Pastor Charged With Multiple Counts of Indecency With a Child

ODESSA, TX —An Odessa pastor has been charged with two counts of indecency with a child after allegedly inappropriately touching a fifteen year old multiple times on Monday.

Donald Hetherington, 80, was the pastor of a congregation in Odessa where the victim, a 15-year-old girl, attended. According to CBS 7, police received a tip of a possible sexual assault on Oct. 11, 2018.

The victim was then interviewed and told authorities that Hetherington had assaulted her multiple times. According to the affidavit, the abuse reportedly began in 2017 when Hetherington would grab her buttocks "more times than she could count." The affidavit also accuses Hetherington of touching the victim's groin area over her clothes. 

This was not the first time Hetherington has had accusations like this. In 2012, Hetherington allegedly went to visit an elderly woman from his congregation in the hospital. During his visit of her in a hospital, he allegedly touched her groin area and forced her to touch his groin area, too. Since there were no witnesses and not enough evidence, this case was dropped.

Another incident happened when another member of the congregation came forward and told police that Hetherington had grabbed her breast three times, causing her to leave the church.