeks after testimony began, and finished for the week just before 1 p.m. They will resume deliberations at 9 a.m. Monday. They are taking today off because of a juror's family reunion.

Mr. Heiskell said he wishes that the jury didn't have such a long weekend break because he believes a decision is close.

"I am concerned about the potential of not only losing jurors for various reasons but also potential taint of the jury pool with respect to media coverage and other outside influences," he said. "But that's what we have to live with."

The jury deliberated more than 33 hours before finding Mr. Hornbuckle guilty Tuesday on all three charges of sexual assault. The jurors sent a single note to state district Judge Scott Wisch on Thursday to ask whether they could order both probation and prison time for Mr. Hornbuckle. He responded that they could.

Prosecutors said that if that happened, the probation would be served when Mr. Hornbuckle was released from prison.

Mr. Colston praised jurors for their "correct and just" verdict Tuesday of guilty on all three charges of sexual assault. However, he said, the verdict is meaningless if they don't give Mr. Hornbuckle the proper punishment and asked for the maximum.

He said that probation would be wasted on Mr. Hornbuckle, who violated the terms of his bail four times during a one-year period. Besides those incidents, there were repeated violations that didn't land Mr. Hornbuckle back in jail.

"We will waste time, money and effort on someone who doesn't deserve probation," Mr. Colston said.

Mr. Heiskell said his client wouldn't get proper drug treatment if he's in prison.

"There is salvation. There is hope," he said. "Do we dash that all away?"

Defense attorney Leon Haley said that drugs had finally caused Mr. Hornbuckle to reach bottom and that now is the time for him to climb back up. He also urged jurors to consider all of Mr. Hornbuckle's good work during his two decades as a minister.

"Can you imagine all the souls he saved before he got caught up in this trash?" Mr. Haley asked.

The defense also attacked the prosecution for giving a plea bargain to Russell Eason, a career criminal who testified that Mr. Hornbuckle bought prescription pills from him while in the Tarrant County jail.

Prosecutor Betty Arvin defended the agreement with Mr. Eason and told the jury that he was also helping with a case against a man accused of capital murder in the shooting death of a Fort Worth police officer.

Ms. Arvin said the sentence should be as much about the victims as the defendant. A long prison term would vindicate the women, who feared coming forward at first.

"It's about the women who said, 'I didn't come forward because I didn't think that anyone would believe me,' " Ms. Arvin said.

A 20-year sentence would send a strong message and provide justice for everyone, she said.

"The victims deserve it," she said. "Society deserves it. The defendant earned it."

[RA]