By Don Lehman
Glens Falls Post-Star
June 11, 2008
http://www.poststar.com/articles/2008/06/11/news/local/13661796.txt
BOLTON - State Police said the pastor of an Albany County church who also works as a prison chaplain at Washington Correctional Facility was one of two men arrested Saturday on charges they were having sexual contact at a Northway rest area in Bolton on Saturday.
Joseph A. Loux Jr., 63, of Hannacroix, and Eugene F. Barnaby, 34, of Thurman were each charged with public lewdness, a misdemeanor, after trooper Edward Stannard witnessed them having sexual contact with one another at a rest area located off the southbound lanes between exits 23 and 24.
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Loux told police he was pastor of Congregational Christian Church of Ravena and a chaplain in the prison system.
Loux was suspended without pay from his $59,128-a-year post on Tuesday by the state Department of Correctional Services, and the department plans to seek his dismissal, said department spokeswoman Linda Foglia. He has been a prison chaplain since 2005.
Loux's status with the church could not be determined Tuesday.
He and Barnaby were arrested shortly after 10 a.m. Saturday, after Stannard witnessed them having a sexual encounter in woods at the rest area.
The rest area, as well as a nearby one in the northbound lanes, has long been a problem spot for police because of men congregating there to have sex.
Both Loux and Barnaby admitted to police they were having sex, according to court records, apparently after having randomly met there. But each portrayed the other as the aggressor, according to statements they gave Stannard and State Police Investigator D.J. Mosher.
Loux did not say why he was in northern Warren County.
"I admitted to the trooper I was part of a sexual act at the rest area," Loux was quoted as saying. "I am sorry that I yielded to this."
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Barnaby, however, told police the other man approached him and asked him to perform a sex act, according to court records. He is quoted as telling police that he ended the encounter when the other man became too aggressive.
"I decided to get out of there, because it wasn't doing nothing for me," Barnaby is quoted as saying.
Barnaby also told police he goes to the rest area once a week to "watch other guys" have sex.
Warren County District Attorney Kate Hogan said the state may want to consider a law that would enhance penalties for those who commit public lewdness at highway rest areas.
"We do have a lot of problems at the rest areas in the counties, particularly the ones near Exit 24 that are more rural," she said.
"It's a problem that takes up a lot of police resources because they constantly have to patrol through there to watch for this sort of thing."
Both men were released pending prosecution in Bolton Town Court on Wednesday.
A woman who answered the phone at Loux's home on Tuesday said he was not available to discuss the matter.
A message left at the church's office was not returned, but its Web site said its pastor position was "vacant."
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