By Andrew Clevenger
Charleston Gazette
February 27, 2009
http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/200902261272
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A jury has found the former pastor of the Shrewsbury Church of God guilty on all counts in his sexual abuse trial in Kanawha County Circuit Court.
On Thursday, Sandy Martin Cook, 49, denied any sexual impropriety with three teenage boys in the 1990s while he served as pastor of the church.
Cook was found guilty of sexual abuse by a parent, guardian or custodian.
During the trial in Kanawha Circuit Court, three men - Michael "Andy" Lewis, Jose Strickland and Michael Bradley - have testified that Cook molested them when they attended the church as teenagers in the 1990s.
Cook said he first led services at the struggling church in 1988, when the congregation consisted of seven elderly members. Saddened by the thought of the tiny church closing, Cook spent more and more time in Shrewsbury, eventually becoming the church's full-time pastor, he said.
Cook left the doors of the church's so-called "Old Parsonage" unlocked - "I'm from Wyoming County," he offered as an explanation - and church members, including teenagers, came and went freely, he testified Thursday.
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| At his trial in Kanawha Circuit Court on Thursday, Sandy Martin Cook, former pastor at the Shrewsbury Church of God, denies allegations of sexual wrongdoing. Photo by Chip Ellis |
That ended, though, when his mother and ailing father came to live with him in March 1991, he said.
Cook and his mother moved to a doublewide trailer next to the church referred to as the "New Parsonage" in 1994. Cook acknowledged that Bradley had spent the night there, although he denied that Strickland had ever been an overnight guest.
At Cook's mother's suggestion, Lewis moved into the trailer at the age of 15 in 1995, Cook said. At the time, Lewis was scared of his attic bedroom, which was painted black with ghosts, in his parents' new house, Cook said.
Lewis, now pastor at the New Life Center in Cedar Grove, lived in the New Parsonage until he and Cook were married to women in a double-wedding ceremony on Dec. 11, 1999, Cook said.
"Andy asked for us to be married together," Cook said.
"In those years, it was great," he said of his relationship with Lewis. "He was like a son to me."
Eventually, the relationship soured, which Cook attributed to Lewis' desire to take over as pastor at the Shrewsbury Church of God after Lewis moved back from Pennsylvania in 2004.
Under cross-examination by Kanawha County assistant prosecutor Don Morris on Thursday, Cook admitted that Lewis had left the Shrewsbury church for his own congregation more than a year before the allegations against Cook surfaced in August 2007.
"The big split, this big controversy [between Lewis and Cook] was over with when the accusations came up?" Morris asked. "Correct?"
"Yes," Cook answered.
Although the defense called a series of witnesses who testified that Lewis' had a reputation for being dishonest, Cook said he had thrown an appreciation day at the church when Lewis first moved away in 2003.
"Virginia Bowe, who said [in a video deposition] Michael Lewis was a liar, she was master of ceremonies?" Morris asked.
"Oh, I don't recall that," Cook said.
Morris sounded skeptical when he asked Cook if it had been his mother's idea to have a 15-year-old boy to move in with them approximately six months after his best friend had accused Cook of molesting him.
Bradley, who was friends with Lewis, testified Wednesday that he came forward with allegations of sexual abuse by Cook in 1994.
The accusations did not go forward because Bradley's mother did not want to put him through the humiliation of a church trial, another witness said.
After the defense rested, prosecutors moved to dismiss two counts of third-degree sexual assault because Lewis had testified he was 16 when the alleged act occurred.
The legal definition of that particular crime specifies that the victim must be under the age of 16.
Reach Andrew Clevenger at acleven@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1723.
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