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	Church Sex Case under Advisement; Judge to Review Legal Arguments, Definitions By John Ford Neosho Daily News October 3, 2006 http://www.neoshodailynews.com/articles/2006/10/03/news/01news.txt Pineville - After more than two hours of testimony from two alleged victims, a Newton County judge has taken the case against two McDonald County church leaders accused of child sexual abuse under advisement. Judge Greg Stremel said Monday afternoon he wanted to review a court transcript of testimony before deciding whether Raymond Lambert, his wife, Patty, and two other leaders of the Grand Valley Independent Baptist Church will go to trial. Stremel said he wanted to hear more arguments from both sides on how sexual offenses were defined by state law during the mid-1990s, when some of the acts allegedly took place. The hearing was held at 1 p.m. Monday in the McDonald County Circuit Courtroom. The case was reassigned to Stremel from McDonald County Associate Circuit Court Judge John LePage after a request by prosecutors Steve Geeding and Dan Bagley. There has been no decision whether the church leaders will go to trial, nor has a court date has been set at this time. Taking the stand during Monday's preliminary hearing were two women who said they were molested as teenagers by Raymond Lambert, with one woman, now 19, telling the court Lambert was her uncle. Both alleged victims were members of Lambert's congregation until April. Taking the stand first was a 28-year-old woman, who became emotional and fought back tears as she testified that her first sexual encounter with Raymond Lambert came after the pastor wanted to talk to her "about giving myself, subjecting myself, to God." She said the pastor led her to a bedroom, had her take off her clothes, then disrobed and "climbed on top of me." "He said I was giving my body to God, giving myself to God, through him." "How did it end?" asked McDonald County assistant prosecutor Dan Bagley. "He said he was pleased and therefore, God was pleased." Bagley also asked the woman if she believed, at the time, that the sexual encounter was for a religious purpose. "Yes," she replied. "He was my minister. I trusted him with my soul, basically." The younger woman testified that at about age 12, Raymond Lambert told her she should not be ashamed of her body, and she should give herself to God by having a sexual encounter with him. She showed her breasts to the pastor, who then told her that her body belonged to him. "Then what happened?" asked Bagley. "He told me not to be ashamed of my body or to be ashamed of him, as I was giving myself to him and God." The girl said on several occasions, she was told to undress and Raymond Lambert would lie naked on top of her. During one alleged incident, the wife of another church member walked in on the two while the teen was performing oral sex on the pastor. She said the woman showed her how to do the act, then had sex with the pastor while the girl watched. She said during another incident, Patty Lambert came into the bedroom where the girl and Raymond Lambert were naked in bed together. She said Patty Lambert disrobed, then got into bed with them. "Did she tell Raymond to stop?" Bagley asked. "No," the young woman replied. The young woman said Patty Lambert told her during the incident that she should subject herself to Raymond Lambert. During cross examination, defense attorney Robert Evenson asked why she waited so long to tell anyone about the alleged abuse. "I believed it was right at the time," the young woman replied. Also on Monday, a prosecution request for a continuance in the case against Tom and Paul Epling was granted, pending a ruling on an unrelated case which is currently before the Missouri Supreme Court. The Eplings face a total of five felony charges after the defense argued that state law at the time of some of the alleged offenses imposed a statute of limitations on some of the counts, and seven counts were dropped. The brothers were accused of child sexual abuse incidents dating back to the late 1970s. Monday's testimony also gave insight into church conflicts which led to the allegations becoming public. During a community meeting on April 26, Raymond Lambert allegedly asked members of the congregation whether they have had sex with him. The younger woman testified under cross examination that she told the congregation Raymond Lambert had not had sex with her. And under a redirect examination from Bagley, she said she told the church she had been naked before the pastor on previous occasions, but that Raymond Lambert "did not rip my clothes off." Two of the charges against Raymond Lambert were also amended this afternoon, because of the age of the victim at the time the alleged incidents took place. Raymond Lambert faces a total of seven felony counts: a Class C felony charge of sexual abuse; three Class C felony charges of second degree statutory sodomy, and three Class D charges of second degree child molestation. Charges allege he acted in concert with his wife, Patty Lambert, in molesting a girl who was less than 17 at the time of the alleged incident, and of acting in concert with another church member of molesting a girl under the age of 17 at the time of the alleged incident.
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