A Baptist clergyman appeared in District Court on St. Thomas to answer allegations of child sexual abuse contained in a grand jury indictment filed June 17. Pastor Lawrence Turnbull appeared Thursday morning in the courtroom of Magistrate Judge G. Alan Teague.
Turnbull is a senior pastor and youth leader at the St. Paul Baptist Church in Anna’s Retreat. He was arrested April 1 for offenses detailed in a charging document filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The grand jury indictment upheld the seven counts found in that document. Charges include unlawful sexual contact, transporting a person under age 18 for the purpose of committing an illegal sex act; coercion of a female minor, and two counts of child abuse.
The indictment also suggests there was one victim who was subject to Turnbull’s alleged behavior between January 2023 and February 2024, but there was an additional incident occurring as late as May 2024. “ … as a pastor and youth leader, the defendant frequently engaged in unlawful sexual contact with a minor victim,” the document read.
Allegations brought by the grand jury during specific time periods between January 2023 and May 2024. Specific acts found in the indictment include kissing minors on the lips, fondling breasts and buttocks, and ignoring a minor’s request to be taken home.
The original date for jury selection in the case was set for June 1, but has since been rescheduled for July 27.
