By Mark Davis mrdavis@ajc.com
Atlanta Journal-Constitution [Georgia]
May 5, 2006
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/gwxridgeway0505.html
A Gwinnett County pastor jailed last year on charges that he molested his grandson will not be prosecuted.
The Rev. Nathan Ridgeway, pastor of Faith Life Fellowship Church of Norcross, was unfairly accused of sexually molesting the child during a three-day period in January 2005, said Ridgeway's lawyer, Doug Peters of Decatur. The child was 3 at the time, he said.
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The Rev. Nathan Ridgeway, 58, of Faith Life Fellowship Church in Norcross will not be prosecuted. Photo by Vino Wong/Staff |
"There will be no indictment," said Peters, who spoke for Ridgeway Thursday while the 59-year-old minister stood behind him in the church sanctuary. "There will be no trial. This case has ended."
Gwinnett District Attorney Danny Porter said his office issued an administrative dismissal of the case April 6.
"We made a decision, based on a review of the evidence, that there was insufficient evidence to successfully prosecute," Porter said.
The reason Ridgeway became a suspect: a case of pinworms that prompted the boy to scratch his anus, Peters said. The child's parents saw the scratches, suspected the grandfather of sticking his finger in the child's rear end and contacted Gwinnett police, Peters said.
Officers arrested Ridgeway on Jan. 21, 2005, charging him with aggravated sexual battery. They also charged him with aggravated battery, based on a bruise on the boy's leg, Peters said.
Ridgeway remained in jail until Feb. 7, when a judge set his bail at $50,000. Church members quickly raised enough to release him. He has been pastor of the nondenominational church for 13 years.
Peters said Porter's office agreed to give Ridgeway time to investigate the claims against him. Ridgeway then did the following:
• Took a polygraph test, denying pointed questions about the alleged abuse. He passed, Peters said.
• Underwent a psychological evaluation to assess whether he had tendencies to molest children. Physicians concluded that Ridgeway did not exhibit such signs, Peters said.
• Obtained reports from five or six witnesses who said they saw the child scratching his rear end "in a ferocious way" — an indication the boy had pinworms, especially common in children.
• Got statements from workers at the church day care center, who said they saw the boy run into a doorway, causing the bruise on his leg. "It was a 3-year-old's horseplay," Peters said.
• Sought the opinion of a physician about the scratches on the boy's anus. She determined that the boy harmed his rectum, Peters said.
Ridgeway received a letter three weeks ago from Porter's office that the case had been dismissed, Peters said. A trial date had not been set.
The letter, he said, has not healed the rift in Ridgeway's family.
"As far as the family dynamic, now [it] is mostly prayer that the family can be reunited," Peters said.
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