Lolita Harper
BURBANK -- The dark, cold cell guarded by the Iranian Secret Police is
not the only prison Pastor Robak Hoospianmer, also known as Roubik
Hoospian, has been spent time in.
Last month he spent the night in Los Angeles County Jail after being
arrested on suspicion of intent to commit rape, residential burglary and
stalking, according to court documents.
The woman involved -- whose name is being withheld to protect her
identity -- has accused Hoospianmer of the crimes, which allegedly
occurred at her Pasadena home in August, according to the original
complaint filed by the Los Angeles County district attorney.
However, the 41-year-old pastor, a Burbank resident who preaches at
the Southern Baptist Church in Glendale and works as a social worker, was
not taken into custody by officers from the Pasadena Police Department
until Dec. 19, after a warrant for his arrest was issued.
Detectives on the case needed the extra time to find a witness who
could corroborate the victim's claims, Pasadena Police Sgt. Tom Pederson
said.
"Until that witness was found, the case was not fileable," he said.
The charges were filed by the victim, a member of the pastor's former
church, who claimed to have had an affair with him, Hoospianmer said in a
telephone interview Tuesday.
Hoospianmer denied the criminal charges, the alleged affair or ever
being in the woman's home.
"My enemies are making a trap to destroy my reputation," he said in
his own defense.
The most recent claim by the alleged mistress is not her first attempt
to ruin his name, Hoospianmer contends. In 1999, Pasadena police officers
arrested him on suspicion of residential trespassing and making annoying
phone calls to the same woman, court documents report. The charges were
amended and Hoospianmer pleaded no contest to fighting in a public place.
Asked why he pleaded no contest to charges he denied, Hoospianmer said
he was advised to do so by his attorney, Daniel Bunnet. The pastor said
he had yelled at the woman in a restaurant, and Bunnet advised him to
accept a charge of fighting in public.
Bunnet did not return telephone calls placed by the Leader.
Hoospianmer received a sentence of two years of probation and was
ordered to attend a year -- 52 sessions -- in a domestic violence
batterer's program, at a cost to him of $813. His probation was
terminated in July after he completed the sessions.
Hoospianmer paid for the counseling at Foothill Family Service in
Pasadena but thought the program was for anger management.
