HERNANDO, Miss. (ABP) — A long-time Southern Baptist pastor was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography after he was caught viewing inappropriate images while web surfing in a public library.
Edward Earl “Eddie” Prince, 63, pastor of Oak Grove Baptist Church in Hernando, Miss., was arrested April 1 following a four-month investigation by local police.
Library workers notified police in mid-December that Prince was seen viewing porn on one of the library’s computers. According to media reports, the computers in the library have software to prevent people from viewing inappropriate materials, but the pastor somehow got around filters and firewalls.
An arrest was made after a forensic examination showed the confiscated computer was used to download child pornography. Police also confiscated computers at Prince's home and church.
According to the Desoto Times-Tribune, Prince has been a pastor for more than 40 years and had been at Oak Grove Baptist, a 150-member Southern Baptist congregation founded in 1852, between eight and 10 years.
Police said Prince has no prior arrests and there have been no allegations that he molested children.
"The place we know he had access to children, which is his church, has been investigated, and there have been no complaints from anybody about this at his church," Desoto County District Attorney John Champion said at a press conference, quoted by the Memphis Commercial-Appeal.
Prince was held on $60,000 bond and due to appear in court Wednesday.
In a separate case, sentencing was rescheduled from March 25 for a British Baptist minister who pleaded guilty last November to four counts of aggravated sexual battery of two boys during visits to a family friend in Virginia.
First Lt. Sonny Cachuela, public information officer for the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, said Robert Dando, at the time of his arrest senior minister at Worcester Park Baptist Church in suburban London, was being held without bond pending his next court date scheduled April 29 in Fairfax County Circuit Court.
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