Quoted from the article:Headline: "Church rape appeal goes to high court"Before jurors convicted Ernest Willis of forcibly raping his teenage babysitter twice in 1997, they heard testimony from his former pastor at Trinity Baptist Church, who said Willis confessed to twice having sexual contact with the 15-year-old girl and described himself as the "aggressor."
The appeal issues surround whether or not the convicted rapist was "confessing" to the pastor of Trinity Baptist Church at the time, Chuck Phelps (now the pastor of Colonial Baptist Church, 8140 Union Chapel Road Indianapolis, IN 46240, Phone: 317-253-5597). During the trial, Judge Larry Smukler ruled that Ernie Willis was NOT making a "confession" to his pastor, Charles "Chuck" Phelps, because Phelps learned the details as part of an "investigation" into what Tina Anderson had told him the night before. Also, Smukler ruled that since Willis continued the conversation with Phelps at a later time in front of his own wife and Phelps' wife, "Willis waived any privilege to keep the statements confidential" (as quoted from Concord Monitor article).
As more information becomes available on this appeal it will be posted here.
It's appearing to me that Phelps is making the mistake of thinking that an overturned conviction is going to put him into the free and clear. Not so, Chuck.
ReplyDeleteCan't believe that this is happening! Phelps you will never be free and clear. What about the public confession in the church? I know that Willis didn't admit to raping Tina but most of the congregation put two and two together that night. A 14 year old is never the guilty one when the perpetrator is an adult.
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