Disgraced evangelical minister Ted Haggard sent a letter to his
supporters late last week soliciting donations. Haggard and his family
left Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the megachurch he founded, New
Life Church, after Haggard was outed in 2006 by male escort Mike Jones
as a meth user and inept cocksucker. Haggard—declared “100
percent heterosexual” by his “spiritual overseers” after 23 days in
counseling—now lives in Phoenix, Arizona. In his appeal, Haggard
promised his supporters a place in heaven if they help pay his living
expenses for the next two years—and a tax deduction, if they send
money via an obscure charity called Families with a Mission.
“If any supporters need a tax deduction for their gift, they can
mail it to Families with a Mission at P.O. Box 63125, Colorado Springs,
CO 80962,” Haggard wrote. “[Put] a separate note on it that it is for
the Haggard family, then Families with a Mission will mail us 90
percent of the funds for support and use 10 percent for administrative
costs. Thank you so much.”
When local attorney Dave Coffman read about Haggard’s appeal for
money on Slog, The Stranger‘s blog (slog.thestranger.com), he
started doing some digging.
“I’m tired of the hypocrites,” said Coffman in an e-mail. “I’m tired
of people and our youth in particular getting beat up, judged, and
ridiculed for whom they are—especially when those doing the
beating are hypocritical.”
Coffman began by looking into the legality of sending donations to a
private individual through a charity. The first odd thing Coffman
uncovered was that the charity handling donations for Haggard, Families
with a Mission, had “voluntarily dissolved” on February 23, 2007.
Coffman noted that the mailing address for Families with a Mission’s
registered agent, Paul Huberty, was the same address Haggard gave out
in his plea to supporters. When Coffman started searching public
records for information on Paul Huberty, he learned that Huberty was a
registered sex offender in the state of Hawaii. Huberty had been
convicted of having anal sex with his 17-year-old female ward while
stationed in the military in Germany, but it was his conviction in
Hawaii in 2004—of attempted sexual assault—that landed
Huberty jail time. Court records also show Huberty on Hawaii’s
sex-offender registry. Coffman discovered that Huberty had not
registered as a sex offender in Colorado, as the law requires him
to.
Coffman shared what he learned with The Stranger, and we
posted the scoop to Slog late Friday afternoon. By Monday morning,
Haggard’s involvement with a registered sex offender—and
Coffman’s role in bringing it to light—was zooming all over the
blogosphere. By Tuesday, Haggard’s relationship with Huberty was being
covered by daily papers in Denver and Colorado Springs; Haggard’s
“spiritual overseers” were flying to Phoenix to demand answers; and
Huberty, the registered sex offender, was “distancing himself” from
Haggard. Colorado’s 9NEWS reported that, according to Huberty, no
donations have been sent to the Haggard family, nor have any donations
been received by Families with a Mission on Haggard’s behalf.
Says Coffman of Huberty: “I have grave concerns that he is involved
with anything to do with families and children. As far as Ted Haggard,
I’m happy that we were able to expose his continued hypocrisy.”
