MISSISSIPPI
Sun Herald

BY WESLEY MULLER
wmuller@sunherald.com

PEARL RIVER COUNTY — Authorities have filed a third charge against a Baptist youth pastor arrested Tuesday in Hancock County on allegations he sexually abused a child.

Pearl River County deputies filed a sexual battery charge against David Matthew Thorne of Picayune on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after he was booked in Hancock County on two similar charges.

Thorne, 35, a youth pastor at Goodyear Baptist Church in Pearl River County, is accused in the sexual abuse of the same child three times, PRC Chief Deputy Shane Tucker said.

Hancock County sheriff’s Chief Investigator Glenn Grannan said the child was first abused Jan. 31 in Hancock County.