Pittsburg County Prosecutors Allege Church Covered up Child Molester's Crimes

By Dylan Goforth
NewsOK
February 4, 2014

http://newsok.com/pittsburg-county-prosecutors-allege-church-covered-up-child-molesters-crimes/article/3930557

The Tulsa World reports that Pittsburg County prosecutors have filed a motion alleging a church coverup in the case of a church elder who is accused of molesting multiple children more than 30 years ago.

Ronald Lawrence, an elder at the Jehovah's Witness Church in McAlester, was arrested in November following a long investigation, McAlester police said at the time. The case stems from allegations made by three accusers who told police Lawrence abused them in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Lawrence, 76, was charged in November with 11 counts of lewd molestation, five counts of forcible oral sodomy, two counts of forcible sodomy and one count of rape by instrumentation.