2 more people accuse Marrero pastor of sex crimes, raising total to 5, police say

By Diana Samuels
Times-Picayune
September 16, 2016

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2016/09/sherman_smith_marrero_second_h.html

Sherman Smith, 56, of Algiers, was booked Nov. 11 with molestation of a juvenile or a person with a mental or physical disability, aggravated rape of a victim under the age of 13, sexual battery and two counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile.

Two more people have come forward to accuse a Marrero pastor of molesting them when they were young girls, raising to five the number of people accusing him of sexual crimes as part of a growing investigation, Orleans Parish court documents said.

The documents said police have also been contacted by two additional possible victims, though their allegations are not detailed in the record.

Sherman Smith was arrested in November on aggravated rape and sexual battery charges after three people came forward. He was booked on further charges Wednesday (Sept. 13), court records showed, including indecent behavior with a juvenile, sexual battery, and molestation of a juvenile or person with a disability.

Smith, a 56-year-old Algiers resident, was a pastor at Second Highway Baptist Church, 1533 block of Haydel Drive, Marrero. 

An affidavit for the recent arrest warrant said four more people came forward after information about Smith's first arrest was distributed on social media. The affidavit contains details about two of those victims' allegations. The records don't say how long ago the crimes occurred, but the original case that led to Smith's arrest had occurred about 22 years earlier.

In detailing their accusations to police, the fourth and fifth alleged victims said they were close family friends of Smith and his family when the abuse occurred, according to the affidavit. One said the crimes took place when she was between 9 and 11 years old, though the document did not say how long ago that took place.

When the girl's mother went on vacation, she left her in the care of Smith and his wife, she told police. She said Smith had watched her bathe, removing a piece of tissue that had covered a hole where the bathroom door handle was missing, and that he grabbed her while she was dressing herself in a bedroom.

She also told police Smith rubbed his body against hers while she stood in the kitchen, the affidavit said. In another incident at church, he told her to give him a hug and grabbed her breast and buttocks.

The other person whose allegations are detailed on the document reported incidents that occurred when she was between 9 and 10 years old, the affidavit said. She and her siblings were close friends with Smith's children, and they all attended Bibleway Missionary Baptist Church, where Sherman Smith was a pastor at the time. They would attend sleepovers at Smith's house, she is quoted as saying to police. 

She reported a similar incident with the tissue paper that covered a hole in the bathroom door: While she was undressing to take a bath, she noticed that someone had pushed the tissue out. She replaced it, and someone pushed it out again. She looked through the hole and saw an eyeball, and then heard Smith say "I see a little girl in there." She also said Smith came to lay in bed with her, and rubbed her arms and legs and kissed her cheek.

Smith pleaded not guilty in March to a charge of first-degree rape, according to court records. Smith's listed attorney, Adam Beckman, did not immediately return a message seeking comment Thursday.