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	Minister to Find out His Fate Today By Vickie Welborn Shreveport Times October 5, 2007 http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071005/NEWS03/710050334/1062/NEWS03 MANSFIELD — Stanley minister Burcham Paul Warren today will go home a free man or be escorted in handcuffs across the street to a jail cell to start the rest of his life as a convicted rapist. The 51-year-old has been on trial since Tuesday on a charge of aggravated rape. Warren spent hours on the witness stand in a DeSoto courtroom Thursday and proclaimed he did not sexually assault an 11-year-old girl. DeSoto Assistant District Attorney Anna Garcie and defense attorney Rick Fayard will present their closing arguments at 9 a.m. today. Warren and his wife, Shelia, were the only witnesses called Thursday. Warren was pastor of South Oak Grove Assembly of God Church in Stanley from 1987 through his resignation last year. He grew up as a Baptist and converted to Assembly of God shortly after he married his wife, the daughter of a Pentecostal preacher. Warren was either the pastor or was on the staff of a handful of other churches before moving to Stanley. He appeared relaxed Thursday, regularly making eye contact and talking directly to the jury. The minister threw in anecdotes from his pastoral experiences while being questioned by Fayard. Warren was insistent in his denial of the allegation. "I don't know why. ... I couldn't tell you my name at the time," he responded when asked why he thought the 11-year-old would make such allegations. "I'm still in a daze," Warren said. Warren said his life has been the "closest to hell I want to know" since he was arrested in October 2006. His voice cracked when he explained to jurors he has been most impacted in his dealings with his grandchildren. Being accused of molesting a young girl, Warren said he is careful now how he behaves with his grandchildren. He told of one instance when his granddaughter jumped into his lap. Warren said he jumped up. "I got cold chills." The girl Warren is accused of molesting told jurors Tuesday that he sexually assaulted her multiple times in his home and office. She offered details of their alleged encounters and told jurors he showed her adult pornography on a laptop computer the church bought for him. And she described a white towel hidden in Warren's office she said was used to clean up after sex. Separate testimony confirmed the towel contained Warren's semen and the DNA of an unidentified female. Warren sought to dispel some of the allegations. He testified that the pornographic photographs were pop-ups and not visited Web sites. At Fayard's suggestion, Warren said he reviewed the 16 images on the computer and discovered most only had been viewed a few seconds, with the exception of one that was viewed for 20 minutes. And most were viewed on Saturday, Sunday or Tuesday and none on Thursday, which is the day the girl said most of the sexual abuse took place. It was the day she was mostly left alone with Warren. As for the towel, Warren admitted he had one in his office. "I've used it out there. After my wife and I would ... have relations." His acknowledgement of a healthy sex life with his wife, though sometimes limited to "quickies," drew grins and giggles from the jurors. Shelia Warren admitted in questioning by Garcie that it was "interesting" the girl would know about the towel and what it was used for. She had not read the girl's statement or viewed her interview by a state social worker. A state child protection services investigator testified Tuesday that the girl's body language, voice, eye contact and details of the sexual contact led her to conclude the girl was being truthful about the molestation. The girl's mother and father testified Wednesday their daughter's story never changed. "I have known my husband since he was 15 years old, and I know he did not do this," Shelia Warren said. She answered "no" when asked if she would have stayed with Warren if she thought he was guilty. The rape allegation strained the close-knit family, forcing the Warrens and their children to hold separate Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations, Paul Warren and Shelia Warren said. Still, both said they maintained as close of a relationship as they could with the girl's parents and her sibling. Both talked about a revelation in the girl's life they believe caused behavioral changes. They echoed testimony Wednesday from Sunday school teachers about the girl's behavior. Shelia Warren said their life still is "surreal." "Once we get everybody out of our family, we can deal with this," Warren testified. Contact: vwelborn@gannett.com
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