[UPDATE: Please see our most recent post: "No Charges so far against evangelist K.A. Paul"]
Houston based evangelist Dr. K.A. Paul, who runs the Global Peace Initiative and was called "The World's Most Popular Evangelist" by The New Republic, has been arrested for "lewd and lascivious acts with a minor." That's according to the Houston Press...
Lieutenant Mitch McCann of the Beverly Hills Police Department has confirmed that Kilari was arrested at a Beverly Hills hotel on suspicion of “lewd and lascivious acts with a minor” on April 20. McCann referred us to the California Penal Code section relating to Kilari’s arrest, which is basically getting freaky, or trying to get freaky, with a 14- or 15-year-old child, and the alleged perp is at least 10 years older.
I haven't seen any other reports on this yet, and according to the Houston Press, Paul hung up on the reporter who called him for confirmation.
Here's a link to an expose the Houston Press did on Paul last year. These are some of its revelations about what Paul has been guilty of:
• claiming another minister's leper colony as his own, and videotaping said lepers for a promotional video
• transporting children in an airplane one former crew member called a "flying death trap"
• leaving a trail of unpaid bills for the plane's fuel and maintenance
• interfering with a murder investigation in India, earning the wrath of that country's National Council of Churches
• fleeing to the United States from India after nine of his American volunteers were arrested and thrown in prison
• abandoning an 11-year-old girl after checking her into a hospital
The Chicago Sun-Times has a report on how Paul allegedly snuck into the home of Dennis Hastert, the former Speaker of the House.
Paul has written in opposition to some Bush administration policies, such as the war in Iraq:
The Bush Administration’s foreign policies have created more widows and orphans through its prolonged and even unnecessary war in Iraq. Instead of rescuing widows and orphans, as James 1:27 says “The religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world,” the war policy, the neglect of domestic and worldwide poverty, and the passive approach to genocidal tyrants in places like Darfur, have created countless millions who are deprived of basic needs, liberty, life and even the American ideal of the pursuit of Happiness.
More on his politics, from his Wikipedia entry:
In October 2006, Paul announced a 30 city tour. He spoke in Cleveland before an audience of 1,000 and said voters should oust Republican congressional leaders. He spoke against government policies which make it difficult for Christian missionaries to go to Iraq, Iran and Syria. He described the war in Iraq as "unnecessary genocide."
