Accused Altar Desecrator Being Sought

NOVEMBER 1--An Ohio judge has issued an arrest warrant for a woman accused of defecating on a church altar, according to court records.

Laura Miniard, 27, was due in court Monday for a hearing in connection with her indictment for allegedly relieving herself inside the chapel at Cincinnati’s Good Samaritan Hospital.

When Miniard, seen at right, failed to appear for her October 30 court date, Judge Janaya Trotter Bratton ordered her arrest. Originally busted for desecration, a felony, Miniard was subsequently indicted for criminal damaging or endangering, a misdemeanor.

Since her arrest earlier this year, Miniard has repeatedly violated terms of her supervised release. In addition to removing an electronic monitoring device, she has traveled outside the state, failed to abide by an approved schedule, and did not keep a monitoring unit charged, leading a probation officer to report that “her whereabouts are unknown.”

Though her bond has been revoked twice, Miniard has been allowed to remain free on her own recognizance.

Miniard, who has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, was busted in May after she allegedly “defecated on the altar” and used a “fabric runner on altar to wipe herself.” Cops charged that she also “used a picture in chapel & smeared feces on table of altar.” The hospital chapel is seen at left.

Miniard’s address is listed in court records as a home in Loveland, a Cincinnati suburb, owned by her mother, a registered nurse. Other records show her residing in an apartment about two miles from Good Samaritan. Miniard is currently licensed through Ohio’s Casino Control Commission as a “casino gaming employee.” (2 pages)