Pastor Jailed In Christian -vs.- Lesbian Case
Photo Credit: WNDA Mennonite pastor has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for helping a member of his congregation flee the country rather than turn her young daughter over to her one-time lesbian partner.
Last August, Pastor Kenneth Miller, of Stuarts Draft, Va., was convicted in a Vermont court on a charge of aiding in international parental kidnapping. He admitted that he helped Lisa Miller (no relation to the pastor) and her daughter, Isabella, leave the U.S. in 2009 at Lisa’s urging.
It is the latest twist in one of the most talked-about and consequential child custody cases of the modern era. After childhood abuse led Lisa Miller into a dysfunctional life of addictions and homosexuality, she experienced a change of heart, converted to Christianity and left the homosexual lifestyle, in which she had lived as “spouse” to another lesbian woman, Janet Jenkins. During their same-sex “civil union,” Miller had given birth to a daughter, Isabella, conceived through artificial insemination.
As a new Christian, Lisa Miller’s all-consuming focus in life was to be a good mother to Isabella. However, after a Vermont judge demanded that Lisa allow her former lesbian partner, Janet Jenkins, to have unsupervised visits with little Isabella, Lisa’s nightmare – which continues to this day – got its start.
According to the testimony of experts and eyewitnesses, the court-ordered visits were severely traumatizing the child, and Isabella’s court-appointed advocate said Jenkins was “turn[ing] her world upside down.” A clinical therapist testified Isabella appeared “traumatized” by her visits with Jenkins, and that “unsupervised visits … could cause permanent damage to normal development.” A social worker testified the little girl “suffers from sleep disturbance and nightmares, having difficulty sleeping through the night,” adding that “Isabella also talks about death, and has expressed fear that if her mother Lisa dies she will be at risk. Without prompting, Isabella has said she is afraid that Janet Jenkins may take her away from Lisa.”
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