After a long delay, Judge Steven Ebert has ruled that Pastor Ralph Ovadal is guilty of disorderly conduct for leading a group of other pastors and Christians who spent eight hours sharing the gospel and interposing on behalf of children on the road to the Mazo nude beach on August 28, 1999. Pastor Ovadal has been ordered to report to Judge Ebert for sentencing this Friday, August 11 at 8:30 A.M. in Room 214 of the Dane County Court House in Madison.

"After reading Judge Steven Ebert's decision, I was left wondering if he was in the same courtroom that I was during my trial on June 5. The judge makes a number of fallacious statements such as claiming that I denied leading a group of Christians who attempted to protect children and uphold true law by blocking a road to the Mazo nude beach on August 28, 1999. I have never denied leading that group; but in court, the burden of proof is on the defense; and that burden was clearly not met. In addition, evidence made it clear that I was singled out from eighty other people and selectively prosecuted. However, that is not the worst of this decision. Far from it. The judge gives a two-fold reason for finding me guilty of disorderly conduct. The first has to do with blocking the driveway to a nude beach. The second reason is a chilling one which cannot remain unchallenged. In his decision, Judge Ebert writes that I, in my 'capacity as a pastor,' was also guilty of disorderly conduct for addressing certain beachgoers as 'homosexuals,' 'pedophiles,' and 'sinners.' He also includes as evidence of my guilt that a DNR warden testified that she observed me 'admonishing the beach users that they're going to have to answer to God.'

"The fact of the matter is that all men are sinners in need of salvation; that is the heart of the gospel. As for the use of the words homosexuals and pedophiles, some of the persons with whom I shared the gospel had identified themselves as homosexuals and several had even boasted of having a preference for viewing naked children. Certainly I called such persons to accountability for those sins and urged them to turn to Christ as the only way to escape an eternity in hell.

"This ruling by Judge Ebert is part of a growing trend of the civil government to silence all dissent and preaching against the grievous sin of homosexuality by ruling that such dissent and such preaching cause public disturbances and therefore is disorderly conduct. I have no intention of quietly accepting this ruling. Not only will I appeal it, but I and several other pastors will also immediately challenge it by preaching on the steps of Steven Ebert's courthouse just prior to my sentencing and directly after it. The topic of our message will be what the Bible says about homosexuality. If I was disorderly to preach on such a subject on August 28, 1999, then the judge had best order us arrested this Friday. If he does not, his hypocrisy, his cowardice, or both will be showing."
Pastor Ralph Ovadal, Director, Wisconsin Christians United

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