By John Dobberstein, Editor
The Tulsa County District Attorney’s office said Tuesday that Craig Hagin, a former pastor and COO of Rhema Bible Church, has pleaded no contest to misdemeanors stemming from an animal cruelty investigation.
Hagin was convicted on two counts of disturbing the peace for improperly using a residence as a kennel that neglected several animals, said Tulsa County District Attorney Steven Kunzweiler. Hagin was ordered to pay fines and complete a Benchmark Animal Rehabilitation Curriculum (BARC) program, which educates people on animal cruelty prevention.
Hagin’s wife, Mia, who had also been charged in the case, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of disturbing the peace.
Kunzweiler said in a statement that cruelty and malicious intent were not present in this case, but there was elements of neglect present.
“I am grateful for the efforts of Tulsa’s animal welfare community to discover and investigate cases like this so animals may be protected,” Kunzweiler said. “Obviously, the ramifications for Pastor Hagin have been significant. We arrived at a mutually acceptable disposition which fairly addressed the facts which existed that evening when law enforcement was summoned to his residence.”
Craig Hagin was placed on sabbatical in March after animal cruelty charges followed a Tulsa Police Department investigation at the couple’s south Tulsa home — which resulted in the removal of more than two dozen animals by authorities.
Craig Hagin’s employment, leadership roles and association with Rhema Bible Church affiliated Rhema entities were terminated June 3 after church officials received information they said was “inconsistent with ministry standards.”
Rhema Senior Pastor Kenneth W. Hagin his wife, Lynette, said that after that action was taken more questions had been raised about what they knew and when.
“What we saw was both shocking and devastating, not only as the leaders of this ministry, but as his parents,” they said in a statement. This was not the first time that serious questions about Craig’s personal conduct had been raised.
“Craig and Mia came to us privately with issues. We counseled them and were assured by Craig that the issues were resolved. However, continued concerns came to us in the context of the difficulties Craig and Mia were experiencing in their marriage. We heard those concerns. We took them seriously. We went to Craig directly and asked him plainly whether those things were true. He denied them. We believed our son and we now know that in doing so, we were deceived by him.”
Hagin’s parents said documented evidence they reviewed, “made it clear that Craig had been living a life we did not see. It was conduct we could not reconcile with the son and the leader we believed him to be, and frankly, conduct we could not imagine he was capable of. He hid this from us. He was living a double life.”
Mia Hagin filed for divorce from Craig last June, citing adultery as the reason.
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