Former Minister Must Stand Trial

A former minister from Gardena on Thursday was ordered to stand trial on 14 counts of statutory rape and sexual abuse for allegedly seducing a 15-year-old parishioner.

After a five-hour preliminary hearing in South Bay Municipal Court, Judge Benjamin Aranda ruled that Arleigh Eugene Cox, 60, formerly pastor of St. John Lutheran Church, should stand trial.

Cox, who is free on $30,000 bail, faces arraignment May 2 in Torrance Superior Court.

After charges were filed against him in February, Cox--who has vigorously denied any wrongdoing--stepped down from the St. John post he had held for 13 years and resigned from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, ending his 35-year ministerial career. He cited an adulterous relationship he had had years before with an adult woman as his reason for resigning.

The girl, now 16, alleged that Cox began giving her notes in 1989 warning that if she did not “obey God’s will and love the pastor,” she would be injured in an accident. After she was hurt in a car accident, the girl alleges, she became afraid and agreed to have sex with Cox on several occasions.