Louisiana archbishop orders 'desecrated' altar to be burned after priest Travis Clark's 'demonic' threesome act
PEARL RIVER, LOUISIANA: Travis Clark, a pastor at Saints Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church in Pearl River, was reportedly arrested earlier this week for allegedly filming himself engaged in sexual acts with two dominatrices on the altar of the church. The party of three was busted after a passerby peeped inside the church after seeing the lights on later than usual on September 30.
New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond was infuriated by the discovery and ordered that the altar be removed and burnt. "I am infuriated by his [the priest's] actions. When the details became clear, we had the altar removed and burned. I will consecrate a new alter tomorrow," he said according to a TMZ report. Aymond addressed this matter in a video statement released on the Archdiocese's website. "His desecration of the altar in the church was demonic, and I am infuriated by his actions," Aymond said while also declaring that Clark will never ever work in the priesthood again," he added.
We had already reported that the onlooker saw the parish's pastor, "half-naked having sex with two women on the altar," according to court documents. The pastors two alleged guests were dominatrices for hire — 41-year-old Mindy Dixon alias "Lady Vi", who tweets under the handle @Satanatrix (obviously her account is entirely NSFW), and 23-year-old Melissa Cheng, who goes by "Empress Ming", according to The Sun.
Both women were sporting corsets and high-heeled boots and also present inside the church were sex toys and stage lighting while a mobile phone as well as a separate camera, were mounted on tripods, recording all the activities, according to a NOLA.com report. A video recording of the said activities was captured by the onlooker who then called the Pearl River police who viewed the recording upon arrival.
The officers then arrested Clark along with the two women because their "obscene acts" on the altar were visible from the street. Public obscenity is a felony is Louisiana and carries a sentence as high as three years in prison or a $2,500 fine.
Earlier on Saturday, October 10, "Lady Vi" tweeted her official statement regarding the charges she's facing. "As I am not at liberty to discuss the details of an ongoing case, I will direct you to the official statement released by our attorney," she wrote in the caption while sharing an image of the statement.
A segment of the statement reads, "I understand that people may be upset by this situation, but that does not make this conduct illegal or criminal in any way. I would implore anyone seeking to pass judgment or direct their energy elsewhere." The statement also said that it's "regrettable" that "Lady Vi" and "Empress Ming" are being presented to the world as criminals because they "have done nothing wrong" and that "all parties involved were consenting adults."
This is the second scandal that has rocked the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Earlier this month, Rev Pat Wattigny had reportedly disclosed to Archbishop Aymond that he had sexually abused a minor in 2013, according to a NOLA.com report. Wattigny had been under investigation since February for sending inappropriate texts to a student at the high school where he had been a chaplain.
He too has been permanently removed from the public ministry as of last week. Condemning both Wattigny and Clark in the same breath in the video statement, Aymond said, "What has happened concerning Pat Wattigny and Travis Clark is unacceptable. It’s sinful and it cannot be tolerated. Let me be clear: Both were removed from ministry immediately and will never serve again in Catholic ministry."