MINNEAPOLIS - A Brooklyn Center pastor is accused of sexually assaulting a woman during a spiritual guidance session.
The Hennepin County Attorney's Office says 55-year-old Meally Freeman faces two felony counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in the alleged incident last September.
Charges say authorities received a report from the victim in January, who said she was sexually assaulted during a private religious ritual with Freeman at the Grace Mountaineer Tabernacle Church in Brooklyn Center.
A 28-year-old woman told police that she had known Freeman for several years and considered him her spiritual father.
According to the charges, Freeman contacted her on the phone last September and said she needed to see him for a one-on-one session. During that session, the victim told police Freeman gave her small cups of oil to drink and she became unconscious.
When she regained consciousness, she said she noticed she was covered in oil. Freeman then told the woman she needed a second session later that evening, which was conducted after bible study. Once again, the victim became unconscious and when she came to, she found her pants and underwear, which had been ripped, around her ankles and her shirt and bra had been pulled up.
Freeman then allegedly ordered the woman to get on her hands and knees and then sexually assaulted her with his hands. When he was done, he ordered the woman not to pick up her daughter from the babysitter because he did not want people to know how late she was at the church.
The victim later spoke to a friend about the "session" who said what she experienced was not a "deliverance" as the pastor called it, it was sexual assault.
The woman later confronted Freeman, while secretly recording him. He never denied touching her inappropriately but instead talked about the "deliverance process," saying "we insert things into people."
Freeman told the victim his wife knows what happens during these sessions and that "you don't ask what happens, you don't go into details and that deliverance can be very tempting."
The victim told police she was later told not to tell authorities what happened by Freeman and his wife, plus an elder at the church.
Freeman did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment Thursday. He is currently in custody.
