BENTON (AR)
Associated Baptist Press
By Bob Allen
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
BENTON, Ark. (ABP) – A former music minister at an Arkansas Baptist church convicted of sexually abusing children has been granted parole, according to media sources.
David Pierce, 59, won release from prison after serving two years and four months of a 10-year sentence for four counts of sexual indecency with a child. The cases involved three now-adult boys who claimed abuse by Pierce, whom they regarded a spiritual mentor at First Baptist Church in Benton, Ark.
Pierce was originally charged with 54 counts of sexual indecency with multiple boys active in youth choirs during his 29 years as music minister at the 2,500-member congregation affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, but he accepted a plea bargain rather than stand trial. The Saline County prosecutor said he accepted the deal to spare victims the trauma of testifying in court.
One of those victims, who blogs anonymously at Descent from Darkness, wrote Jan. 31 that he expected the news and thought he was prepared to handle it, but he was wrong.
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