Kentucky Church Hires Registered Sex Offender as Pastor; Man Now Faces Charges of Alleged Rape, Sodomy of 14-Y-O Boy at Church
A Kentucky church that hired a pastor with full knowledge that he's a registered sex offender, is now the scene of an another alleged crime in which the minister is accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy who attended the church.
Roy Neal Yoakem, who leads the New Gospel Outreach Church in Scottsville, Kentucky, allegedly raped a 14-year-old boy at the church and police believe that another incident occurred in a nearby town, reported WSMV.
"He's a predator and he doesn't need to be on the street. I'm glad we got him," Detective Chad Keen told WBKO.
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According to Keen, the boy's mom, a church attender, discovered "graphic messages and photos from Yoakem on his phone."
"They were along the lines of really, really affectionate. There was some emotion in them. He was calling him a liar and telling him he didn't have any feelings for him anymore," Keen said.
Yoakem, 46, who is married and has a 14-year-old son himself, was a registered sex offender when he was hired by the church roughly three years ago.
"When he first became pastor about two and-a-half, three years ago, he informed the church of that right off," Stephen Bratcher, the interim pastor at New Gospel Outreach Church told WSMV. "He explained that those allegations were false."
The church took Yoakem at his word and Bratcher defended the hire.
"We're firm believers in the Bible, so if God's forgiven you, then we're in no position to treat you otherwise," Bratcher said.
Keen said that he believes that the teenage boy was not Yoakem's only victim.
"This is through the victim that I talked to, that there's another victim in Bowling Green that I'm going to have to speak with that Mr. Yoakem's been doing this to as well," Keen said.
Yoakem joined New Gospel Outreach Church after Billy Minix, the church's long-time pastor, was accused of embezzling $300,000.
Yoakem was arrested on several charges, including rape and sodomy. The former pastor could be heading to federal court because the alleged sexual abuse transpired in both Kentucky and in Tennessee. Yoakem is set to be extradited to Tennessee later this month.
