By Mike Drago
Dallas Morning News
May 20, 2011
http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/05/mesquite-pastor-charged-with-r.html
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The pastor of a Baptist church in Mesquite has been jailed in West Virginia on charges he raped a woman he met in a bar there.
According to The Charleston Gazette, Matthew D. Jarrell, 41, of Terrell, is jailed in Kanawha County, W.Va. He is pastor of Open Door Baptist Church in Mesquite.
A complaint says he offered the woman a ride home from a bar. Instead, he drove to a secluded area. There, he held her face down on the seat of the truck and sodomized her, the newspaper reported, citing the complaint. She later was able to escape and contact police.
A sheriff's deputy detained Jarrell Thursday morning. He initially denied the attack, but later admitted it, the complaint said. According to the Gazette, an associate pastor at the church declined comment when contacted Thursday.
The image at right was taken from the website for Open Door Baptist Church, which has been taken down today.
The front page of that now-defunct website includes a statement signed by Jarrell that decries a nation "filled with unhappy people with troubled homes."
"Our society, our schools, and many of our churches have tried modern morals and values, which all have failed," the statement says. "Open Door is still holding to those 'old-fashioned' principles and helping people to become happy again."
We're pursuing the story and will have more later.
Contact: mdrago@dallasnews.com
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