TEXAS
Odessa American
Posted: Friday, October 2, 2015
BY JON VANDERLAAN jvanderlaan@oaoa.com
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story contains graphic sexual descriptions.
The Odessa missionary accused of abusing 11 orphans at a children’s home in Malawi will continue to be held without bond after he waived a preliminary hearing regarding the probable cause for his arrest.
Gerald Dean Campbell, who is charged with engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places, could face up to life in federal prison if convicted.
By waiving his hearing, Campbell will be held without bond and declined to contest his arrest.
According to a federal complaint, Campbell was the general manager of the Victory Christian Children’s Home from 1997 until he resigned in 2009 amid the sexual abuse claims.
Campbell is a member of Grace Fellowship Church, which has had ties with the children’s home for a number of years.
Roy Key, the former business manager at the church and occasional pastor, said he’s known Campbell since shortly after joining the church in 2008, and he heard rumors of the reported sexual abuse when he became business manager.
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