Woman Admits Beating Gay Church Member

[annaj26]

Woman Admits in Court That She and About 30 Others Beat Gay Church Member



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On Friday, North Carolina woman Sarah Anderson testified to helping attack a fellow church member because he had sexual thoughts about men. She also faces charges in connection to the incident, and has not made a deal with prosecutors.

Anderson and about 30 members of the Word of Faith Fellowship attacked 23-year-old Matthew Fenner during a January 2013 prayer session, she said during the trial of Minister Brooke Covington, who is charged with kidnapping and assault for her role in the alleged attack. The church members allegedly beat Fenner, yelled at him, and strangled him.

Anderson also claimed Covington and other church leaders tried to make her lie in her affidavit and her testimony.

Covington is the first to stand trial for the January 2013 attack on Fenner. If convicted, she could spend two years behind bars.


Four others will be tried separately: Justin Covington, Robert Walker Jr., Adam Bartley, and Anderson herself. She faces counts of kidnapping, assault by strangulation, and simple assault. Her attorney tried to stop her from testifying because she’d be incriminating herself.

During opening statements on Thursday, defense attorney David Teddy claimed the prayer session involved no violence. Fenner hugged everyone after it was done, he said.

Since charges were filed in 2014, church members and defendants has insisted they do not target people on the basis of sexual orientation.

Fenner, who has come out as gay, was the first to testify in Covington’s trial, and said she led the assault. Also, in his affidavit written in 2014, he implicated Anderson in the attack.

“Deliverance soon ensued (which meant extremely rough pushing, loud screaming, and other violent measures intended to ‘break me free of the homosexual “demons” they so viciously despised), and I was at one point grabbed by my throat by Sarah and shaken, punched, and beaten,” he said in the affidavit obtained by The Daily Beast. “I received many bruises on my collarbones, neck, chest, and shoulders.”

Both Fenner and Anderson have left the church. She jumped ship in 2016 after claiming that church leaders, including Covington, abused her 1-year-old son.

www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/woman-admits-in-court-that-she-and-about-30-others-beat-gay-church-member/ar-BBC5Rpa?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp

[Deleted]

Jun 5, 2017 20:01:57 GMT -5 annaj26 said:

Woman Admits in Court That She and About 30 Others Beat Gay Church Member



© Provided by Mediaite, LLC

On Friday, North Carolina woman Sarah Anderson testified to helping attack a fellow church member because he had sexual thoughts about men. She also faces charges in connection to the incident, and has not made a deal with prosecutors.

Anderson and about 30 members of the Word of Faith Fellowship attacked 23-year-old Matthew Fenner during a January 2013 prayer session, she said during the trial of Minister Brooke Covington, who is charged with kidnapping and assault for her role in the alleged attack. The church members allegedly beat Fenner, yelled at him, and strangled him.

Anderson also claimed Covington and other church leaders tried to make her lie in her affidavit and her testimony.

Covington is the first to stand trial for the January 2013 attack on Fenner. If convicted, she could spend two years behind bars.


Four others will be tried separately: Justin Covington, Robert Walker Jr., Adam Bartley, and Anderson herself. She faces counts of kidnapping, assault by strangulation, and simple assault. Her attorney tried to stop her from testifying because she’d be incriminating herself.

During opening statements on Thursday, defense attorney David Teddy claimed the prayer session involved no violence. Fenner hugged everyone after it was done, he said.

Since charges were filed in 2014, church members and defendants has insisted they do not target people on the basis of sexual orientation.

Fenner, who has come out as gay, was the first to testify in Covington’s trial, and said she led the assault. Also, in his affidavit written in 2014, he implicated Anderson in the attack.

“Deliverance soon ensued (which meant extremely rough pushing, loud screaming, and other violent measures intended to ‘break me free of the homosexual “demons” they so viciously despised), and I was at one point grabbed by my throat by Sarah and shaken, punched, and beaten,” he said in the affidavit obtained by The Daily Beast. “I received many bruises on my collarbones, neck, chest, and shoulders.”

Both Fenner and Anderson have left the church. She jumped ship in 2016 after claiming that church leaders, including Covington, abused her 1-year-old son.

www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/woman-admits-in-court-that-she-and-about-30-others-beat-gay-church-member/ar-BBC5Rpa?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp

oh my!!!!

what a disgrace to true followers of Christ.

[beth]

Jun 5, 2017 21:11:52 GMT -5 @chefmate51 said:

oh my!!!!

what a disgrace to true followers of Christ.

I can relate. I often wonder about those so dedicated to their brands of religion .... why can't they be practically perfect, like me?

ugh

[mouse]

am I right in understanding that the Word of Faith Fellowship church is not a proper church ? .. I mean not a church ascociated with a ruling body such as Rome or the Anglicans
we seem too get these rather odd names which call them selves churches but which are not affiliated and thus can preach any thing they like no matter how extreme etc

[annaj26]

Those are the fundamentalist churches. It's hard to tell about their affiliation. Some of them are independent and others are part of one of the conventions of ecumenical denominations. Most of them have that same hard core belief system that Chef has.

This is so sick.

I seem to remember another case like this a couple of years ago where the gay boys parents joined in the beating and, he died.

[Deleted]

Jun 6, 2017 12:18:48 GMT -5 annaj26 said:

Those are the fundamentalist churches. It's hard to tell about their affiliation. Some of them are independent and others are part of one of the conventions of ecumenical denominations. Most of them have that same hard core belief system that Chef has.

This is so sick.

I seem to remember another case like this a couple of years ago where the gay boys parents joined in the beating and, he died.

Please don't lump me in with these nutcases.

[men an tol]

Jun 6, 2017 15:50:58 GMT -5 @chefmate51 said:

Jun 6, 2017 12:18:48 GMT -5 annaj26 said:

Those are the fundamentalist churches. It's hard to tell about their affiliation. Some of them are independent and others are part of one of the conventions of ecumenical denominations. Most of them have that same hard core belief system that Chef has.

This is so sick.

I seem to remember another case like this a couple of years ago where the gay boys parents joined in the beating and, he died.

Please don't lump me in with these nutcases.

You're not lumped in with anything Chef and while these people who did this are apparently fundamentalists, not all fundamentalists are of such a nature. Most are merely people who have a straight forward religious view of the world and would not ever hurt others as part of their religion.

[Dex]

Jun 6, 2017 15:50:58 GMT -5 @chefmate51 said:

Jun 6, 2017 12:18:48 GMT -5 annaj26 said:

Those are the fundamentalist churches. It's hard to tell about their affiliation. Some of them are independent and others are part of one of the conventions of ecumenical denominations. Most of them have that same hard core belief system that Chef has.

This is so sick.

I seem to remember another case like this a couple of years ago where the gay boys parents joined in the beating and, he died.

Please don't lump me in with these nutcases.

Lighten up, Chef. You're a good girl. The thing is, when a lot of over zealous, hard line Christians get together, they tend to encourage each other that their attitudes are for the good of all. Best is to stay away from those people. They are just as much of a cult as Scientology. Let people do things their own way and they'll probably find their own path - the one that's the best for them

[annaj26]

Chef, I beg your pardon and apologize. They are the same kind of religion but I don't think you'd do anything like that. You might chastise them with your tongue but I don't think you'd ever hurt anyone.

[mouse]

Jun 6, 2017 15:50:58 GMT -5 @chefmate51 said:

Jun 6, 2017 12:18:48 GMT -5 annaj26 said:

Those are the fundamentalist churches. It's hard to tell about their affiliation. Some of them are independent and others are part of one of the conventions of ecumenical denominations. Most of them have that same hard core belief system that Chef has.

This is so sick.

I seem to remember another case like this a couple of years ago where the gay boys parents joined in the beating and, he died.

Please don't lump me in with these nutcases.

no.. not at all