Sodomy trial against former Decatur pastor continued
MORGAN COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — A former Decatur pastor charged with two counts of sodomy won’t go on trial until later this year, court documents show.
In November 2021, 59-year-old Danny Duane Pitts was indicted and charged with one count of first-degree sodomy and one count of second-degree sodomy. The former church leader pleaded not guilty in March 2022 ahead of a jury trial that was originally slated for November 28, 2022.
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His trial has been continued four times since then, and he’s now set to go before a jury in Morgan County on October 21, 2024.
According to Lt. Alan McDearmond, Hartselle Police executed a warrant issued by the Morgan County Grand Jury against Pitts, arresting him at his Hartselle home in November 2021 without incident.
Pitts was booked into the Morgan County Jail and later released on a $500,000 bond. Conditions of Pitts’ release included that he had to wear an ankle monitor, could not leave the state and would have to turn over his passport.
Prior to his arrest, News 19 reported that a pastor had been accused of acting inappropriately toward kids at the GracePoint Church in Decatur as rumors were circulating on social media. Several people claimed to have been groomed and abused by a pastor at the church.
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According to authorities in Grundy County, Tennessee, Pitts faces four more sex-related charges in that state, including statutory rape, two counts of sexual battery by an authority figure and statutory rape by an authority figure.
Pitts was released from Grundy County custody on a $50,000 bond.
Court records say Pitts will have a pretrial settlement hearing set separately.
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