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	Pastor Sued in Sex Scandal By Kevin Martin Calgary Sun [Canada] December 18, 2006 http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2006/12/18/2859820.html The Pentecostal church is being sued by a Calgary couple after one of its ministers allegedly had a torrid three-year affair with a member of his flock. A husband and wife are seeking $200,000 in general damages and an unspecified punitive amount over her sexual relationship with the pastor. Their statement of claim, a copy of which was obtained today by the Sun, says the pastor used his influence as spiritual leader to seduce the city woman. "(She) at all times felt controlled and manipulated by (the pastor) for sexual favours," the lawsuit states. "The frequency of the sexual encounters at the beginning of the situation was very often," it says. "There was ... sexual intercourse or other sexual activities between the parties at least one to two times a week. "The bulk of the sexual encounters took place in his home." The claim says the woman first met the pastor in 1995. In the summer of 2002, "(the Pastor initiated the first sexual contact between himself and (the woman)," at her B.C. cabin, the lawsuit alleges. "Several weeks later, (the pair) first had sexual intercourse with each other as initiated by (the pastor)." The court action says the affair continued after the pastor moved to another church and ended in December, 2005. "The defendant...exercised a type of master-servant control over the plaintiff...in their pastor-parishioner relationship," it says. "She felt she was not able to escape the relationship because of the extended degree of his emotional and physical control over her." Because of the ongoing tryst, the city woman abused alcohol, began gambling and smoking, and suffered a major clinical depression, the lawsuit states. "There were many times where (the pastor) was aware of (the woman's) alcohol abuse and as a result, he took full advantage of her," it states. "The defendant...hotly pursued the relationship ... Sexual encounters were always quick and to the point and were always initiated by (the pastor)." When her husband found out, he too suffered depression, which negatively impacted his business, the lawsuit says. Statements of defence from the churches and the pastor disputing the unproven allegations have not yet been filed.
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