By Anelia K. Dimitrova
Waverly Newspapers
July 12, 2011
http://communitynewspapergroup.com/articles/2011/07/12/waverly_newspapers/news/doc4e1c570275923967042644.txt
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| Dennis Lee Brown of Eldora |
A Grundy County pastor is facing charges of sex abuse for allegedly having sex with a minor.
Dennis Lee Brown, 66, of Verona, Va., and currently of rural Eldora, was arrested Friday when Waverly police executed a search warrant on his summer home in Grundy County.
Brown is charged with sexual abuse in the third degree, a Class C felony, which, upon conviction is punishable by up to 10 years behind bars and a $10,000 fine.
In a criminal complaint filed in Bremer County, police charge that Brown, a pastor at Ivester Church of the Brethren in rural Grundy Center, met a victim over the Internet and then traveled to Waverly in May to engage in a sexual act.
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Jason Leonard, the spokesperson for the Waverly Police Department, said that investigators seized evidence on two occasions ?“ when the 15-year-old victim first came forward and when officers conducted a search at Brown’s residence.
Waverly police officers were assisted by their Cedar Falls counterparts and sheriff’s deputies from Bremer and Grundy counties.
Alice Draper, president of the board of Ivester Church of the Brethren, declined to comment.
Mary Jo Flory-Steury, the executive director of ministry for the Protestant church whose stated mission is “continuing the work of Jesus,” confirmed that the Church of Brethren, headquartered in Elgin, Ill., said that Brown was installed as an interim pastor in 2006, and as the pastor in 2008.
Flory-Steury said the church is conducting an inquiry in accordance with its internal policies.
“We care deeply for all parties involved in the process,” she said.
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