Gastonia — A Bessemer City pastor stared straight ahead Monday as six women testified that he groped them when they came to his church for food.
Harley Michael Keough, 73, is the pastor at King James Baptist Church. He is on trial in Gaston County court, charged with 10 counts of sexual battery and one count of assault on a female.
The women, who are not being identified by NewsChannel 36, say the assaults all happened when they went to the food bank run by the church.
They said Keogh would take them into an area where food supplies were kept and that is where the assaults happened.
Posted By rodneypires on May 26, 2010
Category: Sex Crimes
Tags: Sex Crimes
Reidsville, NC — A church service was interrupted Sunday when a man assaulted one of the members. Just after 2:00pm Rockingham County Deputies responded to Solomon’s Temple Church in Reidsville for a reported disturbance. Pastor Ron Galloway explained how Antonio Simmons assaulted one of his members during service. The victim said Simmons grabbed her arm, pulled her hair and choked her. Pastor Galloway asked Simmons to leave, but he refused. That’s when several members of the congregation physically took Simmons out to the parking lot. He still refused to leave church premises, but ended up leaving just before deputies arrived. Around 4:00pm Sunday, a deputy found Simmons traveling in a red pick-up truck with about a dozen other people. He was arrested without incident.
Posted By rodneypires on May 11, 2010
Category: Assault
Tags: Assaults
EUGENE — Quick action by witnesses has helped thwart the kidnapping of a 2-year-old outside a church in Eugene.
Eugene police spokeswoman Melinda McLaughlin says witnesses heard a mother calling out for her child outside Bethesda Lutheran Church Saturday afternoon.
Some saw a man attempting to lure a toddler away from the rest of the crowd. A woman grabbed the child, and the man jumped into a vehicle and drove away.
A police crime prevention specialist who was at the scene radioed in descriptions of the suspect and vehicle, and police quickly detained the suspect.
The Register-Guard newspaper reports that 23-year-old Azoulas David Yurashunas was arrested and booked into Lane County Jail. He faces a charge of second-degree kidnapping.
Posted By rodneypires on May 3, 2010
Category: Child Abductions
Tags: Child Abductions
THE WOODLANDS, TX — It’s proof that thieves will hit any place at any time. Even a church isn’t sacred. Someone broke into a church in The Woodlands and stole the entire Sunday collection.
It was about 4pm and the church was filled with choir members when someone came through the front door, then broke into an interior office and stole an entire safe filled with cash, checks and credit cards. The entire Sunday collection was gone, along with cards used to pay the bills.
“The lock on the door to the office apparently is very easy to jimmy,” said Woodlands Christian Church Chairman Rose Sinclair.
She says the break-in was a big shock.
Posted By rodneypires on May 3, 2010
Category: Church Theft, Uncategorized
Tags: Church Vandalism
Donny Ray Horton, 46, was charged with arson and criminal mischief for the blaze at the Gardendale First Baptist Church, located about 15 miles from Birmingham, Ala. A new sanctuary is being built near I-65.
Posted By rodneypires on May 3, 2010
Category: Church Arson
Tags: Church Arson
A 48-year-old Port Huron Township woman charged with stealing money from St. Edward On-the-Lake Catholic Church has a plea hearing at 1:45 p.m. Monday in St. Clair County Circuit Judge Daniel Kelly’s courtroom.
Jacalyn O’Boyle is charged with embezzlement $100,000 or more. O’Boyle worked for the church for 15 years. The missing money was discovered during a July audit
Posted By rodneypires on May 3, 2010
Category: Church Embezzlement
Tags: Church Embezzlement
