OKLAHOMA CITY A Baptist preacher who was arrested on public lewdness charges in early January has resigned.
The Rev. Lonnie Latham, 59, formerly senior pastor at South Tulsa Baptist Church and an outspoken critic of the gay rights movement, allegedly suggested having oral sex with an undercover policeman. He was released from jail on $500 bond on Jan. 4, the day after his arrest.
As he was leaving jail he said: “I was set up. I was in the area pastoring to police.”
After his arrest, Latham resigned from his church, the board of directors of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma and the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition January 13, 2006.