What's done in the dark: Ex-wife of pastor accused in child sex case pleads guilty

EEW Magazine News // Associated Press // Toledo Blade

The former wife of one of three pastors accused of coercing and sharing teenage girls to have sex, often for money, pleaded guilty to lying to investigators Wednesday.

Laura Lloyd-Jenkins, who lost her job as a county administrator in Toledo after she was charged with interfering in her ex-husband's investigation, pleaded guilty to making false statements.

According to Toledo Blade, she has been accused of alerting her husband and the two other involved pastors to delete information related to the case, among other things. On Wednesday she pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to making false statements to investigators by claiming she didn’t know the victim involved was a minor. 

A review of the girl’s electronic devices showed Lloyd-Jenkins and the girl communicated fairly regularly, beginning as far back as spring, 2016, said U.S. Assistant Prosecutor Michael Freeman. Text messages prove Lloyd-Jenkins knew the girl was a minor and still in high school, the federal prosecutor said.  

Lloyd-Jenkins sent the girl messages about going to the movies on a school night, having a good day at school, making a varsity sports team, and being up past bedtime, Mr. Freeman said. 

Lloyd-Jenkins faces up to eight years in prison when she’s sentenced by Judge Jack Zouhary on June 4.

Her ex-husband, Cordell Jenkins, along with Anthony Haynes and Kenneth Butler, were accused in 2017 of child sex trafficking. Prosecutors said the men had sex with teenagers and sent one another photos and videos of the girls.

Cordell Jenkins, Anthony Haynes, and Kenneth Butler are all charged with sex trafficking teen girls

Jenkins and Butler already have pleaded guilty to charges that include child sex trafficking and are awaiting sentencing.

Haynes had been scheduled to go on trial Wednesday up until Lloyd-Jenkins decided to plead guilty. A new date for his trial has not been set. He could face up to life in prison if he's convicted.

Court documents have referenced three victims in all, the youngest being 14.

The allegations against the three Toledo-area pastors begin with Haynes, who started pursuing and grooming a 14-year-old girl in 2014, according to court documents.

He first forced her to perform sex acts in front of him and then later began having sex with the girl, according to the filings. He also warned her not to say anything because it would ruin his family and his church, investigators said.

Haynes, whose attorneys have declined to comment on the charges, later introduced the girl to Jenkins, a minister who founded his own church in Toledo and built a large following until it closed after his arrest.

Alisa Haynes, 43, the wife of Anthony Haynes, who is facing federal charges of child sex trafficking and child pornography, and his stepdaughter, Alexis Fortune, 24, back, are escorted into The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio for a hearing on Monday (Credit: The Blade/Amy E. Voigt)

Jenkins, who pleaded guilty last week, was accused of having sex with two girls, one of whom attended his church, at his home, church office and a motel and often recorded the acts with his phone, authorities said in court documents.

Butler acknowledged in court last May that he had sex with two minors. Attorneys for both Jenkins and Butler have declined to comment.

In addition to the charges against the men, Haynes' wife and stepdaughter are accused of abducting one of the victims at gunpoint in January and warning her not to testify at his trial.

Court documents say the pair forced the teenager from her apartment, choked her with a cord and told her to take back statements she made to investigators. Attorneys for the woman have declined to comment.

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