NEWPORT NEWS (VA)
Daily Press
BY SHAWN DAY
247-4816
January 26, 2006
NEWPORT NEWS -- A longtime Newport News pastor was arrested and held without bond Wednesday on charges that he failed to report allegations that a man he knew had sexually abused three young girls, and that he also discouraged another person from telling police.
The Rev. Floyd Blackwell, pastor of Miracle Temple Baptist Church on 32nd Street, turned himself in during the early afternoon, Officer Harold Eley said. Warrants had been issued for his arrest Tuesday. He was booked on three felony counts of obstruction. He also was booked on three misdemeanor counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, "because he was aware of the situation and didn't report it. He allowed the situation to continue," Eley said. Child Protective Services received an anonymous call on Nov. 30, claiming that a 19-year-old man had been sexually assaulting three girls, ages 7, 8 and 9, for the past three years, Eley said.
Officers investigated the report and arrested the man Jan. 14. He was booked on eight counts of sodomy, eight counts of taking indecent liberties with children and two counts of abduction.