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	Haitian Pastor, Trinity Broadcasting Network at Odds on Hospital Project After Abuse, Theft Claims, Government Tries to End Feud By Carol J. Williams The Dallas Morning News February 17, 2008 http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/world/stories/DN-haiti_17int.ART.State.Edition1.4556d53.html CARREFOUR, Haiti – The plan was to build the first children's hospital in this slum of half a million people. But the project has collapsed in recriminations between the key players: a prominent Haitian pastor and Trinity Broadcasting Network, which is the world's largest religious broadcaster and has a major Dallas-area studio. All they have to show for the $2.5 million already spent is a half-built structure with a giant cross-shaped hole in one wall. Archbishop Joel Jeune of Haiti's Charismatic Church says the feud began over sexual abuse allegations. He said Trinity co-founder Jan Crouch erupted in anger when he told her that some Haitian boys guarding the construction site had accused a Trinity missionary of making sexual advances. Trinity lawyer John Casoria, Ms. Crouch's nephew, denounced the sexual allegations as "absolutely false." Network executives say the falling-out occurred when they accused the archbishop of siphoning off donations. Archbishop Jeune said those claims were baseless. Now, the government of President René Préval has gotten involved, trying to see whether reconciliation can be fostered so construction can resume. Archbishop Jeune showed up in late January for a mediation attempt at the Haitian Foreign Affairs Ministry, with several fiery fellow preachers in tow. As they entered, Mr. Casoria and his bevy of brethren from the religious broadcasting empire sat stonily in the reception room. "I want to show my love for Jan Crouch and for my brother!" boomed Archbishop Jeune, throwing an arm around Mr. Casoria and beaming into a camera wielded by Trinity executive Dan York. "You love Jan so much you rip her off? You steal money from her?" retorted Mr. Casoria, throwing off the archbishop's embrace. Incensed preachers then shouted Creole curses at the visitors who had insulted their religious leader. Ms. Crouch and Archbishop Jeune bonded when she visited more than 20 years ago. "When I saw utterly poor children – diseased, crippled, naked and, most of all, pathetically hungry boys and girls – playing in gutters in the filthiest water I had ever seen, it was beyond comprehension," Ms. Crouch, who declined to comment for this report, said in an August 2005 news release. "My heart broke into a million pieces. I just knew immediately that something had to be done." Building plans for the hospital were drafted in the late 1990s, and start-up funds began flowing to Archbishop Jeune early this decade. Trinity, which is based in Southern California and has its International Production Center in Irving, urged viewers of its Praise the Lord program to give to the destitute children of Haiti. Archbishop Jeune now bristles at the opulence enjoyed by the Crouches, who use the network's luxury homes, ranches and compounds. He said he became aware of it only after their falling-out.
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