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Ex-pastor accused of assaulting
Bryan boy arrested
2002-12-24 chron.com
A Bryan
pastor was arrested and released from jail Monday night after
he was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child, the
Bryan-College Station Eagle reported Tuesday.
Fred
Ford posted $25,000 bond and was released from the Brazos
County Jail about 10 minutes after he arrived Monday night, a
jail spokesman said today.
Ford was indicted earlier
this month based on an allegation he had sexually assaulted a
teenage boy who went on a trip with the pastor to the Texas
Panhandle more than two years ago. Authorities in Bryan
arrested Ford on Monday based on a Dec. 4 indictment by a Hale
County grand jury. Hale County is about midway between Lubbock
and Amarillo.
If convicted, Ford could face from five
years to life in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
After the initiation of a criminal investigation in
May, Ford resigned as pastor from the New Zion Missionary
Baptist Church in Bryan where he had served for 17 years.
Ford and his attorney, Jim James, have declined to
discuss the allegation. Neither Ford nor James could be
reached for comment Tuesday by The Associated Press.
The boy told his mother last spring that Ford had
pulled into a roadside park during the trip and performed a
sex act on the boy and then ordered him to do the same in
return, the newspaper reported.
The mother talked with
deacons at the church about her son's allegations against Ford
and then went to police.
Police Sgt. Sharean Gideon
told the newspaper that Ford has not cooperated with law
enforcement officials during their investigation.
Ford
worked for the College Station Independent School District
from 1993 to 2001. He left his position at New Zion on May 3
when he gave a resignation letter to one of the church's seven
deacons.
"There weren't any hard feelings on his part
in submitting his resignation," Deacon Artis Lawson said. "He
said he wasn't submitting this out of guilt. He just felt it
was best for him to remove himself. He didn't want to prolong
the situation or force us to choose sides."
A new
pastor took over at the church on Dec. 15. Another of the
church's deacons, Edward Hall, said Ford remains highly
regarded by many within the congregation.
"It's a very
precarious position to be in," Hall said. "We love our pastor,
and we also love our member. Both of them are family."
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