EX-SECT MEMBERS TELL AP: PROSECUTORS OBSTRUCTED ABUSE CASES
SPINDALE, N.C. (AP) -- At least a half-dozen times over two decades, authorities investigated reports that members of a secretive evangelical church were being beaten. And every time, according to former congregants, the orders came down from church leaders: They must lie to protect the sect.
Among the members of the Word of Faith Fellowship who coached congregants and their children on what to say to investigators were two assistant district attorneys and a veteran social worker, the ex-followers told The Associated Press.
Frank Webster and Chris Back - church ministers who handle criminal cases as assistant DAs for three nearby counties - provided . . .