Former Youth Pastor Charged with Child Sex Assault

The McClatchy News Service
October 16, 2013

http://www.thetimesnews.com/news/region-state/former-youth-pastor-charged-with-child-sex-assault-1.219168


A former youth pastor accused of sexually assaulting a child at a Concord church is free on bond Wednesday after being charged with five counts of indecent liberties with a child.

Robert “Bobby” Price, 46, was released about 10 p.m. Tuesday from a Mecklenburg County jail after posting $50,000 bond.

The charges date back to Price’s work as a youth minister at his father’s church, King’s Way Baptist, in Concord.

Price’s brother, Rusty, is now the lead pastor at the church.

According to several reports, Robert Price was arrested Monday evening at Charlotte Douglas International Airport after returning from Nicaragua.

It is not clear if the charges against Price are connected to a suit filed in 2011. In that suit, a man who was then 23 years old told Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police that Price molested him as a 12-year-old.

The accuser claims in the suit that the abuse happened multiple times at the church’s “Youth Shack,” on a mission trip, and even at the youth minister’s own house, according to NBC Charlotte, the Observer’s news partner.

“While defendant Bobby Price’s wife and children were asleep, defendant Bobby Price sexually molested plaintiff in his home,” the suit states.

The encounters allegedly occurred over a three year time period, according to the suit.

Price’s next court date is scheduled for Nov. 15.

King’s Way Baptist Church’s website was not working Wednesday morning.