OCTOBER IS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE MONTH

Bishop Thomas W. Weeks, the man accused of beating, choking and stomping his evangelist wife Juanita Bynum in a hotel parking lot, held a press conference Friday at his Duluth Church to defend his reputation.

"I want to be clear in saying I do not condone in any way, shape or form violence of any kind towards women," said Weeks in a conference room at Global Destiny Church of Duluth, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "My role has always been to operate as a protector and not as an aggressor. I have walked away from many situations between the two of us, just like I walked away that night."

      Weeks, 40, claims he was attempting to reconcile with Bynum on the night before the alleged incident. The couple had separated in June.
      "I was with my wife the entire night and felt that our love for each other was going to get us through these hard times," Weeks said, claiming he went to the hotel restaurant on the day in question because his wife had asked for his help in raising money for her mentorship classes.
      "She shared her urgency that we meet that night because she needed to solidify the location to make her commercials," he said, according to AJC.
      Weeks is looking forward to clearing his name when facts of the criminal case emerge in due time, he said. The Bishop also expressed his desire to avoid a divorce.
      "In the last five years, I have always loved my wife and have been nothing but faithful to her," he said. "I understand that my silence to date has given me the perception of guilt, but understand that it was because my belief in the sacredness of marriage and hopes of true and full reconciliation as to why I kept silent."
      Weeks was charged with felony aggravated assault, felony terroristic threats and two counts of simple battery in connection with the Aug. 21 incident. He faces up to 27 years in jail if convicted.
      As previously reported, Bynum has filed for divorce and recently announced that she was "the new face of domestic violence."
     More recently, both Bynum and Weeks have both been trying to drum up dollars and support. Bynum is asking her partners for emergency seed money to fund 30 acres of land to be used for the new Juanita Bynum Ministries. Bishop Weeks on the other hand is having an “everything must go” sale on his website.