Alabama Minister Arrested For Raping and Sodomizing 13-Year-Old Girl Inside His Church

Churches are usually places were people find refuge and solace from the cruel, callous outside world. However, one 13-year-old girl walked into a nightmare when she walked into the doors of a Hueytown, AL church last month.

According to Raw Story, on Friday, May 2, Minister Tyrone Banks Sr. was arrested for raping and sodomizing a teenage girl. Jefferson County authorities stated that the 58-year-old man was a friend of the girl’s mother.

On Saturday, April 12, Minister Banks reportedly volunteered to watch the 13-year-old daughter of a family friend. The teen’s mother had an event to attend. So, she assumed the gesture was simply an act of kindness. Unfortunately, Banks had ulterior motives. He reportedly gained the trust of the young girl when he explained that they were going to go to a local church where he claimed to be an associate pastor.

“He had a key to the church and took the victim inside to the kitchen where he sexually assaulted her,” Chief Deputy Randy Christian said.

After the traumatic incident, Banks drove the girl home to her mother late that evening. The girl immediately told her mother what happened and they contacted the Pleasant Grove Police Department, who turned the case over to Jefferson County authorities.

Lt. Don Edge of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office weighed in with details about Banks. He was able to shed light on Banks’ position with the church. Edge explained that Banks wasn’t an associate minister with the church; just a minister who preached on a few occasions. He also shared his perspective of the psychological damage Banks has inflicted on the teenage girl.

“The sexual abuse of a child is not just bad because of the physical trauma, but there is a violation of trust. If someone you trust has violated you as a child, whether it’s a person of position, a family member or a trusted friend, that trust is lost and it has the potential to stay with the child for the rest of his or her life and it’s just a horrible crime on so many levels,” Edge said.

Banks was charged with first-degree sodomy and rape by forcible compulsion, which is a specified rape charge for children under the age of 15, in the state of Alabama. On May 4, he was released after posting a $120,000 bond. Authorities also stated that Banks could possibly face other charges in the coming days, but the nature of those charges have not been disclosed.

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