VA Pastor Sentenced To Prison For Aiding Kidnapping Of Child Of Lesbian Mom

Pastor Kenneth Miller has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for his role in the kidnapping of the child of a lesbian mom whose former partner "renounced homosexuality" and fled with their child to Nicaragua in violation of a court-ordered custody sharing arrangement. Miller spent 30 days in jail for contempt earlier this year after refusing to name his accomplices, telling the court, "If I were to bring testimony against a fellow member of Christ’s kingdom, for honoring Christ’s kingdom’s laws, I would be disloyal to his kingdom and to Christ."

Mr. Miller was convicted last fall for helping to arrange the covert flight to Nicaragua of Lisa A. Miller with her daughter, Isabella Miller-Jenkins, in 2009.  Ms. Miller, who is not related to the pastor, had won support in conservative Christian circles for refusing to permit court-mandated visits with Isabella by her other legal mother, Janet Jenkins, Ms. Miller’s former partner in a civil union in Vermont. After the couple split up, Ms. Miller moved to Virginia, said she was a born-again Christian and denounced her former lesbianism as a sin. In 2009, as an exasperated family court judge threatened to transfer primary custody to Ms. Jenkins, Ms. Miller and her daughter, then 7, disappeared and a warrant was issued for Ms. Miller’s arrest.

The pastor remains free as his attorneys plan an appeal.  You may recall that the case also involves Liberty University and law professor Mat Staver, the head of the virulently anti-gay Liberty Counsel, whose secretary is alleged to have assisted in the kidnapping. In August 2012 Liberty Counsel and numerous other parties were named in a civil suit filed by Janet Jenkins.  The suit notes that the named parties have signed the infamous Manhattan Declaration, whose supporters vow to disobey laws that protect LGBT people.  At the time the suit was filed, Staver threatened to retaliate and sue Jenkins for defamation, but it's not known if he ever did. The whereabouts of Lisa Miller and the child remain unknown. (Tipped by JMG reader Blair)