Maplewood pastor's sexual abuse trial goes to jury

By Emily Gurnon
Pioneer Press
July 16, 2014

http://www.twincities.com/crime/ci_26160458/maplewood-pastors-sexual-abuse-trial-goes-jury

Jacoby Kindred

It all goes back to a 14-year-old girl's letter to herself, a prosecutor said. The girl wrote that a family member was making her perform sexual acts.

That wasn't true, Jacoby Kindred Sr. insisted in Ramsey County District Court. Kindred, 61, of Maplewood, testified in his own defense at his trial, where he faces two charges of criminal sexual conduct.

He's accused of raping and molesting two underage female relatives over several years, beginning when they were about 6. A preacher who said he was ordained by Sarah Family Ministries of St. Paul, Kindred also told the girls that he had a "sex demon" in him and that if he did not relieve an excessive buildup of sperm in his body, he would die, they testified.

When the older girl was 15, and Kindred had vaginal intercourse with her, he complained that she lay there "like a bump on a log," she said.

He told the girls that no one would believe them if they reported his actions, they said.

Kindred's case went to the jury at noon Wednesday. The jury will resume deliberations Thursday morning.

He argued from the witness stand that he did nothing improper and that the girls' mother put them up to the scheme. She was angry with him for cutting off financial support he was giving her family, he said.

Kindred's attorney, Gary Wolf, told jurors in his closing argument Wednesday that there were too many contradictions in the girls' statements to believe them.

He also criticized Maplewood police for not examining cellphone texts, call records and school attendance records. The older girl testified Kindred would give her rides to school -- but only after taking her to his home for sex. On those days, she arrived late.

Prosecutor Shereen Askalani said that the younger girl's letter -- which she had hidden in a dresser -- proved the allegations were not orchestrated by the mother.

Any inconsistencies in the girls' statements were "minor details," Askalani said.