Pastor Andy Savage Gets Backlash, Has ‘Ridiculously Good Marriage’ Book Canceled After Sexual Assault Claims
Andy Savage is featured in a video that is getting plenty of reactions after news broke about an alleged prior sexual assault that involved Savage, who was a youth minister in 1998, and a 17-year-old high school student. Andy is now a popular preacher at Highpoint Church Memphis in Tennessee, but as the above video continually states, the alleged sexual assault happened 20 years ago. Savage’s letter didn’t go into the details that Jules Woodson shared in her statement about the incident.
According to Watch Keep, Jules sent an email to Savage on December 1, 2017. That email reportedly went unanswered by Andy, so Woodson went public with her story. Savage told churchgoers he had repented for the “sexual incident” with Jules 20 years ago in Texas, but Andy is receiving backlash for what some are calling sexual assault. As reported by the Christian Post, even though the legal age of consent in Texas is 17, that does not apply in circumstances where clergy takes advantage of their position to have undue sexual influence on a parishioner — a crime that isn’t subject to the statute of limitations and carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
Jules wrote that she was hanging out with Savage in 1998 at her church, the then-named Woodlands Parkway Baptist Church. Several other kids had left the church that spring night, and she was left along with Andy. Without a car, Jules received an offer from Savage to take her to her mother’s house. However, Jules wrote that Andy diverted from the route to her mom’s house and she felt excited, thinking Savage might take her to get ice cream.
Instead, Jules wrote that Savage drove to a dark and wooded area and asked her to perform fellatio. Shocked and embarrassed, Jules alleged that she did as he requested and allowed him to touch her breasts, thinking it meant that Andy loved her. She next wrote that after about five minutes, Savage jumped out of the truck and fell on his knees and begged her not to tell anyone what had happened, imploring her to take their secret to the grave.
As reported by the New York Times, Savage continues to face consequences from his time as the youth pastor at the suburban Houston church, with Jules writing that the church claimed they would handle the situation properly but allowed Andy to move on. Jules wrote that people hugged Savage and allowed him to leave without knowing what she alleges truly happened and made it seem as though it was her fault Savage had to leave.
Jules watched the above video, according to the publication, telling the New York Times that the video was “disgusting.” Although Savage said the incident had been “dealt with,” according to Jules it had not, with Jules reporting it to the police on Monday.
As seen in the below tweet from Bethany House, the Christian publishing company announced that Savage’s forthcoming book, The Ridiculously Good Marriage, was canceled.
Bethany House and Baker Publishing Group have cancelled publication of the Andy Savage book The Ridiculously Good Marriage.
It may remain on various retail web sites for a short time until those sites update.
— Bethany House Publishers (@bethany_house) January 8, 2018
