Brody's Notes... Anti-Gay Pastor Scott Lively's Coffee Shop's Manager Arrested As An Unregistered Sex Offender

Michael Frediani  Booking Photo courtesy of the Springfield, Massachusetts, Police Department

By Mark Singer (Washington DC) JAN 13 | Detectives from the Springfield, Massachusetts, Police Special Victim's Unit today arrested Michael Frediani, 38, of 453 State St., for failure to register as a Level 2 sex offender. According to the arrest warrant, Frediani was living in an apartment above the coffee house at that address. He told police that he was the coffee shop's volunteer manager.

Holy Grounds Coffee Shop- a cafe operated by anti-gay pastor Scott Lively that serves free coffee and offers conversation to teenage visitors, has come under fire from local officials including Superintendent of Schools Alan J. Ingram, Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, and City Councilor Timothy J. Rooke, who raised questions and concerns about the coffee shop, including its close proximity to the High School of Commerce and incidents of truancy.

According to the charging documents, Frediani was convicted of first degree sexual abuse and second degree aggravated sexual abuse in 1996, in New York. Those charges came after an arrest by the Canandaigua, New York, police department in 1995. The victim in that case was a 10-year-old girl, and the description of the offense was “deviate sexual intercourse.” He was sentenced to two to four years in state prison, serving at the NY Mid-state Correctional Facility from September of 1996 to February of 1999, according to Carole Weaver, from the state’s Division of Probation & Parole.

Sgt. John M. Delaney, a spokesman to Springfield's Police Commissioner, William J. Fitchet, told reporters that Frediani is listed in New York as a Level 3 sex offender, which is defined as most likely to repeat an offense. He had moved to Springfield on Jan. 1, from 2119 Northampton St., in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and had failed to register as a sex offender, which is required by law, Delaney said. Frediani is being held at the Springfield police lock-up without bail.
The local Springfield newspaper, The Republican, reported:

The coffee house drew criticism last week from some city and school officials, in part because of concerns that truant students were visiting the site during school hours. Lively, pastor of Redemption Gate Mission Society, has criticized media reports, which he says falsely portray him as a gay-bashing, hate-mongering activist. 

City Councilor Timothy J. Rooke raised concerns about Lively’s background. He referenced Lively’s book “The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party.” A website for the book states in part that the Nazi Party “was conceived, organized and controlled ... by masculine-oriented male homosexuals.”

Lively said he met with a vice principal on Monday to discuss truancy concerns, and agreed that students will not be permitted to stay during school hours, 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and a sign will be posted to alert students.

Lively is considered largely responsible for Uganda's still-pending "Kill The Gays" legislation that was introduced after his visit with local evangelicals and politicians in the spring of 2010 in that African nation and is a close professional and personal associate of Peter LaBarbera. [ LaBarbera is head of American's For Truth About Homosexuality, a vehemently anti-gay group recently added to the Southern Poverty Law Center's 'Hate Group' list for its vitriol about LGBTQ persons.]