I read something like this EVERY WEEK! A newly minted former pastor stands accused of sexual activity with a minor. Pastor Anthony Dale Newton was arrested for aggravated statutory rape and sexual battery – over a New Years Eve blowjob.
Newton was released from jail after paying a $20,000 bond, Decatur County Circuit Court Clerk Danny Tanner said. He is accused of having a 16-year-old girl perform oral sex on him during a church lock-in on New Years Eve, according to an affidavit.
Newton was a pastor at the H2O Church in Lexington. The church addressed the issue of his abuse on their website.
"As a church we are shocked and heart broken that this has happened. Our hearts go out to the people who have been affected by these horrible choices. We are currently working with the police and the FBI to help them with their investigation. That is all we know."
--Our deepest blessing, prayers, and help for all our church attenders.
Barry Worcester, Lead Pastor
It’s rare that at church does this. I think it’s a step in the right direction.
In looking at the actual abuse, I see a pattern that I’ve come to recognize. A pastor with inadequate supervision hosts a teen sleep over. It’s a perfect storm for sexual abuse. Yet it happens over and over. The events may be important in the development of church and its followers, but without planning, they offer opportunities that are hard to resist for men with a proclivity for abuse. This abuse could have been prevented. I’ll explore ways to do this in a future post.
