One thing I've noticed, especially when it comes to Evangelicals, is the more "moral" they are, the more immoral they are. The more 'anti-gay' they are, the gayer they are. The more afraid they are of children being harmed by godless heathens, the more likely they are to do the harm. The more they hate porn, the more likely they are watching porn. So whatever it is they're raving on about... that's their thin, and it helps me know where they're at.

He assaulted her. That's against the law. Throw him in jail.

I wonder how his loving wife feels about this. smh
And having a pervert being 'active in his community' probably is not a good thing.

“did not act with any criminal intentions.” so... he didn’t mean to touch someone without their consent? did his hand slip? he did it intentionally, and it is criminal. “we regret that he stabbed someone, but he wasn’t acting with criminal intentions.”

Would he have done that to a male reporter? Of course not! And what kind of example was he being as a "youth leader?" He needs to be held accountable to society, to women, for what he did. I don't give a rip about whether his community, or his Jesus, forgives him (or, more likely, didn't see anything wrong with what he did).

In this era of #MeToo and sexual harassment charges at the drop of a hat and there's still guys stupid enough to do something this dumb?

Gentlemen, keep your hands to yourself.

I bet he didn't even think about apologizing or anything until he found out he was going to get in trouble. Then he was like, I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry. What a creep.

Yeah, when I called Pittman Park UMC on Monday, I got to speak with Marilyn.
She said she was only answering the phones, she didn't "know anything about the
event", and she didn't "take messages". All of which I'm sure was bullshit, but I'm sure she'd been getting an earful most of the day.
He's going to get away with it, unless the reporter presses charges.
Even then, he might still get away with it.
This is how shit is "dealt with" in Georgia.

His excuse is that he “got caught up in the moment” when he went to wave at the camera. He also said that he didn’t see the look on her face because he just kept going and if he’d seen her face he would have felt ashamed. So, how exactly does a grown man get so caught up in the idea of waving at a camera that he assaults a stranger? And how is that he doesn’t realize, without seeing the expression on his victim’s face, that it’s something to be ashamed of??

Arrogant, insensitive to others and stupid -- sounds like a Christian to me.
I hope they find some way to 'correct the situation' that he'll remember longer than the brag session he'll have during the next race since he's been banned.

Of course he had no criminal intentions. He is of the mindset that this sort of shit behavior is perfectly acceptable. Doesn't mean his actions weren't actually criminal.
Even if they weren't criminal, the actions were offensive and out of line. He doesn't realize that either. That sort of thinking never occurred to him before the aftermath.
THAT IS THE PROBLEM!
Men like this feel they have the absolute right to touch women uninvited. Women are thought of only as vehicles for men's pleasure.
As a youth minister, he is modeling this behavior and this sort of thinking to the next generation!! THAT is ALSO the problem.
Folks get bent over a razor commercial saying it uses a wide brush to illustrate men's behavior. Well... if the brush fits!!

Legally I would suggest there are at least two things wrong there. 1). It’s assault. 2) it’s sexual abuse.

If the ‘community active loving husband and father’ were to be black or gay all manner of shit would hit the fan.

I would hope that there is such outrage in America that this arsehole gets shammed out of every community he attempts to embrace.

If not America is fucked and there is no way back from its innate dissociative relationship with legal and moral discernment. It deserves another four years of Trump.

A typical religious hypocrite, thinks it is ok to do that.

Just by the look on his face I can see he had criminal intentions.I love all the access we have to video replays so these narcissistic assholes have their undeniable behavior on tape and can no longer blather their way through it when they get caught. I want to know how many other women he hit during that race.

Asshole

He's just a slime, Lock him up for a bit.

Evangelicals love the "pussy grabber" so this behavior from a religious leader does not surprise me at all.

What a surprise...Not!

When the news comes out that I robbed a bank, please understand that I had no criminal intentions. I'm a loving mother and very active in my, uh, . . . home. I don't expect any criminal charges to arise from the incident.

I'm hardly surprised.

I hope she presses charges for assult and sues his ministry for what he did.

They feel entitled. That's why they associate with that xtian tribe.

They do not expect any criminal charges, and then assume they can "correct the situation", on what fucking planet are they living on? They are in for a rude awakening.

I hope she presses charges

It IS CRIMINAL to hit butts even if he was married to the reporter....that lawyer should be disbarred