Focus co-host admits to transgression

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Oct 17, 2000 by Eric Gorski

Mike Trout, the longtime co-host on Focus on the Family President James Dobson's popular radio program, said Monday he had an inappropriate relationship with a woman other than his wife and had no choice but to resign from a ministry that stresses the sanctity of marriage.

In an hourlong interview at his Colorado Springs home, Trout, 53, said he quit Wednesday because his behavior violated moral standards that Focus on the Family employees agree to follow.

"I'm greatly saddened," said Trout, who has been married for 31 years. "I didn't work at Focus on the Family for 19 years because of the paycheck or the benefits or the positive environment. I worked at Focus on the Family because I believed in what we were doing. I know that might sound strange, because I violated it."

Trout was reluctant to discuss details of the extramarital relationship, citing the feelings of the other family involved. He said the woman was not a Focus on the Family employee. He called the relationship "not a long-term thing" and said it is over. He called the relationship "emotional."

Trout's relationship may have put Focus in a tough spot because the $116-million-a-year evangelical group relies almost entirely on donations from supporters who have come to trust figures such as Dobson and Trout.

Trout emphasized Monday that the blame lies with him.

"As people think about this situation, reflect on me, don't reflect on Focus on the Family," he said. "This is exactly what I described it as - a personal problem, not a corporate problem. This is a cancer in my own life, not in the ministry of Focus on the Family."

A Focus spokesman could not be reached for comment Monday. The ministry has declined to discuss the factors behind Trout's resignation, citing legal and privacy concerns.

Though best known as Dobson's on-air sidekick, Trout spent most of his time managing the Focus on the Family broadcast division as a senior vice president, the only person at the ministry to hold that title. When he came to Focus on the Family, he was one of 30 employees. There are now 1,300.

Beginning in 1986, Trout was the announcer and co-host on Focus' daily half-hour radio broadcast, which reaches an estimated 2 million people in North America. He's also written two books, one on the radio show and another on a cross-country bike trip. That trip led to a series of bike rallies across the country, "Bike for the Family," to generate money and publicity for Focus.

A Focus spokesman has called Trout "probably the most recognizable name or voice" at the ministry, after Dobson.

An earlier Dobson co-host, Gil Alexander-Moegerle, was reassigned to a lower-profile job after his wife began divorce proceedings against him in 1985. Alexander-Moegerle resigned in 1987 then sued Focus claiming he was unfairly pressured to leave because Focus officials feared his remarriage would hurt the ministry's image. The lawsuit was dismissed.

Trout said Monday he is still sorting through why he became involved with another woman. "I wish I knew," he said.

Trout said he confided in Dobson about the relationship during an emotional conversation Oct. 10. He said no one confronted him with knowledge of the relationship before he went to Dobson. He said Dobson was "flabbergasted and saddened."

Trout said he felt compelled to tell Dobson what he had done.

"If I hadn't shared the truth, it would have eventually come out," he said.

Trout said he knew the admission would cost him his job because Focus on the Family employee policies are clear about how the ministry will respond to such "moral failures." He said he was not asked to resign but did so on his own.

Trout's wife, Nancy, said that her husband's resignation was a matter of integrity.

"You can't lead a Christian organization when you've been leading that life," she said. "It's all part of your relationship with God. You're not just working for a business. You're working in a ministry. Your heart and your conscience needs to be pure to work in a ministry."

Mike Trout said he and his wife, who have three grown daughters, are "still working" on their future together.

Said Nancy Trout: "I'm standing with my husband, and we will get through this and be stronger and better people than we were before."

Dobson, in a radio program aired Friday, called Trout "a brother and a much-cherished friend" but did not discuss the details of his resignation.

He also asked listeners to pray for Focus on the Family, which he said "has gone through some pretty tough times in the past few months."

Another Focus on the Family official, John Paulk, has been criticized for visiting a gay bar in Washington, D.C., last month and then lying about it.

Paulk, a self-described former homosexual who advocates that gays can change, remains employed at Focus on the Family. The ministry has declined to say whether he was disciplined.

Dobson said in a radio program that Paulk should be forgiven even though he "hurt the cause of Christ."