Community Christian Church in Tell City, Indiana, released a statement on Monday (March 25) regarding Pastor Errol Wright, who was arrested earlier this month for allegedly abusing a minor who was under his foster care.
The 48-year-old pastor has been charged with four counts of a sexual misconduct with a minor (a level 4 felony), one count of child seduction (a level 5 felony), and one count of child solicitation (a level 5 felony) after detectives investigated claims from Lily Masterson. Now an adult, Masterson was in Wright’s care from ages 15 to 18.
“He was just like a monster just hiding in plain sight, and that’s the one that no one ever realizes,” Masterson said. She recounted that the pastor would have sex with her an average of three times a week in the home and at the church—more than 100 times in total.
Wright posted a $48,005 bond on March 19 and is awaiting his pretrial conference, which is set for April 3.
On Friday, ChurchLeaders reached out to Community Christian Church and asked if Wright was still on staff. The church responded via email Monday morning.
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“We have felt the same shock and hurt as the community concerning the recent incident involving our previous pastor,” the church said. “We neglected to release a statement until now because his family is heavily involved in the church, and we wished to give them time to process.”
The church informed the public that it takes “accusations of this nature very seriously, and thus Errol Wright is no longer employed by the church and will have no further active involvement, as pastor or otherwise.”
The church also made clear that it had no involvement in a GiveSendGo.com fundraiser that was set up to help Wright with legal fees. The fundraiser has since been deleted.
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“We also wish to clear up a misunderstanding that has spread in our silence. None of the church’s money went to supporting Errol or paying his bail; all of the money given to him was from individuals who gave of their own volition,” the church clarified. “This is a difficult time for our community, and we ask that everyone continue to pray for all those involved and for God’s will to be done in all of us.”
A GoFundMe page with a goal of raising $10,000 has been set up to help Masterson.
