Former LA Grange Pastor under Investigation for Alleged Sexual Assault

By Valerie Chinn
WDRB
January 12, 2017

http://www.wdrb.com/story/34247854/former-la-grange-pastor-under-investigation-for-alleged-sexual-assault

The sign at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in La Grange says "A place for healing."

But now, its former pastor is under investigation.

The Madison County, Ala., District Attorney tells WDRB News that officials are looking into sexual offense claims against John Fraiser, and that all the evidence will be presented to the grand jury within a couple of months.

It all centers around allegations of what happened inside a University of Alabama Huntsville dorm room in the summer of 2015.

UAH Spokesman Ray Garner says the alleged victim is a 15-year-old boy from Goshen, Ky. Garner says Oldham County Police contacted UAH in October after the teen came forward claiming he was sexually assaulted.

WDRB obtained a copy of the campus crime log, which says the victim claims he was sodomized by an adult church leader while attending a youth event on the UAH campus. The crime log says the incident is believed to have occurred between June 8-12 of 2015.

Garner released a statement, saying:

"This incident is an active criminal investigation. However, no one affiliated with the university was involved in this matter."

Garner says church leaders rented out the dorm while attending a Lutheran Church retreat. Several churches from Alabama, Indiana and Kentucky took part in the retreat.

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church's web page says Fraiser was the pastor in February of 2011 and left the ministry in August of 2016. Parts of the web page were taken down, but WDRB was able to retrieve them.

Information provided there says Fraiser is from Alabama and served at Concordia Lutheran Church in Louisville before he was ordained. He is married and has a young daughter.

Court records show his wife filed an EPO against Fraiser in September, a month after he left the ministry. She says they filed for divorce, and he hadn't lived at their house for weeks when he broke in through a window.

She says she's afraid he'll take their daughter and wants him to stay away.

Last month, Fraiser then filed an EPO against his wife, saying he doesn't feel safe.

WDRB could not reach Fraiser for comment. Holy Trinity and his other former church also have not returned our calls.