Andy Savage is one of the powerful, wealthy evangelical clerics implicated in the #churchtoo movement, in which congregants are disclosing the sexual assaults and harassment they experienced at the hands of faith leaders.
Jules Woodson says that when she was 17, Savage, then a 20 year old youth pastor at her church in Houston, raped her (later, when she turned to another church official for help, he blamed her for the rape and swore her to secrecy about it).
This week, Savage admitted to the rape (calling it a "sexual incident"). His congregation gave him a standing ovation when he asked for their forgiveness.
Chris Conlee, the lead pastor of the Memphis church where Savage now ministers, prayed for Savage and Woodson."It saddens us that Ms. Woodson has not been on the same road to healing," Conlee said.
"An apology does not change the fact that what happened to me was against the law and that it was wrong," Woodson said.
Pastor admits to "sexual incident" with teen 20 years ago, gets standing ovation [Jericka Duncan/CBS]
(via Reddit)
