Bishop Weeks Pleads Guilty to Felony Assault
In a plea bargain agreement Bishop Thomas Weeks III, head of Global Destiny Ministries, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to aggravated assault for pushing and kicking his wife, evangelist Juanita Bynum, in the parking lot of an Atlanta hotel last August.
The dramatic turnaround in the high-profile criminal case came after Weeks, separated from contact with Bynum by a restraining order issued last summer, met with his wife shortly after divorce proceedings on Monday and the two “fell into each other’s arms,” reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC).
Bynum said she softened toward Weeks after realizing she still had feelings for her husband, who later apologized and thanked his wife in court.
In exchange for Weeks’ guilty plea to the felony charge of aggravated assault the court ordered him to three years’ probation, 200 hours of non-church related community service and anger-management counseling, reported the AJC.
Bynum also said she was compelled to ask the court that her husband receive no jail time after Weeks’ grandfather called her to intervene. What happened with the divorce proceedings, or if the two decide to reconcile, was not yet made clear by the couple.