Kilgore Pastor Arrested in Child Sex Assault Case

News-Journal
March 5, 2013

http://www.news-journal.com/news/local/kilgore-pastor-arrested-in-child-sex-assault-case/article_06b0705f-717d-546a-89e1-c86d89e17bc4.html

Calvary Way Pentecostal Church in Kilgore is seen in July 2007. Kilgore police issued a statement Monday that said they received a report two weeks ago alleging Pastor Glenn Barton sexually assaulted a child. A church spokeswoman on Monday declined to comment.

A Kilgore pastor was being held late Monday in the Rusk County Jail, accused by police of sexually assaulting a child over a period of years.

Glenn Douglas Barton, 62, was arrested about 3:30 p.m. Monday at a residence on the grounds of the Calvary Way Church and charged with an outstanding Rusk County warrant of arrest for aggravated sexual assault of a child, a felony grade offense.

He was being held under a $50,000 bond after being arraigned Monday evening in Kilgore Municipal Court.

The arrest and warrant stem from a continuing investigation being conducted by the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Kilgore Police Department, according to a statement issued by the department after the arrest.

“This investigation was initiated after Kilgore police investigators received a report two weeks ago alleging Mr. Barton sexually assaulted a child,” police said. “The alleged sexual abuse occurred between 2009 and 2013.”

The statement said the investigation had revealed no other victims to date, but that it was continuing.

Calvary Way Church is located at 106 Woodlawn St. in Kilgore. According to the church’s website, Rev. Glenn D. Barton is the senior pastor and has been with the church since 1999.

The church operates a daycare and Calvary Way Academy, an accredited, pre-K through 12th grade school.

Reached by telephone late Monday, a spokeswoman at the church declined to comment on Barton’s arrest.