Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Despite sex allegations, Christmas display goes on

By ABHI RAGHUNATHAN
Published November 28, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG — Ted Kresge is on his lawn, just a few feet from the baby Jesus, talking about the electricity needed to fuel one of the country’s biggest Christmas displays.

Then three kids on bicycles whiz by his house shouting:

“Child molesters! Child molesters! Child molesters!”

Kresge doesn’t flinch. He smiles. He burrows even deeper into the details of his Christmas lights: circuits and wires, amperes and connections.

When a visitor asks if the taunts distress him, Kresge replies: “I didn’t even notice.”

For 30 years, a journey to Kresge’s house in the 2700 block of Oakdale Street S has been as much a part of the Christmas season in Tampa Bay as a trip to church or an expedition to a shopping mall.

But in April, three longtime members of Kresge’s Gospel of Truth Ministry were arrested on charges related to child sexual abuse.

Just a few months after the arrests, Kresge and other ministry members began setting up this year’s display. They strung up hundreds of lights, set up dozens of dolls. They opened the day after Thanksgiving, just as they always have, clinging to the display that had been the public face of the ministry.

Wesley Earl Ball, 72, faces five charges of capital sexual battery. Angela Hunnicutt, 43, and Lytricia Gardner, 40, each face two counts of capital sexual battery.

Kresge is not accused of any crime, and police say there is no indication that he knew about the abuse.

The accusers, now adults, told St. Petersburg police horrific stories of being molested, tortured, beaten and forced to have sex with each other while several ministry members watched in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Kresge doesn’t like talking about the criminal charges. But ask him about the Christmas House, and he’ll be happy to take you on a tour.

Start by gazing at the enormous Christmas tree made of lights that towers over the house.

“That’s 75 feet tall,” says Kresge, 66.

Then wander through the lawn, pausing at the model trains or the family of Snowmen. He’s especially proud of a forest of fiber-optic Christmas trees, which he says “were a hit last year.”

He guides a visitor along a stone walkway that he’s still finishing, through a maze of stuffed animals, glowing lights and talking dolls.

This year’s display has 175,000 lights, and he expects the electric bill to be around $1,500. Kresge says he scaled back after getting a $5,000 bill last year for a display with more than 600,000 lights.

“It’s still very pretty,” Kresge says. “The reaction has been 100 percent positive.”

The display also shows signs of age. A few tattered boxes at the display ask for donations, and a handful of ministry members sit at a table near the entrance, greeting spectators who trickle in.

Among them: Deborah Samara, 51, a Gulfport resident who has come to the lights for the past five years.
She says the abuse allegations don’t trouble her, since they involve a few of ministry members, not Kresge or his wife.

“It’s not their fault,” she says.

She stares at the massive tree of lights above the house for a moment, then walks to the gate.

“It’s fabulous,” she says. “Every year it just gets better.”

Abhi Raghunathan can be reached at araghunathan@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8472.

[Last modified November 28, 2006, 20:01:37]