south carolina preacher rape Pastor 'kidnapped women at gunpoint and raped them behind his church'

south carolina preacher rape Pastor 'kidnapped women at gunpoint and raped them behind his church'
A pastor has been charged with kidnapping and raping three women at gunpoint, two of them in a trailer behind the church, and kidnapping a fourth, who was not sexually assaulted.

Dale Richardson has for the past year served as pastor at Freedom Free Will Baptist Church in Ladson, South Carolina.

According to an incident report, about noon on a Saturday last month, Richardson picked up a woman and gave her a ride.


When the 20-year-old tried to get out of the car, he allegedly pulled a gun, bound her hands, covered her head and took her to the grey-blue trailer home behind the church.

The report said he later dropped the woman in a wooded area, threatening to shoot her if she turned around.

Police said the woman was able to identify Richardson from his picture on the church website, which also displays a short biography detailing how he became a Christian and then a pastor.

Richardson has since been charged with two other similar sexual assaults, both of which occurred last year.

He is accused of bringing one of those women to the church trailer. The third woman claims she was raped in a wooded area outside nearby Summerville, which is about 20 miles north west of Charleston.

He is also charged with kidnapping a fourth woman.

Richardson said little last week when, dressed in a grey-and-white striped prison jump suit with his ankles and wrists shackled, he appeared before a Dorchester County magistrate.

He said he understood the charges against him and was denied bond when the magistrate said he was a danger to society.

Richardson's public defender said it's too soon to comment on the case.

During his initial bond hearing when he was first arrested, Richardson said he has a spotless record and will put up a strong defence.

Maj. John Garrison, of the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office, said serial rape cases are unusual in the area.

He said this case is drawing particular interest because the suspect is a preacher.

Most neighbours on the quiet cul-de-sac where Richardson lived in a neat yellow house refused to talk last week.

But Mary Milligan, who lives two doors away, came to Richardson's defence.

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