Congregation shocked by charges against former youth pastor
Free Methodist Church leaders were "in shock" and "deeply concerned" after learning a youth pastor, who recently worked in Saskatoon, is charged in Ontario with attempted aggravated sexual assault and luring a child by means of computer.
Kris Allan Gowdy, 42, now of Newcastle, Ont., was arrested Thursday at a residence after allegedly making arrangements on a social media forum to meet a 15-year-old male for a sexual encounter.
Investigators with the OPP Internet child exploitation unit had posed as a teen in an online sting.
Durham Regional Police also reported Gowdy was diagnosed with HIV in 2009.
"News of this arrest has come as a surprise and certainly an unpleasant shock to the leadership of Lakeview Church and we are deeply saddened by it," local president Jay Stark said Monday.
Gowdy is an ordained minister with the Free Methodist Chur...