Tulsa pastor Rev. Gregory Hawkins, 54, of Zion Plaza Church in North Tulsa has reportedly admitted to having sex with a 14-year-old girl who is five months pregnant with Hawkins’ child.
Rev. Hawkins now faces six counts of child sexual abuse. The charges state that he had sex with the child at his church Zion Plaza, a Holiday Inn, and in his Suburban at a park.
Hawkins took over the church after his brother, Neaco Padillow, was shot to death ten years ago in his car outside a Tulsa elementary school. Hawkins took over the ministry of Padillow’s Zion Fellowship Living Waters Church and then took ownership of the Zion Community Economic Development Corp.
In addition to Zion Fellowship Ministries, the shopping center contains Zion Child Care & Learning Center, which has been repeated cited for violations in the care of children from insufficient staff to no heating to unsecured areas.
Hawkins posted the $50,000 bond and was released within hours of his arrest.
Hawkins’ arrest comes just shortly after the arrest of another Oklahoma pastor and an associate on child pornography charges. Jerry Duane Barham, 66, and Melissa Renee Loman, 33 were charged with producing child porn. Barham is the pastor at Grace Fellowship New Testament Church in Shawnee.
traveling limey,
My point to Professor Turley,
One off tragedies effect one person while there are plenty of topics that effect millions of people.
With our time & efforts limited I wish to focus on the larger issues to fix 1st.
It appears some public pressure has caused to FDA to move again:
FDA sets new limits on arsenic in apple juice
7 minutes ago
Parents who have been fretting over the low levels of arsenic found in apple juice can feel better about buying one of their kids’ favorite drinks. Studies have shown that the juice contains very low levels of arsenic, a cancer-causing agent found in everything from water to soil to pesticides. The FDA has monitored arsenic in apple juice for decades and has long said the levels are not dangerous to consumers, in particular small children who favor fruit juice.
I agree with TravellinLimey above. I also believe in the 18 up and out philosophy. Too many parents keep the brats under the wing until the kid hits 40.
So Oky1 did not waste his time reading the story but gives us one column foot of vaguely related data that we should spend time reading…. Not sure I see the logic in that. But yes, there have been a few states where 14 has been the age of consent & yes, they have probably been raised to 16 , 17 or 18 for no good logical reason. Meanwhile its been reported that the age of puberty has gone down. Whoever are making the effort to raise consent ages in America & around the world are not in tune with mother nature. Perhaps they should put their efforts towards raising the intelligence and ability of children & minors to fit in & cope better with the natural blueprint of our human race as far as sex is concerned.