STATE : Sex Church Loses U.S. Court Bid
A federal judge ruled today that a couple cannot claim that their sex-oriented Church of the Most High Goddess in Canyon Country is a religion protected by constitutional freedoms and thus immune to attempts to enforce vice laws.
U.S. District Judge W. Matthew Byrne rejected the arguments by Will Tracy, 51, and wife Mary Ellen, 47, that the church promising salvation through sex in return for monetary sacrifices should be protected by the Constitution.
During the five-day, non-jury trial, the couple testified that the church was based on an ancient religion in which intercourse with priestess Sabrina Aset, which is Mary Ellen Tracy’s holy moniker, cleansed the soul, a purification rite.
The couple filed the suit while their misdemeanor criminal convictions for prostitution and running a brothel are on appeal.
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