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  Bullitt Youth Pastor in Sex Abuse Case Sues Girl's Mother

By Daarel Burnette II
The Courier-Journal
January 8, 2008

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880108027

A Bullitt County youth pastor charged with sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl at his church has sued the girl's mother, accusing her of slander, libel and defamation of character.

Clayton Pruett, 25, was arrested on Dec. 14 for allegedly having inappropriate sexual contact with the girl at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, where he serves as a youth pastor.

Pruett also is an assistant wrestling coach and substitute teacher for Bullitt County Public Schools.

The lawsuit says that the girl's mother appeared on local television stations and was quoted in local newspapers accusing Pruett of sexual abuse. It also claims she called Pruett "a wolf in sheep's clothing" and a "perverted pedophile" and urged "every parent to talk to your children if your children have been around him."

The girl's mother, whose name is being withheld to protect her daughter's identity, said the lawsuit was a shock. "All we wanted was for him to stay away from our daughter," she said.

Pruett, who is on house arrest, was suspended from his job at the school and the church. He also was suspended from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Boyce College, where he was a student, said his lawyer Thomas Givhan.

Pruett will be tried on Jan. 28.

Reporter Daarel Burnette II can be reached at (502) 582-4241.

 
 

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