Priest In Compromising Photos Admits 2-year Affair

(The Rev. Alberto Cutie was removed from his duties after pictures showed him bare-chested with a woman.)
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- An internationally known Catholic priest who was shown in photographs last week embracing a bathing-suit-clad woman on a Florida beach has admitted they had a two-year affair.

The Rev. Alberto Cutie -- sometimes called "Father Oprah" because of the advice he gave on Spanish-language media -- said Monday on CBS' "Early Show" that he is in love with the woman and is considering his options: Whether to break up with her or leave the priesthood and marry her. The woman, who has not been publicly identified, wants to get married, Cutie said.

The priest was removed from his duties last week at St. Francis De Sales Catholic Church in Miami Beach, Florida, and on the Radio Paz and Radio Peace networks.

"I take full responsibility for what I did, and I know it's wrong," he said Monday.

The photos of the Cuban-American priest, also known as "Padre Alberto," appeared on the cover of last week's TV Notas magazine and on eight inside pages. The cover says in Spanish: "Good God! Padre Alberto. First photos of a priest 'in flagrante' with his lover."

Other media outlets throughout Latin America, including the official Notimex news agency in Mexico, picked up the story, and it became an Internet sensation. Cutie has millions of followers in the Spanish-speaking world.

In a message posted on the Miami, Florida, archdiocese Web page last week, Archbishop John C. Favalora apologized to parishioners and radio listeners for what he called a "scandal."

"Father Cutie made a promise of celibacy and all priests are expected to fulfill that promise with the help of God," Favalora said. "Father Cutie's actions cannot be condoned despite the good works he has done as a priest."

Cutie expressed his regret in an online statement last week and again Monday on the CBS program.

"I deeply apologize to the Catholic community and especially to my bishop and to my brother priests who are faithful and who are committed to celibacy," Cutie said.

The priest said he believes in celibacy but thinks it should be optional. He said he had never had a sexual relationship with anyone other than the woman since leaving the seminary 15 years ago.

"I don't support the breaking of the celibacy promise," Cutie said. "I understand fully that this is wrong.

"I don't want to be the anti-celibacy priest. I think that's unfortunate," he said. "I think it's a debate that's going on in our society, and now I've become kind of a poster boy for it. But I don't want to be that. I believe that celibacy is good, and that it's a good commitment to God. This is something I've struggled with. And something that I never expected to become a public debate."
He also talked about the woman, saying they have been friends for a long time and the attraction was there from early on, but it was not acted on until a couple of years ago. They have "both struggled" with the relationship, he said.

"She's also a woman of faith," Cutie said. "She's also somebody who cares about the priesthood, who cares about these things. So it hasn't been easy. And those who have helped me through this process know it hasn't been easy. Obviously, you know, through the photos, it looked like a frivolous thing on the beach, you know, and that's not what it is. It's something deeper than that."

Cutie was the first Catholic priest to host a daily talk show on a major secular television network, his information on the LinkedIn online professional network says.

In addition to his TV and radio appearances, he has written newspaper advice columns and a self-help book, "Real Life, Real Love."

Before being removed, he was president and general director of Pax Catholic Communications, home of Radio Paz and Radio Peace in Miami.

Survey: Support For Terror Suspect Torture Differs Among The Faithful

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey.

More than half of people who attend services at least once a week -- 54 percent -- said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is "often" or "sometimes" justified. Only 42 percent of people who "seldom or never" go to services agreed, according to the analysis released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

White evangelical Protestants were the religious group most likely to say torture is often or sometimes justified -- more than six in 10 supported it. People unaffiliated with any religious organization were least likely to back it. Only four in 10 of them did.

The analysis is based on a Pew Research Center survey of 742 American adults conducted April 14-21. It did not include analysis of groups other than white evangelicals, white non-Hispanic Catholics, white mainline Protestants and the religiously unaffiliated, because the sample size was too small.

The president of the National Association of Evangelicals, Leith Anderson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The survey asked: "Do you think the use of torture against suspected terrorists in order to gain important information can often be justified, sometimes be justified, rarely be justified, or never be justified?"

Roughly half of all respondents -- 49 percent -- said it is often or sometimes justified. A quarter said it never is.

The religious group most likely to say torture is never justified was Protestant denominations -- such as Episcopalians, Lutherans and Presbyterians -- categorized as "mainline" Protestants, in contrast to evangelicals. Just over three in 10 of them said torture is never justified. A quarter of the religiously unaffiliated said the same, compared with two in 10 white non-Hispanic Catholics and one in eight evangelicals.

Tearful Suspect In California Girl's Slaying Appears In Court

(Melissa Huckaby is charged with killing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, who was a friend of her own daughter.)
(CNN) -- A California woman accused in the rape and murder of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu fought tears Tuesday as a judge read the charges against her in a brief court appearance.

Wearing red jail scrubs over a white T-shirt, Melissa Huckaby, 28, flinched at the mention of Sandra's name. She is charged with killing Sandra, who was a friend of her own daughter.

The Sunday school teacher's lip quivered and a single tear rolled down her cheek as the judge read special circumstances alleged against her -- that the murder was committed in conjunction with a kidnapping, the performance of a lewd and lascivious act upon a child, and rape by instrument.

Huckaby did not enter a plea or speak during the appearance. Public defender Ellen Schwarzenberg, who appeared in court with Huckaby, said she would not enter a plea at that time, adding she had spoken with Huckaby "very briefly."

The matter was continued for arraignment on April 24.

Schwarzenberg requested a gag order be imposed in the case, but the judge put off that matter until April 24 as well. Huckaby will remain in the San Joaquin County Jail without bond.

Huckaby is undergoing a medical evaluation as part of another case, an alleged petty theft being handled in a mental health court, Willett said.

Asked whether that would affect the murder case, he said, "Obviously, any mental health issues would have an effect on this case."

Schwarzenberg said she hopes people will not rush to judgment in the case until all the facts are known.

If convicted as charged, Huckaby faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole, San Joaquin County District Attorney James Willett told reporters after the hearing. A decision on whether to seek the death penalty will be made later, he said.

Sandra's body was found April 6, stuffed into a suitcase and submerged in a pond at a dairy farm. Huckaby was arrested Friday night after questioning by police.

Sandra was last seen alive March 27 in the mobile home park where she lived with her family -- the same mobile home park where Huckaby lives with her own 5-year-old daughter. The two children were close friends and played together frequently, police said.

Huckaby is the granddaughter of Clifford Lane Lawless, pastor of Clover Road Baptist Church near the mobile home park, and she taught Sunday school at the church, police said. The church was searched as part of the investigation into Sandra's disappearance and death.

Before her arrest, Huckaby acknowledged to a newspaper reporter that she owned the suitcase that contained Sandra's body. But Huckaby said the suitcase had been stolen.

Willett declined to comment on any of the evidence or allegations in the case, saying evidence would be presented in court.

40 NH Christian Center Homes Burn On Easter Sunday

(A fire rages through the Christian Conference Center Sunday April 12, 2009 in Alton Bay, N.H., 30 miles northeast of Concord. The massive Easter fire damaged dozens of buildings. The buildings are cottage-type seasonal homes.)
ALTON BAY, New Hampshire — A massive fire damaged or destroyed dozens of wood-frame buildings, mostly unoccupied summer homes, at a 146-year-old Christian center on Easter.

The fire erupted at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, when Christians were celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But the season hadn't begun yet at the Alton Bay Christian Conference Center on Lake Winnipesaukee, and state Fire Marshal William Degnan said no injuries to civilians had been reported.

"Fortunately, it was at this time of year," he said. "During the summer, it's full."

The fire was under control by about 8:30 p.m. It was cold and windy Sunday, and Degnan said the strong winds off the lake, the state's biggest, helped spread the flames through the many cottage-style homes at the center, about 30 miles northeast of Concord.

One firefighter was hurt when a propane tank exploded. Others were treated for smoke inhalation or exhaustion.

The center's Web site says its purpose is to change lives in part by "encouraging commitment to Jesus." It says it tries to accomplish this through evangelism, encouragement of believers and equipping Christians to be effective leaders.

The center, founded in 1863, is on the southeastern corner of the lake.

The chairman of the center's safety organization, Russell Sample, was with Degnan as crews from numerous surrounding towns worked on the fire.

"A tremendous amount of history has been destroyed," Sample said.

Khmer Rouge Prison Chief Duch Goes On Trial In Cambodia

(from CNN)

TUOL SLENG, Cambodia -- Kaing Guek Eav is an elderly former math teacher and a born-again Christian.

He is also -- prosecutors contend -- a former prison chief with Cambodia's Khmer Rouge movement who oversaw the torture and killing of more than 15,000 men, women and children three decades ago.

The trial of the 66-year-old man, better known as Duch, began Monday in front of a U.N.-backed tribunal just outside the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.

Duch faces charges that include crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and murder.

Spectators, many of them survivors of the abuse, watched the start of the trial from an auditorium separated from the courtroom by a large glass window.

While he has admitted his role in the Khmer Rouge's genocidal reign, Duch won't be spared weeks of evidence, much expected to be shocking.

The prison he headed was a converted school, Tuol Sleng, that the regime renamed S-21.

Here, men, women and children were shackled to iron beds and tortured -- before they were electrocuted, beaten and whipped to death, prosecutors said.

Prisoners were meticulously photographed before they were killed.

"It all seems so fresh," said Norng Champhal, who was a starving little boy when invading Vietnamese forces entered the prison. He had been separated from his mother after one night in the prison and never saw her again.

"It's hard to control my feelings when I see this," he said, as he watched footage of the prison taken 30 years ago. "I wonder whether my parents were tortured like these people," he said.

The Khmer Rouge swept to power in 1975. Three years, eight months and 20 days later, at least 1.7 million people -- nearly one-quarter of Cambodia's population -- were dead from execution, disease, starvation and overwork, according to the Documentation Center of Cambodia.

The organization has been at the forefront of recording the atrocities committed during the Khmer Rouge regime. Pol Pot and his followers envisioned a return to a nation of noble peasant farmers and sought to purge city dwellers, the rich, the religious, the educated, anyone from a different ethnic group.

Tuol Sleng was one of 189 similar institutions across Cambodia. Duch is the first former Khmer Rouge leader to stand trial.

The tribunal, which is made up of Cambodian and international judges, does not have the power to impose the death penalty. If convicted, Duch faces from five years to life in prison.

The trial is expected to last three or four months.

"Probably the most important thing about this court is: even after 35 years, you are still not going to get away with it. That is the message," said Chief Prosecutor Robert Petit.

When proceedings began last month, more than 500 people -- including three survivors from the prison Duch ran -- filled the tribunal. About 50 people came from Kampong Thom province, the birthplace of now-dead Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot.

"I couldn't sleep last night. I was dreaming about my time at S-21," Vann Nath, one of the few survivors of the prison run by Duch, told The Phnom Penh Post last month.

Even though Duch was not a senior leader with the movement, many Cambodians were relieved that one of the regime's former leaders was facing justice, said Youk Chhang, head of the Documentation Center of Cambodia.

"I think there is a feeling of, well you know, finally -- now it's finally happening after all these years of waiting -- hearing, fighting, negotiating," he told CNN last month. "People have that kind of sense of relief that it's now moving. When I ask people around the center today, people say, 'Oh, it's about time.'"

Four of the regime's former leaders, also accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, await trial before the tribunal. Pol Pot died in 1998.

Cult Mom Pleads Guilty In Son's Starvation Death

(from wbaltv.com)

BALTIMORE -- A Baltimore mother accused of being part of a cult pleaded guilty Monday to starving her baby to death.

Prosecutors claimed during the trial of Ria Ramkissoon that her 16-month-old son, Javon Thompson, was denied food and water because he stopped saying amen at meal times and had a rebellious spirit. He later died.

Ramkissoon, 22, admitted her guilt in one of the strangest plea agreements reached in a Maryland court, 11 News reporter Barry Simms said.

Under the plea agreement, Ramkissoon would get 20 years behind bars with a judge suspending all but time served. She must also undergo treatment, including the process of deprogramming and five years of probation.

But the plea agreement also included that the murder charges against her be dropped if her son was resurrected.

"This is something she absolutely insisted upon, and it's indicative of the fact that she is still brainwashed and still a victim of this cult, and until she's deprogrammed, she's not going to think any differently," said Ramkissoon's attorney, Steven Silverman.

Ramkissoon was part of One Mind Ministries. Court charging documents showed members of the religious group and their leader, 40-year-old Queen Antoinette -- also known as Toni Sloan -- prayed for the child to rise again.

After about a week, the body was wrapped in a blanket and put in a wheeled suitcase with mothballs, and group members moved from Baltimore to Philadelphia, taking the suitcase with them.

The child's body was found in April 2008.

"Ria is as much a victim as Javon, though certainly under tragic circumstances. No one is more regretful about the death of the child as I am, but not withstanding the fact that she was victimized by a cult," Silverman said.

The child did not rise from the dead, so Ramkissoon pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in death and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in testifying against the other four members of the organization, all of whom have been charged with murder.

"This would not be considered a cult except for one fact -- it ended in a tragic, violent way," Silverman said.

"I mentioned to her that when she gets out, I want her to come home, and we can start building back together. She said she's not going backward. She's moving forward, meaning this family is not her family anymore -- she has a new family that she's going to move forward with … that's the cult," said Seta Khadan-Newton, Ramkissoon's mother.

"She had no business being around my son. She already admitted that she had killed Javon. She admitted that to my son. Then she admitted another story -- he's alive. You tell one story, then you tell another story. How can you be insane? You're not insane. She didn't look insane to me today," said Geraldine Ridgely, Javon's grandmother.

The other members of the cult were also in court Monday. Antoinette had no attorney present. She claimed God was her lawyer, Simms reported.

Ex-megachurch Head Paulk Dies In Atlanta Hospital

(from AP)

ATLANTA — An evangelical pastor whose leadership of an Atlanta-area megachurch ended in a sex scandal has died.

Atlanta Medical Center said Archbishop Earl Paulk, who was in his 80s, died early Sunday. The hospital could not release a cause of death. Paulk had been in bad health for the past couple of years after a battle with cancer.

A phone listing for Paulk's family could not immediately be found.

Paulk co-founded the Cathedral at Chapel Hill in Decatur and helped grow it to a peak membership of about 10,000 in the early 1990s.

A lawsuit by a female employee sparked a chain of events that ended in Paulk pleading guilty in January 2008 to lying under oath by denying affairs with other women.

A paternity test revealed Paulk was the father of his nephew, who is now leader of the church.