Pentecostal Bishop from Catonsville Pleads Guilty to Second-Degree Assault

A Catonsville Pentecostal bishop pleaded guilty this week to allegations that he assaulted a congregant last year who was seeking his advice about a family member with a medical problem, according to the Catonsville Times.

Roan S. Faulkner, 63, is the bishop at New Life Pentecostal Ministries, a church located at 200 Melvin Ave. that was established in 1993 in Catonsville.

He pleaded guilty to second-degree assault.

Faulkner’s wife, Elder "Queen" Esther Faulkner, is currently listed as the church’s pastor on its website.

Bishop Faulkner, who answered the phone at the church’s business office Wednesday, declined to answer questions about the congregation’s future in light of his guilty plea.

“That’s none of your concern,” he told Patch. “Don’t call back here again.”

Faulkner is scheduled to be sentenced June 29 by Baltimore County Circuit Judge Thomas J. Bollinger, the newspaper reported.

He was charged with seven criminal counts, according to the Catonsville Times, including attempted second-degree rape. By pleading guilty, he avoided trial on those seven counts.

Prosecutors said Faulkner exposed himself to a congregant after she had asked him about grief and a family medical crisis, and forced her to the floor and attempted to rape her, according to the Catonsville Times.

Faulkner and his wife have three children, according to the church’s website.