Louisiana
Louisiana pastor ordered to stay away from home of man he attacked
A Louisiana pastor who assaulted his church’s neighbor last month has been ordered to stay at least 50 yards away from the young man’s home.
Mark Anthony “Tony” Spell, 48, pastor of Life Tabernacle Church near Baton Rouge, was arrested for second-degree battery in June, Roys Report (RR) previously reported. A video of the attack shows Spell punching his 20-year-old neighbor more than 30 times. Spell also threw the man to the ground, sat on top of him, jerked the man’s neck and twisted it, then stood up and kicked him.
A protection order against Spell was issued Friday in Commissioner Kory Tauzin’s Courtroom, reported the Baton Rouge-based Advocate. Tauzin works in the 19th Judicial District Court as a quasi-judge, a person who exercises court-like powers but is not a judge.
The order states that Spell must stay more than 50 yards away from the home of the family that lives across the road from the church, unless he is checking the mail. Spell must also not contact the family in person or electronically, including through social media, the Advocate reported.
RR requested a copy of the protection order from the district clerk but didn’t immediately receive the document.
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RR also emailed Spell at his church for comment, but he didn’t immediately respond.
Spell previously said the 20-year-old neighbor threatened to rape his wife and grandchildren, which the neighbor denied. The two families have been feuding since 2020, when Spell’s church defied COVID-19 lockdown orders.
Scott Sherwin, father of the man Spell punched, had allowed federal authorities to install cameras on his property to surveil the church, RR previously reported. Life Tabernacle is a Oneness Pentecostal church located 14 miles northeast of Baton Rouge.
The elder Sherwin called police on June 25 — two days after Spell’s arrest, according to a police bodycam video obtained by WBRZ-TV Ch. 2, an ABC affiliate in Baton Rouge.
In the police video, Sherwin told police Spell was mowing the church’s lawn at 4 a.m. within 50 yards of his residence. Sherwin told police about a protection order that was in process. Sherwin also said he believed Spell was disturbing the peace and trying to “intimidate” his family by mowing his lawn so early.
“He’s got a protective order and he’s doing this on purpose to keep me and my family awake and drive us insane,” Sherwin told police in the video.
The video next shows police confronting Spell, who was sitting on his mower in the church’s yard. Spell then called Sherwin’s 20-year-old son an anti-gay slur, according to the TV station, which redacted it from the video.
“He’s just sore because I beat the crap out of his f—-t boy,” WBRZ reported Spell saying in the video. “And he’s next if he comes over here and harasses these boys.”
Some teenagers were in the video with Spell holding weed trimmers.
The June incident was at least the second time Spell was arrested for assault, RR previously reported. Spell allegedly backed a bus toward a man who was protesting the church’s decision to stay open during the pandemic. This was also caught on video. Those charges were later dismissed, RR previously reported.
