# Kent Hovind arrested on 58 charges **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 14, 2006, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449 "2006-07-14T09:47:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449/1 "2006-07-14T09:47:03Z")
[http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060713/NEWS01/60713013](http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060713/NEWS01/60713013) Unfortunately, no laws exist to prosecute this man in the areas in which he is chiefly fraudulent, but I guess this is the next best thing. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449/2 "2006-07-14T13:35:55Z")
How, pray-tell, did you come across this blurb? Fraud may be too strong of a word, I think he actually believes everything he ‘teaches’. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449/3 "2006-07-14T13:42:48Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > U.S. Magistrate Judge Miles Davis Cool. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449/4 "2006-07-14T14:30:52Z")
> [@Uncommon Sense](#): > > How, pray-tell, did you come across this blurb? > Fraud may be too strong of a word, I think he actually believes everything he ‘teaches’. Picked it up on a creation/evolution debate board I frequent. I disagree; in order to construct some of the arguments he uses, it is necessary to engage in wilful deception. Origination of Quote-mined arguments, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449/5 "2006-07-14T14:35:23Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Cool. 🆒 I hear the prosecution is being headed by John Coltrane & Herb Alpert, and the defense “Dream Team” being run by Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and B.B. King. Tripler “With the Judge on the killin’ floor, I got them objection overruled blues.” ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449/6 "2006-07-14T14:36:54Z")
Granted, but maybe he didn’t construct the arguments. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449/7 "2006-07-14T14:48:41Z")
_does a happy dance_ I hope they nail his lying, cheating, weaseling hide to the wall. I agree with **Mangetout**. I have a great deal of sympathy for the majority of Young Earth Creationists, because I believe they have been duped. They are scientifically ignorant and have been tricked by the arguments promulaged the YEC movement. However, I firmly believe that those at the head of the movement who craft said arguments _must_ be aware that they are cherrypicking the scientific literature, distorting scientific fact and outright _lying_. If they truly, honestly, deep down in their hearts actually _believe_ that they are arguing fairly and truthfully representing the scientific evidence, then they are so seriously deluded that they should probably be taken off the street for their own safety. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449/8 "2006-07-14T14:50:28Z")
> [@hawthorne](#): > > Granted, but maybe he didn’t construct the arguments. Kent Hovind is one of the leaders of the YEC movement, and the blithe originator of volumes of Creationist bullhonkery. [More information on Hovind from talkorigins.](http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/hovind/) ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449/9 "2006-07-14T14:59:18Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > [http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060713/NEWS01/60713013](http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060713/NEWS01/60713013) > > Unfortunately, no laws exist to prosecute this man in the areas in which he is chiefly fraudulent, but I guess this is the next best thing. While being an arsehole isn’t against the law, rest assured the US Gov’t _really_ puts a hurtin’ on you if you don’t pay taxes. A charge of Tax Evasion is fairly easy to prove (or cook up evidence), practically a sure thing as far as prosecution goes, and carries _heavy_ penalties in the form of both financial punishment and incarceration. That guy is _fucked_ (in the parlance of our times). ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449/10 "2006-07-14T15:46:59Z")
> [@Winston Smith](#): > > A charge of Tax Evasion is fairly easy to prove (or cook up evidence), practically a sure thing as far as prosecution goes, and carries _heavy_ penalties in the form of both financial punishment and incarceration. That guy is _fucked_ (in the parlance of our times). And, sort of like being an enemy combatant, in this case you have to prove you are not guilty of tax evasion, rather than the opposite. Tris ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449/11 "2006-07-14T16:14:09Z")
He’s not being arrested for being a creationist, but for being a tax cheat. YEC is a stupid philosophy, but it’s his–and your–right to hold whatever dumb, unsupportable beliefs he chooses. But don’t screw with the IRS. Still, he’s an ass, and I ain’t sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Ragiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ragiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ragiel)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449/12 "2006-07-14T16:14:25Z")
> [@Uncommon Sense](#): > > How, pray-tell, did you come across this blurb? > Fraud may be too strong of a word, I think he actually believes everything he ‘teaches’. Well, if the charges are true, he seems to have totally deleted the “render unto caesar” part. And the part about not bearing false witness, as well. I guess compared to Moses and Jesus his cooked-up prophecies do seem more relevant to _some_ believers. :rolleyes: Can his “Christian” card get cancelled? ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449/13 "2006-07-14T16:19:27Z")
Can he claim the discrepencies are explained by intelligent bookkeeping? ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449/14 "2006-07-14T16:26:30Z")
Wow, I’m glad you posted that link, **Podkayne**. I have a friend, a very nice man in his 70’s, who believes every word this guy says/writes. And the thing is, he’s _not_ a blithering idiot, _really_ - he just wants so badly to see the world through creationist glasses that I guess he’s willing to suspend disbelief. Maybe this will change his mind about _one_ of his favorite sources, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449/15 "2006-07-14T16:27:25Z")
> [@Sublight](#): > > Can he claim the discrepencies are explained by intelligent bookkeeping? Not intelligent bookkeeping, but perhaps Intelligent Bookkeeping;) ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449/16 "2006-07-14T17:02:27Z")
I found [this image](http://derekrodgers.info/images/hovind.jpg) on another EvC forum. Hasn’t Dr. Dino been disowned as a clown even by a lot of other creationists? I think even Answers in Genesis warns its sheep not to use his arguments. His ludicrous [$250,000 Challenge](http://www.kent-hovind.com/250K/challenge.htm) is almost enough to warrant a hitch in a federal prison. This proves nothing about creationism or creationsists, of course, but I love the smell of schadenfreude in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449/17 "2006-07-14T17:20:15Z")
I heard elsewhere last week that Hovind apparently didn’t obtain the proper permits to build his stupid Dino/Creation theme park. And he’s still refusing to get the proper permits to operate the thing and to pay the fines from not obtaining build permits. Hovind said he was gonna tear it down rather than get the permits. More info about his tax problems can be found at the links in this thread from the James Randi bulletin board: > **[The tax case against Kent Hovind ended - International Skeptics Forum](http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59698)** > > The tax case against Kent Hovind ended General Skepticism and The Paranormal And here’s some poop about the missing permits: [http://www.pandasthumb.org/archives/2006/04/dino\_adventure.html](http://www.pandasthumb.org/archives/2006/04/dino_adventure.html) ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449/18 "2006-07-14T17:23:08Z")
[http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060714/NEWS01/607140333/1006](http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060714/NEWS01/607140333/1006) Updated story. > [@From the story](#): > > “I still don’t understand what I’m being charged for and who is charging me,” he said. > > 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. > [@Also from the story](#): > > 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. Someone’s been naughty. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449/19 "2006-07-14T17:35:42Z")
> [@Ragiel](#): > > Well, if the charges are true, he seems to have totally deleted the “render unto caesar” part. And the part about not bearing false witness, as well. I guess compared to Moses and Jesus his cooked-up prophecies do seem more relevant to _some_ believers. :rolleyes: Can his “Christian” card get cancelled? I don’t think he’s ever really been much of a sincere Christian anyway. He keeps lying after he already KNOWS he’s lying. He propagates bogus facts and arguments even after other creationists have conceded that they’re bogus and shouldn’t be used. His motives seem to be purely pecuniary, not really evangelical. He sees Christian Fundamentalists as, marks, as suckers, as naive sheep, ready to be fleeced. I doubt he believes 3/4 of his own bullshit. There are people in the creationist movement who do seem to have a sincere center of faith, who take their Christianity seriously and who want to be as ethical as they can (not so easy given the parameters of the evidence and the lengths they are forced to resort to in order to get around it), but at least some of them I think are basically just self-deluded and emotionally invested in Biblical literacy rather than cynically mercenary like Hovind. The ethical types don’t like outright lying and dishonesty, and don’t like seeing Christians being deliberately conned. For those reasons, Hovind does not have a great reputation even in the YEC community. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449/20 "2006-07-14T17:36:50Z")
And here’s the Dino Adventure Land website. Nice little message from Hovind there about his permit issues - I highly recommend it. Hovind’s closing is particularly nice: “God can stop this II Kings 1 style in zero seconds!” [II Kings 1](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=12&chapter=1&version=9) Makes for interesting reading. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kent-hovind-arrested-on-58-charges/364449.md?page=2)