The latest breakaway comes four years after a decision by the national United Methodist church to allow extra time for thousands of congregations to depart after many of their leaders took issue with “a change in the requirements and provisions of the Book of Discipline related to the practice of homosexuality or the ordination or marriage of self-avowed practising homosexuals”. Prosecutors have said Zacharias “paid the victims to engage in sex acts with him using the victims’ fear of serious harm to compel their compliance”. They also said the three victims were developing serious drug addictions and the priest “waited to propose commercial sex” until they were heavily involved in drug abuse. At the sentencing at the Supreme Court in Brisbane, the court heard one of the women filmed the moment she forced Mr English to clean his blood from the floor, and captioned the video "the bad b**** I am, making this c*** clean his own blood up". The court heard both women had difficult upbringings and had tried to turn their lives around since Mr English's death.

They knew he was critically injured on the ground, but they fled the unit," prosecutor Caroline Marco said.

The denomination forbids the marriage or ordination of “self-avowed, practicing homosexuals”. But growing defiance against that exclusion has caused conservative-leaning congregations to leave after the church failed to find a path forward.

But the violent, brutal, egotistical offenders didn't need any encouragement." 'Haunted by what I did'The departures will take effect at the end of the year, and the leaving churches will be barred from using the “United Methodist” brand in their new names and logos. The Roman Catholic diocese of Toledo, which placed Zacharias on administrative leave after his August 2020 arrest, said the sentencing “marks another step towards justice for all of those harmed” by Zacharias’s actions.

I realize how sad this time is for many, including myself,” said Bishop Robin Dease, the leader of the North Georgia Conference. “I just hate that those who are leaving us – I will not have the opportunity to meet or to be with [them].” Lachlan Paul Soper-Lagas, Hayden Paul Kratzmann and Jason Ryan Knowles were sentenced to jail after they pleaded guilty to Mr English's manslaughter earlier this year. The move, interpreted as conservative congregations choosing to leave rather than debate or accept the views of more moderate factions within the church, has reportedly left about 440 churches remaining in the conference. The denomination said the exit of the congregations marked a “solemn day”. In an apology to the English family, one of the women said she "would never forgive herself" and was "haunted by what [she] did".

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