FLORIDA
The Ledger
LAKELAND | Sheriff’s detectives arrested a former Lakeland youth pastor today on three counts of lewd battery for incidents involving a 15-year-old girl he met at church while he was a pastor.
Phillip Kendrick II, 4090 Knights Station Road, is accused of having sex with the girl between November and January, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. Kendrick, 30, also is being held on felony counts of transmitting material harmful to a minor and using a two-way communication device to commit a felony.
Detectives started investigating about 9 p.m. Monday when Matthew Gilmore, pastor of Mount Tabor Baptist Church, told deputies that a church member had told him Kendrick was having sex with the 15-year-old girl.
Kendrick was the youth pastor at Mount Tabor Baptist Church until October, the Sheriff’s Office said. About that time, Kendrick told the girl he had “strong feelings” for her.
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