A former Texas youth pastor appeared before a Lubbock County judge on Thursday on charges he sexually assaulted a child.
Luke Cunningham, 41, former student minister at Lakeside Baptist Church in Granbury, was arrested Wednesday by U.S. Marshalls, according to a Lubbock County jail intake sheet.
Cunningham is accused of inappropriate conduct with a minor who is not part of the Lakeside Baptist congregation, according to a statement released by the church.
He has since been fired from Lakeside Baptist.
Prior to Lakeside, Cunningham served as the student pastor at Turning Point Community Church in Lubbock from 2016 to 2020, according to published reports.
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Emails reaching out for comment to Turning Point were not returned.
However, in a statement released by Lakeside Baptist Church, church leaders said they “immediately reported” Cunningham to Texas authorities in Lubbock and Granbury. The statement added that the church informed other church leaders and encouraged anyone with direct information to contact law enforcement.
Lakeside church leaders said they “are not aware of any assaults having occurred with any of our students, we wish to say again that we stand ready to continue offering help with professional counselors,” the statement reads.
The statement also took aim at the failure of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) to develop a database for sex offenders. As reported earlier by The Roys Report (TRR), an SBC task force charged with implementing abuse reforms ended its work last week without publishing a single name on a database of abusers.
“Lakeside Baptist Church stands firmly against clerical sexual abuse. We believe that, if the Southern Baptist Convention had a working database for offenders, we would likely have never been exposed to Mr. Cunningham,” according to the statement.
“We plan to do everything possible to encourage national leaders to exercise their spiritual responsibility, identify perpetrators in the churches, and stop this from happening again,” the statement read.
Lakeside Church leaders said they plan to re-evaluate and institute their own even more rigorous processes.
Court officials said Cunningham appeared in court on Thursday and bail was set at $200,000.
Lakeside Baptist informed its congregation on June 2 of the accusations against Cunningham.
“Upon learning of the accusation, we immediately suspended Mr. Cunningham, barred his interaction with the church and students, and conducted an investigation,” the statement reads.
Lakeside Baptist leaders “determined within days that there was enough evidence to turn him over to the Personnel Committee, who immediately released him from employment.”
Lakeside Baptist Church partners with MinistrySafe, according to the church statement. It adds that pastoral and lay leaders are evaluating the events leading to the present crisis so that we can provide the best safeguards for our children and members.
“We ask you to join with us in praying for the victims of clerical sexual abuse, in praying for perpetrators to repent of their gross evil and be brought to justice, and in praying for all the families and churches who have been harmed,” the statement reads.
Sheila Stogsdill is a freelance print journalist and digital reporter, primarily covering crime issues for KSN/KODE.
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Now three in two days:
Newberry Education First board member arrested for soliciting sex with a minor
The man attempted to lure the 15-year-old boy to his home through Snapchat
By Lee Ann Anderson
June 20, 2024 | 11:07pm EDT
Thursday brought the arrest of Joel Searby, a Newberry Education First board member and former Greenhouse Church lay preacher, on suspicion of soliciting sex from a minor.
Searby solicited him for sex and sent revealing pictures with his face obscured, including one showing his hand inside of his pants to “develop trust.” The minor did not send pictures in return, according to the arrest report.
https://www.alligator.org/article/2024/06/newberry-board-member-solicitation
That’s the problem with modern day organized religion. They “ignore the mercy, judgement and justice for the sake of money.” They expect the victim to forgive and pray for the molester. Pharisees!
Hi Gabriel, All I can say is look for the Jesus followers. You will know when you find them, just as you know when you are encountering Pharisees. I pray you find peace and the true Jesus.