A pastor at a church near Birmingham, Alabama, has been charged with unlawful sexual conduct with a 7-year-old child.
The Rev. Kenneth Harold Daniel, 64, pastor at First Baptist Church of Chalkville, is charged with facilitating solicitation of unlawful sexual conduct with a child, a felony, for allegedly inappropriately touching a 7-year-old between January 2020 and earlier this month, AL.com reported.
He was taken into custody at the church.
First Baptist of Chalkville is a member of the Southern Baptist Convention. The SBC, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice after an independent report from investigative firm Guidepost Solutions found SBC leaders had mistreated sexual abuse survivors and mishandled abuse claims for decades.
The 7-year-old alleged victim told her grandfather that Daniel had touched her numerous times on her private parts at his residence, at the church, and at a pool party.
Officials said Daniel had phoned the grandfather and arranged to have him bring the victim to the locations of the sexual abuse, providing the grandfather with directions to the locations.
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