Pemberton Twp. Deacon Charged with Sexual Assault at Church Service

By Danielle Camilli
Philly Burbs
July 14, 2012

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/burlington_county_times_news/pemberton-twp-deacon-charged-with-sexual-assault-at-church-service/article_8d4eedac-c194-5cc5-9700-bac7caa49364.html

Deacon Joseph V. Pullen Jr., 59, of Whispering Pines Boulevard in Pemberton Township, was charged with aggravated sexual assault, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and aggravated sexual contact for the alleged assaults of girl at a church service this month and an incident last year.

A deacon at a Pemberton Township church was charged with sexually assaulting a girl during a church service Sunday morning.

He also molested the child in a separate incident last fall, authorities said Friday.

Joseph V. Pullen Jr., 59, of Whispering Pines Boulevard in Pemberton Township, was charged with aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child for the alleged assault at the Calvary Baptist Church, Burlington County Prosecutor Robert D. Bernardi and township police Chief David H. Jantas said Friday.

Pullen, a deacon at the Scrapetown Road church, was alone with the girl at the time of the incident, authorities said. They would not release any information about the victim.

The pastor of Calvary Baptist Church could not be immediately reached for comment Friday on the charges against Pullen.

The investigation also revealed that he assaulted the same victim at another location in the fall of 2011, according to the Prosecutor’s Office. He faces charges of aggravated sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child in that incident.

Pullen was taken into custody and arrested early Friday at the township Police Department.

Superior Court Judge James W. Palmer Jr. maintained his bail at $250,000, with no 10 percent option, and signed a Nicole's Law order prohibiting him from having any contact with the victim. Palmer also ordered Pullen to have no unsupervised contact with minors if he does make bail.

The investigation was conducted by detectives from the township police force and the Prosecutor's Office’s Sexual Assault/Child Abuse Unit.

Anyone with information about the defendant that might be useful to authorities is asked to call 609-265-5879 to speak to a detective.

Danielle Camilli: 609-267-7586; email: dcamilli@phillyBurbs.com; Twitter: @bctdanielle