Stabroek News
January 31, 2011
http://www.stabroeknews.com/2011/news/breaking/01/31/jamaica-born-bronx-priest-on-rape-charge/
A Jamaica-born Bronx minister has been charged with having a years-long sexual relationship with a young girl who attended his storefront church, according to the Associated Press.
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| Michael Clare (New York Daily News pic) |
Prosecutors say the Rev. Michael Clare has been indicted on first-degree rape and other charges. AP reported that the pastor at Harvest Worship Center is being held on $50,000 bail.
AP said that Clare was arrested in June after the girl told her family about the relationship. He was originally charged with second-degree rape, but a grand jury raised the charges on Friday.
Prosecutors say the sexual relationship began in 2006 when the girl was 12 and ended when the girl was 16. They say she became pregnant at 15 and DNA evidence linked the baby to Clare, AP said.
Clare faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
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