North Carolina GOP Lawmaker Gettin' Some "Christian Action"

The Charlotte Observer has reported that Coy Privette, a retired Baptist pastor, GOP lawmaker and President of North Carolina's Christian Action League, was charged last week with paying a prostitute for sex acts.

The 74-year-old Cabarrus County commissioner was arrested at his home in Kannapolis early Thursday. He appeared before a Rowan County magistrate on six misdemeanor charges and was released on a promise to appear in court Aug. 22. He did not return e-mails or calls to his cell and home phones, and no one answered the door at his Kannapolis home. Privette, a prominent Republican with a 30-year career, is one of the state's most vocal opponents against alcohol sales and legal gambling. The outspoken christian advocate also serves on the State Baptist Convention of North Carolina.

Privette was charged with six counts of aiding and abetting or participating in prostitution, said Woody Chavis, interim Kannapolis police chief. The charges result from a Kannapolis bank-initiated investigation regarding a suspicious check written against Privette's account. It seems that Privette signed two blank checks and gave them to a hooker named Tiffany Denise Summers in payment for sexual favors that took place over two months, from May 4 to June 25. Things began to unravel after Tiffany was unable to cash one of Privette's checks for $1,000 because she didn't have a photo ID. Another check for $4,000 was found in her possession when she was arrested by the FBI.

Summers has previous convictions for drug possession, prostitution and possessing stolen goods, according to court documents. Last month, Salisbury police officers picked her up near a hotel where rooms are rented by the hour. Salisbury officers have arrested her several times for drug activity, Salisbury Police Chief Mark Wilhelm said. In one case, according to court documents, Summers was found with a man's ATM card. When contacted by the Observer, Summers would only comment on the charges against her, saying: "I don't think it's right."

Reverend David Prather of the North Kannapolis Baptist Church said, "We're shocked and dismayed and just concerned for the family-- children, grandchildren, wife-- and trying to reach out to them. I'm trying to reach out to him and his wife and let him know we still love him."