Thursday, November 08, 2007

AP: Witnesses have not backed off McDonald County sex cult charges; prosecuting attorney refuses to give reasons for dropping case

McDonald County Prosecuting Attorney Janice Durbin refused to tell Associated Press why she dismissed sex charges against Grand Valley Independent Baptist Church leaders earlier this week, saying only that there were "a number of factors."

Though early reports indicated the charges may have been dropped because the witnesses were no longer willing to testify, that is not the case, according to the AP article:

An attorney for one of two women who claimed they were sexually abused as children by the leader of a southwest Missouri church commune said the women have not changed their abuse allegations.


"To have the case dismissed is really disheartening and it's wrong," attorney Erin Willis said, adding that she has not heard an explanation from the prosecutor for dropping the cases.

"The victims are really getting ignored," she said.


The trials of pastor Raymond Lambert, his wife Patty Lambert, and sister-in-law Laura Epling on ritual sex charges involving children were scheduled to begin next week.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous8:42 PM

    Why is the McDonald County Prosecutor afraid to give her reasons for dismissing the sex cases? Is it because she is inexperienced and doesn't know what she is doing or is it because the Defense Attorney, Robert Evenson, paid her off? Let's get real here. There are several legitimate victims and they are suffering all over again. To Ms. Durbin, what would you do if your daughter was one of the abused? How about you Mr. Evenson? Is there any justice left to the system?

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