
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, September 30, 1993                   TAG: 9309300264
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PULASKI                                LENGTH: Short

FIRST GALLIMORE WIFE PLANS TO SEEK DIVORCE

Janice Gallimore, wife of a minister who said God sanctioned his taking of a second wife, is planning to file for divorce, her lawyer said.

Janice Gallimore supported her husband when he faced criminal charges of seduction and taking indecent liberties with a minor after marrying a 16-year-old church member in an informal ceremony.

Elwood Gallimore, minister of the Evangelistic Tabernacle Church in Collinsville, said he was married to Sabrina Simpkins "in the eyes of God."

During the trial, Janice Gallimore, 46, described her relationship with Simpkins as a friendly one. "We're like sisters," she said.

Charges against her husband were dropped in June when a circuit court judge concluded they were based on archaic statutes or lacked sufficient evidence.

"We'll be filing [for divorce] in Pulaski County Circuit Court," Radford lawyer Max Jenkins said.

Jenkins declined to reveal the grounds for the divorce petition he said would be filed today.

"If you're asking is it because of Sabrina Simpkins, my answer is, `No comment,' " Jenkins told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in a telephone interview Wednesday.

Elwood Gallimore said he and Janice Gallimore were undergoing a trial separation.

Simpkins is a senior at Floyd County High School and occasionally sees him, Gallimore said, although they are no longer living together.

"We're waiting to see what works out and to do everything legal," he said.

by CNB