ARLINGTON, Texas — He was the charismatic preacher; she was the supportive wife.
Together, Terry and Renee Hornbuckle built a successful mega church in Arlington with more than 2,000 members. They owned a beautiful home and drove luxury cars. But, in January 2005, it all began to fall apart.
"When something like this hits you, you're like there's no way possible," Hornbuckle said of the moment her husband made a horrific confession. "There's no way this is happening."
The bishop told his wife that he was in trouble.
"It was there in that hotel room that everything was exposed, but he was still in denial," she said. "He accepted no responsibility."
Three women, two of them members of his church, Agape Christian Fellowship, accused him of rape. He brought them to an apartment in Euless, drugged them with GHB and then sexually assaulted them.
"It was devastating just to know that someone has been violated in that way," she said. "It's just horrible."
There had been rumors for years at the church that Hornbuckle was sleeping with female members of his congregation, and many speculated his wife knew.
"People have already said, 'Oh, what was she thinking? She had to have known what was going on,'" she said. "And let's be honest, sometimes people said, 'She's stupid for staying.'"
Hornbuckle insists she didn't know because she was isolated.
"People can be so cruel and so judgmental," she said. "And people don't think about that it's possible to be in a relationship and not know what another person is doing."
She does admit her husband started acting erratically and violently. He later confessed to being hooked on meth.
"There's a saying I like to say, 'There's just as much pain in the projects as there is misery in the mansion,'" she said.
It's taken Hornbuckle years to speak about what happened and tell the rest of the story.
"You're living in this world that is so volatile and you don't know what to expect and so you just learn to tolerate and put up with things you shouldn't put up with," she said.
Hornbuckle said the man on the pulpit, who claimed to be a man of God, beat and verbally abused her.
"There were times when he would actually hold me captive in the bathroom for hours and hours belittling me, stripping me of my value, blaming me for no reason at all," she said.
Two years after his arrest, she dutifully sat in the courtroom listening to all the horrible things her husband did. Some of her husband's advisers told her to stand by her man.
"I was told a lot of times to pray," Hornbuckle said. "I'm a praying woman. I believe in the word of God, but I needed something extra. I needed some intervention."
She said it pains her now that she didn't do more to get out. She said she also thinks about the women who were hurt and the followers who were disillusioned.
"First of all, I apologize and I'm sorry for the things that happened," Hornbuckle said. "But don't give up on God."
When her husband was convicted of all three counts and sentenced to 15 years in prison, she shut the door on that part of her life. She divorced her husband and raised their three children alone. She also renamed the church, where she's now the pastor.
She has written a book that will be released in November about her experiences. She says her message now is that if she can make it through this, other women can overcome and learn how to live in peace after the pain.
If you need help, the National Domestic Violence Hotline can be reached by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
