Churchgoers said ‘Amen’ when ‘pedophile’ pastor explained why he’d abused child
A church congregation said ‘Amen’ when a suspected pedophile pastor explained why he’d given ons of his victims a black eye, a court heard. The parishioners reportedly gave their seal of approval when Logan Wesley III, 57, told of how he’d attacked a teenage relative he is also said to have molested, saying: ‘No kid is going to run my house.’
The incident was recounted in court by one of three women who alleged they were raped by Wesley, of Texarkana in Arkansas, while they were children. That unnamed victim, now aged 32, said she witnessed the argument, which ended with the girl, who is now 38, being left with a serious eye injury.
The 32 year-old woman says Wesley groomed and assaulted her after offering her mom and brothers a ride, before inviting them to join his church, the Trinity Temple Church of God in Christ.
Another woman who gave evidence said she was sexually abused from Wesley from the age of 13 until she became an adult. That woman, now 34, said Wesley told her the molestation was ‘okay, because he was a man of God.’
That woman also told of how Wesley once crashed his car after sexually assaulting her along a dead-end road in 1999, according to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
A third victim who gave evidence against Wesley – who is alleged to have received the black eye as a teen – told of how she went to live with the pastor and his wife aged 13, with Wesley creeping into her room to sexually abuse her shortly afterwards.
That woman, who is now 38, said Wesley battered her after she spoke of his alleged abuse while arguing with him in front of his wife, Cynthia Wesley.
The woman said Wesley’s abuse continued until she was in her 20s. She helped kick-start the police probe into him after recording a phone conversation where he allegedly showed remorse and apologized for what he had done.
Wesley faces 18 felony child sex abuse charges, some of which could see him sentenced to 99 years in prison if he is convicted. One of his alleged victims is his relative.
The trial is set to continue in a high school auditorium Thursday to accommodate social distancing.
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