SOUTH CAROLINA
Baptist News
BOB ALLEN | MAY 4, 2016
A 20-year-old youth group volunteer at the nation’s largest Southern Baptist church has been arrested on a charge of sexually assaulting a minor.
Leo LaSalle Comissiong III is accused of kissing and fondling a 15-year-old boy in February at the Florence, S.C., location of NewSpring Church, a multi-site congregation based in Anderson, S.C. The church is ranked No. 1 on a LifeWay Christian Resources list compiled by LifeWay head Thom Rainer of the 500 largest Southern Baptist churches with an average attendance of 31,215 in 2014.
Suzanne Swift, chief public relations and marketing officer for NewSpring Church, released a statement saying a NewSpring Church staff member saw Comissiong enter an unoccupied room with a 15-year-old, violating a policy that forbids adults from being alone with children or teens while on a NewSpring campus.
Swift said Comissiong denied any wrongdoing at that time but after questioning him a second time church leaders removed him from volunteering at the church in any capacity. After talking separately to the student, Swift said NewSpring staff contacted law enforcement and have since then fully cooperated with the investigation.
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