Aker to Be Sent for Psychiatric Evaluation

By Christy Hoots
Ledger Independent
November 20, 2015

http://www.maysville-online.com/news/local/aker-to-be-sent-for-psychiatric-evaluation/article_c20e1acf-5552-5b25-bdfe-b03c2c92cb62.html

VANCEBURG | A former Lewis County preacher accused of sexual abuse will be sent for a psychiatric evaluation before a trial date can be set in the case.

Duncan Aker, who was most recently living in Greensburg, Ind., was arrested in May and charged with five counts of sexual abuse and four counts of sodomy after a Lewis County grand jury handed down an indictment against him in April.

During a pretrial hearing on Friday, Aker's attorney, Daniel Dickerson asked the court to send Aker for a psychiatric evaluation to see if he is competent to stand trial and form criminal intent.

Circuit Court Judge Robert C. Conley approved the request and asked the motion be submitted.

According to the May indictment, Aker allegedly engaged in sexual intercourse and sexual contact through forcible compulsion with a male under the age of 12 between October 2007 and March 2010.

The indictment also states that Aker allegedly committed some of the offenses in the church where he was minister.

In May, a representative with the Greensburg Police Department said Aker was arrested by their office on a warrant from Vanceburg and was extradited to Kentucky.

"The investigation into the incidents took about three to four months," Kentucky State Police Master Trooper Joe Veeneman said in May. "Then we had to wait on the extradition from Indiana."

According to Veeneman, Aker is the former pastor of the Vanceburg Christian Church. He is also listed as the pastor for the Greensburg Christian Church.

Aker has been lodged in the Lewis County Detention Center, where he remains on a $200,000 bond.