It does not happen often enough. I remember a case last year, and one the year before. I write a lot of posts about truly evil people who prey on the innocent. Why I find one who is innocent, it give me hope.
Michael Clair Garvey stood trail for indecent assault and institutional sexual assault against two woman. A third alleged that Garvey offered her money to pose nude. He is specifically alleged to have fondled a breast, administered an unwanted tongue kiss, and rubbed his groin against the buttocks of a woman filing papers.
Blair Hindman, the attorney for the Rev. Michael Clair Garvey, said he believed the most persuasive evidence in the two-day trial was testimony from the Rev. Garvey's wife and his former family practitioner that the pastor suffered from erectile dysfunction and low testosterone.
The Rev. Garvey, 59, is pastor of Coolspring United Methodist Church in Coolspring and Ramseytown United Methodist Church in Knoxdale and has continued to serve there since charges were filed in August 2007.
What I find troubling is that he was allowed to continue as a pastor while he awaited his trail. A paid leave of absence is the appropriate course of action in a case like this.
