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	Ex-Delco Pastor Arrested in Arizona Gerald L. Klever, Formerly of Springfield's First Presbyterian, Faces 1970s Sex-Abuse Charges. By Michael Matza Philadelphia Inquirer [Pennsylvania] February 3, 2007 http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/counties/montgomery_county/16613616.htm Residents of Springfield, Delaware County, were privately abuzz but publicly mum this week after a local detective traveled to Arizona to make an arrest in a 30-year-old case of alleged sexual abuse by an assistant pastor formerly affiliated with the town's First Presbyterian Church. Gerald L. Klever, 75, was arrested in Tucson on Wednesday. The arrest followed an investigation initiated in the spring after 12 women contacted Springfield police to say Klever had raped or sexually assaulted them - in his church office or on church trips - between 1977 and 1983. A church member said last night that the entire congregation had received an e-mail asking that all inquiries be directed to the current pastor, Byron Leasure, who could not be immediately reached for comment yesterday. "This was a joint effort" of the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division, the District Attorney's Office, the Springfield police, and the Tucson Police Department, Springfield Detective Daniel McNeely said in a prepared statement. Two of the victims reported having sex with Klever when they were 16, police said in the criminal complaint. One said she had engaged in oral sex with Klever at least 150 times from June 1977 through September 1980, mostly in his office at the church. Police said Klever told the mother of that girl he was taking her to a seminar on assertiveness training and instead took her to a hotel room and had sex with her. He was counseling another victim for depression and anxiety at the time of the alleged assaults, according to the criminal complaint. Klever is charged with three counts of rape and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, as well as one count each of indecent assault, indecent exposure, and corruption of minors. He is in custody in the Pima County, Ariz., jail on a $500,000 bond. Springfield Township police said a detention hearing was scheduled for Feb. 8 in Tucson. Authorities said they did not know when Klever moved to Tucson, perhaps as early as 1996, although they said he left Springfield in 1983 when he apparently bought a house in Maryland. Contact staff writer Michael Matza at 215-854-2541 or mmatza@phillynews.com. This article includes information from the Associated Press.
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