Crazy People Gather At My Blog

Sad, but true. All sorts of crazy people have gathered in the comments to a blog post I made last year about Kent Hovind, who is a criminal who pretends to be a creationist. Incidentally, he was convicted.

Kent Hovind Arrested

Kent Hovind, a leading Florida creationist, known as "Dr. Dino" has been arrested on federal charges including tax evasion and threatening investigators. He wife Jo was charged with evading bank reporting requirements.

This is hardly the first of his legal troubles.

Kent Hovind, who often calls himself "Dr. Dino," has been sparring with the IRS for at least 17 years on his claims that he is employed by God, receives no income, has no expenses and owns no property.

"The debtor apparently maintains that as a minister of God, everything he owns belongs to God and he is not subject to paying taxes to the United States on money he receives for doing God's work," U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Lewis Killian Jr. wrote when he dismissed a claim from Hovind in 1996. . . . [A] grand jury alleges that Kent Hovind failed to pay $473,818 in federal income, Social Security and Medicare taxes on employees at his Creation Science Evangelism/Ministry between March 31, 2001, and Jan. 31, 2004. . . .

Among the ways he is accused of doing:

* Filing a frivolous lawsuit against the agency demanding damages for criminal trespass.

* Filing an injunction against an IRS special agent.

* Filing false complaints against the IRS for false arrest, excessive use of force and theft.

* Making threats against investigators and those cooperating with the investigation. . . .

Over Kent Hovind's protests, the judge took away his passport and guns Hovind claimed belonged to his church. . . . .

In April, Circuit Judge Michael Allen ordered the buildings at Dinosaur Adventure Land closed because Hovind failed to obtain a building permit during the 2002 construction. The outdoor theme park was allowed to stay open.

Members of Creation Science Evangelism said at the time that building permits violated their "deeply held" religious beliefs.

While the building permit case was tied up in a four-year court battle, ownership of the theme park was turned over to Glen Stoll, who works with Hovind on legal issues and is based in Washington.

Last year, the U.S. attorney in Seattle filed a lawsuit against Stoll, charging him with encouraging people to avoid tax payments by claiming to be religious entities, according to news reports.

In short, Kent Hovind is a crook.

Hat Tip to Daily Kos diarist fightcenteristbias. Citations to prior tax cases involving Hovind can be found here.