New Hampshire pastor charged with possessing child porn after 5-year-investigation
(The AEGIS Alliance) – A New Hampshire pastor, age 46, was apprehended by authorities this past week and is facing charges of possessing child porn following an investigation that lasted for five years.
In August 2016, an investigation was launched into the Bible Baptist Church after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children delivered a tip to the Nashua Police Department concerning child porn connected to the church’s internet protocol address. The cops point out they got comparable tips in 2017, however, back then, there was insufficient evidence to press charges, the Nashua Police Department wrote in a statement.
The cops say that in 2019, a suspect involved in a Denver, Colorado child sex-related exploitation investigation shared youngster porn with an unidentified person by means of social networking sites. Authorities stated, “The IP address used by the unknown individual was associated with the Bible Baptist Church.”
In the course of a 2020 Florida child porn investigation, the Tallahassee Police Department apparently linked an internet protocol address to the Bible Baptist Church too.
In 2021, cops pointed out that Homeland Security in Blaine, Washington, linked a social media chat concerning sex-related contact with youngsters to an internet protocol address connected with the church.
On March 15 at about 9:45 a.m. the Nashua Police Department, along with Homeland Security Investigations, and the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, as well as the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to the Bible Baptist Church, situated at 62 Caldwell Road, to carry out a search warrant.
Authorities browsed 2 flash drives in pastor Stephen Bates’ belongings and discovered several child porn photos. Bates was apparently apprehended and is charged with possessing child sexual abuse images, a class A felony. Authorities mention additional charges are anticipated.
WMUR-TV reports that Bates was actually discharged from jail after paying a $3,000 bond and also went back to his home located at the church property this past Tuesday. Authorities say if found guilty, Stephen Bates is facing up to 15 years behind bars in a state penitentiary.
Jeffrey Childers – The AEGIS Alliance – This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
