David Lemley Pastor of Baton Rouge Baptist church rapes disabled woman

Pastor David Lemley

The pastor of a Baton Rouge Baptist church was arrested Saturday on accusations he raped a 20-year-old mentally disabled woman who had sex with the pastor at her father’s request, according to the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office.
David “Scott” Lemley, 43, pastor of New Harmony Baptist Church, on Antioch Road, was booked Saturday into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on a count of aggravated rape.

 Lemley also was booked on a count of theft of a motor vehicle and is accused of giving away a car — which he was supposed to be working on as a favor for someone — to a member of his church, who then sold the vehicle to a scrap metal company for about $250 in early February, arrest documents show. According to an arrest warrant, Lemley is accused of having sex with a 20-year-old woman “with the medical documentation mental capacity of a 7-year-old” after the woman’s father told the woman to have sex with Lemley because the pastor’s wife had been ill and bedridden.

The woman’s father was arrested in November and remains in Parish Prison on a variety of sex counts, including aggravated rape. His name is being withheld to protect the identify of his daughter. The woman told East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office investigators that she and Lemley had sex on several occasions, even though she didn’t want to, the warrant says. The victim could not provide investigators with exact dates of the alleged rapes. In late 2013, authorities questioned Scott Lemley about the allegations. He told them he had never had sex with the 20-year-old woman. “He also advised that she is known for making up stories for no reason,” a detective wrote in the warrant.

Lemley said he would submit to a lie-detector test about the matter and the questioning was set for Dec. 6, the warrant says. Lemley didn’t show up nor did he call detectives to let them know he wasn’t coming to the interview. Kim Lemley, the pastor’s wife, said her husband didn’t attend the polygraph test at the advice of the couple’s attorney, Carson Marcantel, who couldn’t be reached for comment late Saturday. “It’s false charges,” said Kim Lemley, who also works at the church, of the rape allegations. Kim Lemley also described the car theft accusations against her husband as “false charges,” saying she had resolved the dispute with the person who made the complaint.

 The pastor’s wife said she knows the woman her husband is accused of raping, but Lemley wouldn’t discuss any other details about the allegations. Kim Lemley said the couple has worked at the church for several years and that church services for Sunday morning were scheduled as usual. “Our church is taking care of itself,” she said. On Saturday night, Scott Lemley remained jailed in lieu of $75,000 bail, booking records show.

Credit theadvocate.com