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	Baptist Priest on 'Satan' Sex Charges By Giordano Stolley West Australian April 13, 2010 http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/7052418/baptist-priest-on-satan-sex-charges/ A woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted at least 18 times by a Baptist pastor over 15 months believed Satan was using her to tempt him, a Perth District Court jury was told yesterday. In his opening address to the jury, prosecutor Paul Yovich said the northern suburbs pastor had exploited the woman's religious beliefs and then attained her silence and forgiveness. The former pastor - who is not named for legal reasons - has been charged with 11 counts of sexual penetration, seven counts of indecent assault, two counts of aggravated burglary and one charge of assault occasioning bodily harm against the woman. Mr Yovich said the woman and her family joined the church in 2000 after attending a Good Friday service. She and her family became friends with the pastor and his family. The two even did missionary work together in Cambodia and Indonesia not long before the first alleged assault. During 2004, the pastor declared his love for the mother of three and said he did not want to live a life of lies. "She genuinely believed the devil had used her to tempt him," Mr Yovich said. Mr Yovich said the first alleged sexual assault occurred in the early hours of New Year's Day in 2005 on the lawn of the woman's Perth home. After her husband went to bed, the pastor is alleged to have quoted extensively from the scriptures saying the woman was Christ-like. Mr Yovich said the woman fell asleep on the lawn but awoke to find her pants down and the man sexually assaulting her. "He said it wasn't sex. He merely wanted to connect with her. He wanted to feel her Christ-likeness." Mr Yovich said the pastor, as he left the house, told the woman that "God loves you and so do I". The pastor again allegedly sexually assaulted her at a cottage when she had gone to a church youth camp. Later when the woman went overseas for her husband's work commitments, she discovered she was pregnant and had an abortion. When she then spoke to the pastor telling him that she would be getting an abortion, he threatened to commit suicide. The trial continues.
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