Wife, Stepdaughter Of Ohio Pastor Accused Of Sexual Assault Jailed For Forcing Victim To Withdraw Statements

The wife and stepdaughter of a former Toledo, Ohio, pastor, who sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl, were sent to jail Tuesday for witness tampering as they tried to get the victim to deny her statement against the man.

According to the prosecutor, the two women were accused of abducting the victim and warning her not to testify against Anthony Haynes, who was convicted last year of child sex trafficking and other charges.

The court documents point out that the pastor’s wife, 45-year-old Alisa Haynes, and his stepdaughter, 25-year-old Alexis Fortune, abducted the minor victim from her apartment, choked her using a cord and threatened her to withdraw her statements.

The victim, whose identity was not disclosed considering the sensitivity of the issue, testified against Anthony.

Federal visiting judge, Bernard Friedman, in a trial via video conference, sentenced Alisa to 24 months in federal prison while Alexis was sentenced to spend 48 months behind bars.

According to a statement issued to local media, U.S. Assistant Attorney Ashley Futrell, during the trial, said, “Ms. Fortune gave one of the victims a phone in order to leave not just one, but two voicemail messages recanting what the victim said to law enforcement officers about what happened in the underlying sex-trafficking case.”

During the trial, Alexis questioned why she was being sentenced to 48 months when the guideline range suggested a 30 to 37 months sentence for the single offense of tampering with a witness or victim.

The prosecutors said that this was a negotiated sentence as she was "originally charged with false statement or representation made to a department or agency of the United States and using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence." The firearm offense alone carried a minimum of seven years in federal prison.

Alisa’s attorney, Chuck Boss, said his client is a “good mother,” whose life took a "serious wrong turn."

“I’m trying to manage what I have left and this has truly been a lesson learned,” Alisa said during the trial. “I apologize to you and the court and everyone involved. I would like to move forward and become the mother and grandmother and the citizen that I am to be in this world and help others like I was supposed to.”

Anthony, along with pastors Cordell Jenkins and Kenneth Butler, was convicted and sentenced for their involvement in a multiple-year sex-trafficking ring with the victim, who was 14 at the time.

Anthony and Jenkins were sentenced to life in prison, while Butler was sentenced to an agreed-upon 17 and a half years in prison.