(OPINION) Prosecutors in Warsaw, Indiana, are investigating a confession made by Pastor John Lowe II of New Life Christian Church and World Outreach that he engaged in an improper sexual relationship with a member when she was just 16, which continued for nine years. Lowe was 45 at the time this began.
Jody Hill, an assistant to Kosciusko County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Hampton, told The Christian Post on Tuesday morning that Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct do not allow their office to disclose “any information regarding alleged misconduct.” But she did confirm that “law enforcement is involved in investigating.”
In what church officials are branding as a “messy” situation, Lowe Sunday resigned after confessing during the service that he committed adultery with one person two decades ago.
His confession initially drew a standing ovation from his congregation. He quickly drew their anger minutes later after a younger woman walked to the pulpit with her husband and tearfully revealed that the pastor took her virginity on his office floor when she was just 16 while she sported a purity ring.
The woman said she was triggered to confront Lowe after her older brother asked her two weeks prior about the time he saw her in bed with their pastor. “I was a victim, and I would still be in a prison if my brother … had not approached me just two weeks ago with what he had seen as a teenager that bothered him all these years — his pastor in bed with his younger sister, a t-shirt and underwear on,” she revealed.
“People knew but were too afraid to come forward. And they have now. The lies and the manipulation, they have to stop,” she added. “I was just 16 when you took my virginity on your office floor.
Do you remember that? I know you do, and I have plenty of other stories that I can bring to your remembrance. You did things to my teenage body that should have never been done.” “I tried to tell someone. But all that was done was a cover-up,” she added. “No one ever came to me. No one ever got me counseling.” In a statement published by the church Monday, officials denied knowing anything about the abuse. FULL REPORT
