Rev. Ted Haggard admits to drug use and gay sex?

Rev. Ted Haggard , an outspoken opponent of gay marriage has been accused of paying for gay sex.

In an explosive interview with Denver radio station KHOW, male prostitute Mike Jones said he had a three-year sexual relationship with Haggard, with the last gay action occurring in August. He also said Haggard used the dangerous drug methamphetamine during their encounters.

Jones said the relationship began when a man identifying himself as "Art" -- who said he was a married man from Kansas City, Missouri -- sought his services. Jones said he advertised at the time as a male prostitute on the Internet and in newspapers serving the gay community.

The two saw each other about once a month, with Art visiting Jones in Denver and paying him $200 in cash "for no more than an hour," Jones said.

"It was not emotional. It was physical, just strictly physical," he said.

Jones said he learned Art's identity when he saw him on television four months ago. Jones said he became upset when he learned that Haggard's church supported the proposed state constitutional amendment.

Colorado is one of eight states where voters will consider bans on same-sex marriage in Tuesday's elections, and Haggard has been a supporter of the measure.

Jones told KHOW that he kept several voice mails from Haggard on his telephone answering machine and an envelope containing two $100 bills from him.

After the claims, Rev. Ted Haggard resigned as president of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals while a church panel investigates allegations he repeatedly paid a man for sex.

In 2005, Time magazine put Haggard on its list of the 25 most influential evangelical leaders, noting his participation in a weekly conference call with White House staffers and other religious leaders reports AP.

"I've never had a gay relationship with anybody. I'm steady with my wife. I'm faithful to my wife," Haggard told KUSA-TV, a CNN affiliate in Denver, on Wednesday.

Haggard is married and has five children, according to the National Association of Evangelicals Web site.

The acting senior pastor at New Life, Ross Parsley, said Haggard acknowledged 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 told KKTV-TV of Colorado Springs.

Parlsey did not elaborate, but in an e-mail addressed to congregants, he wrote that the board of overseers had since met with Haggard.

"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."

A copy of the e-mail was obtained by KMGH-TV in Denver. .

Parsley requested "the community's compassion and prayers for the person who came forward with accusations, for the Haggard family and for the New Life Church community."

"New Life Church long ago adopted an overseer model of governance for situations just like this," Parsley said in the statement. "People need to be patient and allow this process to unfold as it was designed to do."

Haggard has received support from another prominent religious conservative leader, James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, also based in Colorado Springs.

"It is unconscionable that the legitimate news media would report a rumor like this based on nothing but one man's accusation," Dobson said in a written statement issued before Haggard's leave was announced.

"Ted Haggard is a friend of mine, and it appears someone is trying to damage his reputation as a way of influencing the outcome of Tuesday's election -- especially the vote on Colorado's marriage-protection amendment, which Ted strongly supports," Dobson said.

The church's attorney, Martin Nussbaum, told The Denver Post earlier Thursday that the pastor had denied the allegations and his resignation from the evangelical group was in no way an admission of guilt.

By Fabien Montique posted time [11:11 AM] (1)