ELGIN, Ill., March 17 (UPI) -- An Illinois teenager told a jury Tuesday her church's pastor hit her with a piece of molding to cure her of lying about sexual abuse.
The Rev. Daryl Bujak, pastor of the First Missionary Baptist Church in Elgin, Ill., about 40 miles northwest of Chicago, is on trial on charges of battery and failing to report a claim of sexual abuse. The alleged abuser, Matthew Resh, is awaiting trial.
The girl, now 16, spent two hours on the witness stand, the Chicago Tribune reported. She said she told her mother when she was 12 that she had been molested, but her mother, not believing her, took her to the pastor for counseling.
"He didn't want me to grow up and become a liar and go to hell," the girl said was Bujak's counsel to her.
Under cross-examination, she acknowledged she had sometimes been disciplined for telling lies.
In his opening statement, Bujak's attorney argued that the girl's parents knew he used corporal punishment.
