pastor ordered held in custody (10,000 images and 5,000 videos of child pornography)

[moobu2]

Ind. pastor ordered held in custody child porn charges

The Associated Press

FORT WAYNE – A federal magistrate has ordered that a northern Indiana church pastor facing child pornography possession charges be kept in custody until his trial.

Prosecutors said 64-year-old Bernard Squires of rural Columbia City had at least 10,000 pornographic images of children and 5,000 videos depicting child pornography on a computer hard drive.

Squires is the pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Columbia City. He was arrested last week as part of an FBI investigation into child pornography distribution over the Internet.

His wife and five other pastors testified Thursday in support of his release from custody, citing his volunteer work as a Whitley County Sheriff’s Department chaplain and at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Fort Wayne.

The judge, however, ruled that Squires was a flight risk.

LiNk

Bernard Squires, 64, is accused of distributing child pornography. According to court documents, the charge stems from about a week long period at the beginning of June.

<snip>

Squires served as chaplain for the Whitley County Sheriff's Department. It's not clear how long he was in that position, but officers tell NewsChannel 15 he has been let go.

Squires is also the pastor of a Grace Baptist Church in Columbia City. Neighbors living near the small church tell NewsChannel 15 they can hardly believe the news.

"I have a three-year-old girl, and yeah, that's quite a shock," said neighbor Melissa Carlson. "And, it's pretty sad to hear that."

Another neighbor, Mickey English says, "It's devastating. It's devastating to the Christian community and I'm very shocked. I had no idea there was any problem over there."

LiNk

[auditguy]

1. sounds like a jailing offense to me..

at the least...

[kestrel91316]

2. Another hypocritical fundie. Color me surprised.