Historic Homophobe Pastor Grant Storms Denies Allegations He Masturbated In A New Orleans Park; Apologizes For Sinful Behaviour; Asks For Help With Addiction To Porn; Apologizes To Gay Community For Years Of Hate Mongering

WWL-TV reports on the press conference held Tuesday afternoon by New Orleans-based Pastor Grant Storms, infamous for protests against the French Quarter-staged Southern Decadence three-day gay festival, who was arrested Friday on an obscenity charge, alleged to be masturbating in public, in a park, in close proximity to a children’s playground. One day after that information became public, Storms held a press conference, frequently breaking down into tears and profusely apologizing to those that he hurt, both with the incident and in the past, as he tried to explain what he was doing in Lafreniere Park last Friday. “I want to apologize deeply for my inappropriate, sinful actions,” Storms told on looking reporters and photographers, asking for forgiveness. He admitted being in the park in a work van, that he had his seat reclined with pants open and that he had his hand in his underwear, but he said he was not masturbating. A woman, according to Storms, pulled up and saw him with his hands down his pants. He did, however, admit that he was looking at pornography on-line about an hour before he went to the park, and added that he struggles with an addiction to porn, asking pastors to help deal with his demons. Storms said he is no longer connected with the church that once staged the protests against Southern Decadence, and is now running a lawn care business. Weeping, he then went on to apologize to family and friends, and offered an apology to those that he once railed against, including members of the gay community and organizers of Decadence Festival. In 2003, Storms avowed to shut down the gay festival. According to a police report, two women say they saw a man sitting inside a parked van in the park, next to a playground where children were playing. The women say the man had his zipper down and was masturbating. The women notified a park employee, who detained Storms. Deputies arrested and booked him for obscenity. According to the sheriff's report, Storms told deputies he was having lunch at the park and decided to urinate using a bottle instead of a restroom. Storms said he was surprised by news that he had confessed to authorities that he had masturbated and exposed himself to children in the park, calling the allegation a "lie.""At no time did any children see me," said Storms. "I'm not a pedophile; I'm not a child molester." Well known as Often as a fundamentalist Christian preacher, Storms gained national notoriety for his firebrand protests of the Southern Decadence, especially videotaping what he decried as lurid behaviour in the French Quarter during the festival. Today, apparently aware of the irony and hypocrisy of his alleged actions, he said “When I look back, there was a lot of things I would have done differently. “I was very proudful, I was very arrogant, I was very mean spirited at times and I apologize.”