RUTHERFORDTON, N.C. — A man was charged Tuesday with harassing the jurors deliberating in the trial of a North Carolina minister accused of beating a congregant to expel his “homosexual demons.”The man allegedly told the jurors in a hallway that they needed to reach a verdict. Several former members of the church who were in the court room told The Associated Press they did not know Metcalf. Brooke Covington, 58, a longtime minister at Word of Faith Fellowship in Spindale, North Carolina, is accused of leading the 2013 beating to expel Fenner’s “homosexual demons.”If convicted, Covington faces two years in prison. You don’t get to confine peopleDuring closing arguments, prosecutor Garland Byers said Fenner was held against his will and attacked. As part of an ongoing, two-year investigation into abuse of Word of Faith Fellowship congregants by church leaders, The Associated Press interviewed four ex-church members who said they witnessed Fenner’s assault.

Source: National Post June 06, 2017 19:07 UTC