|
Judge to Pierce: No contacts |
|
|
Tuesday, 28 April 2009 |
David Pierce, First Baptist Church of Benton’s former music minister who has been arrested on one count of sexual indecency, was released from custody Monday after agreeing to an order that bars him from having any contact with current or former members of the Pure Energy youth choir or staff members of the church.
Pierce, who had been jailed at the Saline County Detention Center since Friday evening, was released around 6 p.m. after posting a $2,500 bond, said Lt. Mike Frost of the Saline County Sheriff’s Office.
Through videotaped transmission, Pierce appeared before District Judge Mike Robinson in a bond hearing Monday morning in Saline County District Court. He is scheduled for another appearance on June 9.
The conditions of his pre-trial release prohibit Pierce from contact with the “Benton First Baptist Church Campus, or First Baptist Church activities or functions.”
The order states that he cannot have contact with any current or former member of the First Baptist Youth Choir “except for Caleb Lewis, or any person that is or was under the age of 18 over whom the defendant held a leadership role while he was employed by First Baptist Church.”
Lewis is engaged to Pierce’s daughter, a church spokesman said.
The order further states that Pierce may have no contact with church leadership, including but not limited to the pastor, the chairman of deacons, the church Personnel Committee, or any church employee except his son.
He was further ordered to have no contact with “any child under the age of 18 to whom he is not related” and is prohibited from “using third parties to circumvent these conditions.”
Specifically, the order states that Pierce may not use Facebook, MySpace “or any other form of passive Internet communication.”
He also was ordered to surrender his passport.
Although Pierce currently faces only one charge, Sheriff Bruce Pennington said additional charges are anticipated. The sheriff said allegations of abuse have been raised by several individuals who have had been associated with Pierce through the Pure Energy Youth Choir program.
Detective Allison Hoskins of the Sheriff’s Office said, in an affidavit, that she spoke with the church’s senior deacon, Paul White, on April 23. At that time, Hoskins said, White provided the names of three men who allegedly told the church pastor, Dr. Rick Grant, that as teenagers they had been victimized by Pierce.
All of the three said the abuse began when they were around 15.
A previous victim reportedly stated that Pierce would record “charting” on a legal pad. The charting included measurements of the boys’ bodies, including chest, arms, stomach and genitals, which Pierce would document on what appeared to be a spread sheet, the victim told authorities.
The most recent victim claimed that Pierce took him to a county location where, in addition to the charting, he also spoke with him about sexual activities, such as masturbation. Pierce allegedly told the teenager that he had a “strong bond with all past presidents in the student ministry and would do ‘charting’ with them.”
A letter that Pierce gave to the church reportedly apologized to the leaders as well as the church body for his behavior. Part of the letter stated: “I feel that it is important for you to know that while I fully acknowledge the sinfulness and immorality of my past behavior, I did not engage in actual sexual contact (Specifically oral sex, intercourse or masturbating another individual) with any person, nor do I believe that in recent conversation with legal counsel that I have violated criminal or civil law.”
In an e-mail Pierce sent to the church pastor, he reportedly asked to retrieve personal documents and personal files that are saved on the computer he used at the church.”
In Hoskins’ affidavit, she stated that two of the individuals who have made allegations about Pierce said Pierce showed them pornography on the computer at the church.
The affidavit notes that Pierce had an iphone which has Internet access as well as multi-media recording. Pierce reportedly gave the iphone to his wife, Rhonda Pierce, upon his arrest and service of the search warrant.
A search warrant was issued to enable detectives to retrieve the iphone.
Pennington, a member of the First Baptist Church congregation, arrested Pierce at his home Friday.
Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Rebecca Bush and Prosecutor Ken Casady will be in charge of the case for the state, Bush said today. She said the prosecutor’s office does not have the case file yet.
Attorney Travis Berry of Arkadelphia served as Pierce’s legal counsel for the bond proceeding, but Pennington said he isn’t certain whether Berry will continue to represent Pierce as the case progresses.
|
Razorbacks
