FORMER SBC LIFEWAY YOUTH CAMP PASTOR SAMMY NUCKOLLS GETS 10 YEARS FOR VIDEO PEEPING

By on Sep 15, 2012 in Current Issues, Features

Spiritual darkness continues to grow and it appears 1 Peter 4:17 judgments are being sent by Jesus to rain down upon the visible Christian church.

As apostasy increases Apprising Ministries functions with other soldiers against error in the mission field of online apologetics and discernment along the Internet Front of this Truth War.

Sadly, stories like this are on the increase. Though once confined to churches more on the fringe, here you’ll see it was close as the SBC’s Lifeway Fuge Camps:

Traveling speaker and evangelist Sam Allen “Sammy” Nuckolls, who has served in the past as a contract speaker at FUGE camps has been charged with alleged video voyeurism. Because of the these accusations, LifeWay will not be using Nuckolls for any future speaking commitments. All of us on the FUGE team are in a state of prayer for all parties involved.

What is LifeWay’s relationship with Sammy Nuckolls?

Sam Allen “Sammy” Nuckolls was originally hired as a summer staffer to serve in the role of camp pastor for FUGE camps in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. In 2007 his role changed to a contract pastor only, serving several weeks throughout the summer. He served in this capacity through the summer of 2011. In this role, Nuckolls preached at general assemblies and large gatherings. Because of current legal accusations, LifeWay will not be using Nuckolls, and he has been relieved of all current speaking commitments… (source)

Just about a year ago now I told you that the Blytheville Courier News reported in Mississippi man accused of video voyeurism:

The Gosnell Police Department recently made an arrest in a case of video voyeurism. On Tuesday, Oct. 25, the GPD was contacted by the victim, who lives in Gosnell.

She told officers she had discovered evidence of having been videotaped by a hidden camera in her home, allegedly placed there by Sam Allen Nuckolls of Olive Branch, Miss., who was a houseguest of the victim and her husband. (source)

Then in his Olive Branch evangelist charged with video voyeurism Jason Miles of WMCTV would add:

Neighbors in Olive Branch were shocked to learn a traveling preacher was charged with using a hidden camera in a writing pen to peep on a woman. Traveling evangelist Sammy Nuckolls lives in Olive Branch.  We was charged with secretly recording a woman in a bathroom.

The incident happened in Gosnell, Arkansas.  Nuckolls was reportedly participating in a church revival and staying at the home of a local family.  That is where he is accused of recording the woman of the house taking a shower.

Police said Nuckolls used a spy camera hidden in a pen.  The pen also contains a flash drive inside.

Police said the alleged victim noticed the pen in the bathroom.  She later plugged it into a computer and discovered she had been recorded.

Nuckolls was charged with video voyeurism after police said he admitted to the crime, as well as previously recording two other women in Mississippi. (source)

Now today Yolanda Jones of The Commercial Appeal in Memphis informs us in her report Judge sentences former Olive Branch pastor to 10 years for making secret videos of women showering:

Circuit Court Judge Gerald Chatham Friday found a former Olive Branch Baptist minister guilty of making secret videos of women taking showers at his home and sentenced him to 10 years in state prison.

Chatham also ordered Samuel Allen Nuckolls to pay more than $80,000 in fines and restitution to the victims.

During the bench trial, meaning without a jury, Chatham ruled that Nuckolls, 33, who was charged with felony counts of video voyeurism, was guilty of secretly recording 13 women at his Olive Branch home from June 2007 to October 2011. The women were Nuckolls’ friends or acquaintances and ranged in age from 17 to 26.

In July, Nuckolls admitted he illegally taped the women taking showers at his home.

Even though Nuckolls acknowledged he videotaped the women without their knowledge, he did not enter a guilty plea. Instead, he waived his right to a jury trial at that time, and the case was continued to another bench trial on Friday.

The 9 a.m. hearing Friday was held at the courthouse in Hernando, and the prosecution and defense presented several witnesses before the judge issued his sentence during an emotional and tense hearing.

“You violated the trust of these young women,” Chatham told Nuckolls during the sentencing phase of the hearing. “This is the first time that I have heard the term video raped, but that is what you did. You also rocked their faith and hid behind the cloak of our Savior Jesus Christ to commit these crimes. I find that behavior sick.” (source)

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