Man Convicted of Sex Abuse in Anne Arundel Faces New Charges in Pa.

By Tim Pratt
Capital Gazette
January 23, 2014

http://www.capitalgazette.com/man-convicted-of-sex-abuse-in-anne-arundel-faces-new/article_d6938a7d-bbeb-5661-9cd6-3c1ebc0b1b54.html

A former Severna Park resident, convicted of child sex abuse in Anne Arundel County in 1988, is facing new charges in Pennsylvania.

Ray Scott Teets, 66, a pastor at Fallen Timbers Community Church in Fayette County, Pa., is being held on $250,000 bond on allegations he fondled and tried to have sex with an 11-year-old girl, according to online records and media reports.

Teets had a court appearance last week on 24 charges, ranging from unlawful restraint, corruption of minors and unlawful contact with a minor to stalking, criminal attempt of indecent assault and luring a child into a motor vehicle.

He is scheduled to be arraigned on Feb. 20, according to court records.

Teets denied the accusations, made by a former parishioner, during his hearing last week, according to media reports. But he did tell the court about his previous conviction for child sex abuse in Anne Arundel County.

Under an agreement with Anne Arundel prosecutors, Teets pleaded guilty in 1988 to the criminal child sexual abuse of a 15-year-old Lutherville girl at his home in Severna Park, according to Capital archives. The incident occurred in 1986, when Teets was 39 and working as a physical therapist.

Given five years of probation and a suspended sentence, Teets eventually left the area and enrolled in a seminary in Kentucky.

During a civil trial in 1992, Teets admitted to having sex with the teen, but maintained it was consensual, according to Capital archives. He and his employer, also named in the civil case, were ordered to pay a total of nearly $550,000 in compensatory and punitive damages.

Contact: tpratt@capgaznews.com