Anti-gay pastor arrested for indecent exposure around kids

METAIRIE, La. (RNS) A fundamentalist Christian pastor known for his
bullhorn protests of the annual Southern Decadence gay pride festival
was arrested on a charge of masturbating at a park on Friday (Feb. 25).


The Rev. Grant Storms, 53, was taken into custody after two women
reported seeing him masturbating in the driver's seat of his van, which
was parked near the carousel and playground, a Jefferson Parish
Sheriff's Office report said.


A woman who parked next to Storms' van noticed the occupant was
"looking at the playground area that contained children playing, with
his zipper down," the report said. The woman noted that he was
masturbating and quickly ushered her children out of her car.


She told a second woman, who walked to the van and also spotted the
man masturbating, the report said. The second witness told deputies that
the driver tried to conceal the zipper area of his pants with his hand.


Storms told deputies he was having lunch at the park when he decided
to urinate using a bottle instead of the restroom, the report said.


He was booked on obscenity, with bond set at $5,000. He was released
two days later because of jail crowding. Storms could not be reached for
comment on Monday.


A self-styled "Christian patriot," Storms leads the small Reformer
Church where he has railed against the Roman Catholic Church, calling it
"satanic" and "demonic."


He is known for arming followers with bullhorns, Bibles and picket
signs to protest Southern Decadence, the three-day gay festival held in
the French Quarter during Labor Day weekend.