Former Hays County deacon accused of sexually assaulting young girls for years
Multiple sex abuse charges could be filed soon against a former Baptist deacon. 85-year-old Charles Sweet was charged with two counts of indecency with a child by contact on Wednesday, and investigators say there are more victims.
At Hays Hills Baptist Church in Buda, the leadership is grappling with the indecency with a child charges against the former deacon. Meantime, Austin Police Detective Eric Guevara made a plea to other victims. "I'd like to ask if you're ready to come forward, to please contact the Austin Police Department," said Det. Guevara.
According to the affidavits, Sweet admitted to the crimes against multiple young girls in Hays and Travis counties. At another point in his interview with detectives he said he "is attracted to girls younger than 12 years old."
The church released a statement saying Sweet was stripped of his membership and barred from even attending, after a 14-year-old girl made an outcry to Pastor David Sweet, who is Charles Sweet's son. That was September of 2012, but no charges were filed then. It is one of the two cases in Travis County filed Wednesday.
In January of this year, another woman made an outcry that Sweet had molested her as a young girl in a trailer where they held their youth ministries.
Detectives say the investigation is not done. "The investigation both here and in Hays County revealed that there's multiple other now adult female survivors," Det. Guevara said. "He also victimized some here in Austin at his residen...