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Tuesday, August 31, 2004
House of Worship or Den of Sex?

Well is it a church or a sex palace? A business in Spartanburg County appears to be doubling as a place for worshiping God and worshiping women.

FOX Carolina investigated the location near Greer on Highway 101. If you've driven down that road in the past week you're probably asking the same question. What used to be Beamers Bar and Grill is now �Thee Bunny Ranch.� But under the barbed wire fence there�s another sign that says �Church of Faith, Parsonage.� Confused yet?

If you're looking to worship you expect to see an altar, a pulpit, bibles and crosses inside. Instead, some people say you won�t find God, you'll find Goddesses. And for a modest donation of $300 you can have women, sex, and lots of it.

Jane Doe says, �They had a huge hot tub, leather chairs, and private rooms.�

Jane Doe says her friend has been inside what looks on the outside to be a low security prison and at least three people described it the same way. It sounds much like a brothel in Reno , Nevada-- fully equipped with bars, spacious V.I.P rooms, and Jacuzzis.

We tried going inside and contacting the preacher of this place, but apparently the church's leadership isn�t available 24 hours a day. We did not get an answer at the steel gate.

So we took our questions to the County's Buildings and Codes Office. Just last week the "church" was granted a license for a private club. Not for a church or a sexually oriented club.

Michael Padgett, Director of Spartanburg County�s Building and Codes says, �There�s space requirements that have to be met, from churches, schools and they would have to comply.�

The property is listed to a Mary Penland who tells FOX Carolina she leases it out and knows nothing about what goes on there. Until last June the �church� was actually Beamers Night Club. It was reportedly shutdown for complaints of drugs and prostitution.

But people near the Greer area say they know better-- and what lies inside �Thee Bunny Ranch� is anything but holy.

�Yeah, definitely, it�s like he�s looking for ways to get around what he�s done before. You know to make it seem like there�s not what is going to be when its going to be really what it was before�, says Doe.

If the church is a sex palace the manager there had better start repenting. The penalties are pretty stiff and also apply to the entertainers.

To comment on this story email FOX Carolina's Jamie Guirola: [email protected]

Read the second part of this story, "Salvation or Sex" at: http://www.foxcarolina.com/Global/story.asp?S=2249244&nav=2KPpQUkI

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