Woman, church leader accused of sex with boy, 15*

Family believes pastors knew about relationship, but did nothing about it

--KYTV-TV, Springfield, Missouri
by Melissa Yeager, KY3 News

SPRINGFIELD -- Two scheduled trials could decide whether a former church
leader had an inappropriate relationship with a teenager more than two
years ago, and whether church pastors knew about it but didn’t stop it.

Angela Hurt, who was a youth group leader at Cornerstone Church, was
charged last November with having sex with a 15-year-old boy in 2005.
She’s charged with statutory rape and statutory sodomy.

Hurt’s criminal trial is scheduled for July in Greene County Circuit
Court but likely will be delayed because Hurt’s defense attorney has
asked for a change of judge. In many cases, each side in a criminal case
can request and automatically be granted one change of judge.

The boy’s family sued Hurt, Cornerstone Church, its pastor and three
other members of the pastoral staff, including Hurt's husband, Robert,
in August 2005. The lawsuit seeks $10 million in damages. The family
believes the pastors knew about the inappropriate relationship between
Hurt and the teenager but did nothing about it.

A jury trial is scheduled for Sep. 4 in Greene County Circuit Judge Dan
Conklin’s court. Cornerstone Church officials deny they knew about an
affair and their attorneys continue to try to get the church, the Rev.
Jess Gibson and two other pastoral team members (but not Robert Hurt,
who has a different attorney) removed as defendants in the lawsuit.

“Cornerstone Church had no knowledge of any illegal activities of a
former youth leader, nor does it condone any of the allegations against
the former employee. Any claim that Cornerstone Church was negligent in
any way is without merit. Our church is confident a jury will agree,”
said a written statement on Monday from attorneys Dee Wampler and Joe
Passanise, who say they recently started representing the church in the
civil lawsuit.

The attorney for the youth and his family believe the facts say otherwise.

“The victim has not sought publicity from the media. The lawsuit was
filed on the victim's behalf to make Cornerstone Church and Angela Hurt
accept responsibility for the sexual abuse of a minor child by a youth
director over the course of several months. Despite eyewitness testimony
about the church's knowledge of the abuse, Cornerstone and its former
youth director continue to deny all responsibility,” said a statement on
Monday from attorney Scott Montgomery of Springfield.

A probable cause statement filed with the criminal charges says police
found out about the relationship after finding Hurt and the 15-year-old
boy in Maple Park Cemetery engaged in sexual activity. Prosecutors
believe that wasn't their first encounter.

“Our information is, over a period of three months, she and a
15-year-old child were having a sexual relationship. These charges
include two counts, which are just part of the multiple sexual relations
that were going on in the relationship,” Greene County Assistant
Prosecuting Attorney Russ Dempsey said in an interview.

Dempsey says investigators believe the encounters were between January
and March 2005. If Hurt is convicted of statutory rape and statutory
sodomy, she could face a prison sentence up to seven years and/or a fine
up to $5,000 for each charge.

In March 2005, the boy’s mother asked a judge for, and was granted, an
order of protection for her son against Hurt, restricting her from any
legal contact with the boy. In October 2005, 13 months before filing the
rape and sodomy charges, prosecutors charged Hurt with violating the
order of protection.

Last August, Associate Circuit Judge Mark Powell convicted Hurt of a
misdemeanor for violating the order and ordered Hurt to serve two years
of unsupervised probation, to do 100 hours of community service within
six months, and to have no contact with the teenager or his mother. If
Hurt violates probation, she might have to serve a six-month jail sentence.