A Michigan pastor has been charged with sexually assaulting a young boy, according to local news media.
Harold Norman Cole Jr., 57, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Farwell, Michigan, has been charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct. Cole faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
According to the Clare County Sheriff’s Office, the alleged victim, who lives in another state, is not believed to have been a member of Cole’s church. The child reported the alleged abuse to authorities in his home state, prompting an investigation.
The sheriff’s office reportedly was notified in March of the allegations against Cole. The alleged victim reportedly claims Cole used force or coercion to initiate unwanted sexual contact with him.
The victim claims the crime occurred in Clare County between June and August of 2021, when he was younger than 13 years old.
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To protect the victim’s privacy, no further details have been released.
Cole was arrested on Oct. 31 and arraigned on Nov. 1. He was released on Nov. 4, after posting a $20,000 bond and is required to wear a GPS monitoring device.
Cole’s next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 12.
The Roys Report called Trinity Baptist Church for comment, but no one answered the phone.
Julie Roys is a veteran investigative reporter and founder of The Roys Report. She also previously hosted a national talk show on the Moody Radio Network, called Up for Debate, and has worked as a TV reporter for a CBS affiliate. Her articles have appeared in numerous periodicals.
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8 Responses
Please tell me the church is not retaining him as pastor! What is happening to this pastor right now should be happening to all the sexually abusive pastors we’ve been reading about in this paper–arrest, trial, punishment. Churches, make it happen!
The way a lot of these people (offenders and pastors generally) look makes me sad. I’ll catch flak for this, but I don’t think any pastor should look like this and be in leadership. It speaks to many issues in my view. Both in the natural and the spiritual. Does anyone here agree?
I am not following, what does he look like?
You mean that they are overweight?
It’s obvious, people. Are you feigning ignorance? Please stop if so.
I agree with you, Jerome. At one time, your commonsensical observation would have been accepted without needing to be said. This individual was never fit for any kind of leadership.
Does your reporting include news about the great things that churches and pastors do that make this world a better place ?
It does. I think the story published today about the Episcopal priest who forgave his assailant is pretty great. We also published a positive story about the “The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever.” But admittedly, those are the minority of stories here. With our limited resources, we can only report on so much. And at this point, we can take only a fraction of the abuse and corruption stories that come to us. So, it’s hard to say no to stories with real victims seeking justice to do a feel-good story. Those are important. But they’re also being covered by other Christian media. We’re filling the void by providing a platform for stories that otherwise wouldn’t be told.