By John Madewell
News Channel 9
January 18, 2010
http://www.newschannel9.com/news/hughes-987996-church-sex.html
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| A still from the movie "White Ribbon" |
Chattanooga police haul a preacher out of his own church in handcuffs over the weekend. It turns out Edward Lamar Hughes was preaching to a small congregation and is actually a convicted child sex offender.
He lost his right to pastor a church with the conviction. But Hughes returned to the crime scene, the same church where he admitted to sexually violating a teen age boy four and a half years ago.
The church, identified by police as Bethlehem Evangelistic Mission, is located in East Lake at the corner of 39th Street and 12th Avenue. NewsChannel 9 met a man there by the name of Daniel Owens, who claimed to be the active pastor of what he now referred to as Bethlehem's Friendship Circle House of Prayer.
Owens says he was playing the piano in the Saturday night holiness church when officers approached the stage with their sights set on Hughes. "Brother Ed went to the steps to meet them and they said put your hands behind your back, do you know why we're here?" Owens said.
Police pulled the plug on Edward Hughes preaching in last Saturday night's service. The 66 year old Hughes is a registered child sex offender. Back in 2005, police arrested Hughes for child rape of a 15 year old boy here on the grounds of Bethlehem Evangelistic Mission, a building Hughes still owns to this day.
That investigation showed the boy was a run-away and lived here at the church. The then pastor pleaded guilty to aggravated battery by an authority figure. Neighbor Earl Teague tipped police Hughes was back in the pulpit again around the turn of the year.
"He's not supposed to be around no children. He is a violent child molester," Teague said.
That's exactly what his registry says. Hughes is classified as "violent." But Owens claims he is the pastor of this unregistered church, not Hughes. "He did not open up this church. He is helping me, yes he is helping me open it up. He gave it to me," Owens said repeatedly.
But Teague and police say the exact opposite. They say Hughes was doing the preaching at this dilapidated building without power. And that is strike number one for a convicted sex offender. He loses his status as an "authority figure." Strike number two, a school within one thousand feet is just beyond the houses across the street .
Children attend East Lake Elementary just two blocks away. And here's another twist.
Owens lives in Rhea County and Hughes lives in Pikeville. They were bringing the congregation here and meeting using a power generator.
NewsChannel 9 pressed Owens on documentation of him being in charge. Our specific question to him was if there had been any exchange of documents, legal deed or title transfer. He responded, "That's in the process, but not yet. Just word of mouth."
And Owens adds there is bad blood between Teague, the tipster to police, and Hughes. Owens says it stems from Teague's desire to own the building for his own ministry.
Teague doesn't dispute wanting to put his own mission there, and even though he's publicizing Hughes' sex offense conviction, Teague maintains it's not personal. "I don't speak with him, he's a child molester. Just that plain and simple," Teague said.
Bledsoe County investigators worked with Chattanooga police in making this arrest. Meanwhile, church members pooled together to get Edward Hughes out of jail. His bond was 15 thousand dollars for both counts of violating the registry.
He's due in court next Monday.
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