Democrat Raphael Warnock Arrested in 2002 for Obstructing Child Abuse Investigation

Democratic candidate for Senate Raphael G Warnock speaks to a crowd during a "Get Out the
AP Photo/Brynn Anderson

Georgia Senate Democrat candidate Raphael Warnock was arrested in 2002 for obstructing a police investigation into alleged child abuse at a church camp in Carroll County, Maryland.

Revs. Warnock and Andre Wainwright, who both worked at Douglas Memorial Community Church, were accused in court documents of attempting to prevent a state trooper from interviewing counselors at the church’s Camp Farthest Out in Eldersburg, Maryland, regarding alleged abuse at the church.

Warnock hopes to oust Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) during the January senate runoff.

A state trooper said that neither Warnock nor Wainwright were suspects in the child abuse investigation, although the trooper declined to describe the nature of the suspected abuse.

Warnock, the senior pastor at the church, said that the alleged abuse was not sexual.

Warnock and Wainwright interrupted a police interview of a camp counselor in 2002. After investigators moved the interview to a picnic area, the reverends interfered against and tried to prevent one camper from directing police to other potential witnesses.

Maryland State Trooper Diane Barry of the state police Child and Sexual Assault Unit said, “I’ve never encountered resistance like that at all.”

Barry contended that the counselors consented to be interviewed after they were told they were free to go at any time and were not obligated to answer Barry’s questions. After being arrested and charged, Warnock and Wainwright were released.

Warnock claimed that he merely wanted to ensure that lawyers were present during counselor interviews:

Reverend Wainwright and I acted well within the framework of the law, and I am confident that we will be exonerated. It’s just unfortunate that our children had to see their pastors carried away in handcuffs. My concern simply had to do with the presence of counsel. We cooperated fully with their investigation. We have nothing to hide.

Warnock came to work at Douglas Memorial Community Church after he worked at Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York.

When Warnock was an assistant pastor at Abyssinian Church, Communist Cuban dictator Fidel Castro gave a speech at the church in 1995.

Warnock also praised the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright and touted Marxism as a way to “teach the black church.”

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) wondered whether the media would ask Warnock why he obstructed an investigation into alleged child abuse.

“In 2002, when the police investigated suspected child abuse at Raphael Warnock’s church camp for children, Warnock was arrested for obstructing the investigation,” Cotton wrote on Wednesday. “Will the media ask Raphael Warnock why he interfered with the police investigation?”

“If a Republican helped run a camp for children that was investigated for child abuse—and then was arrested for trying to block the investigation—the media would be asking a lot of questions,” Cotton added.

Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.

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