A Washington state woman was part of a threesome, including a former priest, accused of having sex on a church altar in Louisiana last September, according to criminal charging documents filed Thursday.
Mindy Lynn Dixon, 41, of Kent, Wash., and the two others – former priest Travis Jhon Clark, 37, and Melissa Kamon Cheng, 28, of Alpharetta, Ga. – were all charged with institutional vandalism in connection with the case, which made international headlines at the time.
A second former priest in the same Louisiana parish, Patrick Briain Wattigny, was charged separately with molesting a juvenile.
Archbishop Gregory Aymond announced earlier that both former priests had been working in St. Tammany Parish and now had been removed from the ministry.
According to news reports, the three were caught allegedly having sex on the church altar on Sept. 30, 2020, after a passerby saw them through a window and notified the local police in Pearl River, La.
The eyewitness took a video, which showed Clark half-naked but still wearing his priestly attire while having sex with the two women on the altar, according to court documents.
The officers also observed the two women clad in corsets and high-heeled boots by the altar, with lights set up around them as if they were filming some type of event, the court documents said.
The women allegedly told police they were at the church with Clark’s permission and were recording themselves in “role play.” Dixon and Cheng posted bail after their arrests and were released from jail.
The altar, one of the most sacred places in any church, is meant to be the centerpiece and sole focus of the sanctuary. It serves as the location at which many significant Catholic traditions and rituals are celebrated, including Mass and the Eucharist.
Archbishop Gregory Aymond described the desecration of the altar as “demonic.” He later had the altar removed from the sanctuary and burned. A new altar was then consecrated.
