Las Vegas pastor arrested for attempting to lure a child
By BP Staff
LAS VEGAS (BP) — Neal Harrison Creecy, former pastor of Redemption Church in Las Vegas, was arrested last month on an abuse-related charge.
Creecy, 46, faces one felony charge of luring or attempting to lure a child or mentally ill person with the use of a computer to engage in sexual contact.
His arrest was part of a sting conducted by various local and federal agencies that targeted suspected child predators, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Undercover officers posed as minors online, and when a meeting was arranged with what a suspect assumed was a child, he was arrested.
Creecy was arrested Aug. 7 and called church leaders the next day upon his release on $10,000 bond.
“As soon as he got out of jail, he contacted all of us by a thread message and basically confessed and offered his resignation,” church official Don Seaborg told local news outlet KLAS. “Of course we accepted his resignation effective immediately.”
Seaborg is the president of Redemption Church’s Pastoral Support and Accountability Team. He told Baptist Press Sept. 10 that the church has been in contact with the Nevada Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) Office of Sexual Abuse Prevention and Response and has reported the incident to the SBC’s abuse hotline.
Texas youth pastor faces additional charges
By BP Staff
LUBBOCK, Texas (BP) — Luke Cunningham, a former youth pastor arrested last year on two counts of sexual assault, faces new charges.
A new indictment, issued by a grand jury Aug. 26, alleges more sexual encounters with the same two victims, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported.
Det. Justin Ryan Wood with the Lubbock Police Department’s Crimes Against Children Unit testified last year that an investigation of Cunningham began when one of the girls reported the abuse to police. The girl’s parents had confronted Cunningham two years earlier but agreed not to press charges if he left ministry, the Avalanche-Journal reported. He did not.
Instead Cunningham left Turning Point Community Church in Lubbock and began working as a youth pastor at Lakeside Baptist in Granbury until his arrest last year.
The girls have provided detailed allegations to the court. One of the girls alleges multiple sexual encounters with Cunningham while he was her youth pastor and accuses him of slapping and choking her during a sexual assault.
Prosecutor Cassie Graham has presented screenshots of Cunningham instructing the victims to lie about his behavior. The girls also told investigators that Cunningham told them they would face eternal damnation if they did not keep the abuse secret, the Avalanche-Journal reported.
A third victim accuses Cunningham of pushing her against a vending machine and pinning her to the floor in anger.
A trial is set for December.
Virginia deacon arrested for unlawful filming
By BP Staff
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (BP) — George Thomas West, a former chairman of deacons at Union Baptist Church in Hayes, Va., was arrested last month on 16 counts of unlawful filming of another person.
A press release from the City of Williamsburg said after officers responded to an incident Aug. 2, they obtained a search warrant, which uncovered evidence leading to West’s arrest.
“West is believed to have unlawfully filmed thousands of males in public restrooms in the Colonial Williamsburg area, as well as in the region, going back to 1996,” the release said.
Union Baptist informed the congregation of West’s charges Aug. 10 and removed him from membership Aug. 17.
In a message to congregants Aug. 10, Union Baptist Pastor Jared Berry said the “extreme nature” of West’s sin made it clear this was not a “regular Matthew 18 church discipline situation.” Instead, it more closely resembles 1 Corinthians 5, which calls for a person’s removal from church membership.
“This is necessary for him to feel the full brokenness and gravity of this sin,” Berry said, adding that it was also necessary for the protection of the church.
“Every church that tries to hide or ignore this kind of sin becomes both powerless and meaningless in preaching truth to the world.”
Authorities believe there are multiple victims that have yet to be identified and have asked for anyone with more information to submit email tips with “West 825” in the subject line to Steve Roberts Jr. of the Williamsburg PD at [email protected].
