By Victor Ochieng
It’s going to be a tough time ahead for a 22-year-old Colorado pastor after he was arrested for having s*x with a 14-year-old girl. The man admitted to having s*x with the girl on several occasions and getting her pregnant.
El Paso County police records show that the girl carried the pregnancy to its full term and gave birth to a healthy baby. The 22-year-old pastor Romello Leach admitted to being the father of the child. Further details revealed that Leach is linked to several churches that held meetings at a Colorado Springs hotel, The Gazette reports.
El Paso County Sheriff’s Office started investigating Leach after receiving a heads-up from a pregnancy center that the girl and her mother had visited to seek help.
The young girl gave birth to the child on September 15, coming just shortly after she turned 15. Court documents indicate that the girl didn’t tell anyone about her pregnancy until it started showing up in May.
Authorities revealed that Leach admitted during a recorded phone conversation with his wife that he actually got involved with the girl, blaming the whole thing on lust. In the phone call, he tells his ex-wife that he knew “he had made the worst mistake,” reads an affidavit in the case.
“It’s not like (I) will go around and sleep with everybody’s 13 or 14-year-daughter,” he adds.
In another conversation with an anonymous person, Leach talks about having had s*x with the young girl on four separate occasions, going as far as admitting to being the father of her baby.
Leach was nabbed by police officers on Wednesday last week on several counts of s*xual assault with a minor and was, at the time of going to press, being held in jail. No details have been shared on whether or not he has a lawyer.
At the same time, no details have been shared on whether the girl was a member of his church or not.
It’s a very bad thing coming from a pastor, more specifically for a married one. But that’s becoming a bit too common, with pastors, among other religious leaders, getting involved with minors, some who’re members of their churches.
In Leach’s case, it’s going to be difficult for him to get off the hook, considering that the prosecution has put up a very tight case against him, including serious evidence to prove that he’s actually the father of the child.
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