BishopAccountability.org
	Judge Recuses Self in Johnston Case By John Ford Neosho Daily News [Missouri] September 29, 2006 http://www.neoshodailynews.com/articles/2006/09/29/news/03johnston.txt A Newton County judge recused himself Thursday before the start of arraignment proceedings for George Otis Johnston. Division III Associate Circuit Court Judge Kevin Lee Selby effectively took himself off the case, which now goes back to Fortieth Circuit Court Judge Timothy Perigo for reassignment. According to Bill Dobbs, Newton County assistant prosecutor, the judge did not reveal a reason for the move, which came minutes before Johnston was to be arraigned on eight felony counts of statutory sodomy. "It's difficult to say whether it will remain in the circuit or not," Dobbs said in an interview Thursday afternoon at the Newton County courthouse. "Obviously, it can't go to [Newton County Division II Associate Circuit Court Judge Greg] Stremel because he heard the preliminary hearing. And the only other sitting judge is John LePage, who has recused himself from a comparative case." Dobbs said if the case goes out of the 40th Circuit Court, it will be up to Missouri's Office of the Supreme Court Administrator, OSCA, to decide which judge will hear it. Dobbs said judges do not have to provide a reason to remove themselves from a case, under Missouri law. Johnston is the pastor of Grandview Valley Baptist Church North, an offshoot of the Grand Valley Independent Baptist Church, which is pastored by his nephew, Raymond Lambert. Lambert, his wife, Patty, and her brothers Tom and Paul Epling, face felony child abuse charges based on incidents dating back to the late 1970s. Judge LePage was disqualified from the case, and it was reassigned to Judge Stremel Thursday morning. A preliminary hearing has been set for 1 p.m. Monday in Pineville. In the case heard Thursday, Johnston faces seven unclassified felony counts of first degree statutory sodomy and a Class C felony charge of second degree statutory sodomy. A 17-year-old woman has come forward with allegations that Johnston sexually abused her from the time she was 8 until she left the Granby commune shortly after her last birthday. During a preliminary hearing Sept. 18, the woman testified she was first sent to Johnston's trailer by her mother at the age of 8 while they lived at a church commune in Newtonia to receive counsel about shaving her legs. She said she was sent to his trailer several times a week while in Newtonia and later when the group moved to their present compound near East Newton High School, adding that Johnston would touch her beneath her clothes several times a week during those visits. The woman also testified the pastor later told her he was ordained by God and it would tarnish her if she slept with another man. "But if I slept with him, I would remain pure," she testified Johnston told her, adding she did not have sexual intercourse with the pastor. Johnston also faces nine other counts of felony ritual child sexual abuse, which are based on complaints by the woman's 20-year-old sister. A preliminary hearing has been set for 1:15 p.m. Oct. 16 in Stremel's courtroom in that case.
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