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| {{Infobox criminal | |||
| |image_name = ] | |||
| |image_caption =Hovind {{circa}} 2002 | |||
| |birth_name = Kent Hovind | |||
| |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1953|1|15}} | |||
| |birth_place = | |||
| |residence = Pensacola, Florida | |||
| |education = | |||
| |religion = ] | |||
| |employer = | |||
| |charge= | |||
| |known_for = Advocate of ], convicted of tax-related crimes | |||
| |nationality = ] | |||
| |spouse = Jo Delia Hovind | |||
| |occupation = ], Christian theme park operator | |||
| |conviction_status = Probation (released August 7, 2015) | |||
| |children = <!-- Template instructions: do not include unless notable or relevant to the crime involved --> | |||
| |conviction = Willful failure to pay taxes, ], ] | |||
| ---- | |||
| {{ URL | http://www.2peter3.com | Official website: 2peter3.com }} | |||
| |conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment and 3 years probation | |||
| }} | |||
| '''Kent E. Hovind''' (born January 15, 1953) is an American ] evangelist and ]. He is a controversial figure in the ] movement and his ministry focuses on attempting to convince listeners to ] scientific theories including ], ], and ] in favor of a ] interpretation of the ] found in the ]. Hovind's views, which combine elements of ] and ], are dismissed by the scientific community as ] and ]. He has been criticized by Young Earth Creationist organizations like ] for his continued use of discredited arguments that have been abandoned by others in the movement. | |||
| Hovind established Creation Science Evangelism (CSE) in 1989 and Dinosaur Adventure Land in 2001 in ]. He frequently spoke on Young Earth creationism in schools, churches, debates, and on radio and television broadcasts. His son '''Eric Hovind''' took over operation of CSE after Kent began serving a ten-year prison sentence in January 2007 for federal court convictions for failing to pay taxes, obstructing federal agents, and ] cash transactions. In a separate federal court case in early 2015, a federal court jury found Hovind guilty of ] in connection with a charge of disobeying a prior court order, but the trial Court rejected the guilty verdict and rendered a judgment of acquittal in favor of Hovind, stating that there was no language in the prior court order that Hovind could be found, as a matter of law, to have disobeyed. | |||
| == Biography == | |||
| At the age of 16, Hovind became a ]<ref name="affidavit1998" /> within the ] church.<ref>"I am, without apology, an independent fundamental Baptist." {{cite news | url=http://www.drdino.com/cse.asp?pg=articles&specific=43 | title=The Baptists and the Amish | publisher= DrDino.com (archived) |year= 2002 | first=Kent | last=Hovind | accessdate =2015-01-02 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20030618200641/http://www.drdino.com/cse.asp?pg=articles&specific=43 | archivedate= 2003-06-18}}</ref> He married his wife Jo in 1973 and they had three children between 1977 and 1979. Between 1975 and 1988, Hovind served as an assistant pastor and teacher at three ], including one he started.<ref name="affidavit1998">. Recorded August 10, 2005, by . Retrieved 2015-05-14. Available on ] at ].</ref> In 1989, the family moved to ] where Jo would attend ] and would earn a bachelor's degree in music and master's degrees in music and sacred music.<ref name="TCM2012-281">; T.C. Memo. 2012-281; October 3, 2012; also available online at ].</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://drdino.com/AboutCSE.htm | title=About CSE |publisher=DrDino.com (archived) |year=1999 | first= | last=| accessdate = 2009-08-18 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/19991012020647/http://drdino.com/AboutCSE.htm |archivedate = 2007-09-14}}</ref> | |||
| In 1989, Hovind started Creation Science Evangelism. In 1998, he created his ''Dr. Dino'' web site and began producing articles and selling video tapes, books, and fossil replicas.<ref name="TCM2012-281" /> Prior to being convicted, Hovind spoke at churches, private schools, and other venues each year, in addition to hosting a daily internet radio talk show and establishing ''Dinosaur Adventure Land'' in ]. In 1999, his son ] began traveling to present his arguments and seminars.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.drdino.com/readNews.php?id=31 | title=Trip to Canada and Debate|publisher=DrDino.com (archived) |date=April 2, 2007 | first=Eric | last=Hovind | accessdate = 2009-08-18 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070914150425/http://www.drdino.com/readNews.php?id=31 |archivedate = 2007-09-14}}</ref><ref name="EricJoins1999">Kent Hovind wrote his son, Eric, "joined our CSE staff May 10th. He is taking my seminar to schools and churches and has quite a few meetings scheduled already."{{cite news | url=http://www.drdino.com/newsletter.htm | title=The Every-Once-in-a-While Newsletter | publisher= DrDino.com (archived) |year= 1999 | first=Kent | last=Hovind | accessdate =2009-08-17 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/19991012204514/http://www.drdino.com/newsletter.htm | archivedate= 2007-12-28}}</ref> Kent and Jo are grandparents.<ref name="JoLawBreaker" /> | |||
| === Education === | |||
| ] | |||
| Although he styles himself "Dr. Kent Hovind" or "Dr. Dino", all Hovind's known degrees are from ] institutions. | |||
| In 1971, he graduated from ] in ]. He entered the accredited ], then transferred to the unaccredited ] in 1972, attaining a ] of Religious Education in 1974.<ref name="affidavit1998" /> In 1988 and 1991 respectively, Hovind received a master's degree and doctorate in Christian Education through ] from (also unaccredited) ] in ].<ref group="notes">now Patriot Bible University in ], Colorado, which no longer offers this program</ref><ref name="HovindWhereDidYou">{{cite news | url=http://www.drdino.com/FAQs/FAQmisc13.jsp | title=Where did you get your degree? | publisher= DrDino.com (archived) |year= 2000 | first=Kent | last=Hovind | accessdate= | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20000903025232/http://www.drdino.com/FAQs/FAQmisc13.jsp | archivedate= 2000-09-03}}</ref><ref name="Forrest">{{cite news | url=http://ncse.com/rncse/19/5/unmasking-false-prophet-creationism | title=Unmasking the False Prophet of Creationism| publisher=] |date=September 1, 1999 | first=Forrest| last=Barbara | accessdate = 2007-02-19}}</ref> | |||
| Having a website called "Dr. Dino" has provoked some academics to look closely at how Hovind presents his education and credentials. He has no training in ].<ref name="LoxtonProthero2013" /> ], a professor of philosophy, expert on the history of creationism and activist in the ], wrote that Hovind's lack of training makes academic discussion impossible<ref name="Forrest" /> and has said that his understanding of historical and scientific research is deficient.<ref name="KauffmanYD">{{cite news | url=http://www.yorkdispatch.com/ci_3597850 | title=Creationist speaker 'loose about the facts' | publisher=] | date= March 13, 2006| first=Christina | last=Kauffman | accessdate = 2015-04-07}}</ref> Patriot University is a ].<ref name="KauffmanYD" /><ref name="PigliucciBoudry2013">{{cite book |last=Prothero |first=Donald |authorlink=Donald Prothero |editor-last1=Pigliucci |editor-first1=Massimo |editor-link1=Massimo Pigliucci |editor-last2=Boudry |editor-first2=Maarten |editor-link2=Maarten Boudry |title=Philosophy of Pseudoscience: Reconsidering the Demarcation Problem |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Pc4OAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA357 |accessdate=2015-06-01 |date=August 16, 2013 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |pages=341–60 |chapter=The Holocaust Denier's Playbook and the Tobacco Smokescreen}}</ref> ], an organic chemistry professor who debated Hovind,<ref name="Forrest" /> examined Hovind's ] and found it is short,<ref group="notes">It contains four chapters totaling 101 pages, but Hovind's introduction claims the work is 250 pages with 16 chapters.</ref> contains numerous spelling errors, lacks ], shows flawed reasoning, and does not present any original research.<ref name="LoxtonProthero2013" /><ref name="Bartelt">{{cite news | url=http://www.noanswersingenesis.org.au/bartelt_dissertation_on_hovind_thesis.htm | title=The Dissertation Kent Hovind Doesn't Want You to Read: A Review of Kent Hovind's Thesis |publisher=] | year=2004 | first=Karen E. | last=Bartelt| accessdate = 2007-10-24}}</ref> | |||
| === Creation Science Evangelism and Creation Today === | |||
| <!-- Eric Hovind redirects to this section. If the title of this section is changed, please update the redirect page.--> | |||
| Hovind established Creation Science Evangelism in 1989 to evangelize and teach ].<ref name="TCM2012-281" /> In May 1999, his son Eric joined Creation Science Evangelism as a speaker, and his daughter Marlissa began training to become Kent Hovind's secretary.<ref name="EricJoins1999" /> That year, CSE merged with Faith Baptist Fellowship of Hawthorne, Florida, beginning a relationship that lasted until 2002. In 2003, with the aid of ] (a promoter of tax avoidance schemes), Hovind set up a series of entities starting with "an unincorporated association of pure trust" on May 13, under which a ] and several ministerial trusts were established starting on May 23. CSE properties were conveyed to the trusts which operated under business licenses from the ].<ref name="OrderonProperty" /> When the federal government obtained a ] in 2004, an ] (IRS) criminal investigator made the ] that the organization did not have the proper licensing nor was it registered as a nonprofit.<ref name="ParkFinance" /> | |||
| Kent Hovind was convicted of 58 felony counts in January 2007, and sentenced to ten years in prison, and Eric Hovind announced that he would take over Creation Science Evangelism.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.kenthovindblog.com/?p=62 | title=New Mission Field for Dr. Hovind | publisher=Creation Science Evangelism |date=January 20, 2007 | first=Eric | last=Hovind}}</ref> After finishing high school at ] in 1996,<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.creationguys.com/people.php?person=3 | title=Meet Eric Hovind | publisher=CreationGuys.com | year=2008 | accessdate = 2008-10-21 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080517095802/http://creationguys.com/people.php?person=3 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 2008-05-17}}</ref> Eric attended ]<ref>"After completing his high school studies at Pensacola Christian Academy in 1997, he graduated from Jackson Hole Bible College in Jackson Hole, Wyoming." {{cite news | url=http://www.creationtoday.org/about/eric-hovind/ | title=BIO: ERIC HOVIND | publisher= CreationToday.com (archived) |year= 2012 | first=Eric | last=Hovind | accessdate =2009-08-17 | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20120413151854/http://www.creationtoday.org/about/eric-hovind/ | archivedate= 2013-10-30}}</ref> a one-year<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.jhbc.edu/ | title=About Jackson Hole Bible College |publisher=Jackson Hole Bible College | year=2005 | accessdate = 2007-09-15}}</ref> non-accredited institution,<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.chea.org | title=Accreditation Database and Information | publisher=] | accessdate = 2007-10-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://jhbc.edu/enrollment/Course_Catalog%202012-2013.pdf | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130304161637/http://jhbc.edu/enrollment/Course_Catalog%202012-2013.pdf | archivedate=2013-03-04 | title=Course Catalog, 2012–2013 |publisher=Jackson Hole Bible College | year=2013 | first= | last= | accessdate = 2013-03-04}} It's catalog says: "it is not our purpose or desire to be accredited."</ref> despite Kent Hovind's objections to Jackson Hole's ] and ] teaching.<ref name="EricJacksonHoleCollege">{{cite news | url=http://www.drdino.com/articles.php?spec=45 | title=Created and Made |publisher=DrDino.com (archived) | year=2005 | first=Kent | last=Hovind | accessdate = 2009-08-15 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20061022064658/http://www.drdino.com/articles.php?spec=45 |archivedate = 2006-10-22}}</ref> In July 2007, God Quest Inc. was ] with Eric Hovind as president,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sunbiz.org/COR/2007/0726/06494231.Tif | title=Florida Articles of Incorporation of God Quest, Inc. |publisher=State of Florida, Department of State. | year=2007 | accessdate = 2010-08-11}}</ref> and that November, God Quest Inc. filed in Florida to ] Creation Science Evangelism.<ref>, Registration #G07317900401, November 13, 2007 from . Retrieved 2015-05-15.</ref> In June 2008, Eric announced that the CSE website would incorporate the CSE blog and change format allowing for "only positive comments" about Hovind and CSE,<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.kenthovindblog.com/?p=153 | title=Updating CSE Blogs | publisher=Creation Science Evangelism blog | date=June 24, 2008 | accessdate = 2008-10-21}}</ref> and in late 2011, Creation Science Evangelism's ''DrDino.com'' website was redirected to ''CreationToday.org''.<ref>Kyle Winkler, {{cite news | url=http://issuu.com/cseministry/docs/ct-current-winter-2011 | title=We are Now Creation Today | publisher=Creation Today | date=Winter 2011 | page=3 | accessdate = 2015-04-25}}</ref> The new website announced "Creation Today is a ministry of God Quest, Inc." with focus on "creation, apologetics and evangelism."<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.creationtoday.org/about/at-a-glance/ | title=At a Glance | publisher=Creation Today | year=2012 | accessdate = 2012-01-14}}</ref> | |||
| === Dinosaur Adventure Land === | |||
| <!-- Dinosaur Adventure Land redirects to this section. If the title of this section is changed, please update the redirect page.--> | |||
| ] | |||
| {{Commons category|Dinosaur Adventure Land}} | |||
| In 2001, Hovind started Dinosaur Adventure Land, a Young Earth creationist ] located behind Hovind's home in ].<ref name="CSICOP">{{cite news |url=http://www.csicop.org/si/show/stupid_dino_tricks_a_visit_to_kent_hovindrsquos_dinosaur_adventure_land/ |title=Stupid Dino Tricks: A Visit to Kent Hovind’s Dinosaur Adventure Land |publisher=] |date=November 2004 |first=Greg |last=Martinez |accessdate=2015-04-10}}</ref> With the slogan, "Where Dinosaurs and the Bible meet!", the facility on roughly seven acres<ref name="AdamEveTRex">{{cite news |title=Adam, Eve and T. Rex |date= August 27, 2005 |first=Ashley |last=Powers |periodical=Los Angeles Times |url=http://articles.latimes.com/2005/aug/27/local/me-dinosaurs27 |accessdate=2015-05-28}}</ref> had an indoor "Science Center" and an outdoor space with a variety of simple dinosaur-themed rides and activities each which was tied to some religious message. For example, the "Jumpasaurus" was a trampoline next to a basketball hoop; children would have one minute to make as many baskets as they could, and the message was that you have to be coordinated to do more for Jesus. Annual attendance was 38,000.<ref name="CSICOP" /><ref name="DarwinfreeNYT" /> The park depicted humans and dinosaurs co-existing in the last 4,000–6,000 years and also contains a depiction of the ].<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.momentmag.com/Exclusive/2005/2005-10/200510-HeresyOfSlifkin.html | title=The Heresy of Nosson Slifkin | publisher= ] |date= October 2005 | first= | last= | accessdate = October 2005 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20091129021453/http://momentmag.com/Exclusive/2005/2005-10/200510-HeresyOfSlifkin.html | archivedate= 2009-11-29}}</ref> Dinosaurs are central to Hovind's website and creation advocacy because "the creation world view says dinosaurs have always lived with man and there might still be a few alive today".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.drdino.com/cse.asp?pg=articles&specific=15 |title=Pictures of Dinosaurs in the 20th Century |publisher=DrDino.com (Archived) |date=February 2004 |accessdate=2008-11-04 |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20040203235426/http://www.drdino.com/cse.asp?pg=articles&specific=15 |archivedate=2004-02-03}}</ref> A 2004 '']'' article discussed a visit to Hovind's dinosaur theme park and concluded that the park is "deceptive on many levels".<ref name="CSICOP" /> The ] said the park also "claims that a few small dinosaurs still roam the planet".<ref name="SPLC2004">{{cite news |url=http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=485 |title=When Giants Roamed: A Florida theme park sells creationism — with an antigovernment twist |publisher=] |date=Summer 2004 |first=Camille |last=Jackson |accessdate=2015-05-18}}</ref> George Allan Alderman described it as "essentially a playground with a few exhibits, several fiberglass dinosaurs, a climbing wall, and a couple of buildings." He summarized it as "shabby", adding "The dinosaurs looked shabby, the displays were shabby, the attractions and activities were shabby, and above all the ideas were shabby."<ref name="AldermanAllen">{{cite news |url=http://reports.ncse.com/index.php/rncse/article/view/85/78 |title=Dinosaur Adventure Land, or How Max Defeated the Creationist Swing Set |publisher=] |year=2011 |accessdate=2012-01-12}}</ref> | |||
| The venture has encountered legal issues, as the owners failed to acquire a ] for the park (]). With the issue still unresolved in April 2006, Escambia County officials shut the buildings.<ref name="ParkExtinction" /> In July 2009, the courts ruled that the properties could be seized and sold to satisfy Hovind's criminal penalties (]).<ref name="pnjruling">{{cite news | url=http://www.pnj.com/article/20090801/NEWS01/908010317 | title=Judge clears way for dinosaur park to be seized | publisher= ] |date= 2009-07-31| first=Kris | last=Wernowsky | accessdate =2009-08-17}} The story can be found in the collection: .</ref> Eric Hovind kept the park and CSE operating throughout 2008,<ref name="DALFight">{{cite news | title=Jailed owner fights to keep park open | publisher=] |date=July 21, 2008}} The story can be found in the collection: .</ref> but in July 2009, a judge allowed the government seizure to proceed.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://ncse.com/news/2009/07/dinosaur-adventure-land-to-be-seized-004963 | title=Dinosaur Adventure Land to be seized? | publisher=] | date=July 31, 2009 | accessdate = 2009-08-21}}</ref> In August 2009, Dinosaur Adventure Land's website announced it was closed,<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.dinosauradventureland.com/news.php?e=29 | title=Park Closed Until Further Notice |publisher=Dinosaur Adventure Land (archived) | date=August 24, 2009 | first=| last= | accessdate = 2009-08-24 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20100722224125/http://www.dinosauradventureland.com/news.php?e=29 |archivedate = 2010-10-22}}</ref> and CSE announced its re-opening as the "Creation Store" in November 2010.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.dinosauradventureland.com/news.php?e=30 | title=Spend Christmas with the Dinosaurs |publisher=Dinosaur Adventure Land (archived) | date=November 5, 2010 | first=| last= | accessdate = 2009-08-24 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20110723021844/http://www.dinosauradventureland.com/news.php?e=30 |archivedate = 2011-07-23}}</ref> | |||
| == Creationism == | |||
| === The Hovind Theory === | |||
| Hovind presented a version of ] he calls the "Hovind Theory" in lectures and in the book ''Unmasking the False Religion of Evolution''.<ref>{{cite AV media |people= |date= |year= |title=The Hovind Theory (Seminar Part 6) |medium= |url=http://creationtoday.org/the-hovind-theory-seminar-part-6/ |access-date=2015-06-03|archive-url= |archive-date= |time= |location= |publisher=Creation Science Evangelism}}</ref><ref name="FalseReligion">{{cite web | url=http://www.royalse.com/scroll/evolve/cover.html | title=Unmasking the False Religion of Evolution, Based on the fact filled, and exciting seminars of Dr. Kent Hovind, Chapter 5: The Hovind Theory |first1=Robert T. |last1=Weaver |first2=Shirley |last2=Norris| publisher= Creation Science Evangelism |year= 1999 | accessdate = | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20010224095434/http://www.royalse.com/scroll/evolve/ch5p1ng.html | archivedate= 2001-02-24}}</ref> The Hovind Theory is entirely rejected in the scientific community, and its plausibility has been criticized by other Young Earth creationists.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/hovind/howgood.html | title=How Good Are Those Young-Earth Arguments: A Look at Hovind's arguments |publisher=] | date=December 10, 2002 | first=Dave | last=Matson | accessdate = 2007-09-30}}</ref><ref name="CMIIntegrity">{{cite news | url=http://creation.com/maintaining-creationist-integrity-response-to-kent-hovind | title=Maintaining Creationist Integrity: A response to Kent Hovind| publisher=] |date= 11 October 2002 | last1=Wieland | first1 = Carl | authorlink1=Carl Wieland | last2 = Ham | first2 = Ken | authorlink2=Ken Ham | last3 = Sarfati | first3 = Jonathan | authorlink3=Jonathan Sarfati | accessdate =2015-04-26}}</ref> | |||
| In the theory, dinosaurs and humans coexisted and '']'' was a vegetarian prior to the ].<ref name="AdamEveTRex" /><ref name="MooreDecker2008" /> Expanding upon the early 20th century ] concept of a protective shield that made Earth a relative paradise between the ] and ].<ref name="Giberson2015">{{cite book|last=Giberson|first=Karl W.|authorlink=Karl W. Giberson|title=Saving the Original Sinner: How Christians Have Used the Bible's First Man to Oppress, Inspire, and Make Sense of the World|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=VAiJBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT185|date=June 9, 2015|publisher=Beacon Press|isbn=978-0-8070-1252-9|pages=185–7}}</ref> ]'s family and two of every ] of animal<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chick.com/information/authors/hovind.asp#testimony|accessdate=2006-10-06|title=Kent Hovind's testimony on Chick.com|publisher=Chick.com}}</ref> (including dinosaurs which fit because babies were taken aboard and conditions allowed larger humans making the ark's size based on ]s larger<ref name="Lebo2009">{{cite book|last=Lebo|first=Lauri |authorlink=Lauri Lebo|title=The Devil in Dover: An Insider's Story of Dogma V. Darwin in Small-Town America|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=_MkDGsDrWmMC&pg=PA144|date=March 2009|publisher=New Press|isbn=978-1-59558-451-9|page=144}}</ref>) boarded ] before an ice ] impacted the Earth. Fragments from the meteor caused ]s and ]s on the moon and other solar system bodies.<ref name="Grant2011" /> The remainder were drawn to the North and South Poles by the ] as cataclysmic snowfall which buried the ]s standing up.<ref name="FalseReligion" /><ref name="Grant2011" /> The ice on the poles cracked the ], releasing the "]". According to Hovind, these events caused an ], and made the Earth "wobble around", collapsing the vapor canopy that protected it.{{citation needed|reason=causal relationship require sourcing|date=June 2015}} | |||
| In the next few months of the ], the dead animals and plants were buried, and became ], ], and fossils.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://drdino.com/articles.php?spec=13 | title=Fossils Do not Prove Evolution|publisher=DrDino.com (archived) |year=2006 | accessdate = 2009-08-18 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20060625185617/http://drdino.com/articles.php?spec=13 |archivedate = 2006-06-25}}</ref> The last months of the flood included geological instability, when the ] shifted, forming ] and ]s. The ] was formed in a couple of weeks during this time<ref name="MooreDecker2008">{{cite book|last1=Moore|first1=Randy |last2=Decker|first2=Mark D. |title=More Than Darwin: An Encyclopedia of the People and Places of the Evolution-creationism Controversy|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=zBI7AQAAIAAJ|year=2008|publisher=Greenwood Press|isbn=978-0-313-34155-7|pages=172–3|chapter=Kent Hovind (b. 1953)}}</ref> due to ] from the floodwaters receding. After a few hundred years, the ] melted and the ocean levels increased, creating the ], and the deeper oceans absorbed ] in ] allowing greater amounts of ] to reach the Earth's surface. As a result, Hovind believes human lifespans were shortened considerably in the days of ].{{citation needed|reason=causal relationship require sourcing|date=June 2015}} | |||
| === Criticism from creationists === | |||
| In a rare case of open dissent within the movement over the substance of creation science,<ref name="PettoGodfrey2007">{{cite book|last=Plavcan|first=J. Michael|editor1-last=Petto |editor1-first=Andrew J.|editor2-last=Godfrey|editor2-first=Laurie R. |title=Scientists Confront Intelligent Design and Creationism|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=SCDB7hhLpwMC&pg=PA367|year=2007|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|isbn=978-0-393-05090-5|page=367|chapter=The Invisible Bible: The Logic of Creation Science}}</ref> ] (AiG) published a 2002 position paper titled: "Arguments we think creationists should NOT use".<ref name="dontuse">{{cite web|url=http://creation.com/arguments-we-think-creationists-should-not-use|title=Arguments we think creationists should NOT use|publisher=Answers in Genesis|accessdate=2015-05-01}}</ref> After Hovind issued a point-by-point rebuttal,<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.drdino.com/cse.asp?pg=articles&specific=41 | title=Bad Creation Arguments? |publisher=DrDino.com (archived) |date=August 2, 2002| first=Kent | last=Hovind | accessdate = 2015-05-01 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20021031104619/http://www.drdino.com/cse.asp?pg=articles&specific=41 | archivedate= 2002-10-31}}</ref> ], ], and Jonathan Sarfati of AiG wrote that the claims made by Hovind were "fraudulent" and contained "mistakes in facts and logic which do the creationist cause no good."<ref name="DarwinfreeNYT">{{cite news |last=Goodnough |first=Abby |date=May 1, 2004 |title=Darwin-Free Fun For Creationists |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/01/arts/darwin-free-fun-for-creationists.html |newspaper=] |access-date=2015-04-10 }}</ref><ref name="CMIIntegrity" /><ref name="dontuse" /> In particular, AiG criticized Hovind for "persistently us discredited or false arguments" as well as "fraudulent claims" from ],<ref name="CMIIntegrity" /> and described one of Hovind's claims as "self-refuting".<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.ocweekly.com/2006-02-23/news/jesus-kills/4/ | title=Jesus Kills: The end of the world is coming, and some OC Christians cant wait | publisher=] |date= Feb 23, 2006 | first= | accessdate =2015-05-01}}</ref> Rancorous ] into U.S. and Australian chapters in 2005. The Australian branch, renamed ] (CMI), maintained content critical of Hovind on their website, while the U.S. branch, led by ], removed it.<ref>{{cite journal | journal=Reports of the National Center for Science Education (online edition) | publisher=] | title=Trouble in Paradise: Answers in Genesis Splinters | volume=26 | number=6 |date=November–December 2006 | pages=4–7 | url=http://ncse.com/book/export/html/1934 |accessdate=2015-05-01}}</ref> In 2009, CMI said that they had relaxed their stance because CSE's revamped website had removed some of Hovind's claims to which they objected.<ref name="CMIIntegrity" /> | |||
| ], an old-Earth creationist who runs the Old Earth Ministries website<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oldearth.org/about_aic.htm |title=About Old Earth Ministries? |website= Old Earth Ministries |access-date=2015-05-21}}</ref> (renamed from ]), writes that Hovind's articles about humans and dinosaurs coexisting are unsupported by evidence and that they "embarrass the young earth creation science community as a whole".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oldearth.org/drdino.htm |title= Creation Science Rebuttals: Creation Science Evangelism and Dinosaurs |last1=Neyman |first1=Greg |date= September 21, 2003 |website=Old Earth Ministries |access-date=2015-05-21}}</ref><ref name="Moore2014">{{cite book|last=Moore|first=Randy |title=Dinosaurs by the Decades: A Chronology of the Dinosaur in Science and Popular Culture|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=WPeCBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA368|date=July 23, 2014|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-39365-5|page=368}}</ref> | |||
| === Anti-evolution claims === | |||
| Hovind contends that ] produced "], ], ], ], ] and the ]".<ref name="radicalreligion" /><ref name="JarrettKentState" /> He blamed the forced ] resettlement on a belief in evolution, although the ] preceded '']'' by roughly two decades.<ref name="Forrest" /><ref name="KauffmanYD" /> Hovind maintains that biology textbooks are lying in order to brainwash youth.<ref name="Brainwashed">{{cite web | url=http://www.drdino.com/img/brainwashed_low.pdf | title=Are You Being Brainwashed |publisher=DrDino.com (archived) | year=2007 | first=Kent | last=Hovind | accessdate = |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20081209112154/http://www.drdino.com/img/brainwashed_low.pdf|archivedate = 2008-12-19}} page 6</ref><ref name="Rauser2012">{{cite book|last=Rauser|first=Randal |authorlink=Randal Rauser|title=You're Not As Crazy As I Think: Dialogue in a World of Loud Voices and Hardened Opinions|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Z7-SYWacongC&pg=PA144|date=January 6, 2012|publisher=InterVarsity Press|isbn=978-0-8308-5979-5|page=144}}</ref> He said, "Satan is using evolution theory to make kids go to hell."<ref name="CreationEvolutionMeyer">{{cite news | first=Zlati | last=Meyer | title=Creation v Evolution Topic of Student Forum: A FLA. Evangelist Spoke at Pennridge High School |periodical=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=November 10, 2000 |url=http://articles.philly.com/2000-11-10/news/25614829_1_evolution-and-creationism-kent-hovind-science-classroom |accessdate=2015-05-04}}</ref> Hovind claims he is not trying to eliminate evolution from schools,<ref name="Brainwashed" /> but says "schools should teach both viewpoints."<ref name="CreationEvolutionMeyer" /> Hovind said that in order to forge "missing link" ] to support ], the ] has 33,000 sets of human remains in its basement, some taken alive (murder).<ref name="Forrest" /><ref name="MooreDecker2008" /> In an interview prior to speaking at ], Hovind said "You should have another rebellion here at Kent State and do it for the right reason," the reason being protesting evolution and referred to the ] when he added, "This time, don't get shot."<ref name="JarrettKentState">{{cite news|first=Pat |last=Jarrett |title=Creationist speaker: 'Stop lying to students' |periodical= Daily Kent Stater |date=April 7, 2006 |url=http://www.kentwired.com/latest_updates/article_5ace2e09-8050-5b61-9cb4-e7ac23c56b56.html |accessdate=2015-07-13}}</ref> | |||
| In the ] of ], Hovind published and co-authored ''Claws, Jaws, and Dinosaurs'' with ], another Creationist who has searched for ] under the belief that discovering a ] would somehow undermine evolutionary theory and that dinosaurs were ]s.<ref name="LoxtonProthero2013">{{cite book|last1=Loxton|first1=Daniel |authorlink1=Daniel Loxton|last2=Prothero|first2=Donald R. |authorlink2=Donald Prothero|title=Abominable Science: Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and other Famous Cryptids|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=UV2sAgAAQBAJ|date=September 10, 2013|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-15320-1|pages=293, 308–9}}</ref> Dinosaur Adventure Land had displays about the existence of the ]<ref name="Grant2011">{{cite book|last=Grant|first=John |authorlink=John Grant (author)|title=Denying Science: Conspiracy Theories, Media Distortions, and the War Against Reality|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=anPotGg3tcUC|date=October 4, 2011|publisher=Prometheus Books|isbn=978-1-61614-400-5|pages=159–60}}</ref> and '']'' as history rather than legend.<ref name="CSICOP" /> | |||
| === Debates === | |||
| Prior to his convictions, Hovind was a prolific debater. While Hovind campaigns against ], the ] is essentially universal within the ] and ],<ref>{{cite court |litigants=Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District |vol=400 |reporter=F.Supp.2d |opinion= 707 |pinpoint= p83 |court=United States District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania |date=December 20, 2005 |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16465861447416053365&q=kitzmiller+vs+dover&hl=en&as_sdt=8006 |accessdate=2015-05-19 }} available at Wikisource: ]<br>Sample organizational statements: | |||
| * ]: {{cite web |last=AAAS |first=American Association for the Advancement of Science |authorlink=American Association for the Advancement of Science |date=16 February 2006 |title=Statement on the Teaching of Evolution |publisher=aaas.org |url=http://archives.aaas.org/docs/resolutions.php?doc_id=443 |accessdate=2015-04-24}} | |||
| * InterAcademy Partnership: {{cite book |date=June 21, 2006 |title=IAP Statement on the Teaching of Evolution |publisher=interacademies.net |url=http://www.interacademies.net/10878/13901.aspx |accessdate=2015-04-24}} | |||
| * ]: {{cite web |year= 2007 |title=An NSTA Evolution Q&A |url=http://www.nsta.org/evolution/#qanda |accessdate=2015-04-24}} | |||
| ] maintains an extensive </ref> while support for creationism is minimal among scientists in general, and virtually nonexistent among those in the relevant fields: ], ], ], ''etc''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Larson |first=Edward J. |authorlink=Edward J. Larson |year= 2004 |title=Evolution |publisher=Modern Library |isbn=0-679-64288-9 |page=258 |quote="Virtually no secular scientists accepted the doctrines of ]; but that did not deter creation scientists from advancing scientific arguments for their position."}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Martz |first=Larry |last2=McDaniel |first2=Ann |date= June 29, 1987 |title=Keeping God out of the Classroom (Washington and bureau reports) |journal=Newsweek |pages=23–24 |volume=CIX |number=26 |publisher=Newsweek Inc. |issn=0028-9604 |quote="By one count there are some 700 scientists (out of a total of 480,000 U.S. earth and life scientists) who give credence to creation-science, the general theory that complex life forms did not evolve but appeared 'abruptly'."}}</ref> C. A. Chinn and L. A. Buckland classify his debate style, common among Young Earth Creationists, as ]: focused on winning by rhetoric rather than illuminating by careful examination of evidence.<ref name="TaylorFerrari2012">{{cite book|last1=Chinn |first1=Clark A.|last2=Buckland|first2=Luke A.|editor-last1=Taylor|editor-first1=Roger S.|editor-last2=Ferrari|editor-first2=Michel|title=Epistemology and Science Education: Understanding the Evolution vs. Intelligent Design Controversy|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=DKHHBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT102|date=March 28, 2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-88599-0|page=61|chapter=Differences in Epistemic Practices of Scientists, Young Earth Creationists, Intelligent Design Creationists, and the Scientist-Creationists of Darwin's Era}}</ref> | |||
| In 1993, Hovind announced that he would be debating the renowned evolutionary biologist, ], who had a longstanding opposition to debating Creationists and had turned down numerous challenges. When contacted about the announcement, Gould said he had never heard of Hovind, much less agreed to debate.<ref>{{citation|first=John|last=Cole|title=Gould to Debate Creationist—NOT|journal=NCSE Reports|date=Summer 1993|volume=13|number=2|page=9}}</ref> | |||
| In May 2004, ] debated Hovind in front of a predominantly ] audience. Shermer claimed the exchange was "not an intellectual exercise", but rather "an emotional drama," and concluded, "Unless there is a subject that is truly debatable with a format that is fair, in a forum that is balanced, it only serves to belittle both the magisterium of science and the magisterium of religion."<ref name="ShermerHovind">{{cite news | url=http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/04-05-10.html#miracle | title=Then a Miracle Occurs: An Obstreperous Evening with the Insouciant Kent Hovind, Young Earth Creationist and Defender of the Faith | publisher=] | date=May 10, 2004 | first=Michael | last=Shermer | accessdate = 2007-02-11}}</ref> ] also debated Hovind, and expressed surprise at Hovind's ignorance of evolutionary theory. Pigliucci recalled Hovind try "to convince the audience that evolutionists believe humans came from rocks" and subsequently "evolved from bananas."<ref name="Pigliucci2002">{{cite book|last=Pigliucci|first=Massimo|authorlink=Massimo Pigliucci|title=Denying Evolution: Creationism, Scientism, and the Nature of Science|date=January 1, 2002|publisher=W.H. Freeman|isbn=978-0-87893-659-5|page=102}}</ref> ], Director of Microscopy at ], wrote that Hovind's ideas are not rational or scientific because they are not testable.<ref>{{Citation | last=Reville | first=William | title=Why would God dress the world in shades of evolution? | newspaper=Irish Times | date=November 16, 2000 | url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/why-would-god-dress-the-world-in-shades-of-evolution-1.1116027 | accessdate =2015-04-07 }}</ref> Hovind has repeatedly declined offers for written debates where his claims would be scrutinized by scientists, including his decline of a debate offer from ].<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.nmsr.org/hovind.htm | title=The C-Files: Kent Hovind| publisher=New Mexicans for Science and Reason |year= 2000 | last=Thomas | first=Dave | authorlink=Dave Thomas (physicist) | accessdate =2012-10-17}}</ref> | |||
| During a debate with ], Hovind said that ] had uncovered the leg bones of ] at a different site over a mile away from the reported site, in a deeper ], quipping, "I would like to know how fast the train was going that hit that chimpanzee."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.theskepticalreview.com/tsrmag/1hovin94.html | title=On the Till-Hovind Debate |publisher=The Skeptical Review online | date= January–February 1994 | first=Karen | last=Bartelt | accessdate = 2015-05-19}} reprinted in 2(2) (March 1994).</ref> This was clearly contrary to the published statements by Johanson. After Hovind had been informed in 1993 that his statement was false, he agreed to stop using the claim. When he repeated the claim in 1995, he once more agreed he was in error.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/knee-joint.html | title=A Case Study in Creationists' Willingness to Admit Their Errors |publisher=] | date=June 12, 2003 | accessdate = 2015-12-03}} A version appears as in ] 15(4):34–6 (Summer 1995). Retrieved 2015-12-03.</ref> | |||
| === $250,000 offer === | |||
| In 1990, Hovind made a $10,000 offer to anyone who could meet a set of requirements he said would prove evolution, and he later raised the amount to $250,000.<ref name="offer">{{cite news | url=http://www.drdino.com/read-article.php?id=66 | title=Hovind's $250,000 Offer | publisher=DrDino.com (]) | year= 2009 | first=Kent | last=Hovind | accessdate = 2009-04-24 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20090424080647/http://www.drdino.com/read-article.php?id=66 |archivedate = 2009-04-24}}</ref> In 2007, Creation Science Evangelism removed the offer from its website."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.creationtoday.org/teaching-evolution-indoctrination-as-education/ |title=Teaching Evolution|publisher=CreationToday.org |first= |last= |date=2012-10-14|accessdate=2012-10-14}}</ref> | |||
| {{quotation|I have a standing offer of $250,000 to anyone who can give any empirical evidence (scientific proof) for evolution.* My $250,000 offer demonstrates that the hypothesis of evolution is nothing more than a religious belief.<ref name="offer" /><br /><nowiki>*</nowiki>NOTE: When I use the word evolution, I am not referring to the minor variations found in all of the various life forms (]). I am referring to the general theory of evolution which believes these five major events took place without God: | |||
| :''1. Time, space, and matter came into existence by themselves.'' | |||
| :''2. Planets and stars formed from space dust.'' | |||
| :''3. Matter created life by itself.'' | |||
| :''4. Early life-forms learned to reproduce themselves.'' | |||
| :''5. Major changes occurred between these diverse life forms (i.e., fish changed to amphibians, amphibians changed to reptiles, and reptiles changed to birds or mammals).''}} | |||
| The premises of Hovind's offer have been rejected both by scientists and fellow creationists as fundamentally flawed.<ref name="CMIIntegrity" /><ref name="talkorigins" /> Hovind's conditions would require a claimant to not only prove the theory of evolution, but also ], ] and ], and additionally prove that no gods could possibly exist.<ref name=talkorigins>{{cite web|url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/hovind.html|title=Kent Hovind's $250,000 Offer|publisher=]|first=John|last=Pieret|date=2002-07-18|accessdate=2009-06-18}}</ref> The judges would be hand-picked without assurances that they would be unbiased or qualified to assess the merit of claims, and it is possible that no panel was convened when a claim was submitted. Some forms of evidence would be excluded prior to judging.<ref name="Isaak2007">{{cite book|last=Isaak|first=Mark |title=The Counter-creationism Handbook|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=dGFJXLEWogEC&pg=PA29|date=January 2007|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-24926-4|pages=29–30}}</ref> | |||
| Answers in Genesis dismissed the challenge as a gimmick.<ref name="MooreDecker2008" />{{rp|172–3}} A 2005 challenge on '']'' offered $250,000 to anyone who could prove that the ] (the deity of a parody religion constructed to make a point about giving time to alternate views on evolution) was not the father of Jesus.<ref>{{cite news | title='Spaghetti Monster' is noodling around with faith | first=Dan | last=Vergano | periodical= USA Today | date= March 26, 2006 | url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/science/2006-03-26-spaghetti-monster_x.htm | accessdate=2015-05-16}}</ref> | |||
| === Political activity === | |||
| In 1999, a ] pastor asked the school board was asked to consider adding Creationism to the curriculum. The school board chairman's actions raised issues when, in his capacity as a citizen, he helped fund a series of seminars by Hovind, but he was within ethical guidelines. More controversy was raised when a school employee was sent to videotape the lectures, although without intention for rebroadcast.<ref>{{Citation|last= Ayres|first=Annette|date=December 2, 1999|title=Ethics Question Arises from Creationism|newspaper=Bradenton Herald|section=local|page=1}}</ref> Ultimately, there was no curriculum change.<ref>{{cite book|last=Haught|first=Brandon |title=Going Ape: Florida's Battles Over Evolution in the Classroom|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=coRmngEACAAJ|year=2014|publisher=University Press of Florida|isbn=978-0-8130-4943-4|pages=145–7}}</ref> | |||
| Hovind was criticized for his involvement with ] ]'s Anti-Evolution Bill in 2001 (House Bill 2548).<ref name="Hovindconnection">Don Michael, "The Hovind connection: Check your facts, legislators." ''Northwest Arkansas Times''. April 05, 2001</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://ncse.com/news/2003/04/potential-anti-evolution-legislation-louisiana-00400 | title=Potential anti-evolution legislation in Louisiana | publisher=] |date= April 24, 2003 | accessdate = 2007-02-19}}</ref> This bill "would have required that when public schools refer to evolution that it be identified as an unproven theory." Opponents of the bill worried that it would subject Arkansas to the same type of derision that occurred when the state's balanced-treatment law was struck down in '']''.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/159282/ | title=‘Extremist’ Holt? Well, depends on who’s asked| publisher=] | date= July 2, 2006 | first=Michael| last=Wickline | accessdate = 2006-10-19 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20060716110826/http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/159282/ |archivedate = July 16, 2006}}</ref> Holt called upon Hovind as an expert who "testified for Holt before the State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee, alleging much of the information pertaining to evolution in our science textbooks is false."<ref name="Hovindconnection" /> | |||
| In 2007, ] added a $100,000 ] in a ] appropriations bill, directed towards the ] "to develop a plan to promote better science education". Their website included a document, {{"'}}A Battle Plan—Practical Steps to Combat Evolution' by Kent Hovind". After a reporter's inquiries, the document, which called evolution "not a harmless theory but a dangerous religious belief" and blamed it for atrocities by ], ], and ], was removed from their website. The earmark was withdrawn from the bill.<ref name="Blumenthal2010" /><ref>{{cite journal |title=The Rise and Fall of the Vitter Earmark |first=Glenn |last=Branch |url=http://ncse.com/rncse/27/5-6/rise-fall-vitter-earmark |journal=Reports of the National Center for Science Education (online edition) | publisher=] |date=September–December 2007 | volume=27 | number=5–6 | pages=9–12 |accessdate=2015-04-30}}</ref> | |||
| === Chick tracts === | |||
| The most widely distributed antievolution work, ''Big Daddy?'',<ref name="MooreDecker2008Chick">{{cite book|last1=Moore|first1=Randy |last2=Decker|first2=Mark D. |title=More Than Darwin: An Encyclopedia of the People and Places of the Evolution-creationism Controversy|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=zBI7AQAAIAAJ|year=2008|publisher=Greenwood Press|isbn=978-0-313-34155-7|pages=55–7|chapter=Jack Chick (b. 1924)}}</ref> was first published in 1972<ref group="notes">There may also be a 1970 version.</ref><ref name="WorldOfChick">{{cite book|author= R.B.F. (Robert B. Fowler) |title=The World of Chick?|publisher=]|isbn=0-86719-512-6|pages=2–9}}</ref> and revised several times; it is one of the controversial ]s, comic strips intended to convert people to ].<ref name="Burack2008">{{cite book|last=Burack|first=Cynthia |title=Sin, Sex, and Democracy: Antigay Rhetoric and the Christian Right|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=28AuhrNkqfIC&pg=PA54|date=April 17, 2008|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-7406-8|pages=54–63}}</ref> Material from Hovind was incorporated into the 2000 revision.<ref name="WorldOfChick" /><ref>, tract from Chick Publications.</ref><ref>Article from Chick Publications ''Battle Cry'' July/August 2000 Newsletter, </ref> | |||
| == Politics and conspiracies == | |||
| Hovind has made controversial remarks regarding conspiracies, science, creation, equal rights, religion, and government. His presentations on creationism and evolution are a mix of ] and ].<ref name="ShermerHovind" /> His creationist presentations have asserted that ] is not taught in public schools due to a ] involving ] and ], the ], the ], the ], U.S. government officials, business leaders, and social activists. In May 1999, he claimed "the implementation of the NWO's world-domination plan was May 5, 2000."<ref name="Delphia">{{cite news | url=http://ncse.com/rncse/19/5/dr-dino-does-delphia | title=Dr Dino Does ´Delphia | publisher=] |year= 1999 | accessdate = 2007-02-19}}</ref> | |||
| Hovind has several conspiracy theories about the U.S. government. He has ] the ]<ref name="Blumenthal2010">{{cite book|author=Max Blumenthal|title=Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Oa-TsVnbYUIC&pg=PA180|date=13 July 2010|publisher=Nation Books|isbn=978-1-56858-417-1|page=180}}</ref> and the ].<ref name="MooreDecker2008" /> Regarding ]s, Hovind recommends books by conspiracy theorists who believe "some UFO's are U.S. Government experiments with electrogravitic propulsion as opposed to jet propulsion, while others are Satanic apparitions."<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.drdino.com/cse.asp?pg=faq&specific=37 | title=What about UFO's? | publisher= DrDino.com (Archived) |year= 2003 | first= | last= | accessdate=2001-11-11 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20030618222837/http://www.drdino.com/cse.asp?pg=faq&specific=37 | archivedate= 2003-06-11}}</ref><ref name="DinosaursExistGuardian">"Alberta: Evangelist says dinosaurs existed in God's world," ], December 2, 2000</ref> The ] (SPLC) criticized Hovind for referring followers to books by ],<ref name="SPLC2004" /> a ] who has been convicted of tax evasion multiple times.<ref>{{Citation| last=Stratton | first=Jeff | date=February 1, 2011 | title=The Evaders | periodical=Seattle Weekly News | url=http://www.seattleweekly.com/2011-02-02/news/the-evaders/ | accessdate=2015-04-04 }}</ref> The SPLC has criticized Hovind for "point his followers to '']'', popular among ], and to ''Media Bypass'', an antigovernment magazine with strong ] leanings",<ref name="SPLC2004" /> and for selling of books such as ]'s '']'' and Peter Kershaw's '']'', and recommending '']'', a well-known ] hoax.<ref name="radicalreligion" /> | |||
| Hovind claims that the ]-releasing compound ] is a "] cure" which the U.S. government is conspiring to suppress<ref name="CSICOP" /><ref>{{cite journal |author=American Cancer Society |title=Unproven methods of cancer management. Laetrile |journal=CA Cancer J Clin |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=187–92 |year=1991 |pmid=1902140 |doi=10.3322/canjclin.41.3.187}}</ref> and that diseases including ], ], ], and ] and ] were engineered by "the money masters and governments of the world" for the purpose of global economic domination.<ref name="Blumenthal2010" /><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.drdino.com/cse.asp?pg=articles&specific=53 | title=Man Made Plagues | publisher= DrDino.com (archived) |date= July 28, 2001 | first=Kent | last=Hovind | accessdate =2009-08-17 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20040225004330/http://www.drdino.com/cse.asp?pg=articles&specific=53 | archivedate= 2004-02-25}}</ref> He has denounced ] as "evil and contrary to God's law",<ref name="radicalreligion">{{cite web|url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2001/creationism-gets-dash-anti-semitism |year=2001|publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center|title=Radical Religion: Creationism gets a dash of anti-Semitism|accessdate=2006-04-14}}</ref> and called ] a communist conspiracy.<ref name="DinosaursExistGuardian" /> | |||
| In his lectures, he claimed that the United States government was implanting ] into people allowing them to be tracked by satellite,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.royalse.com/scroll/evolve/ch4p5ng.html | title=Unmasking the False Religion of Evolution, Based on the fact filled, and exciting seminars of Dr. Kent Hovind, Chapter 4: Evolution, the Foundation For Communism, Nazism and Socialism (part 5) |website= DrDino.com | publisher= Creation Science Evangelism |year= 1999 |first1=Robert T. |last1=Weaver |first2=Shirley |last2=Norris| accessdate=2001-11-11 | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20010312054117/http://www.royalse.com/scroll/evolve/ch4p5ng.html | archivedate= 2001-03-12}}</ref> even though the transponder range made that impossible.<ref name="MarkoftheBeastBS">{{cite news | url=http://archive.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/1996/12/1126 | title=BS Detector: Mark of the Beast in an Implantable Microchip | publisher=] |date= 1996-12-23 | first=Mark | last=Frauenfelder | accessdate = 2015-05-31}}</ref> On his website, Hovind associated the ] with the ], and wrote that there were reports of people paying for groceries by having their hands scanned in 1999.<ref name="Forrest" /><ref name="radicalreligion" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.drdino.com/FAQs/FAQmisc9.htm |title=Miscellaneous Questions and Answers: What about the Mark of the Beast? |date=November 8, 1999 |website=drdino.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000622120807/http://www.drdino.com/FAQs/FAQmisc9.htm |archive-date=2000-06-22}}</ref> | |||
| == YouTube copyright controversy == | |||
| {{Wikinews|Kent Hovind's ministry files DMCA complaints though the group released material into public domain|date=September 20, 2007}} | |||
| ] | |||
| On September 16, 2007, the ] complained that Creation Science Evangelism was filing spurious ] requests, resulting in their ] videos being taken down, and their account banned.<ref name="WiredHovind">{{cite news | url=http://archive.wired.com/entertainment/theweb/news/2007/09/youtube_dmca | title=YouTube Supports "Fraudulent" Creationist DMCA Claim | publisher=] |date= September 16, 2007 | accessdate =2015-12-09 | first=Rob | last=Beschizza}}</ref> In response to the copyright claims, the RRS threatened a lawsuit.<ref name="RRS">{{cite news | url=http://www.rationalresponders.com/forum/rational_response_squad_alerts/rational_response_squad_alerts/9978 | title=We're Ready to Help Sue Creation Science Evangelism | publisher=] |date= September 14, 2007 | accessdate =2007-09-17}}</ref><ref name="Christian Post">{{cite news | url=http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070928/29487_Atheists_Blast_Creationists_in_Copyright_Battle.htm | title=Atheists Blast Creationists in Copyright Battle | publisher=] |date= September 28, 2007 | first=Nathan | last=Black | accessdate =2007-09-28}}</ref> | |||
| At the time of the complaints, the CSE's website indicated the videos were not copyrighted, and the CSE encouraged copying and distributing them.<ref name="WiredHovind" /> Five days later, the CSE copyright page was changed to say that copied material must be left unedited.<ref name="Ars Technica">{{cite news | url=http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070919-dr-dino-uses-dmca-takedowns-on-critics-admits-to-mistakes.html | title=Creationists, atheists battle over copyrights, criticism, and the DMCA| publisher=Ars Technica |date= September 19, 2007 | first=Nate | last=Anderson | accessdate =2009-09-27}}</ref> According to a spokesperson for the ], CSE's claim was "clearly bogus",<ref name="WiredHovind September 25">{{cite news | url=http://www.wired.com/entertainment/theweb/news/2007/09/youtube_dmca | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131229174739/http://www.wired.com/entertainment/theweb/news/2007/09/youtube_dmca | archivedate=2013-12-29 | title=Creationist vs. Atheist YouTube War Marks New Breed of Copyright Claim | publisher=] |date= September 25, 2007 |accessdate =2007-09-25}}</ref> and as of September 25, 2007, the Rational Response Squad account had been reinstated, and some of the videos had been put back online.<ref name="WiredHovind September 25" /> | |||
| == Legal problems == | |||
| === Escambia County (2002–2006) === | |||
| <!-- There is a link to this section by the "see below" in the "Dinosaur Adventure Land" section. If the title of this section is changed, please correct the link. --> | |||
| On August 15, 2002 Hovind was arrested for assault, battery, and burglary in an incident with a CSE secretary. The charges were dropped in December.<ref name="CSICOP" /><ref name="MooreDecker2008" /><ref>, December 9, 2002. . Retrieved 2015-05-14.</ref> | |||
| On September 13, 2002, Hovind was charged with failure to observe county zoning regulations for Dinosaur Adventure Land, a ].<ref name="CSICOP" /> In April 2006, the Dinosaur Adventure Land buildings were closed by county officials, and the ] found the owners in contempt, ordering fines of $500 for each day the buildings were used.<ref name="ParkExtinction">{{cite news | url=http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060407/NEWS01/604070340/1006 | title=Park could face extinction: Lack of building permits closes dinosaur museum | publisher= ] |date= 2006-04-07| first=William | last=Rabb | accessdate =2012-10-17 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20060713021808/http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060407/NEWS01/604070340/1006 | archivedate= 2006-07-01}}</ref> Hovind argued he did not need a permit due to the nature of the building, but after a 5-year court battle over the $50 building permit, on June 5, 2006, Hovind pled '']'' as charged to three counts: constructing a building without a permit, refusing to sign a citation,<ref name=mm023489a> decided June 5, 2006, recorded by . Retrieved 2015-05-14.</ref> and violating the county building code.<ref name="ParkExtinction" /><ref name=mm026670a> decided June 5, 2006, recorded by . Retrieved 2015-05-14.</ref> Hovind paid fines totaling $675.<ref name=mm023489a /><ref name=mm026670a /> | |||
| === Federal civil tax matters, bankruptcy, and renouncing citizenship (1996–2006) === | |||
| Hovind was originally reported to the Internal Revenue Service by ] senior vice president Rebekah Horton in the mid 1990s, after she learned of Hovind's anti-tax stand.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/pnj/access/1748329211.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+20%2C+2006&author=Angela+Fail&pub=Pensacola+News+Journal&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=Christian+College+leader+says+taxes+are+part+of+religion | title=Christian College leader says taxes are part of religion: Hovind argues God's workers are exempt| publisher=] |date=October 20, 2006 | first=Angela| last=Fail |accessdate=2012-10-19}}</ref> Hovind's organization had neither business licenses nor tax-exempt status,<ref name="ParkFinance">{{cite news | url=http://www.sptimes.com/2004/04/18/State/Biblical_theme_park_s.shtml | title=Biblical theme park's finances investigated |date=April 18, 2004 | accessdate=2015-04-17 | periodical=Saint Petersburg Times | agency=Associated Press}}</ref> nor was it considered a church by people who worked there.<ref name="begins">{{cite news | url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/pnj/access/1748327931.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+18%2C+2006&author=Angela+Fail&pub=Pensacola+News+Journal&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=Evangelist%27s+trial+begins | title=Evangelist's trial begins: Dinosaur Adventure Land owner, wife face 58 counts of tax fraud| publisher=] |date=October 18, 2006 | first=Angela | last=Fail |accessdate=2012-10-19}} The story can be found in the collection: .</ref><ref name="employees">{{cite news | url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/pnj/access/1748328811.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+19%2C+2006&author=Amy+Sowder&pub=Pensacola+News+Journal&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=Employees+testify+in+%27Dr.+Dino%27+tax+trial | title=Workers testify in 'Dr. Dino' trial| publisher=] |date=October 19, 2006 | first=Amy| last=Sowder | accessdate = 2012-10-19}}</ref> The ministry's organizational structure was described by the ] as appearing to be "based on various questionable trust documents purchased from Glen Stoll, a known promoter of tax avoidance schemes", leading the Court to conclude that Hovind used these trust documents as well as other fraudulent means to conceal the ownership and control of his activities and properties.<ref name="TCM2006-143" /> | |||
| According to the IRS, Hovind earned $50,000 a year through speaking engagements,<ref group="notes">In 2004, Hovind told the ''New York Times'' that he had 700 speaking engagements per year.</ref><ref name="DarwinfreeNYT" /> and in 2002 alone, CSE sold more than $1.8 million in merchandise.<ref>{{cite news |title=IRS agent testifies in Hovind trial, Case could go to jury Thursday | publisher=] |date=October 31, 2006 | first=Nicole | last=Lozare | url=http://archive.pnj.com/article/20061031/NEWS01/610310326/IRS-agent-testifies-Hovind-trial}}</ref> On average, Hovind made bank deposits in excess of $1 million each year,<ref name="investigated">{{cite news | url=http://www.sptimes.com/2004/04/18/State/Biblical_theme_park_s.shtml | title=Biblical theme park's finances investigated|publisher=] |date=April 18, 2004 | accessdate = 2006-08-18}}</ref> and eventually that grew to about $2 million a year.<ref name="hardtobelive">{{cite news | url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/pnj/access/1748336851.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+3%2C+2006&author=Mark+O%27Brien&pub=Pensacola+News+Journal&edition=&startpage=C.1&desc=Hard+to+believe+a+man+with+a+Ph.D+didn%27t+know+of+a+basic+tax+law | title=Hard to believe a man with a Ph.D didn't know of a basic tax law | publisher=] | date= November 3, 2006 | first=Mark | last=O'Brien | accessdate = 2012-10-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | first=Mark | last=O'Brien |url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/pnj/access/1736553751.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+21%2C+2007&author=Mark+O%27Brien&pub=Pensacola+News+Journal&edition=&startpage=C.1&desc=Earth+to+%27Dr.+Dino%27%3A+Please+pay+your+taxes+and+start+facing+reality |title=Earth to 'Dr. Dino': Please pay your taxes and start facing reality |publisher=] |date=Jan 21, 2007 |accessdate=2012-10-19}}</ref> About half that income went to employees who were salaried or were paid hourly wages. However, Hovind derived "substantial revenue" from these activities that appeared to be "income to personally".<ref name="TCM2006-143">''Hovind v. Commissioner'', , CCH December 56,562(M) (2006).</ref> | |||
| {{Wikisource|The Hovind Bankruptcy Decision}} | |||
| On March 1, 1996, Hovind filed a Chapter 13 ] petition to avoid paying federal ], claiming he was not a citizen of the United States and that he did not earn income.<ref name="Bankruptcy">''In re Hovind'', case no. 96-04256, U.S. Bankr. Court for the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola Div.), 197 B.R. 157 (Bankr. N.D. Fla. 1996), at .</ref> He claimed that as a minister, everything he owned belonged to ] and he was not subject to paying taxes for doing God's work.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/35707 | title=Screw the Taxman: The Weird Ideas of Tax Cheaters| publisher= ] |date= December 15, 2005 | first=Mike | last=Drach | accessdate =2009-08-17 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20060509013918/http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/?articleID=4329 | archivedate= 2006-05-21}}</ref> On June 5, 1996, the Court dismissed Hovind's bankruptcy case, finding he had lied about his possessions and income. The court upheld the IRS's determination that his claim "was filed in bad faith for the sole purpose of avoiding payment of federal income taxes" and called Hovind's arguments "patently absurd". It also said that "the IRS has no record of the debtor ever having filed a federal income tax return."<ref name="Bankruptcy" /> | |||
| In 1998, the IRS requested account information after Hovind made claims about ] going back to the 1970s on an internet broadcast. While his internet provider initially balked, the courts granted a subpoena on the basis that the IRS could demonstrate income and no filed income tax returns going back to 1991.<ref name="Baruh2007">{{cite journal | last=Baruh | first=Lemi | title=Read at your own risk: shrinkage of privacy and interactive media | journal=New Media & Society | volume=9 | issue=2 | year=2007 | pages=187–211 |issn=1461-4448 |doi=10.1177/1461444807072220}}</ref> In 2003, Hovind would tell ''The New York Times'', "I haven't filed a tax return in 30 years."<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/02/technology/your-own-affair-more-vcr-or-less-mp3.html?pagewanted=2 | title=Your Own Affair, More (VCR) or Less (MP3) | publisher=New York Times |date= October 2, 2003 | accessdate = 2015-02-27}}</ref> | |||
| {{Wikisource|Kent Hovind 2005 Affidavit}} | |||
| On May 13, 1998, Hovind and his wife filed a "Power of Attorney and Revocation of Signature" document in ] which would nullify any of their promises, debts, or legal agreements made prior to April 15, 1998. The Hovinds claimed they had signed government documents "due to the use of various elements of fraud and misrepresentations, duress, coercion, under perjury, mistake, 'bankruptcy'," and argued that ] is a "]". The document referred to the ] as "the 'bankrupt' corporate government", renounced the Hovinds' ] and ]s to become "a natural citizen of 'America' and a natural sojourner", and referred to their home state of Florida as "the State of Florida Body-Politic Corporation."<ref name="PowerofAttorney">, May 5, 1998. Filed with as Instrument #1998483189. Retrieved 2015-05-14.</ref> Judges and the IRS did not appear to honor this as a legally relevant document in future decisions.<ref name="pleads" /> In 2002, Hovind was again delinquent in paying his taxes, and unsuccessfully sued the IRS for harassment.<ref name="pleads">{{cite news | url=http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060718/NEWS01/607180319/1006 | title=Park owner pleads not guilty to tax fraud: Evangelist says he's owned by God| publisher= ] |date= 18 July 2006| first=Michael | last=Stewart | accessdate =2009-08-17 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20060721005125/http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060718/NEWS01/607180319/1006 | archivedate= 2006-07-21}}</ref> | |||
| {{Wikisource|Kent Hovind v Scott Schneider}} | |||
| At various times, the government alleged that Hovind had not filed personal U.S. federal income tax returns for the years 1989 through 1997.<ref>''In re Hovind'', 197 B.R. 157 (Bankr. N.D. Fla. 1996); ''Hovind v. Commissioner'', T.C. Memo 2006-143, CCH Dec. 56,562(M) (2006).</ref> In the spring of 2004, the IRS conducted an audit and criminal investigation regarding Hovind's unfiled personal Federal income tax for 1995 through 1997.<ref name="TCM2006-143" /> IRS agent Scott Schneider said, "Since 1997, Hovind has engaged in financial transactions indicating sources of income and has made deposits to bank accounts well in excess of $1 million per year during some of these years, which would require the filing of federal income taxes."<ref name="ParkFinance" /> On June 3, 2004, the IRS executed a search warrant on Hovind's home and businesses to confiscate financial records and attempt to deliver notices of Federal ]s of $504,957.24, which Hovind refused to accept.<ref name="TCM2006-143" /><ref> ''Christianity Today'' April 19, 2004</ref><ref name="taxliens">The following instruments were recorded by the on June 3, 2004: , , , , , . Retrieved 2015-05-14.</ref> Agents confiscated $42,000 in cash found in various places in the residence. Six guns were present, including an ] semiautomatic rifle.<ref name="pleads" /> That day, Hovind withdrew $70,000 from the CSE bank account, half in cash.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite news | title='Dr. Dino,' wife guilty | publisher=] | date= November 2, 2006 | first=Nicole | last=Lozare | url=http://archive.pnj.com/article/20061102/NEWS01/611020330/-Dr-Dino-wife-guilty}} The story can be found in the collection: .</ref> | |||
| {{Wikisource|Kent Hovind v Commissioner of Internal Revenue}} | |||
| On July 7, 2006, the ] found that Hovind was deficient in paying his federal income taxes in 1995–1997, totaling $520,099. The Tax Court ruled that the IRS had a valid ] on Hovind's property and said that Hovind's defense was based on "bizarre arguments, some of which constitute ] involving excise taxes and the alleged '100% voluntary' nature of the income tax."<ref name="TCM2006-143" /> With penalties, he owed $3.3 million for tax years 1998–2006 by 2013.<ref name="PayTaxes2013">{{cite news | title='Dr. Dino' ordered to pay taxes, penalties | last=Heisig | first=Eric | date=May 23, 2013 | periodical=Pensacola News Journal | url=http://www.pnj.com/article/20130523/NEWS01/305230028/-Dr-Dino-ordered-pay-taxes-penalties}} The story can be found in the collection: .</ref><ref>, United States Tax Court, Docket 4245-10. May 15, 2003.</ref> Jo Hovind was ordered to pay $1.6 million.<ref name="TCM2012-281" /><ref name="PayTaxes2013" /> | |||
| === Federal criminal tax-related trial and convictions in 2006 === | |||
| On July 11, 2006, Hovind was ] on 58 counts in the ] in Pensacola. The first 12 counts were charges for willful failure to collect, account for, and pay over federal income taxes and ] taxes in connection with the CSE operation, totaling $473,818 for the 12 fiscal quarters of 2001–2003. The next 45 counts were charges for knowingly structuring transactions by making multiple cash withdrawals totaling $430,500 in amounts just under the $10,000 which requires reporting (a technique known as "]"), for which his wife was also charged. The last count was a charge of corruptly endeavoring to ] by falsely listing the IRS as his only creditor when filing for bankruptcy, filing a false and frivolous lawsuit against the IRS in which he demanded damages for criminal trespass, making threats of harm to those investigating him and to those who might consider cooperating with the investigation, filing a false complaint against IRS agents investigating him, filing a false criminal complaint against IRS special agents (criminal investigators), and destroying records.<ref>, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Pensacola Division, case no. 3:06CR83/MCR (July 11, 2006).</ref><ref name="arrested">{{cite news |url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/pnj/access/1755911431.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+14%2C+2006&author=Michael+Stewart&pub=Pensacola+News+Journal&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=Evangelist+arrested+on+federal+charges | title= Evangelist arrested on federal charges | publisher=] | date= 14 July 2006| first=Michael | last=Stewart |accessdate=2015-04-10}}</ref><ref name="arrested2">{{cite news | title=58 charges against anti-evolution speaker | publisher=] | date= July 20, 2006 | first=Christina | last=Kauffmann}}</ref> Because of reports of weapons on the Hovind property, the indictment was originally sealed for fear of danger to the arresting agents.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://ncse.com/news/2006/07/kent-hovind-arrested-federal-charges-00795| title=Kent Hovind arrested on federal charges | publisher=] | date= July 14, 2006 | accessdate = 2006-10-18}}</ref> | |||
| {{Wikisource|United States of America v Kent Hovind and Jo Hovind}} | |||
| At ], Hovind claimed incomprehension to the charges, telling the court: "I still don't understand what I'm being charged for and who is charging me."<ref name="arrested" /> Magistrate Miles Davis asked Hovind if he wrote and spoke English, to which Hovind responded, "To some degree." Davis replied that the government adequately explained the allegations and the defendant understands the charges "whether you want to admit it or not."<ref>{{cite news | url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/pnj/access/1755914471.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+19%2C+2006&author=Mark+O%27Brien&pub=Pensacola+News+Journal&edition=&startpage=C.1&desc=Creationist%27s+fight+with+Uncle+Sam+may+evolve+into+painful+defeat | title=Creationist's fight with Uncle Sam may evolve into painful defeat| publisher=] | date= 19 July 2006| first=Michael | last=Stewart |accessdate=2012-10-19 }}</ref> Hovind stated that he did not recognize the government's right to try him on tax-fraud charges. At first he attempted to enter a plea of "subornation of false muster," but then entered a not guilty plea "under duress" when the judge offered to enter a plea for him.<ref name="pleads" /> Hovind's passport and guns were seized. Hovind protested, arguing that he needed his passport to continue his evangelism work, and that "thousands and thousands" were waiting to hear him preach in South Africa the following month. The court refused to reconsider, accepting the argument that "like-minded people" might secret Hovind away if he left the country.<ref name="arrested" /> | |||
| On October 21, 2006, the trial began in which Hovind hoped to convince a jury that his amusement park admission and merchandise sales, over $5 million from 1999 through March 2004, belonged to God and cannot be taxed.<ref name="begins" /> Evidence produced at the trial revealed that Jo Hovind had requested financial assistance from Baptist Healthcare by claiming that the Hovinds had no income.<ref name="PNJdenyincome" /> IRS agents told the court how Hovind attempted "bullying tactics" and sued the government three times, which were thrown out, to pressure them to stop investigating.<ref name="begins" /> The prosecution countered attempts to describe workers as missionaries, ministers, and volunteers, using memos explicitly calling them employees. Workers testified that they had to punch time cards, had vacation and sick days, and did not receive ]. After the IRS executed the search warrant, employees were required to sign ]s to remain employed.<ref name="employees" /> A lawyer who did work for a non-profit Christian organization testified that Hovind claimed he had "beat" the tax system and that he favored cash transactions because they were untraceable and, consequently, untaxable.<ref name="detailedactions">{{cite news|url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/pnj/access/1748332621.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+21%2C+2006&author=Michael+Stewart&pub=Pensacola+News+Journal&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=Lawyer%3A+Hovind+detailed+actions |title=Lawyer: Hovind detailed actions: Evangelist said he 'beat the system' |first=Michael | last=Stewart |publisher=Pensacola News Journal |date= 21 October 2006 |accessdate=2012-10-19}}</ref> | |||
| The trial concluded on November 1 with the defense deciding not to present a case.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/pnj/access/1748335791.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+2%2C+2006&author=Nicole+Lozare&pub=Pensacola+News+Journal&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=Hovind+defense+lawyers+call+no+witnesses+in+case | title=Hovind defense lawyers call no witnesses in case | publisher=] | date= November 2, 2006 | first=Nicole | last=Lozare |accessdate=2012-10-19}}</ref> After closing arguments were presented on November 2, the jury deliberated three hours before finding the Hovinds guilty on all counts, 58 for Hovind and 45 for his wife.<ref name="WifeSentenced">{{cite news | title=Creationist theme park owner's wife sentenced. |date=June 29, 2007 | url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/2007/06/29/creationist-theme-park-owner-wife-sentenced/ | publisher=Fox News | agency=AP | accessdate=2015-04-25 }}</ref> The '']'' said, "The saddest thing: Had they cooperated with the agents, they probably wouldn't be worrying about prison sentences now."<ref name="hardtobelive" /> | |||
| === Sentencing, appeals, and imprisonment (2007–present) === | |||
| After the convictions, Hovind was incarcerated in the Escambia County Jail as a "danger to the community" and a flight risk.<ref name="Guilty">{{cite news | url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/pnj/access/1748336821.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+3%2C+2006&author=Nicole+Lozare&pub=Pensacola+News+Journal&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=%27Dr.+Dino%27+guilty+on+all+counts | title='Dr. Dino' guilty on all counts: Couple could get more than 200 years| publisher=] |date=November 3, 2006 | first=Nicole | last=Lozare |accessdate=2012-10-19 }} The story can be found in the collection: .</ref> His wife would remain free until after the appeal.<ref name="sentencesupheld">{{cite news |url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/pnj/access/1690747081.html?FMT=ABS |title=Tax-evasion sentences upheld for 'Dr. Dino' and wife | publisher=] |date=January 6, 2009 | accessdate = 2012-10-18 |page=B.2}} The story can be found in the collection: .</ref> | |||
| On January 19, 2007, Hovind was sentenced to ten years in prison with three years probation and ordered to pay the federal government restitution of over $600,000. During the sentencing phase, a tearful Hovind, hoping to avoid prison, told the court, "If it's just money the IRS wants, there are thousands of people out there who will help pay the money they want so I can go back out there and preach."<ref name="sentencing">{{cite news | title=10 years for 'Dr. Dino'| publisher=] | date= 19 January 2007| first=Michael | last=Stewart}}</ref> However, Hovind's court room behavior was in stark contrast to phone calls he made while in jail and played by the prosecution.<ref name="Decade">{{cite news | url=http://archive.pnj.com/article/20070120/NEWS01/701200319/A-decade-Dr-Dino-?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+20%2C+2007&author=Michael+Stewart&pub=Pensacola+News+Journal&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=A+decade+for+%27Dr.+Dino%27 | title=A decade for 'Dr. Dino': Kent Hovind gets 10 years for violating federal tax law | publisher=] | date=January 20, 2007| first=Michael | last=Stewart |accessdate=2015-05-02}} The story can be found in the collection: as "Kent Hovind gets 10 years for violating federal tax law".</ref> The tapes, posted online by the ''Pensacola News Journal'', included one conversation with Kent and his son, Eric Hovind, planning to hide a motor vehicle title and property deeds to prevent the government from collecting the property to pay for owed debt.<ref name="jailcalls">{{cite web|title=Kent Hovind jail phone calls (2006)|url=http://archive.org/details/KentHovindJailPhoneCalls|publisher=Archive.org|accessdate=17 June 2013}}</ref> At sentencing, he denied being a "]",<ref name="Decade" /> but the prosecution,<ref name="begins" /> an IRS spokesman,<ref name="Decade" /> and the ''Pensacola News Journal''<ref name="JoLawBreaker" /><ref name="PNJdenyincome">{{cite news |url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/pnj/access/1748342811.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+31%2C+2006&author=Nicole+Lozare&pub=Pensacola+News+Journal&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=Hovinds+deny+having+income | title=Kent and Jo Hovind deny having income | publisher=] | date= October 31, 2006 | first=Nicole | last=Lozare |accessdate=2015-04-10}}</ref> used the term to describe him. | |||
| On June 29, 2007, Jo Hovind was sentenced to one year of imprisonment, three years of supervision upon release and fined $8,000.<ref name="WifeSentenced" /> In court, Jo Hovind offered explanations for the 45 checks just under $10,000 and for checks cashed before and after the reporting deadline, telling the judge "I really did not have a leadership role in CSE" and finished "I would never knowingly do anything illegal." The judge said that while Kent was the principal authority at CSE, Jo managed the payroll; she had cashed roughly 200 checks totaling $1.5 million over a four-year period, relying on cash to avoid IRS scrutiny.<ref name="JoLawBreaker" /> The ] denied both her and Kent's appeals on December 30, 2008,<ref name="sentencesupheld" /> and the ] denied '']'' (declined to hear the case) for Kent's case on November 2, 2009.<ref>, November 2, 2009, ''Kent E. Hovind v. United States'', 130 S.Ct. 490 (2009).</ref> | |||
| {{Wikisource|Kent Hovind's Eleventh Circuit Court Criminal Appeal}} | |||
| Hovind appealed the amount of his 2006 U.S. Tax Court ruling on personal income taxes to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit," but on July 2, 2007, a three-judge panel denied the appeal, finding that Hovind had failed to raise the issue at the appropriate time.<ref name="11thAppealDenied">{{cite news |url= http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/pnj/access/1726814941.html?FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:FT&type=current&date=Jul+4%2C+2007&author=&pub=Pensacola+News+Journal&edition=&startpage=C.1&desc=Local+Briefs |title= Appeals court upholds sentence in Hovind tax-evasion case |publisher= ] |date= July 4, 2007 |accessdate= 2012-10-15 }} The story can be found in the collection: .</ref> | |||
| In November 2010, Kent Hovind filed a motion in U.S. District Court Northern District of Florida claiming the prosecution and defense erred at various stages of the case;<ref>{{cite news | url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/pnj/access/2201579121.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+1%2C+2010&author=&pub=Pensacola+News+Journal&edition=&startpage=C.1&desc=Tax+evader+wants+sentence+tossed+out | title=Tax evader wants sentence tossed out | publisher=] | date=December 1, 2010 |accessdate=2012-10-19}} The story can be found in the collection: </ref> it was denied the following May.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=392593312318248676 | title=United States of America v. Kent E. Hovind | publisher=] | date=May 2, 2011 | accessdate = 2015-05-04}}</ref> | |||
| === CSE property forfeitures === | |||
| {{Wikisource|Kent Hovind Property Seizure Ruling}} | |||
| ] | |||
| In 2007, the government placed liens on ten of the Hovinds' properties for money owed<ref name="JoLawBreaker">{{cite news | url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/pnj/access/1726805081.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+1%2C+2007&author=Mark+O%27Brien&pub=Pensacola+News+Journal&edition=&startpage=C.1&desc=She%27s+%27Granny+Jo%27+to+her+family%2C+but+a+lawbreaker+to+the+court | title=She's 'Granny Jo' to her family, but a lawbreaker to the court | publisher=] | date= July 1, 2007 | first=Mark | last=O'Brien | accessdate = 2012-10-03}}</ref> following a June 27, 2007 judgment, which included an order that the properties be forfeited under {{usc|18|3613}} for costs of $5,800, a fine of $2000, and restitution of $604,874.87.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.escambiaclerk.com/xml_or_1b.asp?uinstr=2007061225 | title=Instrument #2007061225 Notice of lien | publisher=Escambia County Florida Clerk of the Circuit Court |date= June 27, 2007 | accessdate =2015-05-14}}</ref> On December 30, 2008, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit denied the Hovinds' appeal and affirmed the convictions and sentences entered by the district court.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/unpub/ops/200710090.pdf | archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5yxyQo8I3 | archivedate=2011-05-26 |format=PDF| title=D. C. Docket No. 06-00083-CR-3-MCR | publisher=] |date= December 30, 2008 | accessdate =2007-07-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=Court upholds Hovind convictions | url=http://www.pnj.com/article/20090105/NEWS01/90105023 | publisher=] |date=January 5, 2009}}</ref> Following the appeal, Jo Hovind served her prison term from January 20, 2009<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.cseblogs.com/?p=181 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090223180319/http://www.cseblogs.com/?p=181 | archivedate=2009-02-23 | title=Legal Update| publisher=Creation Science Evangelism blog | date= January 23, 2009 | accessdate = 2007-06-03}}</ref> to December 3, 2009.<ref name="JoDeliaHovindinmatefinder">{{cite news | url=http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&needingMoreList=false&LastName=hovind&Middle=&FirstName=jo&Race=W&Sex=F&Age=&x=22&y=26 | title=Locate a Federal Inmate: Jo Delia Hovind, prisoner number 06453-017| publisher=] |year= 2008 | accessdate =2007-05-17}}</ref> | |||
| In 2008, Eric Hovind and Glen Stoll, an individual who has been associated with the ] organization and who has falsely claimed to be a lawyer,<ref>, case no. 2:05-cv-00262-RSM, United States District Court for the Western District of Washington (Seattle Div.); June 27, 2005.</ref> attempted to prevent the forfeitures of Hovind's ten properties, including Dinosaur Adventure Land, in connection with Kent Hovind's federal tax problems.<ref name="DALex">{{cite news |url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/pnj/access/1713624411.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+20%2C+2008&author=Kris+Weowsky&pub=Pensacola+News+Journal&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=Feds+still+looking+to+force+Kent+Hovind%27s+Dinosaur+Adventure+Land+into+extinction |title=Feds still looking to force Dinosaur Adventure Land into extinction | first=Kris | last=Wernowsky |publisher=] |date=March 20, 2008 |accessdate=2012-10-19}} The story can be found in the collection: .</ref> The government sought the property, deeded to Stoll and Eric prior to Hovind's convictions, since cash had been withdrawn from the bank accounts and could not be recovered. In a court filing, however, Eric Hovind said that he owned one of the properties and that he "took active control over the lot by personally building a home on it with $70,000 he borrowed from CSE."<ref name="OrderonProperty">{{cite news | url=http://ncse.com/files/pub/legal/hovind/20090729_orderpartiallygrantingsummaryjudgment.pdf | title=Order in United States of America v. Kent and Jo Hovind| publisher=] |date=June 27, 2009 | accessdate =2015-07-27}} page 13</ref> The court accepted Eric's ownership of that property, but allowed the government to seize the other nine properties.<ref name="OrderonProperty" /> The court ruling denying the Hovinds' appeal cleared the way for forfeiture proceedings on Hovind-owned properties, including those on which Dinosaur Adventure Land sat, to continue<ref name="sentencesupheld" /> to satisfy the debt.<ref name="pnjruling" /> | |||
| In March 2012, the federal government sued Creation Science Evangelism to remove liens placed on Kent Hovind's former property that was seized after his conviction, and in June, the court ruled in favor of the government.<ref name="USCSE">{{cite web|url=http://dockets.justia.com/docket/florida/flndce/3:2012cv00136/65463/|title=UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. CREATION SCIENCE EVANGELISM et al|work=Justia Dockets & Filings}}</ref> | |||
| In May 2013, facing the sale of lots that were once part of Dinosaur Adventure land, Hovind acted. Using legal advice from another inmate, he filed a civil right suit against corrections personnel (a "]") alleging that they intentionally delayed court documents which hindered another appeal. Based on the assumption that it would trigger a chain of rulings that would ultimately result in the original sentence being overturned, he then filed several ''lis pendens'' on the properties.<ref>The following instruments are recorded by the on May 29, 2013: , , , . Retrieved 2015-05-14.</ref><ref name=TrialFirstWeek>{{cite news | last1=Robinson | first=Kevin | title=Paper trial prominent in Hovind trial | url=http://www.pnj.com/story/news/2015/03/06/paper-trial-prominent-hovind-trial/24528449/ | periodical=Pensacola News Journal | accessdate=2015-05-03}}</ref> A federal judge rejected Hovind's claims and dismissed the filings (]), and asked for a "show of cause" from Hovind to explain why he should not be found in ] for the false filings.<ref name="VoidLiens"> , Escambia County, Florida, Instrument #2013077090, October 9, 2013. Retrieved 2015-05-14. Online at ].</ref> His release date was approaching when he would face new charges related to the ''lis pendens'' filings.<ref name=LegalWoes>{{cite news | last=Robinson | first=Kevin | title='Dr. Dino' facing new legal woes | url=http://www.pnj.com/story/news/2014/11/08/dr-dino-facing-new-legal-woes/18730293/ | periodical=Pensacola News Journal | accessdate=2015-05-03}}</ref> | |||
| === Federal mail fraud and criminal contempt trial in 2015 === | |||
| {{Wikisource|USA v Kent Hovind and Paul Hansen Indictment}} | |||
| On October 21, 2014, Hovind was indicted by a federal grand jury in Pensacola, Florida, on two counts of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy with ] to commit mail fraud, and one count of criminal contempt for<ref>Indictment, Oct. 21, 2014, ''United States v. Hovind'', case no. 3:14-cr-00091-MCR, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola Div.).</ref> interfering with the sale of Pensacola properties Hovind was forced to forfeit as a result of the 2006 case.<ref name=LegalWoes /> Hovind and Hansen pleaded not guilty and were tried together.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Robinson|first1=Kevin|title=Trial for 'Dr. Dino' moved to January|date=December 2, 2014|url=http://www.pnj.com/story/news/crime/2014/11/28/hovind-trial-moved-january/19615979/|website=Pensacola News Journal|accessdate=2015-08-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Robinson|first1=Kevin|title='Dr. Dino' trial delayed until March |date=January 28, 2015 |url=http://www.pnj.com/story/news/crime/2015/01/28/dr-dino-trial-delayed-march/22465633/ |website=Pensacola News Journal|accessdate=2015-08-22}}</ref> | |||
| On March 2, 2015, the trial began in ]. On the first day of testimony, the prosecution discussed Hovind and Hansen's "dozens of filings", including several '']'', used to resist a court-ordered forfeiture due in part to legal advice Hovind took from his "cellmate in a New Hampshire prison camp".<ref name=TrialFirstDay>{{cite web|last1=Robinson|first1=Kevin|title=Hovind's 'fight' continues in court |url=http://www.pnj.com/story/news/crime/2015/03/03/day-hovind-trial/24341107/ |website=Pensacola News Journal|accessdate=March 3, 2015}}</ref> The prosecution case included numerous emails, recorded phone calls, and court filings related to the forfeited properties.<ref name=TrialFirstWeek /> The prosecution presented audio of Hovind characterizing a ''lis pendens'' by asking his daughter, "Have you ever taken a step into dog crap and it gets stuck on your feet and it's really hard to get off?"<ref name=TrialFirstDay /> Hansen and Hovind took the stand in their own defense. According to journalist Kevin Robinson, during Hovind's testimony, he "refused to give short answers" and said that he believed his actions were lawful.<ref name=TakesWitnessStand>{{cite web|last1=Robinson|first1=Kevin|title='Dr Dino' Kent Hovind takes the witness stand |url=http://www.pnj.com/story/news/2015/03/10/dr-dino-kent-hovind-takes-witness-stand-trial/24712901/ |website=Pensacola News Journal|accessdate=March 10, 2015}}</ref> On March 12, 2015, Hovind was found guilty on one count of criminal contempt,<ref name=Verdict>{{cite web|last1=|first1=|title=Kent 'Dr Dino' Hovind trial: Guilty of contempt |url=http://www.pnj.com/story/news/2015/03/12/hovind-trial-deliberations/70205932/ |date=March 12, 2015|website=Pensacola News Journal|accessdate=2015-08-22}}</ref> Hansen on two counts of criminal contempt,<ref name="codefendant">{{cite web|last1=|first1=|title=Hovind’s co-defendant gets 18 months in prison |date=August 21, 2015 |url=http://www.pnj.com/story/news/crime/2015/08/21/hovinds-co-defendant-hansen-gets-months-prison/32155699/ |website=Pensacola News Journal|accessdate=2015-08-22}}</ref> and ] on the remaining charges.<ref name=Verdict /> | |||
| A trial on the counts on which the jury could not reach a verdict had been ordered to begin on May 18, 2015.<ref>Court order, March 20, 2015, docket entry 155, ''United States v. Hovind'', case no. 3:14-00091-MCR, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola Div.).</ref> However, on Saturday, May 16, 2015, the prosecution filed its "Government's Motion to Dismiss Counts One, Two and Four of the Superseding Indictment Without Prejudice," citing "issues regarding the technical sufficiency of the Superseding Indictment, including the adequacy of notice."<ref>Docket entry 194, May 16, 2015, ''United States v. Kent E. Hovind and Paul John Hansen'', case no. 3:14-cr-00091-MCR, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola Div.).</ref> Later on Saturday, May 16, the Court cancelled the jury selection and trial that had been scheduled to begin on Monday, May 18, in order, in the Court's words, to permit the defendants to respond to the government's motion.<ref>, May 16, 2015, ''United States v. Kent E. Hovind and Paul John Hansen'', case no. 3:14-cr-00091-MCR, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola Div.).</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=Hovind charges in Pensacola erode | |||
| | first=Kevin | last=Robinson | date=May 18, 2015 | periodical=Pensacola News Journal | url=http://www.pnj.com/story/news/crime/2015/05/18/hovinds-unresolved-charges-dropped/27538727/ | accessdate=2015-05-19}}</ref> | |||
| On Monday, May 18, 2015, the U.S. District Court made two decisions. First, the Court granted the prosecutor's request for a "without prejudice" dismissal of the three remaining charges against Hovind, allowing the prosecutor to go back to a Federal grand jury and seek a new indictment if desired.<ref>, May 18, 2015, ''United States v. Kent E. Hovind and Paul John Hansen'', case no. 3:14-cr-00091-MCR, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola Div.).</ref> Second, the Court rendered a judgment of acquittal on the criminal contempt charge on which Hovind had been found guilty by the jury. On that point, the Court concluded that in the specific order that Hovind had been found guilty of violating, there was no actual language that prohibited Hovind from doing anything.<ref>, May 18, 2015, ''United States v. Kent E. Hovind and Paul John Hansen'', case no. 3:14-cr-00091-MCR, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola Div.).</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=Kent 'Dr. Dino' Hovind cleared of all charges for now | first=Kevin | last=Robinson | date=May 19, 2015 | periodical=Pensacola News Journal | url=http://www.pnj.com/story/news/crime/2015/05/19/hovind-cleared-charges-now/27591891/ | accessdate=2015-08-22}}</ref> | |||
| In July 2015, Hovind was released to home confinement for roughly one month to finish his prison sentence for his 2006 conviction.<ref>{{cite news | title=Hovind free from jail, back in Pensacola | first=Kevin | last=Robinson | date=July 10, 2015 | periodical=Pensacola News Journal | url=http://www.pnj.com/story/news/local/2015/07/10/hovind-free-jail-back-pensacola/29969745/ | accessdate=2015-07-10}}</ref> | |||
| On August 21, 2015, Paul John Hansen was sentenced to 18 months in prison and three years probation for the two counts of contempt. At that time, Kent Hovind said he planned to rebuild his ministry.<ref name="codefendant" /> | |||
| == See also == | |||
| {{Portal|Biography|Religion}} | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| ==Notes== | |||
| {{Reflist|group=notes}} | |||
| == References == | |||
| {{Reflist|30em}} | |||
| == External links == | |||
| {{wikimedia|collapsible=true|Kent Hovind|v=no|b=no|voy=no|species=no|d=Q1390978|wikt=no}} | |||
| * {{official website}} | |||
| * {{IMDb name | nm2379457 }} | |||
| * | |||
| {{Chick Publications Navbox|state=expanded}} | |||
| {{Creation Science}} | |||
| {{Authority control}} | |||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:Hovind, Kent}} | |||
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Revision as of 23:36, 11 January 2016
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