WICHITA FALLS (TX)
Texomas [Witchita Falls, TX]
August 2, 2024
By Joshua Hoggard
The founding pastor of a Wichita Falls church accused of committing multiple sex crimes against two preteen girls is once again seeking to have his bonds reduced.
Paul Andrew Coleman, 68, of Wichita Falls, stands accused of one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child, two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, and one count of indecency with a child by sexual contact.
PREVIOUS STORY: Former church pastor has new child sex crime charges filed
Coleman, the founder and former pastor of Good Samaritan Outreach Ministries on East Carolina Street, has been held in the Wichita County Jail on bonds totaling $425,000 since May 17, 2024.
On Thursday afternoon, August 1, 2024, a motion to reduce his bonds was scheduled to be heard in the 78th District Courtroom with Judge Meredith Kennedy presiding. However, due to scheduling conflicts with multiple witnesses, the defense was planning to call to the stand, the hearing was rescheduled for Friday, August 9, 2024.
Coleman was first arrested in December 2022 and charged with one count of aggravated sexual assault and one count of indecency. After spending nearly five months behind bars, he was released after posting significantly reduced bonds in April 2023.
Just over a year later, Coleman was again arrested after a Wichita County grand jury indicted him on two new charges, a second count of aggravated sexual assault and one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child.
The charges against Coleman stem from between June 1, 2022, and November 30, 2022, when he was alleged to have sexually assaulted two girls who had attended his church and were both preteens at the time.
READ MORE: Wichita Falls pastor arrested for sexual assault of a child
According to outcry statements made by the victim’s family members and a forensic interviewer, the assaults of the two girls occurred either at his residence or at the church.
Other court documents alleged that Coleman had been sexually abusing the alleged child victims since September 2020.
A notice of extraneous offenses filed by the prosecution also accused Coleman of grooming one of the victims and her family by buying them things, dropping food and gifts off at their house, and buying the victim a phone. The notice also said Coleman would come to the victim’s home when adults were not home.
The notice also accused Coleman of grooming the other alleged victim and her family by helping to “discipline” the victim and her siblings by getting isolated contact with them, giving them attention, playing games with them and kissing the victim.
According to the state’s notice, Coleman allegedly threatened to kill one of the victims if she told anyone how he was touching her. He’s also accused of threatening to “do something” to the victim’s brother, who had witnessed the sexual abuse of his sister if he told anyone what he saw.
This is a developing story. Stick with Texoma’s Homepage for updates as more information becomes available. All individuals charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.