Ex-pastor Sentenced

By K.O. Kearney
Wayne Independent
July 29, 2015

http://www.wayneindependent.com/article/20150729/NEWS/150729794

A former pastor was sentenced Monday to 27 months to 15 years in state prison on sex abuse charges.

Norman Theodore Faux, 55, of Lake Ariel, also was ordered to pay up to $5,000 in counseling fees for the victim.

The defendant, who had served as a United Methodist pastor, previously pleaded guilty to having sexual intercourse on several occasions with a male juvenile.

The assaults started when the boy was 9 years old and lasted until he was 19, according to court paperwork.

The lead prosecutor, Wayne County First Assistant District Attorney said in a statement Faux “perverted his role as a father and as a clergyman” and he belongs in state prison.

“His conduct was disgusting and despicable. He is an extremely manipulative individual. He blames everybody but himself for his outrageous activity,” Robinson said.

Specially presiding Judge Russell D. Shurtleff determined Faux is a sexually violent predator. That means the defendant, upon release, must register his whereabouts with authorities for the rest of his life.

The defendant, from 1986 to 2008, served as a clergyman with United Methodist churches in Chinchilla, Waverly, Scranton, Tremont and Courtdale.

Faux had also started a non-denominational, independent religious group in Lake Ariel after 2011, known as the Lake Ariel Faith Fellowship.

The defendant has surrendered his credentials as a minister.