A private Christian campus in Costa Mesa has seen student attendance plummet after parents learned that the pastor of the church that owns the campus was accused of soliciting a prostitute.
The pastor of Beach Cities Calvary, the Rev. Jim Kempner, who
has presided over the church since 2001, was arrested as part of a
special prostitution investigation conducted by the Tustin Police
Department in May 2008, police told the Daily Pilot. He was charged with one misdemeanor count of agreeing to engage in
prostitution after he placed $100 on a dresser in exchange for sex,
according to documents provided by the Orange County district
attorney’s office.
Kempner pleaded guilty and was ordered to complete an AIDS testing and
education program, eight days of community service and two years of
probation, according to court records.
After parents learned of the incident, Prince of Peace School in Mesa Verde, which is on the same property as the church, has
struggled to stay open in the face of plummeting student enrollment. “Many outraged parents made decisions to not re-enroll their children in
the school next year, bringing enrollment down to an all-time low,” a
group of parents said in a statement Friday.
“I love this school, and I
want it to stay open,” Michael Gaumond, an administrator for the Costa
Mesa school, said Friday. “Hopefully, God will intervene and we will
have a school next year — that’s what I’m hoping and praying for.”
With
enrollment numbers looking grim, it doesn’t appear that the preschool
and K-6 school will have enough students to remain open at every grade
level next year, Gaumond said.
— Brianna Bailey, Daily Pilot