MARYLAND
WVEC
03/08/2006
Associated Press
One of Prince George's County's largest churches has suspended one of its ministers after he was charged with raping and beating a women in a hotel parking lot.
The Rev. Eugene A. Marriott Jr., 41, of Clinton, was the "minister of men" at the Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Church in Fort Washington. With an estimated 10,000 members, it is one of the largest AME churches in the country, The Washington Post reported.
The alleged assault occurred Jan. 14 in Fairfax City, Va. A 34-year-old woman told police that Marriott attacked her after the two left a Fairfax City restaurant together just before midnight. She suffered numerous cuts, scrapes, bruises and "marks that appear to have been caused by a belt," said Fairfax City Detective Edward Vaughn, and "was stunned by the attack and emotionally distraught."