Texas pastor accused of sex with 15-year-old girl at church, motel; and supplying meth: Police

VERNON, Texas (TCD) --

A Texas church pastor is accused of having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl and supplying her with methamphetamine.

On July 1, Vernon Police received a tip about an adult man seen at a local motel with an underage girl.

Police said the mother of an unidentified 15-year-old girl told an officer she was trying to find her daughter at a motel on the 3100 block of U.S. Highway 287.

The officer found Brian Pounds, a minister at the the First Assembly of God church in Vernon, at the motel. Pounds told the officer he was renting a room for a person in need, according to an arrest warrant obtained by KFDX-TV.

The room was rented under the church’s name. The officer did not locate the girl at the motel.

Later on July 1, the teenager’s mother found her at a Walmart in the area. Her mother brought the girl to the Vernon Police Dept.

The girl told police she had been having sexual intercourse with Brian Pounds at the motel at about noon that day, and said she had smoked methamphetamine in the room.

The girl told police she and Pounds had been having intercourse for about one month. She said Pounds had originally been “counseling her and her family through the church,” according to an arrest warrant.

Later, at the Vernon Police Dept., Brian Pounds denied any sexual contact with the girl. Pounds signed a consent form and police then searched the motel room.

Officers found physical evidence including fibers, hairs and suspected meth in the motel room, according to Vernon Police.

The teenage girl was examined at a Wichita Falls hospital, and was additionally treated for medical complications from smoking meth, police said.

On July 6, investigators interviewed the girl at Patsy's House Children's Advocacy Center in Wichita Falls, about 50 miles east of Vernon.

She said Pounds had gotten her a job cleaning houses, and allegedly began offering her methamphetamine at the First Assembly of God church in Vernon.

She said the first two “sexual encounters” with Pounds occurred at the church. She also said Pounds allegedly choked her during sexual intercourse at the motel on July 1.

Brian Pounds was arrested in Wichita Falls on July 16 for sexual assault of a child. On July 19, Pounds was charged with delivery of a controlled substance to a minor.

Pounds was held in the Wichita County Jail on $300,000 bond.

Pounds was also a chaplain at a Tyson Foods Inc. facility in Vernon, KFDX reports.

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