Grant Storms Arrested: Anti-Gay Christian Pastor Charged Over Public Masturbation

Rev. Grant Storms, a renowned anti-gay Christian pastor from Louisiana, was arrested last week for masturbating at a public park, in the vicinity of a carousel and playground where children were present.

According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, one woman saw Storms parked in his van "looking at the playground area that contained children playing, with his zipper down...," the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office report read. After judging that Storms was masturbating, the woman and another mother who witnessed the event both alerted deputies.

After being apprehended by authorities, Storms claimed that he had been urinating into a bottle. He was then booked for obscenity -- charges that he denied -- and then released due to overcrowding in the jail.

The pastor appeared less willing to discuss the matter at a press conference on Tuesday, during which he blamed "pornography" for the incident.

"Pornography is destructive and it can ruin a person's life, and it ruined my life," he said at the conference, admitting that he had his hands in his pants, but maintaining that he wasn't masturbating. "Do I have problems? Yes. Did I do something wrong? Yes."

Despite his apology, which he also extended to the gay community, to which he has been a prominent opponent, Grants also denied claims that he had been "looking at the children" in the area.

WWL reports on Grants' past behavior against the LGBT community of New Orleans:

Storms has been a very vocal critic of the gay community and tried to get the gay pride festival, Southern Decadence, shut down after he videotaped man participating in sex acts and masturbating in the street.

WATCH a clip of the news conference, via WWL:

Comments

[dbrett480]

01:05 PM on 04/16/2011

Looks like Meganslaw.com needs to be updated. His excuse of masturbation because of pornography is ridiculous. Last time I checked, children's playgrounds did not contain pornography.

[Alex Bartlett]

03:15 PM on 03/23/2011

I'm sort of ashamed of all the people who are responding to this venomously or angrily. More than anything, I think the situation is sad and unfortunate, because it means that pastors, not to mention an awful lot of people in general, aren't getting accurate information about what "normal" sexuality it is and how to embrace your sexuality and express it in a healthy way. Rev. Storms has had the decency to apologize for his historical, hypocritical, hateful actions which is far, far more than I've seen from the leaders of other hateful picketing groups, and I think he ought to be commended for his public apology. Additionally, we should be grateful that he was spotted and arrested and that these issues have been brought into the light now. The saddest part out of all of this is, to me, is that Rev. Storms believes "he has a problem"; as far as I can tell, his problem isn't that he's a sexual being, which he seems to believe. Most people are sexual beings. His problem is that no one has ever taught him how to express it in a healthy way. I hope that now he has a chance to receive the counsel and wisdom he needs to move forward in life in a productive way. Other commenters, please stop the hate and the hypocrisy. This man wants to do the right thing.

[Mike in Dallas]

05:30 PM on 04/07/2011

My words exactly.....

[DMSmith]

01:59 AM on 03/18/2011

I'm shocked, I tell you. Shocked!
ROFLMAO
Years ago, I had an uncle object seriously to my being gay - and claiming that's why I had moved to SF. (he was right). He was several years later arrested on a downtown street corner for molesting an 11 year old boy. Some things are as predictable as they are sad.

[Dj Haze Peterson]

08:27 AM on 03/13/2011

Blaming porn is a flimsy excuse for this behavior. Plenty of people watch porn and have "unnatural thoughts", but the issue is impulse control. It's the behavior of an addict to blame something else for their actions. "You angered me, you make me drink." "I watched porn, it made me do bad things." This doesn't wash. Both statements are poor excuses for bad behavior. It's also typical of these vehemently anti-gay "religious leaders" to have issues of sexual depravity. This is mainly due to their belief that homosexuality is depraved. Therefor, they hate their own depravity and act out against it. I've always said: "We don't hate others for differences, we hate them for similarities." We see traits that we hate in ourselves, in others, and we speak out against it instead of working on bettering ourselves. If we all focused on being better people, we wouldn't have time to judge others.

[dporteraustin]

10:06 PM on 03/08/2011

Jesus, can we all finally admit that the more virulent the person's anti-gay rhetoric, the more depraved they are? Sheesh, enough already. There is only one reason a person is a gay-hater, they are projecting their internal hatered of themselves onto others.
http://thelieshavenotimproved.blogspot.com/

[Mike in Dallas]

05:48 PM on 04/07/2011

Wow!
You have hit the nail on the head.
Well said.

[VioletDatura]

06:56 PM on 03/06/2011

Score another one for the Mom Patrol.

[sparrow75]

12:08 PM on 03/22/2011

Heck ya!

[Robynhawk Kwe]

04:04 PM on 03/06/2011

He who protests too much and hates the most is to be found the most disgusting.

[PaulAdams]

03:31 PM on 03/06/2011

Another bible thumper busted for sex crimes.

I would rather let a gay guy babysit my children than a priest. I trust them more.

[IATSE MEMBER]

03:22 PM on 03/06/2011

I wonder if has a Morals Clause over at Faux News?

[Charles E Evans]

11:41 AM on 03/06/2011

Guess he forgot that old adage " Never let your left hand know what your right hand is doing ".

[SeattleSage]

11:08 AM on 03/06/2011

as Terrence McKenna said about Christians:
If the Lord your god is your shepherd, what does that make you?
baaaaaaah

[UnfairGov]

09:44 AM on 03/06/2011

Way to spread the word of God pastor. Jesus warned us of you in false clothing. Thanks for exposing yourself.... pun intended!

[Alan Klayman]

07:54 AM on 03/06/2011

not surprising...

[Brightlight]

07:48 AM on 03/06/2011

I'm sure if the tapes are available, Ted Haggard would love to purchase one!