FORT WORTH — It began in February when the father overheard his 17-year-old daughter talking inappropriately over the phone.
On the other end of the line, the father said he later learned, was James “Jay” Virtue Robinson IV, pastor of Southwood Baptist Church, which the family had been attending for more than a decade.
The girl acknowledged that she had had a sexual relationship with the 31-year-old pastor.
The outraged father told the church council and several church members. But Robinson, pastor of the church since October 2006, repeatedly denied his accusations.
Eventually, saying he had learned that a relationship had started when his daughter was 16, the father went to police.
Wednesday evening, more than three months after the father overheard the phone call, Robinson surrendered at the Tarrant County Jail in response to an arrest warrant accusing him of sexual assault of a child. He was released after posting $20,000 bail.
The case has divided the church at 2633 Altamesa Blvd. Some back the pastor; other long-term members believe that the evidence supports Robinson’s removal.
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