Former Indiana Pastor Rodger Daily Strong, who led Orland Church of the Nazarene for four decades, was arrested Monday (March 17) for allegedly molesting a 5-year-old girl last year. Strong faces five counts of child molestation; three are Level 1 felonies, and two are Level 4 felonies. If convicted on all counts, he could be sentenced to more than 170 years in prison.
Editor’s note: This article refers to reports of child sex abuse, which some readers might find triggering and/or disturbing.
Court documents indicate that the alleged offenses occurred between January and May 2024. Police questioned Strong on March 7, 2025, two days after the victim’s parents contacted authorities about suspected abuse. During that interview, the 69-year-old pastor told police he planned to announce his retirement on March 9 and lead his final church service on March 16.
Pastor Tim Kellerman, district superintendent of the Northeast Indiana District of the Church of the Nazarene, told ChurchLeaders he terminated Strong on March 6. Then on March 9, the small congregation decided to close Orland Church of the Nazarene.
Touching Was Accidental, Indiana Pastor Told Parents of Alleged Victim
The court filing indicates that the alleged victim, now 6, recently began displaying concerning behavior. When her parents confronted Strong about it—and recorded that conversation—he said he accidentally touched their daughter, who was to blame for the incidents. The girl’s mother, according to a probable cause affidavit, told Strong, “You don’t unintentionally touch a kid’s vagina.”
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When the pastor indicated he should have told the parents what had happened, he said “he did not want [the girl] to get into trouble twice,” the affidavit stated. The girl’s mother pushed back, saying it sounded like Strong was “blaming their daughter for something he did.”
Then, according to the filing in Steuben Superior Court, Strong told the parents, “If you want me to say I did, then I did it. It was not intentional.”
When police interviewed Strong, he said the alleged victim was lying. In the charging document, Indiana State Police Detective Matthew Teusch wrote, “I explained to [Strong] that kids can tell lies, but nothing like one with great detail like this. I advised him kids do not make up big lies like this and could never have kept the details straight over this long period of time.”
After Teusch referenced Strong’s faith, the pastor admitted he had touched the girl five times, including three incidents of vaginal penetration. As the interview concluded, Strong “advises me that he really is not a bad person,” Teusch. “I told him that I don’t think he is a bad person, but he is one that has made some bad mistakes. He agreed and stated that he will probably serve 20 years for it.”
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