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Date Posted: 14:47:37 01/14/04 Wed
Author: NKLS Cody
Subject: News Flash: "Penn Preacher" found guilty!!!

I haven't found the news story that describes C. Stephen White's criminal trial outcome, so here is a story dated today that mentions several facts surrounding the arrest of the notorious "Penn Preacher" to update those who are interested in the resolution of this case.

Boy: Preacher asked me for sex



adam cirucci , Staff Writer 01/14/2004

WEST CHESTER -- A Philadelphia preacher known for controversy at area universities was in court Tuesday on charges that he attempted to lure a 14-year-old boy into his van and solicited oral sex.
The Rev. Craig Stephen White, 40, a Pentecostal minister and evangelical preacher with the Philadelphia-based Gospel Outreach Center, has maintained his innocence since he turned himself in to West Chester police July 3.

He is charged with attempting to lure a child into a motor vehicle, soliciting involuntary sexual intercourse, soliciting prostitution and corruption of minors.

White gained notoriety over the past decade for preaching his radical religious views at universities throughout the Northeast. His sidewalk sermons have been fueled by claims that "homosexuals will go to hell."

On Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Callahan laid out the commonwealth’s case before Common Pleas Judge Anthony A. Sarcione. She called it "a parent’s worst nightmare."

The 14-year-old borough resident testified that at about 3:15 p.m. he was walking in the 500 block of South Adams Street, when White approached him in a metallic, green minivan.

The boy testified White asked him if he knew where any strip clubs, adult bookstores or adult video stores were located in the area.

The boy said that he did not know of any such places in West Chester, but gave him directions to a video store in a local shopping center.

White also reportedly offered the boy a beer, before saying, "No, you’re not old enough."

The boy testified White then claimed he was unfamiliar with the area and invited the boy into his van to direct him to the video store. When the boy refused, he drove off.

But, the boy said, that is not the last time he encountered the preacher.

On Tuesday, the boy testified that White approached him again, about five minutes later, near the intersection of Adams and Barnard streets.

Again, the boy said, White claimed he was lost.

The boy said this time White allegedly asked if he could perform sex acts on the boy in exchange for $20.

The boy testified that he walked away and White drove off, but this time he noted the van’s license plate. The boy repeated the number to himself until he reached his aunt’s house where he wrote it down.

Police later learned that the van was registered to the Gospel Outreach Center, located in the 2100 block of North Van Pelt Street in Philadelphia, where White is a pastor.

A day after the incident, the boy identified White from a photograph line-up.

In court, White did not dispute that he twice encountered the boy when he was lost in West Chester.

Instead, defense attorney Robert Donatoni struggled to cast doubt on the boy’s version of the story.

Donatoni suggested that the young man was either "wrong, mistaken or needing attention."

But, without physical evidence, the trial will, for the most part, weigh on the word of a high school freshman versus that of a middle-aged man of God, said Donatoni.

In his opening statement, Donatoni emphasized White’s willingness to take the stand.

"I can rest on the presumption of innocence, but with this type of thing ..I think I need to give you more," he told the jury. "(White) will not hide behind the Fifth (Amendment). He will testify."

White does not have a record, but admitted being arrested several times for preaching the Bible on the street. He was never charged in any of arrests.

Donatoni also argued that the prosecution lacked a motive.

The prosecutor noted Donatoni failed to identify any tangible reason why the boy would make false accusations.

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