Pastor accused of raping child over 600 times, getting her pregnant, Texas officials say
A Texas pastor has been arrested after investigators say he repeatedly sexually assaulted a family member when she was a child, news outlets report.
The 40-year-old man was arrested Oct. 9 on charges of sexual assault of a child and continued sexual abuse of a child, according to court records.
McClatchy News is not identifying the suspect to protect the identity of the victim.
“When he learned of the charges, he turned himself in, so he can clear his name,” defense attorney Eric Davis said after the hearing, according to KHOU. “And we’d ask before there’s a trial, that he be presumed innocent, that people can keep an open mind and hold to them the Constitutional presumption of innocence.”
McClatchy News reached out to Davis but did not immediately hear back.
An arrest warrant accuses the Houston area man of sexually assaulting a girl beginning when she was 7 years old, according to KPRC. Court records say the abuse continued for years and happened over 600 times.
The victim told police the assault happened when family members were sleeping and sometimes in a vehicle on the way to school, KTRK reported. She also told police he would take her to a church where he worked to rape her.
“Too often people in positions of power abuse and take advantage of people that trust them. I look forward to allowing the complainant’s voice to be heard,” the prosecutor told KHOU in a statement.
The victim told police that when she was 16 years old, she secretly gave birth to the man’s baby in a closet. She said he dropped the baby off at a fire station, KHOU reported.
The victim is now in her 20s and working to get the child back, according to KPRC.
The man is currently being held in the Harris County Jail on a $200,000 bond, court records show.
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