BishopAccountability.org
	Breaking News: Silsbee Pastor Indicted on Three Counts of Indecency with Child By Gerry L. Dickert Silsbee Bee June 12, 2008 http://www.silsbeebee.com/news.php?viewStory=288 Silsbee pastor Lester L. Banks has turned himself in to the Hardin County Sheriff's Office after a warrant was issued for his arrest on three counts of indecency with a child. This Tuesday, the Hardin County Grand Jury returned three indictments against Banks, the 52-year-old pastor of Union Baptist Church in Silsbee. The indictments accuse Banks of three counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact. All are second-degree felonies and each carried a $150,000 bond. Each count involves the alleged sexual contact with a child under 17 years old. The Silsbee Police Department has been investigating the allegations after they arose during an investigation into an unrelated case regarding sexual assault, according to Silsbee Police Chief Dennis Allen. After Tuesday's indictments, a warrant for Banks' arrest was issued and Police Chief Allen called Banks to ask him to turn himself into the police department. Banks, who has been a longtime vocal opponent of the Silsbee Police Department and its policies, instead turned himself in to the sheriff's department at about 2:30 p.m. today (Thursday). Banks works at a local retail outlet and has served as a substitute teacher for the Silsbee school district in the past. A call to the Silsbee superintendent's office could not confirm whether or not he served as a substitute this past school year. The three counts against Banks accuses him of touching the genitals of a child under 17, having a child under 17 touch his genitals and having the child's genitals come in contact with the mouth of the defendant. Banks remained in the Hardin County jail as of early Thursday afternoon.
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