You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone.
- A world where the Bill of Rights and Freedom of Religion no longer exist.
- A world where a church Pastor is sentenced to prison for daring to teach his flock to discipline their children.
- A world where Big Brother Government orders that Pastor to not preach in his own church.
A Black Earth church pastor who taught his flock to discipline their children with wooden spoons and rods was sentenced Friday to two years in prison.
Philip Caminiti, 55, was pastor of Aleitheia Bible Church. His lawyer, Yolanda Lehner, asked that he be given probation reports the Wisconsin State Journal.
But Fascist Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi said the sentence, in part, was intended to send a message that child abuse will not be tolerated and to prevent Caminiti from once again teaching members of his church to spank their children with wooden objects to cure them of selfishness.
"What is important to me," Sumi also said, "is there was and continues to this day no expression of remorse or repentance for the consequences of those actions, or what the whole chain of events has led the family and the community through."
Caminiti was found guilty by a jury of eight counts of conspiracy to commit child abuse for teaching church members what he said was a literal interpretation of discipline prescribed by the Bible.
Caminiti will be on extended supervision for six years after his release from prison. Despite objections on constitutional grounds by Caminiti's lawyers, Sumi ordered that he not have any contact with the Aleitheia Bible Church and have no leadership role in any church.
Pastor Philip Caminiti |
Caminiti will be on extended supervision for six years after his release from prison. Despite objections on constitutional grounds by Caminiti's lawyers, Sumi ordered that he not have any contact with the Aleitheia Bible Church and have no leadership role in any church.
Assistant District Attorney Shelly Rusch asked that Caminiti be sentenced to five years in prison and 15 years of extended supervision, calling him "the spoke in the wheel of this conspiracy."
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She said Caminiti is unlikely to change despite his criminal convictions.
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Lehner said she remains incredulous that Caminiti was even charged with a crime. "The whole thing has become much more flammable than I anticipated," she said. "I really do feel like I've stepped into the Spanish Inquisition."
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(Wisconsin State Journal)
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