A married pastor apologized to his church for having sex with a woman from the congregation after fleeing naked when her husband caught them in the middle of the afternoon.
O. Jermaine Simmons, 37, was at Claynisha Stephens’ home in Tallahassee, Florida, to discuss a charity project when they became intimate on her daughter’s bed at around 2pm on January 17.
They were caught less than an hour later by her husband Benjamin, 38, who had returned home with their sick six-year-old son after getting a call from his school.
Teachers had tried to reach Mrs Stephens, 34, but she didn’t answer the phone having already gotten into bed with the pastor, a police report indicated.
The husband, furious to have found the pair in throws of passion, threatened Simmons; ‘I’m going to kill you!’ and the pastor ran away without his clothes, keys, phone or wallet to hide in a fence as his lover’s husband retrieved a handgun from his bedroom.
‘As they were so engaged, staff at the school attempted to contact (the woman) via telephone to inform her that her six-year-old son was ill,’ the police report read.
‘After failing to reach her, staff at the school contacted (her husband who) retrieved his son from the school and transported him to the residence.
‘When (he) arrived at the residence with their son, he discovered her and Mr Simmons lying upon her daughter’s bed engaged in sexual activity.
‘He loudly exclaimed ‘I’m going to kill him’ at which point Mr Simmons immediately fled from the apartment in a state of undress.’
Stephens kept hold of his gun in the home and threatened to turn up at the church to make a ‘statement’ about what had happened.
He did not point the gun at either his wife or child, the police report continued. He refused his wife’s pleas to give her Simmons’ clothes and took off with them in his car, the keys for which he had left behind as he fled in a panic.
A friend eventually came to collect the pastor.
When police arrived, Mrs Stephens relayed what had happened. Officers contacted her husband over the phone and he eventually agreed to return the pastor’s belongings to him with their help.
Later, Simmons apologized to the congregation at Jacob Chapel Baptist Church and received a standing ovation when he asked for its forgiveness.
‘You cannot defend sin. This isn’t about nobody else but me,’ he said, also revealing that his wife Elise had decided to stand by him.
‘What I am asking of our members, and it’s something I may or may not get, and that is your prayers, I’m asking for your forgiveness.’
He said he was being ‘pushed forward’ by God and that he was a ‘work in progress’.
The pastor, who has one young son, also advised members of the congregation not to engage in talks about his infidelity on the internet which he called a ‘world of sharks’.
He did not respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment on Tuesday afternoon.
Credit: dailymail.com
