JONESBORO — A pastor from Monette who is charged in connection with a missing Nebraska teenager is scheduled to make his first court appearance.
Det. Sgt. Justin Rolland with the Craighead County sheriff’s office says the pastor is to be arraigned Thursday afternoon on charges of first-degree sexual assault and obstructing governmental operations.
Rolland said the pastor does not have an attorney.
The missing 17-year-old girl — who Rolland says is related to the pastor’s wife — was found safe in the pastor’s home about noon Wednesday.
Rolland says the girl lived with the pastor and his wife from June to October 2011 before returning to her home in Nebraska. He says the pastor purportedly drove to Nebraska in January to pick up the girl and take her back to Monette.