CORSICANA (TX)
Corsicana Daily Sun
By Janet Jacobs Corsicana Daily Sun
Corsicana — A typical Wednesday evening at Northside Baptist Church involves supper and some socializing, praying and some music, but this Wednesday was different. Gary Welch, the 43-year-old beloved youth minister, and a fixture at the church for the last seven years, was arrested Monday and charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child. He is accused of having a three-year affair with a teenage member of the youth group. He remains in jail in lieu of $150,000 bond. He has been suspended from his job with pay, a move designed to help Welch’s family, according to Pastor Rick Lamb.
Several hundred people attended the Wednesday evening service, many of them in tears, hugging one another and exchanging subdued greetings. Lamb led the Wednesday service, and he expressed his own sorrow over the week’s events.
“I’ve cried a thousand tears. It’s been a rough, rough week,” Lamb told his congregation. Seated on a stool behind a music stand, he spoke frankly and wept as he spoke of the man whom he loved “like a son,” calling this the second-most difficult week of his life.
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.