Pastor arrested for disciplining students the criminal way

An Indiana pastor, Gerald Harris of Crossroad Baptist Church, and a church worker, Christopher Williams, have been arrested for severely beating children under their care with a wooden stick.

According to ‘Christian Today,’ the Pastor operates a boarding academy with dormitories and classrooms for out of state students within the age bracket of 8 - 19 years old in Clark County.

The Prosecuting Attorney Jeremy Mull stated that the clergyman and the church worker were arrested after several students who attended the academy filed complaints that they were subjected to ‘various forms of punishment’

“It is okay to discipline children if it’s the legal way, but the bruises on the student’s bodies showed that they received the kind of punishment that can be considered as criminal abuse,” he said

Interviewed by the Clarksville police and Child Protective Services, the children said they were whipped with a wooden stick.

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An eight year old boy said Williams tied a rope around his waist and jerked him around 'for not behaving.'

An 11-year-old boy with 'very serious bruising' on his buttocks and legs said he was whipped using a paddle by both Williams and Harris as punishment for wetting his bed.

Another student testified that Harris and Williams even made one 16-year-old teen stand before the other boys as they repeatedly whipped him.

The students also revealed that they were not allowed to use the bathroom once the lights were turned off.

The children have already been removed from church custody and are now back with their parents or under Clarksville's Child Protective Custody.