Indiana Church Fires Pastor Accused of Sexual Abuse

Former pastor Errol Wright faces multiple counts of sexual misconduct for alleged abuse toward a minor who was once under his care.

Community Christian Church in Tell City, Indiana, has fired its pastor, Errol Wright, who was recently arrested for alleged sexual abuse toward a minor under his care years ago.

In a statement released last week, the church announced Wright “is no longer employed by the church and will have no further active involvement, as pastor or otherwise.” The 48-year-old faces charges of sexual misconduct with a minor, child solicitation and child seduction.

“We have felt the same shock and hurt as the community concerning the recent incident involving our recent pastor. We neglected to release a statement until now because his family is heavily involved in the church, and we wished to give them time to process,” the church statement said.

Wright’s alleged victim, Lily Masterson, calls her abuser “a monster hiding in plain sight” in an interview with 14 News.

“He was the one everyone listened to. Everybody loved him,” Masterson said. In her interview, she details the abuse and subsequent trauma, which led her to contemplate suicide.

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“I just wanted to die. I didn’t understand the point of living in this world,” Masterson said.

Wright was Masterson’s legal guardian for three years, from the time she was 15 until she turned 18. During that time, she claims that Wright had sex with her about three times a week and over 100 times during this period, according to her interview with 14 News. Masterson came forward with these accusations in February.

Wright posted a $48,005 bond on March 19 and had his pretrial conference Wednesday, April 3.

The church also says it had no involvement in a fundraiser set up to help Wright with legal fees, that has since been deleted. According to 14 news, Wright has a group of supporters who have raised tens of thousands of dollars for the former pastor.

A GoFundMe page was also created to support Masterson.

The church, whose mission is to “show God’s love through actions,” finished its statement with a call to prayer.

“This is a difficult time for our community, and we ask that everyone continue to pray for all those involved and for God’s will to be done in all of us.”

EDITOR’S NOTE:  Why does MinistryWatch report on sex crimes? These stories are tough to read and sometimes even tougher to report, but we think they are vital to our mission to bring transparency, accountability, and credibility to the evangelical church. To read more about why and how we report these stories, read “Why MinistryWatch Reports On Sex Crimes.” You can find that story here.

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