BishopAccountability.org
	Phila. Pastor Arrested in Del. Child Sex Charges Philadelphia Inquirer March 27, 2009 http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/20090327_Phila__pastor_arrested_in_Del__child_sex_charges_1.html Police in New Castle County, Delaware, have arrested the pastor of a Philadelphia congregation on charges of sexually abusing a teenage boy. The Rev. Harry R. Benson Jr., 40, senior pastor of Eastwick United Methodist Church on Lindbergh Road in Southwest Philadelphia, was arrested Tuesday on charges of rape in the first degree, one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child, 12 counts of unlawful sexual contact in the first degree, and one count of sexual solicitation of a child, according to the New Castle County Police Department. The assaults, police said, lasted years. Police provided few other details, to protect the victim. Benson was arrested after the boy told a counselor at his high school about the abuse. Benson, who resides in Newark, Del., was being held in Howard Young Prison after failing to post $126,000 secured bail. Bishop Peggy Johnson, head of the Eastern Pennsylvania Synod of the United Methodist Church, said in a statement yesterday that Benson had been suspended from his pastoral duties and would remain so pending outcome of the police investigation. Calls to Eastwick United Methodist Church were not returned yesterday. - David O'Reilly
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.