Bishop Eddie Long Move Over - Vegas Pastor Billy Eckstine McCurdy Charged with 11 Counts Of Sexual Assault Involving Teenage Boys

Online, October 14, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Las Vagas, Nevada - Bishop Eddie Long now has company in the court of public opinion with the arrest of Vegas Pastor Billy Eckstine McCurdy. On October 8, 2010 Pastor McCurdy was charged with 11 Counts Sexual Assault Involving Teenage Boys. According to The Las Vagas Sun, Pastor McCurdy was charged with five counts of sexual assault and 6 counts open or gross lewdness.

North Las Vegas police arrested Billy Eckstine McCurdy, 57, following an eight-month investigation into allegations that he sexually assaulted teen boys at his home.

It is important to mention that Pastor Billy McCurdy was brought up on similar charges five years ago but the case was thrown out due to lack of evidence. According to police reports, Pastor McCurdy used Bible verses to lure teenage boys into sexual acts.

Billy McCurdy is pastor of the Revival Temple Church of God in Christ, which has a reputation for being an anti-gay congregation. According to the Preacher Bureau of Investigations the Billy McCurdy case has two things in common with the Bishop Eddie Long case, youth programs, and teenage boys.

In a statement released by KTNV Action News Las Vagas they reported that "Pastor McCurdy is a victim of false arrest, slander, and harassment. In a rush to judgment, the North Las Vagas Police Department, grand jury, and the media took the word of two disgruntled members of the Revival Temple to indict and accuse an innocent person without any substantial evidence."

KTNV has also stated that the two men referred to as (teens) were actually 23 and 28 years old. One of the accusers in the case has already retracted his story but the second accuser has not. Pastor Billy McCurdy is currently being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas.

In the 2005 case, North Las Vegas police arrested McCurdy after a boy told investigators the pastor tried to fondle him while they slept in the same bed. The teen told police he and other teens were at McCurdy's house for a swim and slumber party. After swimming the children split up and went to bed.

Pastor Billy McCurdy generosity towards young men has attracted the same level of criticism as seen in the Bishop Eddie Long case. The Preacher Bureau of Investigation has stated that Pastor McCurdy is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, but sexual allegations of this sort is definitely another black eye for the church as a whole.

Revival Temple has a history of standing behind their Pastors, and these latest accusations have done nothing to rattle their faith in Pastor McCurdy. Many of McCurdy's flock publicly stood behind him, though he was suspended by the church after the arrest. In the 2005 case, the district attorney's office declined to prosecute McCurdy, citing questions about evidence in the case. "We didn't feel we could prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt," District Attorney David Roger said at the time. "There was conflicting evidence concerning the accuser."

KSNV Channel 3 of Las Vegas originally arrived with the Las Vegas' Police department and filmed the arrest of Pastor McCurdy on October 8th, but also covered live the retraction by accuser Ladrial George on October 11, 2010. KSNV is no longer reporting any details of the case on their website after breaking the story that Pastor McCurdy had been arrested.

In a timeline of the current events the two accusers testified before a grand jury on Thursday, October 7th, Pastor McCurdy was charged and arrested October 8th and the retraction by one of the alleged victims was issued on October 11th.

Pastor McCurdy may have a leg to stand in a Las Vegas' court as this investigation appears to have fallen apart, but the court of public opinion may hand down a harsher sentence. For more information on the Pastor McCurdy Story and other topics related to Men of the Cloth please visit the Preacher Bureau of Investigation website at www.PimpPreacher.com