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Tennessee Megachurch Pastor Steps down after Admitting to 1998 Sexual Assault

By Nicole Hensley
New York Daily News
March 21, 2018

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/tenn-pastor-steps-admitting-1998-sexual-assault-article-1.3887312

Andy Savage had been on a leave of absence from Highpoint Church in Memphis for about two months after the victim came forward accusing him of the 1998 assault in January. (HIGHPOINT CHURCH VIA YOUTUBE)

A Tennessee megachurch pastor who admitted to having a “sexual incident” with a teen girl more than 20 years ago resigned Tuesday.

Andy Savage had been on a leave of absence from Highpoint Church in Memphis for about two months after the victim came forward accusing him of the 1998 assault in January.

Jules Woodson alleged that Savage assaulted her while he was a youth minister at the Woodlands Parkway Baptist Church in suburban Houston, Texas. He was 22 at the time, while Woodson was 17.

“I have come to see that many wrongs occurred in 1998,” Savage said in a statement to Highpoint’s website.

“The first was my inappropriate relationship with Jules, which was not only immoral, but meets the definition of abuse of power since I was her youth pastor,” the pastor wrote. “Therefore, when our relationship became physical, there could be no claim of mutual consent.”

Savage admitted to having wronged Woodson again by failing to give her the due process “Jules deserved” until two decades later.

The pastor confessed to assaulting Woodson to his congregation, a disclosure that prompted a standing ovation. The admission was also streamed on the church’s website.

In hindsight, Savage said in the lengthy missive he regrets using his platform with the church to focus on himself, rather than her plight.

“When Jules cried out for justice, I carelessly turned the topic to my own story of moral change, as if getting my own life in order should help to make up for what she went through and continues to go through,” Savage said.

His decision to step down Tuesday coincided with completion of the church’s independent probe of Savage’s tenure in Memphis.

The church, citing results of an investigation by the Texas-based law firm Cantey & Hanger, found “no other instances of abuse in Andy’s ministry” and concluded that Savage should resign, regardless.

“The leadership team at Highpoint Church agrees that Andy’s resignation is appropriate, given the reasons stated in his resignation statement,” the church wrote.

 

 

 

 

 




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