NEW JERSEY
NJ.com
By Andy Polhamus | For NJ.com
WOODBURY — Prosecutors have dropped charges against a Franklin Township pastor who was accused of sexually assaulting a teenager.
James E. Simmons, Jr., pastor of New Life In Christ Ministries, was 64 when he was accused last April of sexually assaulting a teenage girl. The alleged victim was 21 at the time of Simmons’ arrest, and told Franklin police that the abuse had begun when she was 17.
Simmons turned himself in, and was charged with multiple counts of second-degree sex assault, criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child. He was released upon posting $150,000 bail.
Last month, however, the accuser recanted her statement, said Bernie Weisenfeld of the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office. Authorities dropped the charges shortly afterward.
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