Warrant issued for
Archbishop Earl Paulk
80-year-old preacher
at center of sex scandal
By AP from the Web,
January 15, 2008
An 80-year-old leader of a DeKalb
County megachurch who is at the center of a sex scandal has been charged with
lying under oath for saying he had sex outside marriage with only one other
woman, court documents show.
A warrant for the arrest of Archbishop Earl Paulk, co-founder of Cathedral of
the Holy Spirit at Chapel Hill Harvester Church in Decatur, was issued Monday,
according to court documents. Paulk was making arrangements Monday night
to turn himself in, WAGA-TV reported.
His attorneys did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press seeking
comment.
Former church employee Mona Brewer is suing Paulk, his brother and the church on
allegations that Paulk manipulated her into an affair from 1989 to 2003 by
telling her it was her only path to salvation. In a 2006 deposition
stemming from the lawsuit, the archbishop said under oath that the only woman he
had ever had sex with outside of his marriage was Brewer.
But the results of a court-ordered paternity test revealed in October that Paulk
is the biological father of his brother's son, D.E. Paulk, who is now head
pastor at the church. As part of Brewer's lawsuit, eight women have given
sworn depositions that they were coerced into sexual relationships with Earl
Paulk.
A judge ordered the paternity test at the request of the Cobb County district
attorney's office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. District
Attorney Pat Head declined to comment when reached at his home Monday night.
Paulk and his brother, Don, have been hit with lawsuits from former members
alleging they were coerced into sexual affairs, but this is the first time
criminal charges have been filed against the archbishop.
|
