A Texas holy man must pay millions to a woman who accused him of giving her a case of herpes.
Rev. Ralph West II is being ordered to pay $2.45 million after a three-day trial in which the jury deliberated for six-and-a-half hours, KPRC reported.
“You can’t fix it, she’s got it for the rest of her life,” the unnamed woman's attorney Shaun Murphy told the TV station, noting that she feels vindicated after the jury ruled in her favor.
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He said that the woman contracted genital herpes from West during unprotected sex after they kindled a connection on Facebook back in March 2018.
“She got an outbreak two or three days later and then went and got tested," the attorney said.
The woman proved her case citing her medical records that suggested "he was the source of it, in part, because she hadn’t been with anybody else, she had a prior negative test."
Once she confronted West, her attorney said, he allegedly placed the blame on the mother of his son.
Murphy said she asked him point blank: "‘Where did this come from?" and West allegedly told her he contracted it from being with "his son’s mother."
An email exchange between the alleged victim and West also was portrayed by her attorney Murphy as proof of him not denying anything.
He said: "Where she accuses him of knowing he had it, of giving it to her and there are other allegations about not caring about me and that kind of thing... He never once denied that he had it or that he knew he had it."
Raw Story's attempts to reach the reverend for comment were partially unsuccessful because his church's voicemail was full. An email to the church along with a message placed with his executive assistant was not immediately returned.
According to its website, West's Church Without Walls features three locations to worship within Houston.
West is prominently featured on the website of the church and photographed by the quotation: "The primary function -- and I believe that it still holds supreme in the church -- is the proclamation of the gospel of the lord Jesus Christ."
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