Reverend Paulk Balks At Talking About His "Faulks"

The 80-year-old leader of a mega-church has pleaded guilty to lying under oath about his sexual affairs and was sentenced to 10 years' probation. Reverend Earl Paulk, who has been in ill health, was also fined $1,000 on a single felony count.

The charges stem from a 2006 deposition Paulk gave in a lawsuit against him, his brother Don and the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit Church by former church employee Mona Brewer, who said she was coerced into having sex with Reverend Earl.

Under oath, Earl said that the only woman with whom he had ever had sex outside his marriage was Brewer. But results of a court-ordered paternity test later revealed that Earl was the biological father of his brother's son, D.E. Paulk, who is now head pastor at the church. After that revelation, eight additional women gave sworn depositions that they were coerced into sexual relationships with Earl Paulk.

Paulk turned himself in to authorities after a warrant was issued for his arrest. At its peak in the early 1990s, the Cathedral at Chapel Hill claimed about 10,000 members and was a media powerhouse. The church was able to build a Bible college, two schools, a worldwide TV ministry and a $12 million sanctuary outside Atlanta. Today, membership is down to about 1,500 and the Bible college and TV ministry have closed — a downturn blamed largely on fallout from the sex scandals.