OKLAHOMA
The Lawton Constitution
Written by Malinda Rust Thursday, 14 November 2013
A local pastor accused of taking minors from a former Department of Human Services contracted group home to perform sexual acts in front of them at his church was bound over for trial Wednesday.
Bobby Burrell, 28, appeared relaxed, even chewing gum, alongside his defense attorney, Jason Lowe, during his preliminary hearing Wednesday afternoon. Burrell was charged in August with one count of child sexual abuse following nearly a year of investigation into allegations of misconduct at the Sequoyah Group Home, 824 SE 2nd, and released on a $20,000 bond.
Burrell, who was employed as a counselor at the home, is accused of masturbating in front of teenage boys who were housed at the center after he escorted them to One More Soul Outreach Ministry, 1010 SW McKinley, under the guise of performing work at the church. Court documents allege that some staff members knew of the allegations but didn’t report them to authorities.
The incident for which Burrell is charged stems from one encounter with a 16-year-old that is alleged to have occurred in July 2012. The victim from the alleged incident testified Wednesday with outstanding poise, despite the defense’s attempts to attack the young man’s credibility.
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.