Evangelist facing sex charges

Associated Press/July 1, 2007

Phenix City, Alabama. -- An evangelist arrested in Atlanta earlier this week has been extradited to Alabama to face a sexual misconduct charge involving a teenage boy.

Christopher Bennett, 30, the president and CEO of Chris Bennett Ministries, was arrested Wednesday in the Atlanta area and charged with second-degree sodomy, said Russell County Sheriff's Lt. Heath Taylor.

The charge stems from a Russell County High student's claim that Bennett had inappropriately touched him in 2004 at Bennett's apartment when the boy was 14 or 15, Taylor said.

Bennett, a traveling evangelist, is also described as presiding bishop of the Generation Impact Movement, according to the Web site www.kingdompeople.org.

Bennett was held at the Fulton County Jail until Thursday, when he waived extradition and was taken to the Russell County Jail.

"It is my opinion that he befriends troubled teens and, at least on two occasions, has had sexual relations with them," Taylor said.

Bennett was charged with another sexual offense in College Park, Ga. in 2006, Taylor said. He called the circumstances in both allegations, while unrelated, very similar.

Taylor described Bennett as being cooperative with investigators.