Grand jury indicts former Cordova pastor for rape and sexual battery
Steven C. Haney had five-year affair with male church member
By Lawrence Buser
The Commercial Appeal
Memphis, TN
October 12, 2007
A former pastor at a Cordova church has been indicted on charges of rape and sexual battery by an authority figure in a case involving a long-term relationship with a teenage boy.
Steven C. Haney, 47, who headed Walnut Grove Baptist Church at 8801 Walnut Grove Road, is accused of fostering a five-year sexual affair with a male church member that began in 2001 when the boy was 15.
Haney, who was arrested in July, is free on $25,000 bond. He stepped down from the church last November after 20 years.
The youth testified at a preliminary hearing in August that Haney groomed him by telling him the sexual relationship was “God’s plan” and that having sex with him would enable him to do great things for God.
The young man, now 21, said he tried to get out of the sexual encounters, but that Haney always told him he had to “step it up” if he wanted to fulfill his ambition to become a minister himself.
“He said it was a test of faith,” the man testified, adding that Haney rewarded him with paying jobs and other favors for his cooperation.
The sex occurred in the pastor’s church office, at Haney's home and at Haney's mother's home, he said.
He said Haney began sexually abusing him in 2001 and ended last December when he finally realized that what the pastor had been doing was wrong.
The young man went to police earlier this year and said he helped gather evidence by taping phone conversations with Haney and by wearing a hidden recording device during meetings in which they discussed the sexual relationship.
See also: (1) Former Minister Arrested on Sexual Battery Charges and Former Church Member Speaks Out about Accused Pastor, WMC-TV 5 in Memphis, 7/14/07 and 7/20/07; (2) Alleged Victim Says Former Pastor Told Him Sex Was Test of Faith, EthicsDaily, 9/20/07; and (3) Federal grand jury indicts former pastor on child pornography charges, Commercial Appeal, 10/16/07; and (4) Victim: Former pastor said sex was 'a test of faith', Commercial Appeal, 8/30/07.
SNAP Note: Walnut Grove Baptist Church is listed as an SBC-affiliated church. In approximately April 2008, Walnut Grove Baptist Church changed its name to Gracepoint Baptist Church.