MARATHON, Fla. – Deputies arrested a South Florida pastor Monday morning once they accused him of sexually battering an intoxicated 15-year-old girl at his church.
Monte Lavelle Chitty, 62, of Marathon, is dealing with fees of sexual battery of a minor, lewd and lascivious behavior and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
He is the pastor of First Baptist Marathon, situated at 200 62nd St., the place he used to be arrested simply prior to 6:15 Monday morning, in line with prison information.
In a news unlock, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Becky Herrin mentioned deputies have been knowledgeable of what came about after an nameless caller reported overhearing a girl telling an grownup that she were raped. Herrin mentioned the girl and her grandmother had boarded a dinghy and headed out to the harbor.
Meanwhile, as deputies have been in search of her, government won a 2d name. It used to be from Chitty, Herrin mentioned.
Chitty, Herrin mentioned, advised dispatchers “he believed he was about to be accused of something and he wanted to get ahead of it,” announcing that “a young girl at his church had been drinking and had passed out on a couch in the library of the church. He said he helped her to lie down on the couch but did not touch her after that.”
Authorities mentioned the girl used to be discovered on board a ship the place she lives and advised deputies that “Chitty gave her alcohol that she thinks might have been ‘spiked’ with something else. She said she immediately began to feel weak and lost consciousness.”
When she aroused from sleep, she discovered Chitty molesting her, Herrin mentioned the girl advised deputies.
“Further investigation by detectives revealed text messages between the victim and Chitty,” Herrin mentioned. “In those messages, which were found on both his and her phones, Chitty made reference to having sexual relations with the girl while she was impaired.”
Herrin mentioned Chitty “was a registered volunteer with the Sheriff’s Office who offered his services as a pastor” starting remaining April, however, to this point, “he has not performed any services for the office.”
Chitty used to be being held with out bond in MCSO’s Key West prison facility as of Monday morning.
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