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A Tennessee pastor, Roonie Messer has been arrested and charged with rape and sexual battery of a 17-year old girl.
According to a Newport Police Department report, Messer 47, was arrested after a family told police a 17-year-old girl had been raped by the pastor.
The girl’s sister reportedly told police the girl rode with the pastor to a worship center, after their plans to go swimming in the Hartford area were truncated by swift and muddy water.
The pastor reportedly led the girl through the center’s rear entrance to a room across from the men’s restroom where he raped her.
When he was interviewed, Messer admitted having sex with the girl but said it was consensual.
Messer was taken into custody and transferred to the Cocke County Jail. He faces charges of statutory rape, forcible rape, and aggravated sexual battery by an authority figure.