County wants pastor held in contempt

Move comes after Newbury Park church’s latest act of defiance



Supporters of Godspeak Calvary Chapel’s decision to hold indoor church services despite a judge’s order hold signs outside the Newbury Park church on Sunday. RICHARD GILLARD/Acorn Newspapers

A day after Godspeak Calvary Chapel defied a temporary restraining order prohibiting it from holding indoor services, the County of Ventura is taking the Newbury Park church and its pastor back to court.

On Monday, the county filed paperwork seeking to have Godspeak Pastor Rob McCoy held in contempt and an order from Judge Matthew Guasco to direct the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office to take all “reasonable and necessary” actions to close the church to prevent any further indoor services, county spokesperson Ashley Bautista told the Acorn via email.

It’s unclear exactly what those actions would be.

A hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. tomorrow, Tues., Aug. 11, at the Hall of Justice in Ventura for Guasco to consider the county’s request. If the judge agrees there is enough evidence to suggest McCoy violated the order, the county has asked that a contempt hearing take place no later than Fri., Aug. 14, Bautista said.

McCoy is looking at a potential jail stay if Guasco finds he violated the court’s Aug. 7 injunction, which prohibited the Dos Vientos congregation from holding large gatherings indoors in violation of state and county public health orders related to the coronavirus until a hearing could take place Aug. 31. On Sunday, as many as 1,300 people attended worship at Godspeak between three services (9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.)

The church, led by the former Thousand Oaks City Council member and onetime Republican candidate for the Assembly, has been holding indoor worship services since May. On July 13, Gov. Gavin Newsom outlawed a host of indoor activities in counties on the state’s COVID-19 monitoring list. Among them: dining, beauty services, protests and religious services.

Video taken inside the sanctuary Sunday during one of the services shows every seat in the 440-person-capacity church filled and no one wearing face masks. McCoy has said repeatedly that no one in his congregation has tested positive for COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, and that the state’s restriction on indoor services is unconstitutional.

Two challenges of similar restrictions, one in California and another in Nevada, have both lost in front of the Supreme Court this year.

The county did not immediately say what the possible punishments of violating the order could be. Calls to the county’s legal counsel have not been returned.

In California, violating a restraining order is classified as a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

Reached Monday afternoon, Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said he was in discussions with county leadership on his department’s next steps should the judge grant the request.

“We are in the process of evaluating what our responsibilities may be,” Ayub said in a text, offering to provide more information following Tuesday’s hearing.

In April, the sheriff told the Acorn violations of the public health order are typically handled by city or county staff and “the deputies in the field don’t like doing this type of hall monitor work anymore than the public likes it.”

“We don’t want to criminalize our public. If we’re releasing criminals from our jails, there’s certainly no room for members of the public who choose to worship at church,” Ayub said at the time.

Aug. 31 remains the date for a hearing to decide whether the temporary restraining order is justified and should remain in place longer. At that hearing, both Godspeak’s attorneys and attorneys representing the County of Ventura will present evidence.