The former pastor of young people arrested after allegedly abused at least 6 teenagers

This article is part of “Pastors and prey”, A series investigating the allegations of sexual abuse in the assemblies of God.

Thomas Pinkerton Jr. used to tell the children of his group of young people in Maryland that it was normal for a pastor to kiss the boys on his lips, because this is how Jesus praised his disciples, according to a stopping mandate made public last week.

The kiss was only the beginning, the police of the former Pinkerton group of young people told the police.

Pinkerton, 52, a Minister of Youth known as Pasteur Tommy, is detained without deposit following charges that he sexually abused six teenagers from 2006 to 2010 while working in Central Christian Church, an assemblies of God Church in Baltimore County. He was extradited from his original state, Georgia in Maryland last Wednesday to face 24 crimes of crime and offense in the county of Baltimore. His lawyer, Justin Hollimon, said that he had pleaded not guilty.

An arrest warrant said that the alleged abuse included inappropriate touches and kisses of six teenagers in Maryland, who were 13 to 19 years old. The mandate indicated that the alleged abuses had taken place in the church and in the old house of Pinkerton in Maryland. A seventh man reported abuses from Pinkerton in Georgia, according to the mandate, and this report was sent to the authorities, said those responsible for the county of Baltimore.

Detective Believe that there may be more victims and asked anyone with information to come forward.

Pinkerton, who has worked as a traveling evangelist in recent years, has been “completely shocked” by accusations, his lawyer said on Monday.

“He is a pastor. He gave his life to the community, worked for the community,” said Hollimon, adding that he had filed a request on Monday morning to ask for another surety hearing for Pinkerton after a judge rejected his release last week. “He is impatiently awaiting his day in court.”

The arrest of Pinkerton is involved while the assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal name in the world, with nearly 3 million members in 13,000 churches in the United States, are struggling with a series of allegations of sexual abuse on children.

As part of an ongoing investigation into the processing of complaints by the name of abuse, NBC News published an investigation last week on the basis of interviews, emails, judicial documents and police reports that examined how an assembly of God The college ministry guided hundreds of students at Daniel Savala’s homeA condemned sexual offender rented by some as “the healthiest man living”. A few days later, the assemblies of the leaders of God addressed the question of sexual abuse in the name during a biennial rally in Orlando, Defend their manipulation From the case of Savala while rushing to make changes to prevent similar abuses in the future.

Do you have a story to share on the assemblies of God’s management of sexual abuse? Report by email Mike Hixenbaugh.

According to Pinkerton’s arrest warrant, the detectives began to investigate him after the seven men presented themselves last fall. The men alleged that when they were in adolescence, Pinkerton gave them massages and rubbed their penis; Many have said that Pinkerton would greet them with what he called a “celestial kiss” or “fraternal kiss” on the lips, compare this to Jesus. The men said that Pinkerton had called them his “favorites” and referred to them as a “spiritual father”.

The assemblies of the officials of God moved away from Pinkerton on Monday, telling NBC News that Pinkerton worked in a church in the assemblies of God, he has never been officially accredited as Minister of the name.

“We are so saddened to learn this report and we are deeply concerned whenever reports like this,” said Benjamin Rainey Jr., secretary-treasurer of the assemblies of God Regional Office who supervises the three-state region that includes Maryland.

The old church of Pinkerton in Maryland did not return a telephone call on Monday. In a declaration Published last week on his websiteCentral Christian said Pinkerton was one of his staff over 15 years ago and has not been affiliated to the church since his departure to start his own ministry. He also said that since the alleged abuses had been reported to the police, additional persons “have presented similar accounts”, some of them in other states.

“There is absolutely no place for abuse – never – in the church,” said the main pastor of Central Christian, Larry Kirk, in the press release.

In the years that followed the alleged abuse, Pinkerton preached in at least six different states, discovered NBC News, and according to his website from the ministry, he evangelized in South America, Europe and Asia.

Pinkerton’s lawyer said on Monday that his client was faced with charges in a state other than Maryland.

A church where he preached, the new Grand Rapids chapel, Michigan, which is not an assembly of the Church of God, Posted on his website During the weekend, he had cut the links with Pinkerton before being arrested.

“We had a broken heart to hear about these serious allegations that occurred in Baltimore, in Maryland, almost 20 years ago, and communicated the situation to our church family after having broken all the links with the accused several months ago. Our prayers and our continuous cooperation are towards justice for the victims,” said the New Chapel Declaration.

The authorities of Maryland and Georgia said that the Baltimore county police had obtained an arrest warrant at the end of June for Pinkerton. The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Bureau in Georgia said he then arrested her during a traffic stop in July before being extradited for Maryland last week.

Pinkerton has a preliminary audience scheduled for September 5.