Pastor's Sexual Exploitation Conviction Reversed on Appeal
By Grant Rodgers
A former Pella pastor who admitted in court that he had sexual contact with four parishioners will get a new trial, the Iowa Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday. After a 10-day trial, Patrick Edouard, 44, was convicted in August 2012 of four counts of sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist and one count of pattern, practice or scheme to engage in sexual exploitation. Edouard was charged after four parishioners of the Covenant Reformed Church in Pella reported that he had “repeatedly engaged in sex acts with them,” court papers said. The court’s decision further erodes the sexual exploitation statute that was meant to protect potential victims, said Elizabeth Barnhill, executive director of the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault. It could now be time for the Iowa lawmakers to review and strengthen the statute, she said. “This rises to a much greater level of concern for me now,” she said. The Iowa attorney general’s office will seek to have the case reviewed by the Iowa Supreme Court, spokesman Geoff Greenwood said. A new trial could be scheduled if the court declines to review Edouard’s case or rules with the appeals court. Edouard served as pastor of the church from 2003 through 2010. The women came forward to report the alleged exploitation in January 2011 after a husband came home and found Edouard’s van in the driveway. Edouard’s attorneys argued his conviction on the sexual exploitation charges wasn’t proper under the parameters of a crucial 2006 Iowa Supreme Court case, State v. Gonzalez. In that case, the court defined the term “counseling” as services offered in a more professional manner and setting; the law wasn’t meant to apply to “personal relationships,” the court said. At Edouard’s trial, defense attorneys Angela Campbell and Gary Dickey argued against a jury instruction that didn’t take into account the definition of “counseling” outlined in the Gonzalez case. The appeals court agreed the jury’s conviction wasn’t fair without considering the Gonzalez definition. “Edouard’s entire defense was premised on the fact that he could not be convicted of sexual exploitation because his actions did not meet the definition of ‘counseling,’ ” the ruling said. Edouard’s case is likely the first time the appeals court has reversed a sexual exploitation sentence based on the standard set in the Gonzalez case, attorneys and experts said. Narrowing the scope of the sexual exploitation statute is important to ensure that a pastor or any other person giving routine advice isn’t viewed as a “counselor” and charged with a crime, Dickey said. At trial, Edouard testified that he didn’t have counseling relationships with the women. “There has to be a limiting principle to this statute,” Dickey said. “If you have a broad definition of mental health treatment to include day to day advice ... there’s a real chilling effect.” But when the Iowa Legislature wrote the law, it was meant to have a wide scope to protect people who might be emotionally dependent or reliant on a counselor, said Barnhill, who worked to help pass the law in the early 1990s. “The intent was to be very broad to encompass anyone who has what is colloquially understood as a counseling role,” she said. “I think what needs to happen is either the (Iowa) Supreme Court needs to take a look at this ... or perhaps we do need to go back to the Legislature and clarify what the legislative intent was.” The appeals court in its ruling acknowledged that in granting Edouard a new trial it was likely narrowing the sexual exploitation statute beyond what the Legislature intended. However, the Legislature hasn’t revisited the law since the 2006 Gonzalez ruling, the court said. Iowa state Sen. Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, who is chairman of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee, said the court’s ruling could be a signal that it’s time to review the law. Rep. Chip Baltimore, R-Boone, echoed Hogg’s statement. “We frequently are asked to look at court cases after they’re decided. ... It sounds like the court is inviting us to take a look at this,” Hogg said. Edouard was sentenced to serve up to five years in prison following his conviction, but has been free on a $5,000 appeal bond. He now lives out of state, Dickey said. Campbell and Dickey’s argument in Edouard’s appeal is similar to one the attorneys are currently pursuing in the case against Nermin Spahic, a Des Moines Islamic leader. Spahic, 40, was charged in August with two counts of sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist and one count of third-degree sexual abuse after he allegedly abused two women during a religious ceremony. In a motion to dismiss the exploitation charges filed earlier this month, Campbell argued Spahic does not fit the definition of a counselor under the Gonzalez decision. Campbell also argued the charges violate Spahic’s religious freedom. Polk County District Court Judge Arthur Gamble reviewed the motion to dismiss the charges against Spahic in a hearing last week.
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