By Jeff Lehr
jlehr@joplinglobe.com
NEOSHO, Mo. — A man identified as a self-proclaimed pastor in Newton County has been charged with sexually molesting a member of his church when she was a minor four to five years ago.
Newton County sheriff’s investigators served a search warrant Tuesday afternoon on a property west of Neosho at 11285 Mulberry Road. The warrant was based on information obtained from a young woman who came forward to allege that the pastor, who lives and operates a church and business there, sexually abused her when she was 16.
Randall Danny Russell, 49, pastor of the Acts II Church, was arrested Tuesday. He was charged Wednesday with second-degree statutory rape, second-degree statutory sodomy and child abuse.
Russell’s accuser says he had her disrobe in front of him in a church office after services on a Sunday under the pretense that it would help her get “closer to God,” according to authorities. He then allegedly photographed her while she was naked.
The alleged victim says Russell later began forcing oral sex and sexual intercourse on her, usually on Sunday afternoons after services, according to authorities.
“He’s a self-proclaimed pastor,” Sheriff Ken Copeland told the Globe. “He’s not affiliated with any denomination as far as we can tell. But they all call him pastor, and he claims to be a pastor.”
The sheriff said deputies confiscated a computer from the office of Garages and More, a business Russell operates on the property that specializes in construction of metal buildings. The business and the Acts II Church are housed in separate metal buildings behind Russell’s home and four-car garage.
Deputies also seized nude photographs of the woman, allegedly taken when she was a minor. The photographs were found in an office of the church, Copeland said.
The sheriff said the Acts II Church apparently has been active for about five to six years, although investigators are still trying to piece together its history. He said many members of the congregation appear to have been children.
“We have reason to believe there could possibly be other victims,” Copeland said.
He said members of the church were being interviewed in an effort to determine if there was any physical or sexual abuse of minors.
A probable-cause affidavit filed by sheriff’s Detective Mike Barnett states that the young woman who initiated the investigation said Russell first came on to her in a sexual manner in August 2003.
She was having problems in her personal life at the time, and he was acting as a “mentor” to her, the affidavit states. She was alone with him in his car in Morse Park in Neosho; they began kissing, and he put her hand on his crotch, the affidavit states.
In October of that year, the affidavit says, she was asked to come to the church office after services on a Sunday, and Russell allegedly asked her to take off her clothes. He told her it was a way for her to get “closer to God,” the affidavit states. The woman told investigators that he photographed her in the nude and kept the photos in a brown folder in a church office.
From September 2003 through February 2004, Russell continued to see her in a church office, touching her inappropriately, the affidavit states. He allegedly progressed to oral sex with her in December 2003 or January 2004 as often as once a week and usually on Sunday afternoons, the document states.
They allegedly had sexual intercourse for the first time in May or June of 2004, before her 17th birthday, according to the affidavit. The intercourse allegedly was repeated four or five times before she came of age and took place on a futon in the church office, she told investigators.
The affidavit states that the photographs discovered in the church office are dated 2003.
The court document does not state what the woman’s age is today. The sheriff said she is about 20.
Barnett, the detective, spoke to Russell about the allegations, according to the affidavit, and Russell allegedly acknowledged photographing the girl when she was 16. He also allegedly acknowledged a first sexual encounter in Morse Park and subsequent occasions of oral sex. He allegedly told Barnett that he thought the girl was 18 when they had sexual intercourse for the first time.
The investigation marks the second fringe church to become the focus of a sex-abuse scandal in Newton County in the past two years.
George Otis Johnston, pastor of Grandview Valley Baptist Church North near Granby, came under investigation in 2006 after two former members of his congregation came forward alleging sexual abuse when they were minors.
Johnston, 65, is awaiting trial on 15 counts of statutory sodomy and two counts of child molestation in a case that has been moved to Barton County on a change of venue. He also faces a single count of child molestation in a second case, with the venue switched to McDonald County.
Jake Skouby, Newton County prosecutor, said Wednesday that there was no apparent connection between Grandview Valley Baptist Church North and the Acts II Church.
“There is no connection between this preacher abuse and any other individual charges with similar activities in the past that we’ve uncovered as yet,” Skouby said.
Bond posted
Randall Russell, pastor of the Acts II Church near Neosho, is charged with molesting a minor. He posted $250,000 bail shortly after his arrest Tuesday and was released from custody.
