NEW HIRE BY THE VIRGINIA GOP: VOODOO, ABORTION ABSOLUTISM ... AND SEX ALLEGATIONS?

You may have seen this:

Rev. Joe Ellison Jr. was tapped as the Republican Party of Virginia's state director of African American engagement Tuesday, but, as seems to be the recent status quo in Commonwealth politics, the pick is not without its controversy.

Ellison, the director of Pastoral Relations and Church Ministries for the Virginia Pastors Coalition, is a social conservative that has called for the shuttering of Planned Parenthood and publicly supported an idea that the devastating 2009 earthquake in Haiti was linked to a pact Hatians made with the devil 200 years ago.

Regarding voodoo:

... in 2010, Ellison said he agreed with Rev. Pat Robertson's controversial claim that the 2009 earthquake in Haiti was caused by a "pact with the Devil" that was sealed in a voodoo ceremony on the eve of Haiti's successful slave rebellion.

"I know his comments angered a lot of the so-called, in my opinion, liberals," said Ellison, who said he was speaking as an emissary of the black community, according to the Washington Post. "From a spiritual standpoint, we think the Dr. Robertson was on target about Haiti, in the past, with voodoo. And we believe in the Bible that the practice of voodoo is a sin, and what caused the nation to suffer. Those who read the Bible and study the history know that what Dr. Robertson said was the truth."

But there are a couple of other creepy things in Ellison's past.

There's this 2007 news report, which really buries the lead (I'll highlight the disturbing part):

Checkbook in hand, Bishop Gerald Glenn, pastor of New Deliverance Evangelistic Church in Chesterfield County, is coming to the aid of the Rev. Joe Ellison, a friend and former head of the chaplaincy at Richmond City Jail.

It seems that Ellison's wardrobe during his stint as chaplain in early 2006 required some special outfitting. Filled with the Holy Spirit, the towering Ellison requires a 20-inch collar, a 54-inch waist, a 58-long blazer and size 14 shoes.

So when Sheriff C.T. Woody told a local newspaper that Ellison refused to return the five jail chaplain uniforms ordered specially made for him, Ellison was surprised. "What they told me ... was they didn't want them back," says Ellison, adding that he later found out the jail wanted to be reimbursed.

Ellison was forced out of Woody's jail under a pall of sexual harassment allegations. Though accused by four female volunteers in the jail's ministry program, Ellison was never charged....

Now, for all we know, all four of Ellison's accusers may have been lying. Nothing seems to have come of the charges.

But here's the curious thing. That's not the first time Ellison has faced a sex accusation -- by his own admission. Here's Ellison acknowledging a pedophilia accusation, in the context of discussing a fellow preacher who's been formally charged with sexual abuse of minors:

Embattled [Richmond Outreach Center] pastor Geronimo Aguilar is expected to be extradited to Texas Friday morning to face 7 felony counts in two child sex abuse cases.

Pastor G stepped down as the ROC's senior pastor Thursday. The man who called for Pastor G to resign is now admitting he once faced charges of his own.

Rev. Joe Ellison with the Virginia Christian Alliance says the temporary resignation announcement is no admission of guilt.

"I've been accused," said Rev. Ellison. "But God cleared me."

... Ellison says his charges date back a decade.

"I have no animosity toward my goddaughter," said Rev. Ellison. "My wife and I still care for her a whole lot. It's just unfortunate. She said that I inappropriately touched her."

Ellison was cleared of the charges, but he went into a deep depression. He turned to his bishop, Gerald Glenn, for counsel.

"I didn't need anybody to tell me to step down," said Rev. Ellison. "I did it on my own, because I knew what was good for Joe Ellison." ...

Make of this what you will....