Teen Testifies against Pastor in Sex Case

By Malinda Rust
Lawton Constitution
November 14, 2013

http://www.swoknews.com/news-top/local/item/11705-teen-testifies-against-pastor-in-sex-case

A local pastor accused of taking minors from a former Department of Human Services contracted group home to perform sexual acts in front of them at his church was bound over for trial Wednesday.

Bobby Burrell, 28, appeared relaxed, even chewing gum, alongside his defense attorney, Jason Lowe, during his preliminary hearing Wednesday afternoon. Burrell was charged in August with one count of child sexual abuse following nearly a year of investigation into allegations of misconduct at the Sequoyah Group Home, 824 SE 2nd, and released on a $20,000 bond.

Burrell, who was employed as a counselor at the home, is accused of masturbating in front of teenage boys who were housed at the center after he escorted them to One More Soul Outreach Ministry, 1010 SW McKinley, under the guise of performing work at the church. Court documents allege that some staff members knew of the allegations but didn't report them to authorities.

The incident for which Burrell is charged stems from one encounter with a 16-year-old that is alleged to have occurred in July 2012. The victim from the alleged incident testified Wednesday with outstanding poise, despite the defense's attempts to attack the young man's credibility.

Comanche County Assistant District Attorney Mark Stoneman asked the teen, who was at the home for about three months, to describe what happened with Burrell, and the young man testified he was uncomfortable from the moment he was in the car with the counselor. "He asked me about sex with girls, what positions I had tried...what kind of porn(ography) I liked to watch," the teen said. Burrell allegedly pulled out his smart phone in the car and began showing the teen pornographic videos, but they wouldn't load quickly enough.

During cross-examination, Lowe asked the teen if the discussion was similar to a father giving a son advice about girls and sex, to which the teen said, "It wasn't 'fatherly', but I guess subjectively, he was giving advice."

The victim testified Burrell called him into a back office, propped up his phone to show a pornography video, pulled his shirt over his head and removed his genitals from his pants. The alleged victim said in colloquial terms that the pastor started pleasuring himself using an oil in the office that he referred to as "Holy water" used to anoint. Afterward, Burrell allegedly said he was just "beating what God gave him."