Local Pastor Accused of Child Molestation

By Dan Spehler
Fox 59
December 11, 2012

http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-local-pastor-accused-of-child-molestation-20121209,0,7822971.column

An eastside pastor is charged with three felony counts of child molesting, after a parishioner accused 70-year-old Otis Bernard Jetter of molesting him when he was a child.

Jetter denied the allegations when confronted by police, but late last week, the Marion County prosecutor filed charges against Jetter.

The accuser, Arthur Stevens, spoke recently with Fox59 to share his story. Stevens said he had always enjoyed going to church at Pilgrim Chapel Missionary Baptist Church.

But at the age of twelve, things suddenly changed.

"He'd put me on the bed, and told me to take off my clothes, (then) he took off his clothes," Stevens said.

Now an adult, Stevens says the incidents would happen at local hotels and even in the pastor's van.

"He laid me down in the back of the van, put his knees in my arms, (and) held my arms down," Stevens said of the encounter.

"I just thought it was kind of weird at first, how he was always going to church with him in the evenings," said Arthur’s aunt, Angenette Stubbs. "I've asked him in the past about things that I've heard, but he would deny it. We were always really, really close so I felt like if something was going on, he would tell me."

"Always told me to never tell no one,” Stevens said. “I never told."

Stevens said the pastor gave him money over the years, and told him not to tell anyone what happened.

"The only reason he's saying something now is because he fears he might be doing it to other little boys," Stubbs said.

Through it all, Arthur says he's still been going to church at Pilgrim Chapel.

“I sing in the choir, and that's it,” Stevens said. “After I sing, I leave and go outside.”

Now, Stevens has a message for others in the same predicament.

“Don't be afraid,” he said. “Speak up while you got the chance. Don't hide and keep it in, cause you'll suffer for the longest.”