Dallas Pastor Accused of Burglary Explains Herself

This does not look good…

The part with McGriff sitting on the furs is her “press conference” explanation of the situation…

“Look at me I’m sitting on a bunch of furs, so I’m not a thief?”

Turns out Mrs. McGriff has a fairly extensive criminal record… And apparently the local media isn’t buying either -

A columnist’s riff on Dallas pastor Sandy McGriff She stirred like a church mouse on the eve of Christmas Day; Yet, t’wasn’t her house and the owner was away. A neighbor called the cops, who then rushed to defend; but mouse in said house said she was helping a friend. She helped herself, too, to mink coats and three purses; and a laptop on which she could click on God’s verses. But with all they could see, the cops couldn’t believe; that this woman, a pastor, had scared away thieves. And Sandy McGriff, who to this day does protest; she was charged with burglary and resisting arrest. No one can say now how this ironic tale ends; to her story, at least, Sandy’s made some amends. But readers aren’t buying, indeed they are yelping; they scoff at Sandy’s claim, “I thought I was helping.” No, I’m not without sin so I won’t cast a stone; Yes, if it weren’t for the cops, those minks might be gone. Sandy, meanwhile, is taking new aim at the cops; Said they cuffed her too tightly, didn’t give her due props. Yet her record to date may indeed cast some doubt; the home’s owner thinks she was not there to help out. While Sandy maintains she walks the “straight and narrow;” court of public opinion’s slinging sharp arrows. So we leave it to you in this Yuletide Season; Are you buying the story, wrapped in such reason? Oh My!

Dallas Pastor Arrested For Burglary

Dallas Pastor Sandy McGriff Shows Off Her Furs

Pastor Denies Committing Christmas Eve Burglary

Dallas preacher Sandy McGriff says she wasn’t breaking into a congregant’s house on Christmas Eve to rob her—she did it to protect the woman from other burglars. McGriff, who was arrested when police caught her loading $10,000 worth of valuables into her car, says she stopped by to check on Serita Agnew’s house when she saw two men exit it. She says she climbed through a window they’d already broken, and grabbed Agnew’s fur coats, designer purses, and a laptop to protect them in case the thieves returned.

“I thought I was helping,” she tells the Dallas Morning News. That, needless to say, is not how police tell the story. A neighbor called police when he spotted a woman break Agnew’s window and climb into the house. When police arrived, they say McGriff told them that Agnew had asked her to pick up the coats, making no mention of the two men. The police report also says she was not sober, and lists her name as “Kathy Robinson,” an alias she has a criminal record under. She was released on $26,000 bail in time for Christmas services.

Things that make you go “Hmmmmmm…”

Seems it would have been a lot simpler just to dial 911 on the old cell phone. Now… I understand about the “Born Again” thing…

But I wasn’t aware that included a criminal alias!

 

Bishop Eddie Long Sued for Sexual Coercion of Male Church Members

Another in a long line of anti-gay church leaders…

Who turn out to be closet queens and abusers?

Let this one percolate for a while, as either damning or exculpatory evidence should be forthcoming fairly quickly.

Men allege sexual coercion by prominent Atlanta pastor

Two Georgia men have filed a lawsuit claiming that prominent Atlanta, Georgia, pastor Eddie Long coerced them into sex.

The suits, filed Tuesday in DeKalb County, Georgia, allege that Long used his position as a spiritual authority and bishop to coerce young male members and employees of his New Birth Missionary Baptist Church into sex.

“Defendant Long has a pattern and practice of singling out a select group of young male church members and using his authority as Bishop over them to ultimately bring them to a point of engaging in a sexual relationship,” the suits allege.

Long is considered one of the nation’s top black preachers. His church has more 25,000 members, according to the suit, and was the site of Coretta Scott King’s 2006 funeral, attended by then-President George W. Bush and three previous presidents. King was the widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The pastor took one plaintiff, Anthony Flagg, 21, on overnight trips to a half-dozen American cities in recent years, Flagg’s suit alleges.

“Long shared a bedroom and engaged in intimate sexual contact with plaintiff Flagg including kissing, massaging, masturbating of plaintiff Flagg by defendant Long and oral sexual contact,” the suit says.

Long took the other plaintiff, Maurice Murray Robinson, 20, to Auckland, New Zealand, in October 2008 for his 18th birthday and engaged in oral sex with him, Robinson’s suit alleges.

“Following the New Zealand Trip, Defendant Long regularly engaged in sexual touching, and other sexual acts with Plaintiff Robinson,” Robinson’s suit alleges.

Long spokesman Art Franklin said Tuesday that “we categorically deny the allegations.”

“It is very unfortunate that someone has taken this course of action,” he said. “Our law firm will be able to respond once attorneys have had an opportunity to review the lawsuit.”

Long frequently denounces homosexual behavior. A 2007 article in the Southern Poverty Law Center’s magazine called him “one of the most virulently homophobic black leaders in the religiously based anti-gay movement.”