Craig W. Hagin, former co-pastor of Rhema Bible Church in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, has been convicted of disturbing the peace just over three months after he and his now-estranged wife, Mia Hagin, were arrested for “animal cruelty.”
Hagin pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor counts of disturbing the peace for improperly operating a residence as a kennel where several animals were neglected, according to News On 6. As punishment, Hagin was ordered to pay fines and complete a Benchmark Animal Rehabilitation Curriculum program, which educates individuals on animal cruelty prevention.
“I have long fought for a separate version of Oklahoma’s animal cruelty law — one which addresses situations like this case, where cruelty and malicious intent were not present — but where elements of neglect were present,” Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said in a statement.
“I am grateful for the efforts of Tulsa’s animal welfare community to discover and investigate cases like this so animals may be protected,” he added. “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.”
Last month, after firing his son from the church, Rhema Bible Church founder Kenneth W. Hagin revealed that Craig Hagin had been living a “double life” that he described as both “shocking and devastating.”
Kenneth Hagin, who had previously addressed the congregation about the firing, read an updated statement — with his wife, Lynette, at his side — addressing “questions … about what we knew, when we knew it, and why we acted when we did.”
The couple’s arrest in March resulted in charges against Mia Hagin being dropped, while Craig Hagin faced two felony counts of animal cruelty.
Without providing specific details, Kenneth Hagin said concerns about his son’s personal conduct had previously been raised in a counseling session, and he and his wife thought those issues had been resolved.
“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,” Kenneth Hagin said.
“The documented evidence we received and reviewed upon our return from our international trip was evidence Denise received a few weeks earlier during our absence. This evidence made it clear that Craig had been living a life we did not see,” he continued. “He was living a double life. And in doing so, Craig deceived not only his wife and his family, but also Lynette and me; his sister and brother-in-law, Denise, and Don Burns; his ministry; and the people who trusted him.”
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