RELIGION : Pastor Fined $12,500 for Having Sex With Congregant in ’72

A Glendora minister has been fined $12,500 by the Presbyterian Church for having a sexual relationship with a member of his congregation 22 years ago, with the money compensating the woman for previous and future therapy expenses.

The victim was 18 when Dr. Walter A. Ray, pastor of Glenkirk Presbyterian Church, began a six-week sexual relationship with her in 1972. The Presbyterian Church’s Permanent Judicial Commission ruled that although the relationship was consensual, the age of the victim and Ray’s stature as pastor of her church constituted an abuse of his clerical power.

The woman attempted to bring a claim against Ray in 1978, but at that time the Presbyterian Church had a three-year limit for bringing disciplinary charges against pastors. The church recently dropped the limitation period for charges of sexual misconduct, and disciplinary proceedings against Ray, 57, began last fall. The judicial commission, which is based in Azusa, issued a judgment in February.

In addition to the fine, Ray also received a sentence of two years’ exclusion from the office of pastor at Glenkirk, but the sentence was suspended.

“I think they wanted to say to me, ‘Walter, you did something that was wrong and we need to be open to that,’ ” said Ray, who said he confessed the incident to his wife and later to his parish. “ ‘On the other hand, it was 21 years ago, and you repented and you have been rehabilitated a long time ago, and you have a clean record, so we want you to keep serving.’ ”

Ray also said he thinks it is appropriate that he compensate the woman for therapy costs.

The woman said she has mixed feelings about the outcome of the case.

“I feel like I got a lot this late,” she said. “But on the other hand, he did this terrible thing and he never lost a beat in his career. It also bothers me that he still doesn’t see what he did wrong. He knows it was adultery, but he doesn’t see that it was sexual abuse.”