UPDATED::Pastor charged with failure to report child abuse – Baptist News Global

UPDATE:: Prosecutors dismiss case against pastor accused of failure to report abuse

Sunday was Michael Walker's last service as the pastor of Huntsville's Southside Baptist Church.

He resigned after nearly a year of being charged with failure to report child sex abuse committed by a Madison County sheriff's investigator.

State prosecutors dropped a criminal charge against Walker, but he says he already tendered his resignation weeks ago.

Walker said his reputation has been ruined, the arrest has taken a toll on his marriage and he probably won't ever work in ministry again.

"I wasn't guilty," Walker told AL.com. "The things that were said about me are just so far from the truth."

A Baptist pastor in Alabama faces misdemeanor charges for allegedly failing to report suspicion of child sex abuse to legal authorities.

Michael Walker, 51, pastor of Southside Baptist Church in Huntsville, Ala., was booked into Madison County Jail Sept. 21 and released shortly thereafter after posting $500 bond. He is charged with violating mandatory laws requiring members of certain professions including clergy to immediately report a child known or suspected to be a victim of abuse or neglect to a duly appointed authority.

The arrest stems from an investigation into two felony counts of first-degree sexual abuse against a former Madison County sheriff’s investigator arrested Aug. 18 for allegedly fondling a 12-year-old girl earlier in the year.
Pastor charged with failure to report child abuse – Baptist News Global