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Pastor arrested on charges of indecent liberties with a teenage girl

Posted at 10:50 AM, Sep 05, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-07 15:15:27-04

SUFFOLK, Va. - Suffolk Police arrested a man on charges including indecent liberties with a child, prosecutors argued in open court that the suspect took the victim to a hotel to have sex.

Sean Edward Gaines

43-year-old Sean Edward Gaines was arrested Monday following direct indictment on charges including one count of indecent liberties with a child by a custodian and six counts of carnal knowledge of a 14-year-old girl.

Suffolk Police confirmed to News 3 Thursday that Gaines was a pastor at Empowerment Temple, a church on Pruden Blvd.

The charges are related to alleged incidents that happened in Hampton in February where Gaines took the victim to a hotel in the city. Court documents state Gaines sexually abused the teen when he touched the victim's private parts and had sexual intercourse with her.

According to court documents, Gaines is accused of taking the girl to a hotel to perform the sexual acts, with a hotel receipt presented as evidence.

Authorities say the victim is not related to Gaines and she is not of the age to give consent for sex.

Gaines was previously charged in Hampton for similar offense with the same victim. He was granted bond and then arrested after Suffolk's direct indictment.

Gaines is currently being held at Western Tidewater Regional Jail and was denied bond on Thursday. His next court date will be September 25 at 10:30 a.m. for a preliminary hearing.

The investigation remains ongoing.

News 3 reached out to several churches in the same building where Gaines was a pastor and they said they didn't know the name of his church. We went by their location and the building seems to be the home to several churches. The building was closed.