MUNCIE (IN)
Muncie Free Press
MUNCIE, IN – A hung jury was the result of a Muncie pastor accused of sexually molesting teenage congregation members almost a decade ago.
Members of the Freedom Point Apostolic Church stood by and testified in behalf of Matthew A. Kidd, 55, who was accused of sexually molesting two brothers who testified against him in Delaware Circuit Court 3 this week. Judge Linda Ralu Wolf declared a mistrial Friday after jurors could not reach a verdict on two of the serious charges, sexual misconduct with a minor and child molesting, both felonies. The jury found Kidd not guilty of vicarious sexual gratification, another felony.
Defense attorney Steve Bruce tried to get Wolf to declare a mistrial just days before, and insisted there was no physical evidence of abuse. The victims’ family filed a civil suit against Kidd which Bruce suggested was motivating the criminal case.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.