KINGS MOUNTAIN, N.C. (ABP) – A Baptist pastor and former Gardner-Webb University professor was found not guilty of misdemeanor solicitation of prostitution July 14.

Clinton Feemster, 59, pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Kings Mountain, N.C., who taught classes at Gardner-Webb’s M. Christopher White School of Divinity, was arrested Feb. 18 and charged with soliciting a sex act from an undercover police officer near the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.

After his arrest he was placed on administrative leave both by the university and the church he had led for about 20 years. According to local media, several members of Mount Zion Baptist Church were in the courtroom for Feemster’s trial, which was heard before a judge and no jury.

Feemster began teaching at Gardner-Webb in 2004. He directed the divinity school’s Pittman Center for Congregational Enrichment, which offers educational and enrichment opportunities for laity and clergy not enrolled as degree-seeking students.

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