Third Victim Accuses Pastor of Abuse, by Natalie Tejeda, CBS 42, May 7, 2014

Third Victim Accuses Pastor of Abuse

By Natalie Tejeda
CBS 42
May 7, 2014

http://cbs42.com/2014/05/07/third-victim-accuses-pastor-abuse/

Three teenage girls have come forward, claiming a Hueytown pastor abused them. That associate pastor was arrested again today at his lawyers office and is now being held without bond in the Jefferson County jail.

“I thought this was just an isolated incident,” said Earlie Terry. “But to come to find out somebody else is involved…”

Earlie Terry is one of the founding members of the Pleasant Hills Baptist Church, He left about a decade ago but still lives close by. He can’t believe the scandal that’s now surrounding Associate Pastor Tyrone Banks.

“It bothers me and the whole neighborhood you know,” says Terry. “We don’t have anything that happens out here.”

Banks was arrested Sunday for the rape and sodomy of a 13 year old girl. She claimed he brought her to the church and attacked her in the kitchen. Then today Banks was again arrested after a second teenage girl claimed she had been the victim of sexual abuse in his Pleasant Grove home.

She saw that the arrest had been made over the weekend,” said Sgt. Daniel Reid of the Pleasant Grove Police Department. “So she came forward, very distraught and let us know about this incident that happened on her a number of years ago.”

Then just a few hours ago, a third young woman emerged.

We tried to reach out to the church, no one was there. A service was supposed to be held tonight, no body showed. We tried to call them, their voice mail is full. At this time we don’t even know how long Tyrone Banks has been affiliated with the church or if there are even any other victims out there.

But Sergeant Reids gut feeling says otherwise. “Unfortunately, I do believe there will be other victims.”

We reached out to Tyrone Banks’ attorney but they declined to speak with us. Investigators are asking anyone who has any information or any potential victims to come forward to your local law enforcement agency. There is no statute of limitations on sexual assault or rape.