Texas Pastor Charged with Assaulting 15-Year-Old Girl
He allegedly "groomed" girl over many months, counselled her family
A pastor in Vernon, Texas has been accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl after giving her methamphetamine.
An affidavit filed by the Vernon Police Department said Brian Keith Pounds, minister of First Assembly of God Church and a chaplain at Tyson Foods, groomed the girl by getting her a job cleaning houses for elderly people, then he began to meet with her at the church, giving her methamphetamine, and eventually having sex with her.
The complaint said Pounds had been having sex with the girl for about a month, and that he also had been counseling the girl’s family through the church.
On July 1, he took her to a motel under the auspices of renting a room for a person in need, police said, then drugged her and had intercourse with her, choking her with both hands during the encounter.
The girl’s mother notified police that she was trying to find her daughter, and said she had made contact with Pounds, but did not know that the girl was with him at the time. She later found her daughter at a nearby Walmart.
The girl was taken to a local hospital, where an examination found meth in her system as well as other physical evidence.
The Texas Rangers assisted Vernon Police and the 46th District Attorney’s Office with the investigation.
Pounds is jailed in Wichita County on a $200,000 bond, according to KFDX/KJTL TV.
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