wfn.org | One "Frugal Gourmet" Case Dismissed; Others Set For Trial

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CONTACT: 	Tim Tanton
(10-71B){136}
		Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5473	       March 9, 1998

Case against "Frugal Gourmet" dismissed;
two others set for April trial

	TACOMA, Wash. (UMNS) -- One of three sexual abuse lawsuits
against "Frugal Gourmet" chef Jeff Smith has been dismissed, and the
remaining cases are set for trial April 28.
	Smith, 59, is an ordained United Methodist minister, but he has
not been under appointment by the bishop and cabinet of the church's
Pacific Northwest Annual (regional) Conference since he "voluntarily
located" in the area in 1973.
He has denied any wrongdoing in earlier published reports.
The dismissed lawsuit had been filed by Clinton Smith, 37, of
Eatonville, Wash., according to Associated Press. The lawsuit was
dismissed Feb. 13 for unstated reasons, and the plaintiff said he would
appeal, the wire service reported.
Clinton Smith, who isn't related to the Frugal Gourmet, began appearing
on radio talk shows in mid-1995 claiming that when he was 16, Jeff Smith
forced him to have sex and to take part in "sexually oriented parties
with other adult pedophiles and other minor boys," AP reported.
Clinton Smith's claims spurred the other two lawsuits, which have been
combined. Most of the plaintiffs in those cases say Jeff Smith assaulted
them when they were teen-age employees at his Tacoma restaurant in the
1970s. However, one of the accusers says he was picked up as a
hitchhiker and assaulted in 1992.
	A United Methodist pastor in the 1960s, Smith had a career
change and achieved success as host of "The Frugal Gourmet,"  the highly
rated cooking show on PBS. He built his reputation on the show and a
stream of successful cookbooks. In 1995, he hosted "The Frugal Gourmet
Keeps the Feast" for the Odyssey Network, but that show was suspended
when the claims about sexual misconduct became known.
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