3rd Staffer at Huntington Church Hit by Scandal
By Rebecca S. Green rgreen@jg.net
The Journal Gazette [Indiana]
March 7, 2006
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/14037869.htm
A 33-year-old Huntington youth pastor was arrested Monday on charges he fondled a 10-year-old girl in his apartment at the Good Shepherd Church last summer.
On Friday, Kevin Whitacre was charged with two Class C felony counts of child molesting. He surrendered to authorities at the Huntington County Jail on Monday morning and was released on a $20,000 property bond.
Whitacre is the third youth pastor at Good Shepherd to be charged with such a crime in the past 10 years. Two other youth pastors were found guilty of their crimes.
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| Kevin Whitacre |
Whitacre did not come into contact with the alleged victim through his work at the church.
Repeated calls to the church were not returned Monday afternoon.
According to court documents, the girl, who lives in Pennsylvania, told her mother that while visiting Whitacre in June and August 2005, he touched her in ways that made her feel uncomfortable.
Whitacre would often lie next to the girl on her bed and fondle her, as well as rub himself against her, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The girl told investigators Whitacre had gone through her suitcase and was looking at her undergarments, according to court documents.
A graduate of Huntington University, Whitacre is the youth pastor at Good Shepherd Church, and lists his current address in the 100 block of Rolling Hills in Columbia City, according to court and jail records.
According to court documents, Whitacre and his wife were reluctant to provide background information when questioned by investigators with the Huntington County Prosecutor's Office.
Whitacre consented to taking a polygraph at the Allen County Sheriff's Department, and according to court documents, appeared to be deceptive when asked directly about fondling the girl.
Whitacre is the third youth pastor at Good Shepherd Church to be accused of sexually inappropriate behavior within the past decade
In 1997, former youth pastor Mark Kline was convicted of 22 charges in connection with the molestations of 10 boys, ranging in age from 11 to 17. He received 22 years in prison.
Then in 1999, Bobbie Jo Parris was convicted of molesting a 13-year-old girl in his youth group when she stayed overnight in his church apartment to baby-sit his two sons. Parris was to take his pregnant wife to the hospital the following morning.
He was sentenced to four years in prison.
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