An Alabama pastor is accused of a sex crime involving a minor, authorities said.
Kenneth Daniel, 64, of Alabaster, was arrested Wednesday and charged with facilitating solicitation of unlawful sexual conduct with a child, according to Blount County Sheriff’s Office online booking records.
Daniel is the pastor at First Baptist Church of Chalkville, WIAT-TV reported. According to court records, the alleged crimes occurred between January 2020 and October 2022.
A 7-year-old girl told her grandfather that Daniel had been sexually abusing her at his residence, at the church and at a pool party, according to the television station.
According to the victim, the pool party was arranged by Daniel, who asked her grandfather to bring her and other children to the party, WBMA-TV reported.
“It has alarmed us,” Blount County Sheriff Mark Moon told WIAT. “I mean it really has, it hurts our hearts anytime a child is a victim of any crime, but specifically something this heinous. I mean a sex crime against a child, that has a lifetime -- it does a lifetime of damage.
“It bothers me to think that anybody would think that it’s OK to do anything like this to a child. It bothers me that anybody would think they could do this to an adult. But, children are so innocent and they’re so precious, and why would you damage that?”
Daniel remains in the Blount County Jail, online records show. Officials at the church have not yet responded to WIAT’s request for comment.
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