Nine felony statutory sodomy charges were added to the total against Grandview Valley Baptist Church North pastor George Otis Johnston, 63, Granby, today. Johnston now faces 17 sex charges in Newton County and another one in McDonald County as the investigation into the cult-like practices of Johnston's church and the Grand Valley Independent Baptist Church near Washburn continues.
Johnston will remain free under the same $100,000 bond he posted on the initial eight charges, according to court records.
Associated Press reporter Marcus Kabel has already posted an article on the new charges:
The new counts arose from an interview with a woman conducted by Newton County sheriff's investigators since the first charges were filed against Johnston on Aug. 22. The woman, who is now 20 years old, told investigators that Johnston touched her sexually when he was supposed to be tutoring her from February 1997 to December 2004, according to a probable cause statement.
The woman told investigators that "when Johnston would touch her, he would tell her that it wouldn't make her impure, that it would make her holy and she would remain as pure as a virgin, even after she married," the probable cause statement said.
For more information on the charges against Johnston and four top officials of the McDonald County church, Rev. Raymond Lambert, his wife, Patty Lambert, and her brothers (and his stepbrothers) Paul and Tom Epling, check out previous posts in this blog over the past few weeks.
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