By Antonio Planas
Las Vegas Review-journal
June 23, 2011
http://www.lvrj.com/news/las-vegas-pastor-accused-of-sex-with-minors-sought-by-henderson-police-124453009.html
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| Otis Holland |
Henderson police are searching for a Las Vegas pastor accused of having sex with underage girls.
Police on Thursday said they have issued an arrest warrant for Otis Holland, 54, for 11 counts of sexual assault of a victim under 16.
Holland may have fled to California, police said.
He was arrested in December 2010 on three counts of sexual assault of a victim under 16. During the investigation, detectives heard new allegations that Holland might have had other inappropriate contact with minors.
In January, Holland was arrested on a felony count of lewdness with a minor under 14. His January arrest involved a different alleged victim than his December arrest, police said.
The current warrant involves allegations of two additional girls.
Holland is a pastor at the United Faith Church, in the lobby of a tax service at 2425 E. Hacienda Ave., near Tropicana and Eastern avenues.
According to Holland's police report for his December arrest, the girl told Henderson police she was an eighth-grader when Holland began "counseling her" after her parents had separated. One day after church, Holland molested her in his limousine, according to the report.
He told her not to tell anyone "because he would go to prison for a long time. The Rev. Otis also said that if she said anything he would be ruined because of her," the report read.
On the next four Sundays, Holland brought the girl to a house on Teton Pines Drive in Henderson, near Green Valley and Wigwam parkways, to "speak with her," she told detectives. Each time, he fondled and molested her, apparently while videotaping, according to police.
"He made me believe this was counseling," she told investigators.
The molestation ended on Christmas 2009. She told detectives that he once told her he "was doing this to save her life and make sure she was always safe with sex. He didn't want her to be naive and get taken advantage of," according to the report.
She also told police of at least two other possible victims.
The alleged incidents involving Holland occurred in Henderson and Las Vegas, police said.
Holland was known to be staying at a home in North Las Vegas.
Holland has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Sept. 6 in Henderson Justice Court.
Anyone with information about Holland is urged to call Henderson police at 267-4750 or Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.
Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.
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