Former Springdale Youth Pastor Arrested in Missouri, Police Seeking More Victims
By: Liz Hogan
Updated: November 16, 2011
Dennis Myers, 51, faces molestation charges, after Blue Springs, Missouri police say he fondled and provided alcohol to two 12 year old girls.
Investigators say since Myers arrest last month, three Missouri women have come forward, claiming he sexually assaulted them when he was a youth pastor at a church in Independence, Missouri in the late 1980's.
According to detectives, Myers moved to Springdale in the early 90's, and began working as a youth pastor at First United Methodist Church.
Springdale police arrested him in 1997 after officers say he fondled a girl, took nude pictures of her and provided her with alcohol.
Andrew Lentz is a child advocate and forensic interviewer not involved with the Myers case. He says he isn't surprised Myers sought jobs that involved children.
"We know that offenders are going to seek out places of authority where they'll be close to kids, they're also going to look for organizations that tend to trust people."
Now, Missouri police want to know if Myers has any other victims in Northwest Arkansas.
"We know from studies that it's probably not going to be an isolated incident, it's normally going to happen over a long span of time," Lentz says.
Stephen Coburn, the current senior pastor at First United Methodist Church in Springdale, says the church's employment records do not go back more than 15 years.
He can only confirm that Myers worked there in the early 90's.
Pastor Coburn released this statement to us:
"If we discover any information or learn of past victims we will alert the authorities and do all we can to support them."
If you have information on any of these cases, contact the Springdale Police Department.
