CMPD brings more charges against sex offender still serving in Charlotte church
A local pastor is facing new child sex abuse charges a decade after his initial arrest and conviction — and he could have more victims, police say.
Officers arrested 56-year-old Robert “Bobby” Price early Friday morning, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. CMPD identified Price as an associate pastor at Camino Church in the University City area of Charlotte.
His brother — Lead Pastor Rusty Price — says Robert Price speaks to Camino Church’s 500 congregates at the beginning of every Sunday service and sometimes preaches.
But despite his colloquial title as “Pastor Bobby,” Robert Price had a managerial role that kept him away from children, Rusty Price said.
He’s accused of inappropriately touching three boys who attended Kings Way Baptist in Concord from 2001 to 2011, police say. The boys were between the ages of 9 and 15 and Price was their youth pastor at the time, CMPD officials said Friday.
The call about his brother’s arrest Friday morning was a surprise, Rusty Price said. He was scared the charges might’ve been related to more recent incidents, he told The Charlotte Observer Friday afternoon. He would’ve felt responsible, he said.
“You take risks to help people, but you never know what’s going to happen,” he said.
He hopes and is confident that Price’s charges all lie in the past, he said during a segment of the news conference conducted in Spanish. But he encourages anyone who may have been victimized by his brother to come forward.
“This is a tragedy, this is a sad day,” he said. “We’ve got Sunday coming up. That’s going to be a tough day.”
Because Camino Church has many Spanish-speaking members, CMPD Capt. Caludio Jimenez translated information during a Friday morning news conference. Officers do not know of any instances at Camino bur urge anyone with information to come forward.
“There’s certainly a potential that there are more victims out there,” said Captain Jim Wright. “We want the survivors to feel that they have the information to feel empowered to come forward and report any crime without concern for repercussions.”
Police began investigating Price after one of his victims came forward last year. They found he touched the three boys in his house, in his car — on the way to church — and at Kings Way Baptist, which has since closed.
After pleading guilty and serving 16 months for charges in 2014, Price now faces and additional 13 counts of indecent liberties with a child and one count of statutory sexual offense.
Camino Church hired Price, even though he is listed on the state’s sex offender registry, Wright said. While sex offenders are not allowed to work at schools or daycare in North Carolina, there are no laws that prohibit them from attending church, he said.
As The Charlotte Observer reported last year, Price has “appeared in a (Camino) church podcast listed as ‘executive pastor.’ His brother in 2018 defended his decision to let Robert continue preaching to the congregation, telling WSOC that Robert Price wasn’t allowed to be with children and that ushers accompany known sex offenders to church bathrooms.”
CMPD said Friday “Any victims of Mr. Price’s or anyone with a tip on a case involving Mr. Price should call 704-336-7495 and ask for Detective Carey. Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers by calling 704-334-1600 or visiting http://charlottecrimestoppers.com/.”
This story was originally published August 4, 2023 at 11:21 AM.
