A former Texas youth pastor who was arrested last year for alleged child sex abuse has been reindicted with additional charges. The new charges against Luke Cunningham do not stem from new victims.
Editor’s note: This article contains information about child sex abuse and assault that some readers might find disturbing and/or triggering.
Cunningham was working as a youth pastor at Lakeside Baptist Church in Granbury, Texas, at the time of his arrest, but the alleged abuse is said to have occurred during Cunningham’s tenure at Turning Point Community Church in Lubbock, Texas, with other accusations coming from when he worked at North Fort Worth Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.
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In June 2024, Cunningham was arrested and charged with two counts of sexual assault of a child and one count of aggravated sexual assault.
Following further investigation, Cunningham now faces 16 counts of sexual assault of a child.
At a hearing following Cunningham’s arrest, Lubbock County Assistant District Attorney Cassie Graham argued that Cunningham had a long history of alleged abuse of teen girls and had been accused of acting violently, slapping and strangling victims until they lost consciousness.
Graham told the court that an investigation revealed that Cunningham had manipulated his alleged victims by telling them that he planned on leaving his wife for them once they turned 18. Graham also said that investigators received “overwhelming” corroboration from people who had worked closely with Cunningham and said they had witnessed Cunningham act inappropriately familiar with teen girls.
Some of the charges against Cunningham carry a bigamy enhancement in light of Cunningham’s alleged promises of marriage as a manipulation tactic.
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Investigators also indicated that Cunningham allegedly moved from church to church to evade the consequences of his alleged abuse.
