Trial Continues for Former Pastor Henry Edgington

Two recently retired Waco police officers were on the stand this morning in 54th State District Court testifying about their investigation into a child pornography case involving a former area pastor.

Former police officer Chris Kingrey opened up today’s testimony about his work as the department’s computer analyst. He said he was asked to examine a computer to which Henry Edgington, 65, had access as a night clerk at the Czech Inn in West.

Kingrey said he found 63 images that he considered child pornography on the computer, which prosecutor J.R Vicha and Hilary LaBorde showed to jurors on a large screen in the courtroom.

Retired State District Judge George Allen ordered that the windows be covered in the courtroom while the images were displayed.

Kingrey also said he recovered at least three e-mails from Edgington that appeared to be sent to young models, including one that said “You’re so beautiful it makes me smile to see your face.”

Former police Sgt. Kraig Disney testified about searching Edgington’s home in August 2007 and took a statement from the defendant in which Edgington said he was inspired to try to rid the Internet of child pornography sites after reading a story out of Florida about a group that worked successfully with legislators.

Disney said Edgington told him: “I felt if it works there it can work here. I made some terrible printouts that I intended to send to (local U.S. Rep.) Chet Edwards. He seemed like a go-to guy.”
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Pastor Bernard Squires Facing Child Porn Charges

A federal magistrate has ordered that a northern Indiana church pastor facing child pornography possession charges be kept in custody until his trial.

Prosecutors said that 64-year-old Bernard Squires of rural Columbia City had at least 10,000 pornographic images of children and 5,000 videos depicting child pornography on a computer hard drive.

Squires is the pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Columbia City. He was arrested last week as part of an FBI investigation into child pornography distribution over the Internet.

His wife and five other pastors testified Thursday in support of his release from custody, citing his volunteer work as a Whitley County Sheriff’s Department chaplain and at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Fort Wayne.

The judge, however, ruled that Squires was a flight risk.

Pastor Kris Lounsbury Charged with Rape

A lay pastor who ran a failed bid to unseat U.S. House of Representatives incumbent Jim Matheson in 2006 made an initial appearance in 5th District Court on Thursday on charges of rape and sexual abuse of a child.

Kris Lounsbury, age 62, of St. George is charged with two counts of rape, two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and two counts of forcible sexual abuse.

Lounsbury ran for the 2nd Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives but was defeated by State Representative LaVar Christensen for the Republican nomination to oppose Matheson.

Lounsbury was also the founding pastor of Living Word Christian Fellowship in St. George. He resigned his position as pastor about a year and a half ago, said current pastor John Sullivan.

Lounsbury then became an elder of the church, but stepped down from that position about four weeks ago as a consequence of the allegations, Sullivan said.

"It's a situation that he has repented before the congregation about," Sullivan said.

Sullivan also said Lounsbury is engaged in ongoing counseling with Sullivan and the pastor of another fellowship.

St. George Police Department Officer James Schafer said a complaint was submitted to the Washington County Attorney's Office following allegations on June 19 that three girls were abused by Lounsbury.

"It looks like the charges were enhanced because the suspect was in a position of special trust, which means he was either a relative or in (another) position of special trust with the victim," Schafer said.

A woman who identified herself as the mother of the alleged victims said she confronted Lounsbury after her 15-year-old daughter reported numerous cases of abuse.

The woman said her other daughters told her similar stories and that their friends also said Lounsbury had molested them.

"When my daughter first told me I was skeptical, then when I was talking to my other daughters and they were saying the same thing I was just blown away," the woman said. The Spectrum is not identifying the woman because of her relationship to the alleged victims.

"My main concern is that he is prosecuted correctly and that if there are any more victims out there, that they come forward," she said.

Lounsbury's attorney, Larry Meyers, said the case is still in the early stages.

"We haven't got the discovery yet. Once we get that we'll talk to the prosecutor," Meyers said.

Discovery is the process by which attorneys review evidence gathered to back up the charges against a suspect.

Meyers asked Judge G. Rand Beacham on Thursday to recall a warrant issued against Lounsbury and to allow him to remain out of jail on his own recognizance with an order not to contact the alleged victims, in accordance with an agreement between the defense and the prosecutor for the case.

Meyers said Lounsbury is well known in the community and should not be considered a flight risk.

Beacham accepted the arrangement and set a roll call hearing for Aug. 10.