Opinion: in Inglewood, Accused Pastor Is Suddenly the Man Nobody Knows

By Betty Pleasant
Los Angeles Wave
July 11, 2012

http://wavenewspapers.com/opinion/article_e74d7920-cbd2-11e1-b7b1-001a4bcf6878.html

Inglewood Police Department

While the Rev. Gordon Solomon was busy last Friday pleading not guilty to charges that he “substantially” sexually abused a child, people who used to know him suddenly never heard of him and the Inglewood church he pastored became a Southland tourist’s mecca as everyone flocked to it to experience whatever Jerry Sandusky-esque vibes emanated therefrom.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, the 50-year-old Solomon, a native Belizean, was arrested on or about the Fourth of July and charged with nine felony counts of committing lewd acts on a 14-year-old girl who attended his church — acts which began in June 2010 when the child was 12 and did not end until July 1, 2012, when the child’s mother stumbled upon explicit text messages Solomon allegedly sent the girl. The mother immediately summoned police who confiscated the lewd missives and set about building the case against him.

The counts against Solomon break down like this: He was charged with seven counts of committing a lewd act on a child; one count of continuous sexual abuse and one count of oral copulation of a person under the age of 14. He is being held in lieu of $3 million bail, and faces up to 26 years and eight months in state prison if convicted of the charges.

A Sheriff’s Department statement said that not only did the pastor and the child exchange nasty text messages, but their communiques indicated that the two had secret trysts and did stuff together in various locations throughout the city.

Investigators said they are scouring the Inglewood environs in search of other children Solomon may have sexually abused since he became pastor of Christ’s Community Church in 2006, some 12 years after it was founded. The church is said to have an extensive program for children, including Bible classes, computer classes and a choir.

I, on the other hand, scoured my rather extensive Inglewood contacts for information about Solomon. I asked people who pride themselves on knowing “everybody” in Inglewood, especially if those “bodies” were newsworthy, but alas, no one admitted to knowing anything about this man — except one: The Rev. Artis Glass, who, together with his wife, the Rev. Renee Glass, are co-pastors of Leap of Faith Community Church in Inglewood.

Glass said he had an ongoing fellowship with Solomon since 2006 when he took over as pastor of Christ’s Community Church, whom a Rev. Johnson founded in 1994. The Glasses often held joint activities with Solomon, conducted revolving and reciprocating services and held special events together. Glass said Solomon was “a nice guy and people loved him and I am really shocked at this allegation.”

Glass said Solomon was a “loving family man. He and his wife, Ruth, have several teenaged children. At least three — two boys and a girl — I say at least three because I don’t know whether I’ve seen all their children, but I have seen two boys and girl,” Glass said.

“Christ’s Community Church was originally located at 92nd and Denker where it became popular for the monthly community food giveaway program they held there,” Glass continued. “But the food program became so large that the church was moved to 234 Hindry Ave. in Inglewood where they continued to give away fruit, vegetables and various other canned goods and bakery foodstuffs on a bi-weekly basis.”

Glass called the charges against his friend “devastating and horrible and there’s no doubt about that, but the allegations do not negate the fact that I do know him.” Glass said his co-pastoring wife spent the Sunday after Solomon’s arrest at his church ministering to the pastor-less congregation there and serving them Holy Communion. She reported that the church was packed with sightseers.

“We have empathy for Solomon’s family — especially his wife — and for the victim and her family,” Glass said. “And as a church family, we send out prayers for his church members. As far as Solomon is concerned, we say let the justice system take its course.”