January 19, 2010
Police Arrest Pastor, Convicted Homosex Offender In Church
CHATTANOOGA, TN -- 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.Click Here For The Full Story......
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Chattanooga: Police Arrest Sex Offender Leading Church Services
Chattanooga police have arrested a man for violating the Tennessee Sex Offender Registry after he set up a makeshift church on E. 39th Street after authorities told him to avoid church work and being employed near schools. Police say Edward Hughes was working at the same church he operated when he raped someone in 2005. He later pleaded guilty to the crime and agreed not to work within 1,000 feet of a school, lead a church or work with children, said Lt. Kim Noorbergen, Chattanooga police spokeswoman.