The Wild Hunt (https://wildhunt.org/tag/texas/page/4)
FAIRFIELD, TEXAS – The Wild Hunt recently reported on the arrest of Amber Michelle Parker, an alleged Wiccan charged with human trafficking. This story provides an update to that case.
The Known Facts of the Case
Parker worked as an eighth grade teacher. After her arrest, she resigned. Parker also has a husband and daughter.
FREESTONE COUNTY, Texas – Last week, charges of human trafficking were filed against a woman that centered around a minor in her care in Mexia, Texas. The initial bond being set at $25,000, and one day later was increased to $250,000. There are reports that Amber Michelle Parker, allegedly had ties to a Witchcraft or Wicca groups. A Facebook account under the name Zhoe Singer displays a picture of Parker as well a number of memes and photos that contain “Witch” and “pentacle.”
A report from news station KWTX contained a statement that Parker’s husband had given to deputies investigating the case, “Mr. Parked explained that at some point during the year his wife had created an anonymous Facebook page to where she could secretly communicate with strange men associated with the Wicca organization,” the document reads. “During the year his wife had left to go to Louisiana to meet with her healer and again to Waco to meet with someone in her group.”
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Tex. — A Texas man, Daniel Kirksey, was arrested Thursday in the 2015 murder of his former boyfriend Marc Pourner, known as Axel in the Pagan community. As we reported previously, Pourner was a solitary Wiccan practitioner as well as the co-founder and facilitator of the popular Pagan Facebook forum “the Cauldron – a Mixing Place for Witches, Druids, and Pagans.” He went missing in November. 2015, and several days later he was found dead in his car. On Nov.
AUSTIN, Texas — Governor Greg Abbott signed into a law the Texas adoption bill that aims to protect “the rights of conscience for child welfare services providers.” As we reported in May, the controversial bill has generated both national support and criticism. Proponents claim that the new law will help an ailing child care system by protecting faith-based service organizations, which make up a sizable bulk of the potential child welfare providers. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. James Frank (R), posted on Facebook: “HB 3859 bans no one.” The aim, as he has said, is to improve the system and find stable families for troubled children. Contrary to that, critics say that the law will allow for open discrimination based on religion, marital status, or sexual preference. Texas Freedom Network President Kathy Miller said, “With his signature [..], Gov. Abbott has joined the lieutenant governor and other lawmakers in taking Texas down a dark and cruel road.”
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas House of Representatives passed HB3859 Wednesday, moving the state one step closer to enacting a law that, as it reads, aims to protect the “rights of conscience for child welfare services providers.” The bill was authored by Rep. James Frank (R) from Wichita Falls and, as he stated in a recent comment, “One of our biggest challenges is a lack of adequate, quality foster homes. […] A substantial part of any answer to this problem will be found in the faith-based community.” Rep. Frank’s comment was made after the bill was passed and directed at mainstream media, who generally began calling the bill discriminatory. Frank responded, “At a time when we need all hands on deck, we face the real risk of seeing a large number of [faith-based] providers leave the field, as they are forced to make the choice between devoting a substantial amount of resources in fighting litigation and other adverse action, or using those resources on other services to fulfill the tenets of their faith.”