Evangelical Minister in Gay Sex Scandal Admits "Indiscretions"

The Rev. Ted Haggard resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals Thursday, after being accused of paying a gay man for monthly sex rendezvous. Haggard, a married father of five children, denied the accusations before also stepping down from his job as head of the 14,000-member New Life Church.

However, the acting senior pastor at the church, Ross Parsley, told a Colorado Springs television station that Haggard, 50, admitted that some of the accusations were true. "I just know that there has been some admission of indiscretion, not admission to all of the material that has been discussed, but there is an admission of some guilt," Parsley said.

Carolyn Haggard, the embattled pastor’s niece, said that a panel of four church members is investigating the allegations and will possibly discipline Haggard. Depending upon their findings, they may even remove him from ministry work entirely.

The accusations were made by Mike Jones, 49, of Denver, who said he is gay. Jones said that he decided to make his relationship with Haggard public because of the upcoming vote next week in Colorado to decide on banning gay marriage. "I just want people to step back and take a look and say, 'Look, we're all sinners, we all have faults, but if two people want to get married, just let them, and let them have a happy life,"' said Jones.

Jones claimed that he had advertised himself on the Internet as an escort, and he was contacted by a man who called himself "Art." The two men met nearly every month over a three year period, and "Art" snorted methamphetamine before their sexual encounters to heighten the experience. Jones said that he later saw "Art" on television, and realized that he was Haggard. According to Jones, when he discovered that the pastor and his church had been publicly opposing same-sex marriage, he felt he had to come forward and expose the hypocrisy. "It made me angry that here's someone preaching about gay marriage and going behind the scenes having gay sex," he said.

Parsley told congregants in an e-mail that the church's board of overseers had met with Haggard on Thursday. "It is important for you to know that he confessed to the overseers that some of the accusations against him are true," the e-mail stated."He has willingly and humbly submitted to the authority of the board of overseers, and will remain on administrative leave during the course of the investigation."

Haggard told the panel investigating him that he did in fact purchase methamphetamine from Jones. "I bought it for myself but never used it," he said. "I was tempted, but I never used it." Haggard also revealed that he did get a massage from Jones, after being referred to him by a Denver hotel.

According to Jones, he has an envelope Haggard used to mail him cash, as well as voice mail messages from Haggard. KUSA-TV in Colorado Springs reported that some of the voice mail messages refer to methamphetamine.

"Hi Mike, this is Art," one call began, according to the station. "Hey, I was just calling to see if we could get any more. Either $100 or $200 supply." A second message, left a few hours later, began: "Hi Mike, this is Art, I am here in Denver and sorry that I missed you. But as I said, if you want to go ahead and get the stuff, then that would be great. And I'll get it sometime next week or the week after or whenever."

The allegations have rocked the ultra-conservative church. When Haggard announced that he was stepping down from his post while the allegations were being investigated, he released a statement saying, "I am voluntarily stepping aside from leadership so that the overseer process can be allowed to proceed with integrity. I hope to be able to discuss this matter in more detail at a later date. In the interim, I will seek both spiritual advice and guidance."