Grand Jury Re-Indicts Pastor for Child Abuse

By James Draper
Kilgore News Herald
September 11, 2013

http://www.kilgorenewsherald.com/news/2013-09-11/Front_Page/Grand_jury_reindicts_pastor_for_child_abuse.html

A Rusk County Grand Jury reindicted Glenn Douglas Barton for aggravated sexual assault of a child last week following an analysis of DNA evidence collected by local investigators.

Awaiting the forensic report, Rusk County District Attorney Micheal Jimerson dismissed the original indictment against Barton after his March 4 arrest stemming from KPD’s investigation into allegations he sexually abused a young family member for several years.

At the time of his first arrest Barton was senior pastor of Calvary Way Church in Kilgore, taken into custody at his residence on the grounds of the West Woodlawn ministry.

Facing the new first degree felony, on Friday the 62-year-old turned himself in to the Rusk County Jail and was later released on $50,000 bond. His defense attorney could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

KPD’s investigation began in mid-February when the abuse of a young family member was reported, alleging ongoing sexual contact between Barton and the reported victim between 2009 and 2013.

“The district attorney in Rusk County dismissed the indictment pending the return of some forensic evidence we had sent off to a lab,” KPD Det. Trae Portwood explained.

“I had some concerns about the evidentiary issues at the time and dismissed those charges,” Jimerson agreed. “That’s no reflection on Kilgore Police Department or Trae Portwood. They’ve continued to investigate and continued to work on the case.”

Unable to comment further on the details of the case, Jimerson said KPD’s ongoing investigation and the forensic results established the basis for the re-indictment.

“He basically wanted to wait for confirmation on the DNA evidence we had submitted,” Portwood explained. “We got that back recently. It supported the outcry of the victim, so they took it back to the grand jury and they indicted him again.

“We’ve been pretty committed with our victim from the get-go, but obviously given the nature of it we wanted to make sure that we didn’t get anything back that contradicted him. Nothing we’ve found has contradicted his statement.”

In addition to the DNA evidence, Portwood noted, there is an audio recording that also lends credibility to the victim’s allegations.

“We resubmitted it to the grand jury, and the grand jury decided to true-bill it,” Jimerson confirmed. “Mr. Barton just turned himself in on the new indictment. It’s my understanding he’s bonded out already.”

Rusk County Jail officials on Tuesday confirmed Barton was booked into the jail Friday and bonded out the same day.

There have been no allegations of abuse from other individuals, Portwood said.

“Mr. Barton is still presumed innocent, still has all his rights to a fair trial, a jury trial,” Jimerson insisted. “That’s where we’re at: to see that he gets a fair trial and a jury trial, and the people get a fair trial. And the victim gets a fair trial.”

The timetable moving forward depends on Barton and his defense attorneys, Jimerson noted, how soon they can review the state’s evidence.

“Once they do all of that and they’re satisfied with that, they’re ready to go to trial,” he said. A trial would typically commence about a year from the date of indictment – in this case, Barton and his attorneys have been developing the defense since the original arrest in March, so “It very well could go to trial sooner than that.”

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