OKLAHOMA
Tulsa world
By COREY JONES World Staff Writer
The senior pastor of Eastland Assembly of God on Saturday distanced the Tulsa church from a man accused Friday of preying on vulnerable boys in the past several years.
Randy Dyer, a senior pastor at Eastland Assembly of God, said Timothy Shawn Cato of Tulsa was never a youth pastor, nor was he ever on staff or in a classroom at the church. An affidavit filed Friday in Tulsa County District Court indicates witnesses stated Cato, 50, was a youth pastor at the church.
An affidavit is a sworn statement that in this instance is the basis for an arrest warrant.
Cato is charged with eight counts of child sexual abuse of five boys ages 7 to 17. Four of the charges are alleged to have happened between Oct. 1 and Tuesday, while the other four are alleged between Oct. 1, 2009, and Tuesday.
Dyer also said Cato was never a member of the church but occasionally attended services and sporadically volunteered.
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