LOUISIANA
The Times-Picayune
By Diana Samuels, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
Two more people have come forward to accuse a Marrero pastor of molesting them when they were young girls, raising to five the number of people accusing him of sexual crimes as part of a growing investigation, Orleans Parish court documents said.
The documents said police have also been contacted by two additional possible victims, though their allegations are not detailed in the record.
Sherman Smith was arrested in November on aggravated rape and sexual battery charges after three people came forward. He was booked on further charges Wednesday (Sept. 13), court records showed, including indecent behavior with a juvenile, sexual battery, and molestation of a juvenile or person with a disability.
Smith, a 56-year-old Algiers resident, was a pastor at Second Highway Baptist Church, 1533 block of Haydel Drive, Marrero.
An affidavit for the recent arrest warrant said four more people came forward after information about Smith’s first arrest was distributed on social media. The affidavit contains details about two of those victims’ allegations. The records don’t say how long ago the crimes occurred, but the original case that led to Smith’s arrest had occurred about 22 years earlier.
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.