86-year-old South Carolina pastor out on bond after being slapped with 30 felony charges
An 86-year-old Baptist pastor from South Carolina is out on bond after having been arrested last month on 30 felony charges related to multiple incidents during his ministry in Virginia decades ago, including taking "indecent liberties with a child."
Albert Benjamin Wharton was arrested by deputies with the Richmond County Sheriff's Office on Dec. 8 at his home in Pickens County, South Carolina, with the help of the Pickens County Sheriff's Office and the FBI, according to local FOX Carolina.
Of the 30 felony counts against Wharton, 22 of them were indecent liberties with a child younger than 13, while in a custodial position, and eight were aggravated sexual assault.
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Wharton's alleged crimes took place between 1981 and 1997 at Berachah Christian Academy in Warsaw, Virginia, while Wharton was serving as pastor of the affiliated Victory Baptist Church, according to Richmond County Sheriff Stephan Smith. The school is no longer in operation, according to local WRIC.
Wharton served as the founding pastor of Victory Baptist Church from 1976 to 2002, according to the church's website.
Smith said over the past 40 years, Wharton had served as a pastor at churches in Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama and Florida. He said Wharton's arrest was the culmination of a 15-month investigation that involved the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit and was prompted by one of Wharton's alleged victims coming forward to law enforcement.
Wharton was extradited to Northern Neck Regional Jail in Richmond County, Virginia, on the day of his arrest, but has since been released on $25,000 bond on Dec. 18. He remains under house arrest at his home in Pickens.
The conditions of his bond release require Wharton to be of good behavior, wear an electronic home monitoring device, and refrain from contacting any alleged victim or minor.
Wharton is also prohibited from supervising children or attending, leading or pastoring any church or religious association.
