US pastor admits adultery in church, then woman speaks up: ‘I was only 16’
It was a dramatic moment. After the service last Sunday (May 22) at a church in the US state of Indiana, the pastor said he had a confession to make.
He spoke of an affair with a church worker, and admitted he had committed the sin of adultery.
Pastor John B. Lowe II, who is married, then walked away.
And his congregation at the New Life Christian Church and World Outreach in the town of Warsaw appeared to appreciate his honesty and contrition.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
A couple then walked up and the woman took the mic.
And what she added was the real bombshell. She was only a teen when it had started, and it had gone on for years.
"I was just 16 when you took my virginity on your office floor,” she said. “Do you remember that?”
She is now in her 40s, while Lowe is 65, news reports said.
The woman added: "You did things to my teenage body that had never and should have never been done."
She said that for decades she had lied "to protect the Lowe family" and "thought I was a horrible person".
She claimed that she "would still be in a prison" if not for her brother, who got her to speak up.
"You are not the victim here," she said to Lowe. "The church deserves to know the truth. This church has been built on lies, but no more."
Her husband also spoke.
"It's not just adultery. It's another level when it's a teenager. And I will not let this man talk about my wife like that," he told the congregation.
“It happened for nine years. When she was 15, 16, the sexual grooming started. It lasted until she met me and we started dating. This is the truth."
In a video posted on social media, members of the congregation can then be heard confronting the pastor.
Lowe admitted that what the woman said was true.
"It was wrong. I can't make it right. I can't make it any better. That's just the way it is," he said.
"If I could go back and redo it all, I would. I can't, and all I can do is ask you to forgive me."
The church confirmed that he would not continue as pastor and the local police said they had started an investigation.
It is understood that an Indiana law against child seduction could apply in the case.
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