BishopAccountability.org
Winter Haven Pastor Charged with Sexual Battery

WESH
December 17, 2011

www.wesh.com/r/30020464/detail.html

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- A Winter Haven assistant pastor was arrested Saturday morning and charged with having sex with a minor seven years ago, police said.

Arnold Maurice Mathis, 41, was arrested at about 4:30 a.m. Saturday and charged with sexual battery.

The alleged victim, who is now 21, said the crime happened seven years ago, police said.

Mathis is a registered sex offender. He was adjudicated guilty of lewd and lascivious acts upon a child in Leon County in 1997 and served almost two years in the state prison in Taylor County.

Investigators said he told them he was the Assistant Pastor at Higher Praise Ministries in Lake Wales.

Earlier this week, police arrested a high school coach and two youth ministers for allegedly having sex with a teen.


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