Pastor kept child porn to research Cupid, love, trafficking, affidavit says

By Domingo Ramirez Jr.
Star-Telegram
March 27, 2017

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/northeast-tarrant/article141073053.html

The Hurst associate pastor told police he kept child pornography to “remind himself of what other people like to look at.” Star-Telegram archives

James Rankin, 78, of Hurst, told police he is an associate pastor at Bellevue Baptist Church in Hurst. Hurst Police Department

HURST

But police noted that dates associated with some of the images were as recent as February, according to the affidavit obtained by the Star-Telegram on Monday.

Police say they believe the images appeared to be of “home-made”quality, according to the affidavit.

Rankin was arrested Thursday after employees at Best Buy called police to report they had found what they believed was child pornography on a computer brought in for repair by the associate pastor.

Rankin told police he was an associate pastor at Bellevue Baptist Church in Hurst. A woman who answered the telephone at the church Monday declined to comment on Rankins’ status at the church.

Police began investigating Thursday after receiving the tip. They called Rankin and asked him to come to Best Buy and he did.

Rankin gave police permission to look through computer files and an officer observed images of nude children between the ages of 8 and 10 on an Apple iMac, according to the affidavit.

Asked why he kept the images, Rankin said he wanted to see how bad human trafficking was, the affidavit stated.

Church officials told police Rankin did not use or have access to a church computer, but brought his own laptop instead. A church official said Rankin never left his computer at the church, according to the affidavit.

Police seized Rankin’s computers, computer storage devices and digital cameras from the Hurst home where he lives with his wife, the affidavit stated.

Rankin faces a charge of possession of child pornography, police said.