Monday, August 21, 2006

McDonald County church members plead not guilty to sex charges

Four members of the Grand Valley Independent Baptist Church in Washburn, including the pastor and his wife, entered not guilty pleas in McDonald County Circuit Court today to sex charges purportedly connected to church rituals.
Preliminary hearings for the four, Rev. Raymond Lambert, his wife and stepsister, Patty, and her brothers (and his stepbrothers) Paul Epling and Tom Epling will be held 1 p.m. Oct. 2, according to court records.
The four were allowed to turn themselves in today, six days after charges were filed by McDonald County Prosecuting Attorney Steve Geeding, and posted percentage bonds, court records indicate. Bond had been set at $50,000 apiece for Lambert and the Eplings and $30,000 for Mrs. Lambert.
Lambert, 51, 589 Cecil Epling Lane, Washburn, was charged with one count of first degree child molestation, four counts of second degree child molestation and three counts of second degree statutory sodomy. One child molestation and one statutory sodomy charge are from 1995, the first degree child molestation from 2000 with two more charges from 2001, one from 2002 and two from 2004.
Mrs. Lambert, 49, faces two charges, both stemming from April 3, 2004- child molestation in the second degree and endangering the welfare of a child in a ritual/ceremony.
Paul Epling, 53, 362 Cecil Epling Way, Washburn, faces seven charges, none more recent than 1983, according to the court documents. He was charged with first degree statutory rape, sexual intercourse with a person less than 14 years old, which allegedly took place Nov. 7, 1978; statutory sodomy, first degree, deviate sexual intercourse with a person less than 14 years old, July 15, 1978; followed by the same charge for offenses that allegedly took place on the same day each of the following four years. On the fifth year, on the same date, July 15, 1983, Epling allegedly committed first degree statutory rape.
Tom Epling, 51, 584 Cecil Epling Way, Washburn, faces five counts of first degree statutory sodomy, all taking place on July 15, beginning with 1978, then occurring in each succeeding year through 1982.
The area in which they live, Cecil Epling Way, is named after Tom Epling, Paul Epling, and Patricia Lambert's father, and Raymond Lambert's stepfather, Cecil Epling, who died several years ago. Mr. Epling was reputed to be a leader with a cultlike following which has reportedly stayed together in the Washburn area even after his death, in what has been described as "a compound" by nearby residents who spoke to the Neosho Daily News last week.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

shouldn't you be teaching at 2:15 p.m.?

Randy said...

I was. If you will check, the time on this blog is two hours off. Yours says 4:30 p.m. and you actually commented at 6:30 p.m.

Anonymous said...

I think it's time to stop attaching the title Rev. in front of this man's name. If these acts are true, this guy is a despisable scum bag, and certainly hasn't done any true preaching or leading.

Anonymous said...

Don't kid yourself...Randy does this during school hours.

Anonymous said...

on an unrelated subject, I think the JPD's actions today in arresting an MSSU teacher were despicable. What was so urgent that he had to be pulled out of the classroom in the middle of a class and arrested? The police department could easily have waited for him after class and taken him into custody. Sure, owing $60k for child support is a serious offense, but this is a human being who was completely embarrassed, and I doubt he posed any threat to run off and elude capture if he's teaching a class at Missouri Southern.

JPD's new motto: "We arrest kids and teachers!"

Anonymous said...

Does The Chart have anything on this?

Anonymous said...

It's probably to make a point to him. He didn't forget to pay $60k worth of child support. Besides, it gives the kids something to talk about.

Anonymous said...

My point is the warrant was issued in January. This guy got a job at MSSU teaching, there's no way he posed a threat to run. I think the JPD just has a lot of hot-head twenty-somethings who are full of themselves because they have a shiny badge and get to carry a gun.

Anonymous said...

You know I find this true where I live. We have only one police officer and he seems to go out of his way to harrass people. He shines the spot light into house windows at all hours of the night and drives in circles around houses. Plus he is never where he should be. How convenant.

Anonymous said...

I'll admit that being a police officer doesn't pay as well as it should, which is why the police force is full of a lot of cocky kids right out of school who just want to show off their force.

Anonymous said...

First about the Lamberts and Eplings.....I saw Duane Cooper on the news tonight stating that his clients were "innocent". Whatever Duane, we know what they pay you for. It is the reason attorneys have bad names. If they molested your kid(s) would you feel/say the same? I'm not saying they are guilty or innocent but if I err I hope to always do so on the side of the child. I wish you would and others would try and do the same. As for them being adults now....doesn't change the fact that they supposedly did this to children.
As for the MSSU teacher that was arrested ......he owed child support that he didn't pay. He should be humiliated any way that makes him think better next time. I don't care if he is a teacher, police officer, or what....treat him the same as you or I would be treated. Oops....maybe he should have been in Mac County where the prosecutor is to lazy (?) to do his job correctly!

Anonymous said...

Duane Cooper doesnt know what the F*** he's talking about. It almost sounds like he's being converted to Raymond's doctrine...as far as I'm concerned, Geeding and Evenson are only in it for the money-they don't seem to see the truth for what it is...I no longer wonder why Evenson isn't sherriff anymore-the mcdonald county law enforcement is a crock of shit. The good ole fishing buddy system needs to be shut down by the attorney general. I think I'll call them.

Anonymous said...

This has nothing to do with him being treated like you and me, my point is that JPD had over 8 months to arrest this guy and they waited until the first day of his new job. It was clearly just some morons showing off their power.

Anonymous said...

It is pretty sad to see the disgrace Prosecutor Geeding is to McDonald County. I agree with the person that says Evenson and Cooper are in it for the cash-It has been said the only reason Geeding filed the charges against the Lamberts and Eplings is because an election is coming up and he wants to win-what for-another four years of a prosecutor that does not know what he is doing! It's time for a change-Vote Janice Durbin for McDonald County Prosecutor and let's clean up McDonald County and clean out the good ole boys fishing club-start making McDonald County play by the rules like everyone else.
If the perps had been Hispanic they would have had at least one hundred thousnad a piece as their bonds, they wouldn't got a free get out of jail card (hmmm-wonder if the Lamberts and Eplings collected there $200.00, each for passing go?) Stop the insanity in McDonald County.

Anonymous said...

While we're on the subject of Mac County, let's clean up the drug ties with the sheriff...they're there...

Anonymous said...

I'm so upset about the whole fishing buddy system of mcdonald county. Whoever said that they were calling the attorney general, I already did this morning...so the more people who call and complain about the good ole boy system, I believe it will be shut down. My call to the attorney general's office went really good-I believe it will make a difference. As for Evenson, Geeding, and the rest of you sorry SOBs, you will be sorry for your actions.

Anonymous said...

Look people you can’t have it both ways. If you want to live in a free society where everyone is considered innocent until proven guilty then you cannot begrudge a defense attorney for stating that his clients are innocent.

The court system is an adversarial system. The theory is you have two attorneys who give the best argument they can for their positions and then let a neutral judge or jury decide who’s right and who’s wrong. The system does not work if the defense attorney lays down because doing his job might be unpopular with the general public.

Maybe rather then asking how a defense attorney would feel if it was his child that had been victimized you should ask yourself how you would feel if it was your child who was accused of this crime. Would you want a defense attorney who would seek to prove your child’s innocence or someone who would sale him out to be popular?

For all of you people who hate attorneys here’s my advice: The next time you are in trouble, want to adopt a child, want to prepare a will or want to buy a house try hiring a hippie instead and see how that works out for you.

Anonymous said...

that's just it though-it appears the judge in this matter isn't neutral-he's one of the good ole boys-Man, do you have something against hippies? At least when it comes to an attorney needed for help in some type of matter, thank god we do have the opportunity to pick and choose the attorney a person wants working for them
Say someone else's child was the accused-if there wasn't enough money for the defense attorneys, media coverage, etc for them-do you really think they would be in the case-would someone else accused of same been given a week to turn themselves in and would they have received next to no bond?

Anonymous said...

Amen to the above comment about the money. In our justice system it is about how much you have and how much you can and are willing to pay. I would rather hire a hippie than some of the attorneys around here....at least we know what they are about....kind of hard to see the devil when he dresses in a suit.
True about being innocent until proven guilty.....but this is about children being taken advantage of so again I say if I err I will always hope to do so on the childs side. Yes some children lie but I think that on the whole adults are a lot more liars and have the money to pay for the lies to be protected by the likes of Duane Cooper.
What goes around comes around......just wait and see.

Anonymous said...

A lawyer's always yer friend, until you run outta money to pay him.

Old Dawg

Anonymous said...

I am a lawyer (not affiliated with this case) and I used to try to work for “justice” but I quickly found out that when I go to buy a gallon of milk the clerk expected to be paid with cash instead.

I wonder, do all of you people work and if so do you expect to be paid or do you do your job for the fun of it?

If you hate capitalism and the presumption of innocence so much maybe you would all be happier moving to Cuba or China.

Anonymous said...

I am a medical professional with a license to uphold just as you have yours to uphold. The only difference is I make a positive difference in people's lives where they don't have to pay me to pave my way to the ride to hell with them. Actually it would be nice if those of you who actually represented child molesters and the likes would take your clients and move to China or Cuba with them! And innocence? Let's see one of these creeps molest your child/children and see if you would react the same. If I was an attorney I would rather not be able to pay for my milk than represent the likes of anyone who would hurt a child. So what you really have told us is that attorneys (SOME NOT ALL) like you are in it for the money. Wow we would never have figured that one out. If you wonder if I get paid for my medical job the answer is yes but again.......I don't help hurt innocent children and I also volunteer when possible.

Anonymous said...

First, my daughter died of cancer last year, so I guess I don’t have to worry anymore about how I would feel if it happened to her.

Second, I actually mostly represent people who have been denied Social Security Disability benefits, I do very little criminal defense work and I have never represented someone accused of child molestation. Nevertheless, I do believe in the United States Constitution and see no reason flush it down the toilet every time someone is charged with a heinous offense. There’s no reason why we cannot allow these people to have a fair trial AND THEN severely punish them if they are convicted.

Third, I might note that the above concept wasn’t created by a bunch of money grubbing degenerates but by our founding fathers who knew a little something about how it felt to live under a system where one was presumed guilty rather then innocent. I might add, there were far more evil lawyers among our founding fathers then “medical professionals.”

Fourth, When I said individuals who think attorneys should work for free and certain people are undeserving of a fair trial or representation should move to China I certainly didn’t mean that to apply to a fine medical professional such as yourself . . . No, I would prefer to see you go to hell.

Anonymous said...

What a fine upstanding response. I am sure your fellow attorney's are so glad you are representing them in such a way. Blah. Blah. Blah.

Anonymous said...

Good retort. That was about the level of well thought out logic I expected from a “medical professional” who thinks anyone who believes in the Bill of Rights is the moral equivalent to a child molester (and then wishes for that persons dead child to be molested).

Anonymous said...

You sound sick. Never once did Anonymous say they wished anyone's child would be molested. yours or anyone else's but you are staying true to what some think your profession does a lot of, turning it around to look like it was something other than it was.I believe it was you who said that you "used to try to work for justice".

Anonymous said...

Another logical response.

What good lawyers do is apply reason and not ad hominem attacks (such as calling someone “sick” for defending their profession from unfair attacks). I’ve found that people who are used to arguing based only on emotion tend to view this as “twisting” what they said when in fact it is a fair representation of their point when carried to its logical conclusion.

I’ve yet to hear someone who supports the idea of bashing a defense attorney for doing his job advance a logical argument for their position. Rather, you resort to silly name calling and saying stupid things like “Let's see one of these creeps molest your child/children.” Now, you may not interpret that as a “wish” but I do.

Apparently my attempt at using irony to point out the ridiculousness of comments such as “Evenson and Cooper are in it for the cash” and “A lawyer's always yer friend, until you run outta money to pay him” went over most of my responders’ heads. So let me spell it out, my point was that such comments seem to reflect a thought that lawyers should work for free and that by not doing so we are less then human.

This may shock some of you but lawyers provide a service that we need to be paid for if we are to stay in business. I do find it somewhat sickening when people who would not dream of doing their job for free get all high-and-mighty when attorneys expect to be paid as well. Now, that being said, I do plenty of pro bono work and have probably done more to help indigent people in need more then anyone of the posters who took cheap shots at me and the legal profession.

If someone would like to make a logical argument as to why it would be a good thing for this country for these defendants to be denied legal representation and/or the presumption of innocence, I would like to hear it, thus far I have not.